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Fondue Dinner at Comptoir Restaurant in Valloire (French Alps)

Many wintersport goers in the Netherlands have already booked for their skiing/snowboarding holiday, like my 2 sisters-in-law and our friends. They have to because they go during peak season and apartments and hotels tend to sell out quickly. As Dutchman and I do not have children and school holidays to arrange our lives around, we do this last minute. Ah, one of the perks of not having children =)

Yesterday as well we received a book from a wintersport tour agency with all skiing resorts and apartments they are offering for the winter season. I can only think of our last holiday last January in Valloire in the French Alps, and our last night’s dinner.

Have you had fondue?

Fondue is very popular in Europe during winter especially in the mountains. I have never made this at home though. We always tend to eat this outside during holidays. I remember eating this in Geneve, Switzerland. I also remember Dutchman and I had a fondue dinner package delivered to our chalet in Saint Jean d’Arves and we cooked it ourselves.

In Valloire, we did the easy route, we just went to a restaurant specialising in regional winter dishes. Fondue was its specialty dish I reckon.

It was our last day of wintersport and it was also the week that the Sculpture Festival culminated. We were there at the town festivities but got so bored because everything was in French. Have you been to a French festival where there is a host and people gather around the stage to listen and watch? Be warned though that French people love to talk. ENDLESSLY. I still have not figured out why really. They can go round and round a discussion, beating around the bush, the poor bush must have been wilted by the time they have ended the discussion. If you are a doubting Thomas, just try tuning in to a French music radio station (not a talk show okay) and let me know how much music you have heard than that of the DJ’s rant.

Anyway, we did not wait for the festival stage talks to finish, not even the fireworks. We decided to escape early for dinner. We figured out that after the fireworks the restaurants will be full and we want to have the liberty of choosing which restaurant we fancy. We found the Comptoir Restaurant quickly which is located on a street near the main church.

As expected, we were the first customers =)

The restaurant is ready for the deluge of customers… which happened exactly after half an hour we got seated which was after the display of festival fireworks. The restaurant was very homey and country designed in Savoyard style.

Our drinks have arrived. Dutchman does not like to drink alcohol, except sometimes beer. But I have a Creme de Cassis, a kir cocktail drink, for my aperitif. 


Our fondue (4 cheeses) spread arrived together with some thin meats and bread,

Thin salami meats and pickles, they always go hand in hand.

You have to keep stirring the fondue pot so that the cheese will not dry up and become hard. It is the same principle that you are encourage to drink alcohol or soda when eating this and not water.

You use the egg when the cheese is almost gone. You basically crack the egg into the pot and stir it, then try to scrape the remaining cheese with it. The egg helps scrape the cheese off easily.

30 minutes later and this is the restaurant! Packed.

And I spied on what others have ordered. I see a fondue pot and a raclette grill a few tables further.

We finished the dinner with coffee. Dutchman is having a feast with his capuccino with lots of whipped cream on top while I settled for a little cafe (espresso). We were still in our ski outfits =)

The toilet upstairs was quite charming as well!

Travel Period: January 2014
Destination: Valloire (Savoie – Rhone-Alpes), France

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Happy Travels! Enjoy Life =)

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