So you think Val d’Isère is expensive. You’re probably right. Prices here make even the richest man double take at his bill at the end of the night. God forbid you get in such a mess that you only have the dreaded credit card receipt the next morning to tell you exactly how much you spent; but this is France and, to be honest, we’re actually on a par around here with the rest of the country.
The cost of a pint in Val can vary from around 4 to 7 Euros depending on where you favour as a drinking spot. There are various Happy Hours to take away the pain of handing over four quid for a drink, but those prices represent the normal cost of a drink around here.
We accept the prices because we have nowhere else to go, but you’d be hard pressed to find anything cheaper in other parts of France. If you like beer, then get used to digging deep into your pockets and handing over your spare change to the apologetic bar man.
So why is it so much more expensive? If you thought your taxes in the UK were bad, then you definitely shouldn’t be living in France. Like Scandinavia, the taxes are significantly higher and levied in a different way to the UK. Take a glance at your pay slip if you work under a French system and look at how much money you’re giving them in addition to all the other taxes that you pay when you purchase anything.
Beer and alcohol, as with everywhere, is highly taxed. It’s all in an effort to dissuade us from drinking the stuff but naturally we still do. When you hand over your 5 Euro you are largely paying the tax man. It’s not just the bar manager being a greedy sod.
You will struggle to find a cheap drink this side of the Channel. There isn’t a Wetherspoons here so you won’t be paying 99p for a bottle of Becks anytime soon. There is also a law which prevents chains from buying up property up here in the mountains, hence why Val doesn’t have a Starbucks on every corner and a few Burger Kings thrown in for good measure.While you won’t be paying a pound for a pint any time before you return home in May, you can be intelligent about where and when you drink.
Bars want your business and will quite happily put on a good Happy Hour to ensure you get a beverage for après. You won’t quite be paying knock down rates but it is possible to get a sub €4 pint in this town if you time it right.
Comparison with prices elsewhere? Biarritz isn’t exactly knocking itself over to make drinking cheaper and the rest of the south of France isn’t going to be a good bet either. As for Paris, the best of British finding anything sub €5. A ski resort has a drinking culture and Happy Hour just seems to be part of the lifestyle. Not so much in Paris where everyone is far too cool to actually admit that they drink beer. Parisiens live on cigarettes and air. Surely everyone knows that!
You may also want to consider the effect of fiscal belt-tightening on the bars’ bottom lines to practically give drinks away. Some bars in town have halved their staff for the year in order to save the pennies, so it’s not going to pay their wages to be giving away beer at less than they bought it for. We’re all trying to get by, and if your best mate works in a bar then think of it as a way to get some money in their pockets every time you buy a drink.
It is difficult to get your head round it being so expensive, especially if you’re from the UK, particularly from the North of the UK where they are almost paying YOU to drink. Pound a pint nights are very common for the Brits but more of a rarity for our continental counterparts.
So yes, beer is expensive and we all complain about it, but you still chose to come out here and we all seem to have a good time anyway. Accept that you are living the life of a pauper in France and paying out of your ears for everything. It’s not the bars being greedy we promise you, and we’ll buy you a drink at Wetherspoons in the UK if you can prove us wrong!
Tags: S5E14
