Brides Les Bains Offers Enticements

Brides les Bains, the traditional small town resort below Méribel in the 3 Valleys has come up with a number of special enticements to attract skiers and boarders to stay there rather than slopeside up in the mountains.

By taking the Olympe gondola lift – which was built for the Albertville Olympics 20 years ago – from Brides-les-Bains, skiers arrive at the foot of the slopes in Méribel, from where they have immediate access to 150kms of ski runs in the Meribel Valley alone and of course 600km in the full 3 Valleys.

Beginners will love the gentle slopes of la Chaudanne, whilst freestylers will enjoy the Moon Park with its many jumps and terrain features. Then at the end of the day there’s a long ski run back to les Allues for a shorter ride back down to Brides-les-Bains.

The downside is that Brides-les-Bains is not ‘slopeside’ like Meribel or the other altitude resorts so it is working hard to offer inducements to those who don’t mind the long gondola ride up and down if there are other benefits.
Perhaps the biggest one is price:

“Brides-les-Bains title of leading ski resort for low cost skiing is confirmed by offering accommodation prices that are up to 50% lower than those found in high altitude resorts.” Says a resort statement, which continues,

“But in Brides, low cost doesn’t mean low quality. The majority of the hotels and apartment residences offer spacious bedrooms, as well as well-being facilities such as spas, Jacuzzis and swimming pools…so that you can get the utmost out of your stay.”

There are some practical benefits too. Every morning, breakfast is available for free in the Olympe gondola so you can enjoy a cup of coffee or a hot chocolate to gently ease you into the day.

In addition Wednesdays are the day when there are extra low prices in the shops, bars and restaurants around the resort and on Mondays new arrivals in Brides can enjoy a friendly welcome to get their stay off on the right foot, with music and mulled wine.

20 Arrested in NYC for Trafficking Eastern European and Russian Woman

Twenty people were arrested Wednesday in connection to trafficking Eastern European and Russian Woman in New York City.

Russian Woman were allegedly forced to dance at strip clubs and marry men in Binghamton, N.Y.  The defendants are accused of getting fake visas and work permits for the women.

Those accused include five Queens residents and three Brooklyn residents.

The defendants face charges for marriage and visa fraud, racketeering, harboring illegal immigrants, as well as, extortion and transporting illegal immigrants.

The Cheetah Club in Midtown, Gallagher’s in Long Island City and the Rouge Adult Club in Maspeth, Queens were involved with bringing Eastern European women to the U.S. illegally for marriage fraud, according to officials.

“Today’s arrests brings to an end a 10-year criminal enterprise operated by colluding organized crime entities that profited wildly through a combination of extortion, visa fraud and the threat of violence,” immigration special agent James Hayes said. “As alleged, the defendants controlled their business and protected their turf through intimidation, violence and threats of physical and economic harm. Today, that business model has been extinguished.”

Victoria’s Secret Sexy Angel reveals her open secret

Russian runway siren, green-eyed supermodel Anne V has had to abstain from her fave food – fruit – entirely, to get her washboard stomach ready for the latest Victoria’s Secret fashion show in New York.

­The strict diet lasted three weeks, but the result proved mind-blowing.

The leggy blonde beauty showed off not only a flat stomach to die for, but also her fun-loving boyfriend Adam Levine, frontman and guitarist for the pop rock band Maroon 5.

The American singer and his “Russian angel” took the stage by storm as Levine performed Moves Like Jagger live, while the seductive models unveiled tiny Victoria’s Secret pieces on the catwalk.

In fact, Levine recently owned up that he is a big fan of nudity. The latest Russian edition of Vogue features Levine and his sexy girlfriend posing stark naked.

25-year-old Anne Vyalitsina, known simply as Anne V, recently appeared in several videos for Maroon 5, including Misery and Never Gonna Leave This Bed. She met her charismatic beau last year, when the band performed at the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition release party.

The bombshell made her name as one of the most sought-after Russian models, known for causing a splash in her appearances in the popular Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.

Russian Brides having a ball in UK

Russian brides supermodel Natalia Vodianova has earned herself a place on a list of the most stylish Brits.

“Harpers Bazaar” magazine listed the 29-year-old Russian as Britain’s 12th best-dressed woman of 2011.

Russian brides Vodianova lives and works predominantly in the UK, hence her qualifying for the list.

The magazine says she is defined by her combination of innocence and sex appeal.

Number one on the list was Kate Middleton, followed by Florence Welch of “Florence and the Machine” and up-and-coming actress Andrea Riseborough.

Dubbed the “Russian Cinderella” by the media, Natalya Vodianova is widely known for her “rags-to-riches” story. Brought up in an extremely poor family with a disabled sister, Vodianova enrolled in a modeling academy at the age of 15 and has gradually become one of the world’s highest paid and most successful supermodels.

Russia’s powerful contingent of Russian girls made their mark in 2004 by winning three of four Grand Slam tournaments. Add another Russian first after Monday’s round of 16.

For the first time in the Open era (since 1968), four Russian girls have advanced to the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament. Fourth-round winners included second seed and defending champ Russian girls Maria Sharapova, No. 5 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, No. 8 seed Nadia Petrova and No. 9 seed Anastasia Myskina.

