Alice’s Arc1950 summer in photos

Based in our French property office in picturesque Arc 1950, in the Paradiski region of the Alps, Alice has been discovering the delights of a summer season spent at altitude and that the Alps aren’t just for skiing! Surrounded by stunning views of green mountains, imposing forest and mountain lakes and rivers, taking a few photos must have been irresistible…

Enjoying a view of the Mont Blanc

a bird's eye view of Arc 1950

Another popular, and slightly more adventurous, activity! Paraponting offers an eagle’s-eye view of the breathtaking alpine scenery and a dose of adrenaline on the side! Alice even took her camera up for a few aerial snaps…

Up up and away!

free as a bird...

Back on land again, Alice takes a view from just outside the property office window. Snow-sure and ski-friendly in the winter, Arc1950 is surrounded by Alpine meadows and bathed in sunshine during the summer- meaning any ski property for sale in this charming alpine resort will be snapped up before long!

view from the office window - certainly beats London HQ!

Thanks for the pics Alice, wish we were there! Erna Low Property team x

PS: want to see more photos? Become a fan on the Erna Low Facebook page to see the rest of the album.

Fancy trying it for yourself? book your summer holiday to the Alps with Erna Low today www.ernalowsummer.co.uk

Combining Golf and Spa in the South of France

Joanna combines her favourite things as she visits St Endreol Resort and Spa in the South of France – property, spa and free flowing wine… Careful on that golf buggy Joanna!

I was driving on my golf buggy hunched up to my friend Cathy, touring the stunning golf development of the wonderful golf and spa resort of St Endreol in the heart of the Provence.  We stopped to admire a particularly hair-raisingly difficult golf hole that involved whacking your golf ball at least 400 meters up and above a beautiful river below to land on a tiny putting green in the distance.  I was just thinking how absolutely impossible it looked to a non-golfer like me, when I asked Philippe, our host about it.    He said it was not suitable for ‘Ladies, beginners and so-on’ –  so I decided I fell neatly into all three categories of his description, especially the ‘so-on’ one – and gave up any further hope of shining at golf!

Later, we went to visit the state of the art spa of St Endreol which fitted the perfect retreat for a relaxing spa holiday. Particularly attractive to me was the ‘body scrub with Noirmoutier sea salt’ – it sounded like just the treatment to enjoy against the background of the Esterel mountain range in the distance …

Paused for a quick view shot!

Our Arc 1800 property evening at the Ski Club

Alex, our Erna Low Property intern, reports on our evening at the Ski Club of GB to promote ski property for sale in Les Arcs…

We all had a fabulous night on Tuesday at our EdenArc event at the Ski Club of Great Britain headquarters in Wimbledon, and hope that those of you who were able to make it did too! Located in the Ski Club’s lovely library, we were surrounded by various awards, ski books from every era, and all sorts of ski memorabilia perfect for the set the atmosphere for the evening!

EdenArc event at the Ski Club of GB

 To begin, everyone happily mingled– discussing everything from the new development, to French property laws, to of course all of our passion for skiing!! Next came the daunting presentations… I always feel so nervous for the presenters, but every speaker was calm, collected, informative and each managed their talk very well. Who knew learning about mortgages and taxes could be interesting?? The various photos of EdenArc were also wonderful to see, and they really showed how incredible this new resort is going to be. The surrounding views of Mont Blanc and the Paradiski domain are spectacular, and the residence itself has massive windows to further enhance the experience of the beautiful scenery – even when behind closed doors! I especially enjoyed seeing the different floor plans that exemplified just how thought out and spacious the apartments will be. Luckily, my excitement for the project could be shared with everyone else after the presentations were completed when the wine started to flow (for a second time that night!) and the chatter picked up again.

Not only a very enlightening evening, but also a really fun one that had a heightened sense of enthusiasm from the moment the words “EdenArc” were said. A HUGE thank you to the Ski Club for graciously hosting us, and hope to see you all soon at our next ski property sales event!

