When we go for our yearly winter sports holiday in the Alps, Dutchman and I bring ready-to-heat-up typically Dutch winter meals such as boerenkool and zuurkool (a mash of vegetables and potatoes), complete with rookworst (Dutch smoked sausage), appelmoes (apple compote) and jus (gravy).
We enjoy the ready-to-eat Dutch winter meals for 3-4 nights, and other nights we would go to the village and eat out in a restaurant. It’s a nice diversion to the holiday when you eat out, but winter sports holiday isn’t your usual type of holiday where eating out every night is recommended.
There are some nights when you just want to stay in your apartment, chalet or hotel. Especially after the first day of skiing when your muscles are all worked up and begging for a nice hot tub bath. It is also very cold outside, with temperatures running below zero, so many just prefer to eat inside, which is why catered chalets and apartments are sometimes popular. We had a catered hotel in the past as well which we had a very good experience.
In Vaujany, we also ate at La Remise Restaurant where Dutchman had a gourmet burger with fries and moi a delicious lamb shank. We highly recommend this restaurant if ever you are staying in Vaujany and nearby villages.
For this evening, Dutchman and I were eyeing a restaurant right on the main village square, just beside the market and tourist office. We are also the types who prefer not book a table in advance unless it is a very sought after place, but then Dutchman would argue that we better go somewhere else. So we walked to the restaurant, which was not yet full but we noticed people arriving and taking their seats at their respective tables, and this waitress with a very uninterested I-do-not-care look who doesn’t speak or does not want to speak English to us, said that they are already full. If we want to eat we can come back later after 21:30.
The waitress had this very unfriendly aura about her. Dutchman and I were so turned off by her unprofessional behaviour which sadly did not surprise us at all. Unfortunately, you see this a lot in France – uh, something cultural perhaps? I am perplexed, well, go figure.
I told Dutchman that I have another restaurant in mind but it is located at the lower ground of the village by the leisure and sports centre.
We took the escalator down and then a small lift and voila we saw the restaurant come into view – Le Stou Bar & Restaurant.
The restaurant looked very new, designed in modern style with glass walls and alpine ambience. I could see there is an outdoor terrace and I am sure lunching here when the weather is good would be very nice. Then I noticed the glass floors, it is a see-through glass flooring and there is something underneath. I looked closely and realised that under the restaurant is an indoor ice hockey-skating rink! Wow, that is really cool.
In the same sports complex, one can find a bowling alley, a large swimming pool, a fitness centre and a spa. We were actually given a free access to the pool when we collected our ski passes but we never used it because we have an indoor pool and sauna as well in the hotel chalet where we were staying.
Anyway, we knew what we wanted to order: Fondue
The nice thing about fondue is that many restaurants offer this as a whole meal set for 2 people already. You get the cheese fondue pot, a basket of bread and sometimes potatoes, a salad bowl and a plate of locally cured charcuterie. No need to order other side dishes anymore.
So we enjoyed this hearty meal. Maybe because there were few guests around which gave us more privacy to have a conversation and eat our meal. To finish off, Dutchman and I ordered the usual. He is Dutch so he likes his milk in his coffee, well most Dutch do (they love their cappuccinos even in the evening), but I prefer my coffee black, and sometimes with a bit of sugar.
We highly recommend Le Stou Bar & Restaurant. It even has a much nicer interior design and ambience than the restaurant we earlier visited. So we were quite glad the unprofessional waitress sent us away.
After the well-deserved dinner, we went for a little walk in the village. Instead of taking the escalators, we walked the length of the zigzagged main street of Vaujany. The streets were very quiet but we could see the flicker of lights inside the wooden houses. It is a nice feeling to be indoors when its freezing cold outside. So with that thought we rushed back to our chalet hotel.
In the past, Dutchman and I were always looking for après ski action, but these days, we much prefer a low profile evening and a quiet village to stroll on. Hmm, must be the age…
Travel Period: January 2017
Destination: Vaujany, Isere (Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes), France
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Happy Travels! Enjoy Life =)
All pictures were taken by a point and shoot pocket camera or a smartphone.