I have been fortunate to ski since I was a child all over Europe; in small 'off the beaten track' resorts in Austria, in Switzerland, but mainly in the larger and rather obvious French resorts of Val d'Isere and the 3 vallees. My parents moved to the South of France about 7 years ago and being the Geographer that I am, I would spend my days looking at maps of the local area and would eventually discover a host of resorts in "Southern Alps" or Alpes Maritimes as they are known down here. To quote the other review here, not only had I never heard of Auron, I never even knew that you could ski this far south.

My wife to be and I set off one late autumn morning from the mild climes of the Var, in search of some potential ski resorts and a few days away in the mountains. As we drove north from Nice we called in at Isola with its modern highway taking us up to 2000m. As you drive up, it appears a pretty inaccessible place and I imagine that before the purpose built resort was developed there would have been nothing there. In the summer (even early November) you can drive up the dirt track to the Col (I can't remember its name) and admire the views over into Italy. But, for us, Isloa seemed void of charm and so we headed off.

Next on our list was Auron, a short hop up the valley. We arrived at dusk to a quiet, small but traditional Alpine village nestled into the side of the valley. This would suit us pretty well we thought. We cagily stuck our noses into one or two hotels and settled on one at the top of the square. We enjoyed a very good raclette for dinner across the road, which was very good value by general resort standards, and headed back to the bar in our hotel for a few drinks after, mainly because that was where all the noise was coming from. My fiancee has been spoiled on the best and biggest ski resorts in Europe and wasn't convinced. Not big enough. Won't be enough runs, no nightclubs. But I was determined to come back.

So we did; last year in March. By all accounts way too late to be skiing down here. "March in Auron", the locals would say, "take your sun lounger". We sort of guessed this, but also knew that it was unseasonably wet with Mum and Dad and that meant that snow would still be falling. Auron and Isola had also had more than its fair share all winter. We had an amazing four days. Plenty of easy stuff and enough reds and blacks for the more competent. For those with experience you will ski this resort out in a few days, but there is plenty to go at and above all it is empty. The Nice'oise come up for the weekends and you can, apparently, have to queue; whilst the school kids get a half day on Wednesday and the place is awash with little tiddlers bombing around the place. But other than that we had the run of the place to ourselves. Blistering weather, skiing in t-shirts all week, though the air temperature was cold enough to hold the pistes together for most of the day. After lunch, it got a bit slushy further down, but we soon worked out that there are some good north facing runs in front and to the left of the village and a whole lot more over the back. All the off-piste was baked hard - so we were confined to the motorways, but they were beautifully kept.

We opted for a different hotel to one we had previously stayed in and if I had a criticism, it might be the accommodation. The hotel we stayed in on our reconnaissance trip had undergone something of a facelift and was now the place to be seen in the town (again I can't remember its name, but we might stay there the next time we visit). Our hotel included an €8 breakfast supplement, which seemed extravagant for a croissant and a chocolat-chaud, so we ended up buying a couple of croissants form the boulangerie in the square and enjoyed them with a chocolat-chaud on the terrace of the hotel at the top of the square again. They didn't seem to mind and the blond girl in tight jeans serving us seemed happy to see us.

If you are looking for Val d'Iere - then you should head there. But if you are looking for something a little different, a bit of old fashioned charm, a decent steak-frites on the mountain and somewhere to come with a young family of some friends for a few days - try Auron. I loved it. The misses liked it - one day I'll get her to see it like I do. Next time we would go in January or February.