*
FOR T&CS SEE P175
Destination
Méribel
(
1501
)
year the oldest spa town in the Alps was
touted to the public
(
€3,686
)
price of an Evian water bath at the Spa V
at Hotel Victor, South Beach, Florida
(
19
)
and counting... The number of spas and
mobile masseurs in Meribel
easyJet
flies to Grenoble from seven destinations.
See our insider guide on page 137. Book
online at easyJet.com
easyJet Holidays
Two nights B&B at the three-star
Residhotel Grenette, departing London
Gatwick on 12 April, costs from £143 per
person. easyJet.com/holidays*
Grand Hôtel des Thermes
A hotel with views of the Vanoise Massif,
two pools, and a spa with sauna, hammam
and Jacuzzi. Book at hotels.easyJet.com
to, although I still can’t imagine coming to a spa without
my girlfriend or with my friends-who-aren’t-girls.
That evening at L’Escale,the restaurant in the four-
star Altiport Hotel (
altiporthotel.fr
),
the mood is
celebratory – think chocolate-bomb desserts and pink
Champagne – and conversation flits easily frommissing
our partners to discussing that paragon of male
grooming, George Clooney. I feel very much part of the
group now and, as we happily gossip our last night away,
I realise that what divides us isn’t so much gender, or
sense of humour, or even skiing ability... but simply
whether we enjoy wearing little bits of paper.
meribel.net
my eyes, but I begin to enjoy myself anyway, partly
because there’s more space and fewer people, and partly
because yesterday’s traumas have broken down my
defences. I’m even joined in the pool by another chap,
although he is five and learning to swimwith his mum.
The icing on the cake is a massage with Fleur, who:
a) lets me keep my shorts on – the pants are for hygiene,
she explains, and entirely optional – and, b) doesn’t
breach my buttocks. This is where I would return if I had
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T H E C H A L L E N G E
M É R I B E L
