Back in France. This time no big city like Lyon but the French Alps in the snow.
In this blog the following topics will be discussed:
Living in the French Alps is an amazing experience if you like the mountains. You can easily do a season job in the Alps during the winter or the summer. A season job in the Alps means that you go to the mountains just for the season. When the season is over you go back home. You will get a season contract and the company normally gives a lot of extras like accommodation, equipment, etc. This blog will be about a winter season in Morzine.
We lived in the French Alps for around five months from December 2021 until April 2022.
In my precious blogs in Life in France you can read all about my first experience in France in the city Lyon. It’s now the second time that we moved to France but this time to the Alps.
Morzine in the French Alps
Morzine is a beautiful ski resort in the French Alps nearby the border of Switzerland. It’s also a part of the ski area ‘Portes du Soleil’ which means the ‘doors to the sun’ in English.
The Portes du Soleil area is one of the largest ski areas in the world, another big ski area is Les trois Vallée. Portes du Soleil has twelve resorts spread between the Mont Blanc in France and Geneva in Switzerland and it has more than 600 kilometres of marked slopes.
What to do in Morzine, the French Alps
There is a lot to do in Morzine. During the winter season the main activity that people do is skiing and snowboarding. I wrote a blog about Winter activities in Morzine and about Skiing and snowboarding in Morzine.
In the summer season the biggest activities people do are hiking, mountain biking and climbing. Of course, there is a lot more to do.
If you love hiking, I wrote a blog about 6 beautiful winter hikes near Morzine and 3 summer hikes near Saint-Jean-d’Aulps. Another amazing thing you should do is visit Chamonix for a day or two. It’s close by and amazing to visit. During winter you can go skiing there and during summer you can go hiking.
If you would do a season in Morzine there is, as mentioned before, a lot to do. Besides all the activities there are also some amazing bars and restaurants.
The ultimate best bakery is La Bonbonnière and for a good coffee you should go to Satellite Coffee!
For food I would suggest you try out Ô Chalet. It’s our favourite place to go and it’s not that expensive. You can choose between different burgers (every burger can be made vegetarian), fries, panini and much more. Some other nice, easy, and also not that expensive food spots you should go to are La Grignotte, Au Bon Coin, Le Colibri, the Haka Bar or Cuisine 22.
If you want to go for a nice dinner, there are many restaurants where you can go. Our favourites are the following restaurants: La Rotonde, La Grange, L’Improviste, Beanies bar pizzeria, Hideout, and La Chaudanne.
You must drink a Mutzig beer in Bar Robinson. Some other nice bars are Tremplin, Dixie bar and The Cavern Bar. Tremplin is perfect for an après ski just like the bar called Happy Hour (in Montriond). If you like billiard, you can go to Le Coyote Bar.
There are of course many more spots, but these are our favorite and we didn’t got the change to try everything.
The French Alps is truly a ski paradise! There are amazing places in the Alps, and I would suggest to discover the area where you do a season and the surroundings.
Working for a season in the Alps
There are many jobs that you can do in the alps for a season. Make sure to check out what a company has to offer. Ask what the wage and the advantages are, because they depend on the company and there are some big differences. Try to compare different companies before you decide.
So, try to match with a company that fits your needs and one that treats you right. There are many companies taking advantage of people that come for a season. Some companies don’t care about their staff, you really want a company that takes care of you.
Working for a season sounds fun and for a big part it is amazing, but there can also be a lot of drama and problems. There are always those people who cause problems and try to drag you down. I suggest you try to stay out of it because it is not worth your energy. Do your thing and enjoy yourself, there are many awesome activities to do in the beautiful Alps. The adventures you will do are an experience of a lifetime!
Always surround yourself with people who give you energy
There are many different jobs that you can do during the season in the Alps. From chalet hosts to a ski instructor and even a nanny. You can easily find a job through Facebook pages. I would suggest you first pick some places where you would like to go. Take places where you can do a lot of activities so you will not be bored.
When you know some places, you can look for Facebook pages and search for a job or ask for a job. Another way to search for a season job is through websites. You can look on the website Anywork Anywhere. There are many more websites on Google so have a look around.
A nice thing about working a season is that you can discover a different country for the season and do some activities that are probably not possible in your country. If you’re from the European Union, you don’t need a Visa to work in the French Alps. If you come from the UK then you need a Visa, sometimes the company arranges this for you. There are many UK companies in the French Alps which makes it a bit easier for people who come from the UK. If you come from outside Europe, you’ll also need a Visa to work for a season.
Our experience in the Alps
Working a season was a great test for us to look if it’s possible to work together. We had just finished our studies together so we already knew we could study together. This experience in the Alps showed us that we can also work together.
We worked as apartment assistants which meant we had to clean apartments during the weekend, changeover day, and to some other chores during the week like checking the hot tubs, going to the store, help the guests, etc.
In total we worked 30 hours a week, so we had 3 days off which was perfect for us to explore the Alps. Besides our wage we got some advantages. The advantages included free use of a pair of skis or snowboard during the season, and free accommodation. Besides that, you can keep the stuff that people leave behind which can be a lot sometimes.
We had to pay for our own seasonal ski pass, this was 366 euros for the ski areas Avoriaz and Morzine-Les Gets. This was good enough for us as it already includes a lot of slopes. You can get a Portes du Soleil pass but then it was double the price. You can always buy a day pass for Portes du Soleil, if you work the season then you also get a discount on the day passes.
The thing we loved the most is that we had a lot of time to go skiing and snowboarding. We explored a lot, and we are grateful that we could improve our skills. If you have some questions about working a season job, then feel free to contact us and we would gladly help you out.