Own a home in the snow! New properties for sale in Arc 1800

We are all very excited that sister company, Erna Low Property, has launched brand new apartments for sale at EdenArc 1800, one of our favourite resorts. Located just above the MGM residence, the 4 * development will consist of 252 apartments ranging from one to four bedrooms each. The prices start at 189,000euros for the one bedroom and the apartments can be brought on the French leaseback scheme thus allowing purchasers to waiver the VAT – a significant sum at 19.6% in France. The larger apartments (the 3 or 4 beds) can also be bought on the classical purchase which means it can be used as much as you like but you will pay the VAT for that privilege!
Les Arcs is a hugely popular destination, and since a link to neighbouring La Plagne was made in 2004, the resort and combined area of Paradiski, has gone from strength to strength.  With Arc 1800 property for sale in short supply, it’s fantastic news for those wanting to take their passion for the Alps to the next stage…

Interested in hearing more? The ski property for sale specialists can be reached on +44 (0) 207 590 1624 or property@ernalow.co.uk

EdenArc - the new development in Arc1800

Ski Property With the Imagination of Edwin Lutyens!!!

Our little secret is out… The New York Times and International Herald Tribune have spotted one of our most exclusive property opportunities. It’s a wonderful article…have a read!

The spectacular Ferme du Lavay

Snow place like home… Selling ski apartments in Arc 1950

Bethan Stacey, our newest recruit, is lucky enough to be running the Erna Low Property office in one of our favourite resorts: Arc 1950.

Time for a word from the Erna Low property office in Arc 1950…  Alice (the boss!) and I had a beautiful afternoon’s skiing yesterday with her parents, who have just arrived for a short stay in the Village, very much in time for the beautiful weather – the last few days have been gorgeous with cold temperatures keeping the snow in a good condition and blue skies all day (how skiing should be really!).   The other good thing to note is how few people there are on the slopes right now!  If anyone has the choice to come when it’s lower season, not being restricted by school timetables, then I think that there is no better time than now for a ski holiday to Arc 1950 - the snow is guaranteed to be great and queues for ski-lifts non-existent.

Alice and Charles on the slopes of Les Arcs

So yesterday was just a quick jaunt as we needed to be back in the office for the end of the afternoon.  To keep the sun with us we popped over to Arc 1800 side of the resort to do a quick run down to the brand new Arpette chairlift.  Anyone having skied around Les Arcs in previous years will appreciate how this much speeded-up, larger chairlift can make a huge difference to your skiing day; it having been one of the ‘lifts to avoid’ despite being quite an important liaison lifts between Arc 1800 and Arc 2000.  But, hurrah! – one lift further away from a bum-numbing, wind whipped 20 mins being an obligatory part of the day! 
We then decided to head to the Peisey Vallandry ski area : a favourite part of the Paradiski domain thanks to its fantastically large, beautiful, tree-lined slopes .  Amazingly, to get all the way to the village of Vallandry from Arc 1950, it takes only one lift and then you’re skiing non-stop for several pistes, taking in blues, reds or forest runs, as you fancy.  Quick ‘shot’ of coffee at the bottom of the slopes and then it was back over to Arc 1950 to do some work, this time taking one chairlift and then the Transarc from Arc 1800 all the way to the top of the Arc 2000 slopes.
Bit less skiing involved in the office today (!) but tomorrow should be interesting as Alice and I are heading off to the Southern Alps to see property for sale in Serre Chevalier, where we have a property project, and Les Deux Alpes, another ski property spot.
So far so good then in my new role as Property Sales Assistant with Erna Low Property– getting to see plenty of the Alps, finding out more about ski property for sale,  and getting plenty of skiing in (of course!).
Until next time,
Bethan

Arc 1950 before Mont Blanc

Getting the family started in Les Arcs!

Louise Povah, our longest running seasonnaire and resident yummy mummy of Les Arcs, reports on life in the bustling resort…

We are back for our seventh season in Les Arcs and so far it looks like it’s going to be a great one.   Cold weather and lots of snow mean that the mountains are looking beautiful blanketed in snow and the skiing is fantastic. 
The recent snowy weather meant that tree skiing was the best option and best visibility with some great runs winding down like a roller coaster through the tightly wooded areas of Vallandry.   My Mum, who prefers the gentler slopes, loved the Foret run which is a relaxing blue cruise from the top of the Grizzly chair all the way down into Vallandry.
This year, we are here with our 2 small sons, Luka and Oliver.  Luka is two and a half and had his first go at skiing the other day.  It was a great success and he keeps asking to put on his ski boots.  There is an excellent children’s area in Arc 1800 (free of charge) with a magic carpet to get the children up the small slope – I think that is the main attraction for the little ones. 