All but Russian girls Petrova won majors last year: Sharapova at Wimbledon, Myskina at the French Open and Kuznetsova at the U.S. Open. It’s the fifth time in the last six majors that at least three of the eight quarterfinalists hailed from the former Soviet Union. With Sharapova and Petrova facing off in the next round, as many as three could reach the semifinals, which would be another first.

Fashion statement: Venus Williams, no stranger to fashion, is big on scarves. The 14th-seeded American strode into her news conference after beating compatriot Jill Craybas 6-0, 6-2 with a colorful wrap around her head that dangled down to her waist.

“I love scarves mostly because I don’t like to comb my hair that much,” explained the 25-year-old American, who joked her Medusa-like curls could “turn you all to stone right now.”

“My hair is kind of hard to comb, it’s so curly and crazy. Other than that, I’m just a scarf collector. This is my longest one.”

Williams couldn’t say how many were in her collection. That’s because her sisters are always making off with her favorites.

“I had four scarves lifted that I just bought,” she said, “so now I have to change the location because I always have some really nice ones.”

More Martina: Martina Navratilova is in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, in doubles. The nine-time Wimbledon singles champion advanced to the final eight Monday when she and partner Anna-Lena Groenefeld beat Shinobu Asagoe and Katarina Srebotnik 6-3, 6-3. Navratilova, who has 31 Grand Slam doubles titles to go along with 18 in singles and nine in mixed doubles, will face Vera Douchevina and Shahar Peer.

Criminal gang recruiting Russian women for strip clubs busted in U.S.

U.S. federal agents arrested on Thursday 20 members of a criminal gang that allegedly smuggled women from Russia and Eastern Europe to work at local strip clubs, the New York Post said, quoting prosecutors.

Charges brought against the suspected criminals include visa fraud, marriage fraud and conspiracy to transport illegal immigrants, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara was quoted as saying.

The criminal gang is believed to have provided women to owners and operators of strip clubs in Queens and Long Island, and then charged the clubs “protection” money, the report said.

“The defendants procured and sent these women false job offers for waitressing and other positions they would then include on their visa applications,” federal prosecutors were quoted as saying in a statement. “However, once the women arrived in the U.S., they worked as exotic dancers at the strip clubs, in violation of visa rules prohibiting employment in the adult entertainment industry.”

The suspected criminals are expected to appear in court later in the day.

U.S. Busts Ring That Forced Russian Women Into Strip Clubs

U.S. authorities say they have broken up a Mafia-related operation that lured Russian women  and other Eastern European countries and forced them to work as dancers at New York City strip clubs.

Authorities said 20 men were charged on November 30 in connection with the bust, including seven purported members of organized crime groups.

U.S. prosecutors said members of the Gambino and Bonnano organized crime families were among those detained.

Prosecutors say the arrests are aimed at shutting down an operation that recruited women in Russia and other European countries and arranged for many of them to enter into sham marriages with U.S. citizens so they could stay in America and work as exotic dancers at adult entertainment clubs.

U.S. Homeland Security Department official James Hayes said the arrests “bring to an end a long-standing criminal enterprise operated by colluding organized crime entities that profited wildly through a combination of extortion and fraud.”

He said the defendants used intimidation and threats of physical and economic harm to implement their scheme.

The 2006 Curling European Champions, the Russian women’s team, will be looking to repeat their success as Moscow hosts the prestigious event for the first time.

­The European Curling Championships gets underway in Moscow on Saturday, with the Russian women’s team considered among the favorites.

“There will be a lot of their friends and relatives among the crowd supporting,” Olga Andriyanova, Russia’s coach, told RT. “And who knows how that will affect their performance. I believe, they will manage to handle that emotional pressure and fulfill our task.  We want to win, and we are ready to make this come true.”

“I have always tried to do more than just coach to them. I’ve been guiding them, bringing them up. And I am very pleased with the way they are now. They have grown up, become wiser. Their talent and skills are now backed up with vast experience. Now they have patience and mental stability which is extremely important in curling,” she added.

Russia’s skip at two winter Olympics, Russian women’s Lyudmia Privivkova, is one of the most experienced members of the team.

Officially ranked among the most beautiful athletes at the Vancouver Games, the 25-year old believes, home walls will inspire the team.

“We will compete on home ice and this is extra responsibility for us,” she said. “All eyes will be on our team. Fans will be supporting us and we will be giving our all to make them happy, along with our coaches and management. Plus the popularity of the sport in Russia is a function of our success.  So there’s definitely some pressure on us.”

“On the other hand, we believe that home walls will help us. ًMost often we perform away, with our opponents getting cheered on by their supporters. We’ve been missing that feeling. That’s why we’re looking forward to playing at home,” Privivkova added.

Kira Ezekh has gone through three Olympics and is looking at the upcoming event with confident anticipation.

“Responsibility, pressure – there’s nothing wrong with that,” she said. “In return everything will be so familiar to us. Russian native speakers all around. Support. That will be great!”

Meanwhile, the team’s new skip, Anna Sidorova, has just taken the leading role this year.

“Yes, I’ve become the new skip of our team, but I’m far from being obsessed with it,” she stressed. “I just play. It’s my job and it’s my life. It doesn’t matter much for me which position I play in. I just want to give my best for the team’s performance.”

Regardless of the result in Moscow, the girls from the curling team are one of Russia’s biggest hopes in winter sport at any event and they deserve to be in the spotlight, especially, in their homeland.