Back To Blighty

Hello,

Well first of all we hope everyone has had a good Christmas and not over indulged on the brussel sprouts!!

 

So after making our decision to head home to be with Dad we booked a table at Le Martagon for our last night and as always enjoyed a beautiful meal, it was another very emotional evening as Francoise & Marc were very sad to see us go under the circumstances and both wished us a safe journey.   We thanked them for everything and said that we hoped to see them during the 2015 season.

Our overnight stop at a small campsite just outside Troyes was a 366 mile drive, more miles than we were used to driving and to be honest it felt like it too as even though we decided to use the toll roads it was a long slog and for the last hour or so it was dark and tipping down with rain but we arrived safely and got set up.  In the morning and in daylight we were pleasantly surprised at the lovely little campsite, funny how you stumble across these places sometimes, it’s one to remember if you want a nice stop over between Calais and the Alps or even for a long weekend as it’s only 250 miles from Calais.   We didn’t realise but that area is in the Great Lakes region of France and also home to the Orient Forests so a great area to explore and as we left we caught a glimpse of a huge lake opposite the campsite and also many signs for cycle trails so it’s somewhere that we will probably go and visit for a long weekend at some point in the future. 

The campsite was really well maintained with lovely trimmed hedges between the pitches but we didn’t get chance to take any photos as we were up and away early but we did take a quick snap of the van on the large pitch. 



 



Calais was now just a 250 mile drive so more manageable but it seemed like a lifetime, maybe because we were again using the toll roads which are just really boring and not very scenic at all.  We couldn’t believe the amount of cars with roof boxes, skis & snowboards on the roof (mainly British) whizzing along the other carriageway rushing towards the Alps for Christmas in the snow - we just looked at each other and thought there’s gonna be quite a few disappointed people as the snow situation in most of the resorts was pretty dire with a severe lack of snow, and that’s just the people driving there let alone the people flying and arriving by train.  We saw on Sky News later that day that it was the worst start to the season for 25 years with only 40 of 200 resorts open or partially open so I guess things happen for a reason and had we still been there for Christmas week it would have been back on with the walking boots that we had hung up!!!

When we finally arrived at Calais we joined the back of a huge queue which was even starting to tail back up onto the the motorway and the local Gendarme were doing a bit of traffic control.  We joined the queue and realised that we weren’t going to make our booked train but there was nothing we could do - we did laugh as we said that it was the first traffic jam that we had sat in all year and it was unusual for France but then I said to Julie, what do you expect, the Eurotunnel is connected to England after all!!

 

 

Just before we reached the check-in booths they decided to start herding everyone off and back round onto the motorway into a holding car park.  We were obviously very anxious and wanted to just get on a train as soon as possible as we were then heading to Dave & Brenda’s and then straight to the hospital to see Dad.  Julie jumped out and had a word with a couple of the young girls with fluorescent vests on directing the traffic but they weren’t at all helpful and said we needed to speak to a chap further along so when we reached him we explained our situation and he radioed through and then moved his cones to let us through which was a relief as I am sure we would have been sat in the holding car park for hours.  We checked-in and headed through customs and then straight onto a train which was great as it was only half an hour later than our scheduled train.  We asked the chap on the train what the problem had been and he said that there had been a security alert as the bomb squad had picked up signs of explosives which later came to nothing but in the meanwhile everything had been shut down and caused a huge backlog.

 

 

It seemed really strange when we left the train and headed onto the M20 passing the “Kent, Garden of England” sign as we drove the final leg of our amazing journey towards Dave & Brenda’s.  We arrived just before it got dark to a lovely re-union and a quick cup of tea before heading off to the hospital to see Dad.  Brenda kindly leant Julie her car as we had no other transport except for the motorhome or XT until I sorted our my VW T5 van which has been tucked up on our driveway for a year too.  It was a bit of a baptism of fire for Julie who hadn’t driven for a year, driven in the dark, usually drives manual not automatic and then had to drive to South East London so it was a quick run through of the controls from Dave and then off we went, she soon got the hang of it!!  Thanks to Brenda for the use of her car, I think Julie will find it hard to swap it for the cheap run around we are going to buy soon!! 

 

 

Millie our cat who Dave & Brenda adopted while we we have been away was also really pleased to see us, we thought she would have forgotten all about us but it’s amazing as as soon as she heard our voices she rushed over and proceeded to rub all around us meowing and crying like a baby. 

 

We didn’t know what to expect when we saw Dad for the first time and of course it was very upsetting but he wasn’t as bad as the image I had painted in my head.  He is in the best place and they are keeping him as comfortable as can be.

 

We spent the next couple of days unloading the motorhome and thanks to our very understanding tenants Andy & Lesley we have put the motorhome back on our drive and I have insured, taxed & MOT’d my van and it’s now back on the road.  I was amazed that when I re-connected the battery it fired up straight away and the cover that we bought has protected it from the elements and it looked really clean. 