Little Luka makes his way around Arc 1800

I spent yesterday afternoon in the picturesque mountain village of Arc 1950, organising discounts for our Erna Low clients in the village shops, bars and restaurants.   It is one of our most popular destinations for ski holidays and also a great place to buy a ski property.  The village is always alive with street entertainment, people skiing through and no cars to get in the way.  Yesterday there was a torchlit descent and food stall for the Orthodox Christmas. 
There is more snow forecast for tomorrow so it should be another great week in the mountains! 

Daddy struggles to keep up as little Luka hits the slopes of Arc 1800

It’s SHOW time! Erna Low at the Metro Ski and Snowboard Show…

The aftermath of the Metro Ski and Snowboard Show, Sappho gives her account of her busiest week of the year…

What a week it was! Acrobatic ski jumps, a fashion show, an ice rink, comedy club even real snow for the kids to play in… it was all go last week as Erna Low descended to the Metro Ski and Snowboard Show at London’s Olympia.
As always, the show proved the best way to kick start the season and we enjoyed seeing so many familiar faces on the stand as well as all at all the parties that accompany the show.

Olympia goes all out for the Ski Show

Wednesday 20th was opening day and we all got the impression that the show was much busier than usual (we put this down to the £5 tickets!). In addition to seeing all our favourite journalists and industry partners, many visitors dropped by to see what we have on offer for this winter. That evening we trotted down to the Putney Rowing Club for the Ski Club of Great Britain’s annual industry party which is always an event not to be missed, especially when it involves sipping bubbly with views over the river. Thank you all at Ski Club for keeping us so well hydrated! Thursday is always the personal highlight for the team when the entire Erna Low contingent descends on our stand for the client ‘Meet the Staff’ event. It was fantastic to see so many of you there and do hope you thoroughly enjoyed yourselves as much as we did. We sipped wine with you and toasted a great season ahead well into the night…let’s just say that I’m not sure we were all mentally ‘here’ the next day!

Erna Low's Emma, Jess and Victoria enjoying the show

Parties continued with the Snowbombing party on Friday night and we all enjoyed revisiting our student/seasonnaire roots at the Natives launch of their Show Love Tour at the imperial student union in South Kensington.
The rest of the show proved very successful with many visitors dropping by the stand to enquire about ski holidays as well as ski property for sale through sister company Erna Low Property.
Can’t wait to do it all again next year!

Sappho, PR/Marketing Manager at Erna Low

WitwooFlybaboo! France Ski Flights Just Got Easier via Oxford-Geneva!!

Can’t believe  we can avoid Gatwick this winter and fly from Oxford to Geneva.  I AM ON CLOUD NINE! Someone pinch me!!! 

Flight operator, Flybaboo, has just announced that they will operate a twice daily flight from Oxford Airport to Geneva from 19 December 2009 until 13 March 2010.  Flights will leave Oxford at 12.20 and 14.05 (so civil … no battling the Oxford ring road rush hour)! Flybaboo says if there is enough demand, they’ll extend the route through Easter which falls between 2-5 April next year.

For those of us who live in Oxfordshire and the surrounding areas, this news will transform our ski holidays.   Between the cost of a car to London airports or the slog of taking a bus (with skis anyone?) and the simplicity of checking in at a smaller airport , the time saved and the hassle avoided is an early Christmas present. 

Watch Flybaboo’s flight finder in the next week or so for the newly announced Oxford-Geneva route!   Then match it with one of our many nearby destinations in France or Switzerland.   Witwoooooooooo Flybaboo!!!

Paradise — Mauritius style

Just back from action packed 68 hours in Mauritius – hurrying around fabulous developments and brainstorming real estate on this beautiful island with a team of experts from Mauritius, South Africa, France and the UK.  We visited one of our newest sites as soon as we arrived – perched above the untouched village of Chamouny on Mont Blanc.   (Who says Erna Low only deals with ski holidays and ski property?) 

Coincidence as it happens!  Our developers, Steve and John, managed to find a ‘mountain’ on Mauritius for our beautiful gem of a development – Emerald Heights - though no ski slopes – even though rumour has it that a ski lift may be built to get up it!   The resort site is now under construction.  Our first phase of 29 units – from one bedroom apartments to 5 bedroom villas all overlook the panoramic ocean. 

Before I left, I sat on a pick-up truck, imagining the finished resort, and looked out to sea – on my left stretched out in front of me was a storm at sea, in the middle a perfect rainbow, and on my right blazing sun. Where else but a tropical island!

Joanna