Pas the turkey please! (Pas de la Casa)

Member Name: MurphEE

Product:	Pas de la Casa
Date:	04/01/02 (1671 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Snow, Tax Free Shopping

Disadvantages: Falling over.

You know how it is at Christmas. Will we go to your parents or mine? Will we have everyone around to our house or have a nice quiet time on our own? This year we decided to give all the relatives the brush off and head for the snow. We wanted to be guaranteed a proper festive scene but where to go?

At this time of year everywhere with any sort of decent snowfall and a bit of an incline becomes a ski resort. We had no real passion for the idea of sliding down a mountain with two narrow strips of mdf strapped to our feet but what the hell, we decided that we would give it a try.

A quick look on the net revealed an excellent website. SkiMcNeill.com provides holidays and insurance as well as loads of info on your prospective destination. After a little look around we went for seven nights half board in Pas de la Casa, Andorra. We spoke to a very nice lady in Belfast called Susan who gave us even more information on the place and added some very useful hints, more of which later.

We flew with Monarch airlines and were delayed while the plane took on water. As it turned out the water truck had frozen and we had only one toilet on the plane for all 235 people but as luck would have it there was also no water for the tea and coffee so the number of people needing the facilities was greatly reduced! The flight was smooth and took almost two hours to Toulouse airport.

On leaving the plane we were bombarded with package holiday reps, they were everywhere. A number of flights had arrived at the same time and there were various companies on hand to pick up their customers and spirit them away to the waiting coaches. We were with a company called Panorama and they herded all of us onto the coaches and had us on the move within the hour. You really have to see this operation to believe it. People emerge from the baggage reclaim area dazed and confused. They are pounced upon by young reps clad in coloured ski jackets and whisked away to the coac
hes. Anyone who has ever seen “One man and his dog” will be familiar with the type of thing I am trying to describe.

Once safely aboard our coaches we set off into the early French morning to head for our final destination of Pas de la Casa. The journey takes nearly three hours including one stop of around fifteen minutes. The French scenery is bland until you reach the base of the Pyrenees when everything begins to look up, in more ways than one. Pas, as the locals know it, lies just inside the border and is the first town you encounter when entering Andorra from this direction. It is a nice little place nestled into the side of the mountain with the main ski lift located right in the centre of town. The hotels are arranged around this central location making the journey to and from the piste a doddle even for those unaccustomed to the wearing of ski boots.

For most of the coach journey to Pas we were reminded by our rep of the need for getting our ski gear as soon as possible. He was adamant on this and returned to the subject several times. We had not pre-booked any equipment or lessons as Susan at SkiMcNeil had told us there were better deals to be had in the resort. Being of a suspicious nature I was wary of the hard sell approach being used by the rep. As soon had we had settled in our hotel we made our way to the Panorama ski centre to enquire about the packages on offer.

Now if you are a skier you may be used to paying for equipment hire and understand all of the jargon and deals available. We were new to all this and found some of the ideas a little strange. The package offered by Panorama for the beginner offered all the equipment, 15 hours of lessons and a one week lift pass for just under 250 EUR. This sounded reasonable but the only problem was that ski school began at 10 am every morning. This was not my idea of a relaxing Christmas break so we enquired as to the possibility of maybe having one or two lessons and
only skiing for a couple of days. We were told that this was impossible. It was all or nothing with Panorama and the rep informed us that there was no possibility of finding another company to supply what we were looking for.

We were a little disappointed but not unduly so as we had never set out with skiing in mind. So we set out to enjoy the delights of Pas. We stayed at the Hotel Camelot, which is a pretty basic establishment. Our room was comfortable and warm and there was always hot water and clean towels available. The food was buffet style for both breakfast and dinner and we found the choice to be plain but very edible. They do very good ordinary food and you can see that they are geared to the hungry skier who has been exerting him or herself on the slopes all day. All in all we had no complaints about the hotel. If you want to have a relaxing drink there is another hotel just around the corner, which sports a lovely bar with sofas for relaxing. We spent many afternoons and evenings there and really enjoyed the friendly atmosphere. The Himalaya is the name you are looking for.

Pas has the usual bars and cafes but only very basic restaurant dining. Do not go here expecting gastronomic delights, it is just not that sort of place. The shops are all duty free as is the whole of Andorra and there are bargains to be found on sportswear, electrical goods, wine and spirits. Chocolate is very expensive so bring lots of cash if you enjoy the odd KitKat with your coffee. The bus leaves from the centre of town. The stop is located just outside the church. From here you can visit the other resorts of Slodeau, Encamp and Cannillo or travel on to the capital, Andorra la vella.

The capital is just a bigger version of the resorts but you will find larger stores and a wider range of goods on sale. The journey costs 4.50 EUR one-way and takes about fifty minutes. The one place you have to visit is the Caldea spa. For 23 EUR you get three hours of re
laxation. The whole place is a giant bathtub with every water based relaxation method available. There is a huge lagoon, which has an indoor and outdoor section, jacuzzi and hot tub sections. Steam bath, roman bath and sauna as well as a UV light relaxation area. The experience of lying in an outdoor lagoon with warm bubbles caressing your tired limbs while looking at the mountains is fantastic. Three hours will fly as you unwind and you will leave feeling great if a little crinkly.

Anyway back to the skiing. Pas has lots of slopes catering for the beginner all the way up to the experienced skier. The snow was good the week that we were there and we heard no complaints from the various levels of skier that were in our party. As I have said the piste comes right down into the town so all of the facilities are easy to reach. Undaunted by our earlier experience and having investigated the situation we discovered that it is indeed possible to have a freelance skiing experience in Pas. At the central lift area there is an information desk, which can tailor tuition to the level and time constraints of each individual. You can hire equipment from any of the shops in town and we found one right beside the nursery slopes, which meant that we had the minimum distance to travel to get to the snow. Five to seven Euro gets you your equipment for the day while individual or group lessons are available at a similar cost. There are no charges for the nursery slopes so it is possible to enjoy a days skiing for less than 20 Euro or half the price charged by Panorama. My advice is to shop around when you get there rather than rushing into the packages offered by the holiday companies.

Overall Andorra is a charming country with great snow and scenery. Food is cheap and there are lots of holiday bargains to be found. We really enjoyed our stay and would go back again if we ever fancy another turn on the piste.

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