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The Resort
Eating - on the
mountain
Sainte
Foy offers great riding & skiing for all levels, on piste and off
piste. Beyond the mountain action, there are three mountain restaurants
above the village. The Brevettes, at the top of the first lift is our
favourite. The Ravioli Forestiere is a life-changing experience! They
offer great food in a rustic setting although it's best not to be in
a hurry if it's busy! Prices are fair given the quality of the food,
but there are cheaper options. Next door to the Brevettes is Chez Leon,
offering gourmet crepes in a restaurant atmosphere but prices are expensive
and you need to pre-book (even when it's quiet). Further up the mountain,
at the top of the Arpettaz lift is the Fogliettaz snack hut, offering
hot food and drinks to take-away. Great for a quick, cheap pit-stop.
When I'm in a hurry, I'll grab lunch there and eat it on the Aiguille
lift on the way to the top of the mountain! At the foot of the slopes,
there are more lunch options. The Maison à Colonnes serves very
high quality local food in the evenings but has more of a fast-food
type menu at lunch-time. Nearby, the Iceberg bar also serves fast-food
at lunch-time. In the resort centre, just off the slopes, the Pitchouli
bar serves great pizzas. All of the restaurants on the mountain and
at the foot of the slopes have terraces for sunny days.
Eating - off the
mountain
In the
evening, there are four restaurants within the resort to choose from
on our night off. The Bergerie and the Maison à Colonnes both
serve really good food, much of which is typically Savoyarde. Prices
are similar between the two, with the Maison being a bit more rustic
while the Bergerie is more formal. The new La Coeur serves top-class
food and has a lively bar. The Pitchouli also still serves pizza in
the evenings. If you're willing to travel a short distance in the evenings,
there are a few more options outside of the resort. In Sainte Foy village,
the Monal has a lively bar which also serves pizzas and a very good
restaurant upstairs. Next door, La Becqua is a Lebanese-themed restaurant
serving really good food with many vegetarian options. Beyond La Becqua,
La Grange is another very good bar/restaurant in Sainte Foy village.
Further down the valley, La Perce-Neige in Viclaire, between Bourg Saint
Maurice and Sainte Foy, is also excellent (and a frequent beer stop
on our summer mountain bike rides). Taking the back-road up the mountain
from Sainte Foy village towards La Rosière leads to the twin
villages of Le Miroir and La Masure where you will find a restaurant
called Chez Mèrie. This restaurant is reknowned as one of the
very best in the area and quite an experience. The building is a traditional
chalet and food is cooked over an open fire to a very high standard.
Prices are correspondingly expensive! If you have travelled to the resort
by your own car or hired a car at the airport, then it's only 5 minutes
drive to Sainte Foy village or 10 minutes to Chez Mèrie, the
only issue is nominating the designated driver! A taxi back is not too
expensive either, if shared between a few people.
Nightlife
I once
read a snowboarding guide book which, under the nightlife entry for
Sainte Foy, read simply "The stars are bright." Fortunately,
that was some time ago and things have changed a bit. The Iceberg is
our favourite bar. It's right at the foot of the slopes and is great
for an aprés-ski beer. They often have live music and stage regular
karaoke nights. New last season to the Sainte Foy scene is La Coeur,
offering excellent food, great atmosphere and an awesome happy hour.
The Pitchouli bar in the resort centre is the other contender. They
also have regular live music nights and serve food in the evenings.
For comedic drunken effect, they also make you sit on swings instead
of bar stools! The resort often puts on other entertainment, especially
at holiday times, which includes live music in the resort centre, torchlit
descents, tobogganing, night-skiing on the nursery slopes and local
produce fair.
For a big night out,
guests sometimes make the short journey up the valley to Val d'Isere or
Tignes on our night off. Both have a wide choice of restaurants as well
as a multitude of bars and nightclubs. A return taxi trip is around €20
per head if you can put a group of 6 or so together.
Shopping
Sainte Foy
has a small supermarket, a handful of ski shops and a souvenir shop selling
the obligatory whistling marmots. There's also a cash point. We can offer
a 10% discount on gear hired at ZigZags if pre-booked through us. ZigZags
stock very high quality hire gear and provide the most thorough fitting
service I've seen in a slope-side ski hire shop. They're also very flexible
about swapping gear during your stay. Going off piste and want to use
fat skis for the day? A snowboarder and want to try skiing for the day?
No problem! Be aware that there is no pharmacy in Sainte Foy, the closest
options are in Seez, La Rosière or Tignes. Make sure you bring
everything you need with you.
Spas
There are
two spa centres in Sainte Foy resort, confusingly called Les Balcons de
Sainte Foy and Les Fermes de Sainte Foy. Les Balcons is located at the
foot of the slopes, near the ESF and the Iceberg. They are generally open
from 1630 until 2030 and you can normally just walk up without having
to book to use the large swimming pool and other facilities. This costs
around 16€. Les Fermes is located within the large appartment block
below the resort centre. They also have a pool and hot tubs, etc. but
these can only be used if you are either staying in one of the appartments
or are booked in for a massage or beauty treatment. The spas offer a wide
range of massage and other treatments, but these get booked up very quickly,
especially during the 1700 - 1900 aprés ski times. Let us know
in advance if you want to book a session and we'll make the arrangements
for you. Treatment costs start at around 60€. There are also local
independent masseuses and physiotherapists with whom we can make arrangements
to visit the chalet. This typically costs around 45€ per half hour.
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Les Brevettes, with
red piste running through the trees above
The Bergerie restaurant
in Sainte Foy resort
Sainte Foy resort
centre in party mode
ZigZags Ski Shop
 
Les
Balcons de Sainte Foy spa
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