I checked something off my bucket list for sure, and that was skiing in the Alps in the area closest to Nice, which is 53 miles away! I chose Auron resort, situated in the village of Auron, perched above the town of St-Étienne-de-Tinée. There is also Isola 2000 and Valberg which are equidistant from Nice, but I felt drawn to the picturesque Alpine village at Auron. We have an amazing driver who was willing to bring us up and back for a good price, but there is also a local “ski bus” that does the trip daily.
I didn’t bring equipment, other than a jacket because we travel light, and they had everything I needed. The village is charming, has many lovely lodging options and a decent après ski scene. This is a quiet week due to local kids being back in school and the conclusion of the French Fêtes de Nöel and that’s exactly why I chose it. Brian doesn’t ski but he enjoys relaxing in the mountain atmosphere, and I was so glad he supported taking this side-quest.
I had a lot of questions about how skiing works in France. Luckily, my French tutor and I had really gone over the ski vocabulary and situations I might find myself in as in theses smaller towns English is not as readily spoken. Even if it was, I insist on speaking French anyway! Here there isn’t one central lodge, really just a lot of restaurants at the base and finding information on where to go was essentially do-it-yourself. The mobile App for Auron was quite helpful, and I surprisingly had a great cell signal up here. Can you believe a one-day lift ticket costs $44? I was blown away!
As I headed out to make my first runs on the beginner terrain for warm-up, the icy pistes threw me for a bit of a loop. When I asked a lift worker where the best runs were located, i discovered that that lower on the mountain is more of a spring skiing situation due to a lot of iced-over slush from the day before. Once I ascended higher the snow quality was much better, maybe even fantastic. I had many runs all to myself, a skier’s dream! The views from on high were the most stunning I have seen in my life. The photos do not even do it justice. While I preferred my sunny day, the cloudy day I skied was also fun and skiing through the clouds was both exhilarating and disorienting.
I would have preferred skiing with my mom and the kids or some friends, but I also like being out here with my thoughts and the challenge of tackling new things (POMA lift lol). I bought a few pieces of equipment to use next time we’re here and a place called SkiSet. They were very helpful and had an adequate selection of what I was needing. They had some English-speaking employees although I was lucky not to much need it, and the French-only speaking sales lady was incredibly invested in helping me find the most fashion-forward yet practical pieces. If you know anything about me, you will know that shopping for clothes in France (completely in French) gives me joy beyond recognition.
As far as cuisine, we really liked this little bistrot called L&M’s Coffee. It was a bit of a misnomer as they served delicious food from morning til evening, and I didn’t really notice that they had coffee. Because we eat dinner on the early side for French standards, this was a place that was open even in that “in-between” time from 4-7p. Brian described his meal as the best Caesar salad he has had in his life! High praise! He enjoyed it so much that we had dinner there two nights in a row.
Overall I would recommend Auron for skiing whether you are a beginner or intermediate, and maybe even advanced skiers could find enough challenges on this mountain. They have some state-of-the-art ski amenities (high speed lifts) with zero lift lines and a charming village atmosphere at super affordable prices! It may pale in comparison to the more well-known alpine ski stations, but I’m so glad I made the leap to try out this little gem.
