We have had 4 weeks of perfect guests. One week we only had 4!
Phil and Claire, good school friends of mine, came out for a week which was really nice. They were initially going to try and find a different operator to stay with, And meet us out on the slopes. Sainte Foy being what it is (Quite a well-to-do, "oh yaa darling" type resort) meant that our chalet turned out being the cheapest and they succumbed to staying with us!
Kerry changed her rental board for some ski's so she could whizz around the mountain with us all and we had some brilliant weather.The beginning of the week was a little sparse on the fresh stuff so Phil and I plucked up the courage to try some daring traverses. Real 20p - 50p stuff! But were rewarded with some lovely lines.
Then the heavens opened and we got a couple of feet of snow at the top! Another long traverse, known as Crystal Dark, later and another powder run to the piste.
All of the guests kindly banded together and bought Kerry and I a lovely steak at La Bergerie restaurant on the Wednesday night.
We even stuck a GoPro attachment to Phil's helmet so there should be some awesome footage of me in the next video! I jumped in to a particular tree run I love. However when I rode it this time I'd had a 9% Duvel (beer) and the snow was... sparse to say the least. I was clattering in to branches, climbing out of tree wells and then jumping down bare earth until I plopped out the other side, a little battered but ok.Kerry celebrated her Birthday on the 25th March and we had some awesome guests to go with it. The two kids, 6 and 9, were adamant that EVERY single birthday decoration should be put up. There were balloons and sprinkle bits everywhere as well as two hand made cards.
Now that it's full up however, Kerry will be able to change out any old charms out for new ones I buy. Even though she'd adamant on another bracelet!
I was able to meet up with the maintenance guy from another chalet company for an afternoons riding. We did an off piste run called the Col de Granier which runs from the top of the resort on the North face of the mountain down to a small stream and then down to the village at the bottom of the mountain.
The powder here was beautiful. There had been hardly anyone down it and because it gets very little sun the snow was top quality.The whole thing took about an hour and we had to walk the last few hundred meters as the snow had melted lower down. I was knackered! All that fluffy stuff had tired me out and the pint in the pub at the end was well earnt!
I actually felt rather sick after. Then when I got back to Kerry she reminded me I hadn't eaten since breakfast and had ridden all day!
All in all it's been a brilliant season. I wouldn't change it for the world. And while I was very skeptical of the small resort we were placed in I'm glad we were now. Our boarding and Kerry's skiing has come on leaps and bounds and we have been on the slopes nearly every day. This is no doubt because we haven't been hitting the sauce every night like other resorts. We cannot imagine skiing in a big resort! Who wants to queue on holiday? I want to Snowboard!
Chalet clean down, linen returns, oven blitzing and general admin stuff to do this week. Then over to Tignes for 3 days to help out with a different chalet and finally a flight back to blighty on Sunday.... While I love the snow, I'm now itching to get in the van and to get some heat!
We have enjoyed the blogs, thanks for them. Pleased that you have had a such good time over there. Have a safe journey home. Hear from you later. Maybe see you in France! Luv G & G
ReplyDeleteWell done, you've done brilliant in the North, freezing, cold mountains now....... you can really enjoy yourselves in the warm, Southern climes. I'll be joining you and hopefully for more than a week. Still, curry all sorted for when you get back to blighty. Batteries are fully charged.
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