Self-catering. What to take....

[clam]

Bearing in mind the dire state of the pound vs the euro, and reports of lunchtime burgers/hotdogs costing anything from £10 - £15, we thought we'd take a case of staple food items with us.(accommodation v. close to slopes). Is this worth it do you reckon? And if so, what would people recommend?

[DivamakesKimchi]

i think its good idea, why not take stuff you like, may be make list, and see what you can take with you

[LIZS]

I would n't bother unless you arrive too late to get to the shops until next morning. Staples like bread, pasta etc aren't likely to cost much more locally than here.

[mamhaf]

There were reports in the Sunday Times of a small jar of pesto costing £5 and bog-standard bottles of wine £12 in resort supermarkets.

So, it depends where you're going to shop.

If you're driving, shop while driving to the resort in one of the big hypermarkets.

If not, and you have a decent luggage allowance, how about taking things like pasta sauces (not in jars, in those soft packages); pasta (Aldi do a vacuum-packed filled pasta); flavoured cous-cous; cereal bars; fruit & nuts.

[clam]

mamhaf, yeah, that's sort of what I had in mind. LIZS, I was wondering whether it was worth lugging pasta etc... if it 's going to be similar in price. I too had read about the pesto! Depends how vile the journey is (busy weekend, next Saturday!) as to whether we'll feel like stopping off at the hypermarket down at the bottom of the mountain. The resort shops are pretty limited.

[mamhaf]

Clam - I knew some people who used to drive and buy just about everything before they went, mainly M&S ready meals. It saved hassle as well as money. So, if you have access to a hypermarket, it wouldn't save you money but would make life easier.

Definitely take hot chocolate & tea bags. You might also want to buy some fruit cake etc to have when you come back from ski-ing.

However it would certainly be worth buying alcohol in a hypermarket if you're going to drink it. Possibly also buy sandwich fillings to take out for picnic lunches - cooked, chicken and sliced beef and possible saucisson (assuming you're not all vegetarian), plus cheeses. Also stock up on some salad stuff and chocolate - we always take chocolate out on the slopes if nothing else!

A good easy ready meal from French hypermarkets are the jars of beans and sausage - I've forgotten what the French for this is.

And if you like it, the jars of fish soup (soupe de poisson) are a great, easy meal with French bread and cheese - though my kids weren't fussy on this when they were small.

[sinclair]

We always do this but more so this year with the exchange rate. Make up casseroles / shpeherds pie and freeze - they defrost on the journey and then first night supper is hassle free. Ditto a couple of fruit cakes. Staples such as bacon, sausages, pesto (plastic tubs). Porage oats and cereals that pack OK - weetabix etc. Think high value items rather than rice or pasta, and Englishy things that are expensive in France - baked beans and marmite etc.

Bumper packs of mini Mars or whatever also a good idea.

[mumonthenet]

In a resort you can reckon on everything being at least 25 percent more expensive. Take some Readymeals from M&S - will save you money and would mean you won't have to slave too much in the evenings - you are on holiday after all!

Will the selfcatering provide washup liquid and sponges? Looroll/kitchen paper? Sounds ridiculous but chuck these in and you'll only have to buy fresh bread and milk. Easy Peasy.

[clam]

Can you take stuff like meats/cheeses (sacrilege to take cheese to France!!!) salda/frozen stuff by plane?

[mumonthenet]

oh god, I thought you were driving.

Yes, you can take frozen stuff by plane, but depending on who you're flying with you may have to pay for everything that goes in the hold.

Liquids, as I'm sure you know, you can't take in your hand luggage. I once had tin of spaghetti hoops taken away and my crumpets were xrayed.

Can laugh about it nowbut not so funny at the time.

[wohmum]

we're doing a similar thing - driving and self catering.

i intend to take some stuff from here and then buy pasta/rice etc in supermarket on way there.

things not to forget!

ketchup,tea,coffee,salt,pepper,olive oil, hot choc etc - mainly 'cos you prob don't want to buy full packs abroad of everyday stuff.

I'll also take tinned sweetcorn (cos it goes with everything!) a couple of cans of tuna and a couple of pasta sauces . also breakfast cereal and porridge.

Will plan to buy veg/fruit/eggs/meat en route and bread/milk daily in resort. .

will bank on having tuna pasta,spag bol,pizza etc, ( plus fry up at least once )for most nights plus 1 or 2 eating out. will also stock up on sandwich/soup/cakes etc.

good idea about the mini mars packs .

[MrsGrahamBell]

echo what veryone else has said, also if you are driving one luxury you can take is frozen milk in a fridge box, then you don't have to lug it about from the resort shop, and british milk is much nicer than foreign

[happywomble]

We went by train and took the following:
measured out coffee granules in a plastic container.
Counted out tea bags for each day including any herbal ones.
Sugar in plastic container.
Take Jam too (we forgot)
Porrige oats weighed out in portions per day!
1 loo roll
1 kitchen roll
washing up cloth and surface cloth
tea towel
Cereal bars and raisins, mini mars bars etc (Milka chocolate is not too expensive in the ssupermarket but the cadbury stuff is ridiculously priced in resort.
Any fruit and vege left in the fridge.
You can find affordable food in the resort supermarket but you need to look at all the prices and find the bargains...wine is much cheaper than the UK!
We found some nice frozen food in the resort supermarket..such as nice pizzas, moussaka, fish pie, duck and peaches so it wasn't too expensive to self cater for the evenings.
We had a few things we hadn't had for years such as a tin of fruit for pudding one night.

A lot of food we found in our resort supermarket was branded "Grand Jury"..seemed to be affordable and tasted ok.

We tended to eat out at lunch time..plat du jour was about £10 in most mountain restaurants. We only ate out once in the evening and it was very expensive. I think it is the cafe prices you need to look at carefully when ordering..eg. one afternoon we stopped for a drink and DD wanted a yoghurt..it was £3!!! We also had a £5 hot chocolate somewhere!

[MrsGrahamBell]

ketchup too.
re the left over fruit veg - avoid bananase - we always take them, always regret it, even if they don't get squished they are very pungent after a while...

[happywomble]

Have just remembered a few other things:

couple of peddle bin liners
small quantity of washing up liquid (unless supplied by your appartment)

The supermarket in our resort did not give out plastic bags so take a "bag for life" or buy a nice French one out there!

Agree with mrsgrahambell about not taking bananas.

[clam]

Helpful, thanks.

[DebInAustria]

Have you asked what's supplied with your s/c place, we always provide tea towels, washing up cloths and washing up liquid. We also provide a welcome pack of groceries for guests who arrive after the shops close. Living abroad I would say teabags and cereals are your necessities.

[clam]

Stayed there last year, but it was a brand-new-build then, and I don't recall teatowels/sponges. We were the first guests (had to unwrap new bedding!) so no previous occupants to leave washing-up liquid etc... either. There were bathtowels, obviously. They may be a bit more organised this year, but I have to assume not. Certainly no grocery pack, but I think there might have been the option to pay for one. Earl Grey teabags are already in the suitcase, plus some fun-size choc bars for the kids.
Maybe it depends ont the size or the accommodation? Your set-up sounds a bit more personalised. This is a large apartment chalet.

[DebInAustria]

Unwrapping new bedding sounds quite nice though! Yes, we have 2 apartments , so it's very personal!!