If you have to ask, you can't afford it...

You know Europeans use a full stop instead of a comma to separate their hundreds from their thousands? Well they do, so when I saw the price of renting the Chalet Brickell in Megève was

listed as €100.000 per week I naturally thought the silly-billies had made a mistake with their punctuation – probably too much to hope for it being €100 rounded to three decimal places,

hell of a deal at €1,000. But no, no mistake, ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND EUROS PER WEEK. FOR A CHALET. Nearly had a stroke. Since the only people with enough money to stay here would probably be

throwing the TVs out of the window and setting fire to their guitars, or the living room, or themselves, it seems a bit redundant to talk about the interior design, but that’s what you’re

here for, so we must. To be fair, it’s an exceptionally nice chalet, the most opulent chalet you could wish to see. Marble floors, rustic exposed beams, lovely boarded ceilings, and a couple

of polar bears who look like they might have had too much snow the night before. The whole front is glazed to maximise the view, but fear not, there are huge curtains that can be drawn

across for privacy, and besides, paparazzi will be kept at bay by the concierge, or the majordomo, or the housekeeper, or the chef. He’s probably a former Navy Seal. In fact it’s probably

Steven Seagal for that money. There’s also an indoor pool, drive-in underground garage, oh, and a nightclub. And, it maybe worth mentioning that you can take 17 others with you, which – if

you’re familiar with this rather extravagant part of the world – puts the chalet’s nightly price per person on par with some of the area’s top hotels – and you certainly get more bang for

your buck. So, if you’ve got a group of mates with equally deep pockets, and fancy masquerading as James Bond for a week in the Alps; Chalet Brickell is the place for you. _Photography,

Gilles Pernet_