We have been keeping ourselves very busy and were very kindly invited to pop into our works Christmas drink which was nice as we caught up with everyone who couldn’t quite believe we were back, it seemed surreal as at the same time last year we were all excited and telling everyone about our upcoming adventure and now there we were telling them all about where we had been and what we had seen.  We had a lovely Christmas Day with Dave & Brenda and caught up with Julie’s brother & family, again it was quite surreal as we spent last Christmas Day with them too along with Dad which again seemed just like yesterday.  Thanks to Dave & Brenda for putting us up and laying on a lovely Christmas dinner with all the trimmings, it was absolutely delicious, there’s something about a proper home cooked Christmas dinner mmmmm…….

 

On Boxing Day we decided to get some fresh air and headed off for a nice long walk, we couldn’t believe how easy and effortless the walking was as for the last couple of months we have been walking at altitude.  We stopped off on route for a quick pint and a glass of wine in one of our local pubs and while at the bar ordering our drinks I glanced over and spotted Bryn Matton with his mum & Dad and wife Cheryl.  I have known Bryn & his Dad Les for many years through the motorcycle trials, Bryn & Cheryl spotted us too and said look there’s the “Midgets” there back!!  It was quite weird as obviously Bryn & Les know Dad really well so we sat chatting about Dad and the old times while Julie & Cheryl were chatting about our travels.

So after....

 

11,219      Blog views to date (thanks everyone)

8,888        Miles driven in the motorhome

2,556        Miles exploring on the motorbike

1,500        Tea bags

350           Nights on the road

240           Hours driving time in the motorhome

40            Days kitesurfing

49            Campsites

44            Days snowboarding/skiing

12            Bottles of wine (you must be kidding we lost
                (count after the first week!!)
                          

8              Camping Aires

4              Ferries

1              Eurotunnel crossing

 

And all this around 8 Countries - France, Spain, Portugal, Gibraltar, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia & Sardinia……

Oh and I almost forgot just half a litre of engine oil…..

So that’s it for now but as we said keep your eyes open for more updates.

 

Have a great New Year,

 

 

J&J

x

 

 

 

 

 

 



Homeward Bound

Bonjour,

It’s a very emotional blog for us this week as we received some bad news about Dad who has been in hospital for a month now and although his condition was not improving he was stable, however this week he has deteriorated and after serious discussions we have both decided that we should return home to be with him and our families at this very difficult time.   At the end of the day we have done everything we wanted and so much more and have had such an amazing and fantastic journey so although we will be returning home just a few weeks earlier than planned we feel we have achieved what we wanted and ticked all the boxes along the way and will be bringing back many memories to cherish.

Some snow has arrived and cold temperatures last week meant that they could also make some too and the resort finally opened a week later than scheduled last Saturday, although with only very limited lifts/runs opens.  

Here’s a few before & after pictures   

 

The altiport area & golf course

The Truite run we walked up the first day we arrived

To be fair they have worked really hard and done a fantastic job of getting some runs open with such limited snow and opening up the 3 Valleys links so at least you can get to Courchevel, Les Menuires & Val Thorens which again all have limited lifts/runs opens.  Saying that the snow quality has been absolutely fantastic at altitude and it’s been a real pleasure to get out every day without any crowds, Julie has been absolutely flying and is nearly catching me up!!!   

We had our last day out walking too and on route I found this little baby, I'd love to have a go but sadly the keys weren't in it!!  It's on my bucket list so one day I will get to have a go I am sure.

We walked back to camp through Meribel Village past this lovely little Chapel.

While out boarding we found a great spot for our lunch out on the mountain, it was so nice to just sit and chat and reflect on our year and what an amazing adventure we have had.  

The next day the visibility wasn’t that great and we had light snow and my beard ended up a bit frozen, it’s the proper thing now and Julie says I look like Dick Dastardly!!!

Dad must have been thinking of us too as it dumped it down with snow Wednesday afternoon/evening so yesterday we enjoyed our last day out on the mountain, it was snowing higher up but the temperatures are so unseasonably warm it was rain lower down, it will be busy here over Christmas & New Year so we hope that the snow will hold out for everyone although the forecast is still showing temperatures rising.

We have decided to travel home in two hits to break the journey up as driving 10 hours straight and almost 600 miles in a day will be a massive shock to the system so we will be doing an overnight stop at Troyes before catching the Eurotunnel home so no ferry ramps to worry about!!

We will be heading to Dave & Brenda’s, Julie’s mum & dad’s as our tenants Andy & Lesley are not due to leave our house until 17th January which is absolutely fine and we hope they have a great Christmas at “Homeside” to finish their year off too before moving into their new house.  It will be nice to spend some time with Dave & Brenda and tell them all about our trip and of course we will be boring them for weeks on end with stories and photos.  We are looking forward to a lovely Christmas dinner with all the trimmings…….and they have a dishwasher, whoop, whoop! but it goes without saying we will be spending as much time as possible with Dad and keeping ourselves busy.

If you have enjoyed reading our blog, don’t despair this isn’t the end as we will be keeping it running so keep your eyes out for our next update!!!

It's very hard for us right now so as we said we will be keeping ourselves busy when we get home so don't be surprised if you get a knock on the door as we will be catching up with friends and family.

So for now it’s goodbye, have a great Christmas & New Year, but just before we go here's a picture that we thought says it all.

J&J

x

The Best of Both Worlds

Hi, 

Well glad to say no more earthquakes that we know of this week, the snow has begun to fall slowly and about time too as there is only so much walking/hiking you can do but before it arrived we ventured out to some more different places to do a few fantastic walks.  The first one was up to Lac De Tueda which is just over an hours walk from camp, we then we continued up towards Refuge du plan above Lac De Tueda with some simply stunning views into the nature reserve surrounding us.  The last time we were here everything was covered in a blanket of snow and ice so you didn’t actually get to see the Lac so it was lovely to see the whole place in its unfrozen state.  The weather was a bit damp but we said we should carry on and walk back down one of the ski runs back to Meribel-Mottaret to make it a bit easier as it had been a hard climb to get up to the top of the valley.   

Lac De Tueda when we arrived this season

Lac De Tueda just before we left last season

There is a run called “OURS” that runs parallel along the valley up above and overlooking Lac De Tueda but first we had to climb up to it which was very difficult and when we looked on our trail map it was marked as a black trail.  We eventually reached “OURS” which on a snowboard is awful because although it does descend down, in places it’s dead flat for some distance so you have to unclip and shuffle or walk until you can get going again, it’s not too bad on skis as you can pole yourself along but it’s still not fun, we normally avoid this run like the plague, Julie absolutely hates it and it often comes up in conversations when discussing the best way back to camp and everybody normally says NO WAY and finds another route home and with the amount of runs it’s not difficult to avoid it.   

So once we climbed up and joined the "OURS" run we began our walk back down and as it’s so flat it was a pleasant stroll stopping for lunch under a pine tree and just taking in the scenery and then taking a few pictures including the run marker with Julie giving it a big thumbs down!

The next day was Julie’s Birthday so we had a well earned day off from all the walking/hiking and booked ourselves a table for lunch at Le Martagon to celebrate.  It was so so nice to go out for lunch and treat ourselves to a few glasses of wine and a lovely meal as it’s one of our favourite places so it was great to spend Julie’s birthday there and the big surprise was that when we came to pay Francoise said it was her treat and hoped we had had a lovely lunch which we thought was really nice of her. 

Next on the list of our walks/hikes was from camp up to the altiport at 1800m via Meribel Village which is about an hour and a half walk/hike but it’s really hard going following the Golf ski lift and Lapin run up.  

When we reached the top and the altiport area where we took off in that little red plane all those months ago back in March we couldn’t quite believe our eyes as there is an 18 hole golf course laid out across the mountain working its way through the pine trees complete with sand filled bunkers and immaculate greens and tee’s, the main green run down throughout the altiport, Blanchot, is actually the fairway and the lumps and bumps which we play around on when snowboarding/skiing are the contour of the bunkers dotted all over.  

We found a bench at the side of the fairway and sat and had our lunch in the winter sun, it was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop.  

After our lunch we carried on walking up towards the new Loze Express lift which takes you up to the Col De La Loze which is at 2274m, from there you can drop down in the valleys of Courchevel & La Tania.  There are many snowshoe/walking trails around the altiport area up through the beautiful pine forests and we spotted a sign up to the Col De La Loze which said about 2.5 hours so we decided to save that for another day so just carried on walking a bit further up past the Dent De Burgin & Rhodos lift stations before heading back down to the altiport and then down into Meribel itself via the Foret & Doron runs and then back to camp.  It was yet another  great day and 4+ hour walk/hike and our legs did start to feel a bit stiff by the time we got back.

After a few less strenuous days doing some chores around the van and getting some shopping and giving our legs a rest we  decided to take the XT up to altiport and park it up so we could do the trail up to the Col De La Loze.  It was another clear, sunny day so perfect conditions.  We headed off through the pine forest and were chatting away when I noticed a small group of deer scuttle off through the trees, we often see footprints but it’s rare to actually see them so it was nice to at least catch a brief glimpse of them, what a lovely & tranquil place they live in.  We carried on through the forest until the trail started to zig zag up and rapidly became much steeper, rockier and full of tree roots.  Once out of the trees the trail just carried on up and along the edge of the mountainside and up towards the ridge of the Col De La Loze.  We found ourselves looking down across into the valley of La Tania and at some points were perched between the two valleys.  The trail continued up into the snow line past the side of the Pic Bleu run which takes you back down to the altiport, near the top at one point there’s a very sturdy fence on a bend to stop you heading straight on into a huge rock garden which we were now clambering over which you can’t normally see as it’s blanketed in snow….again so amazing to see and definitely somewhere you wouldn’t want to venture off-piste!!! 

Finally we reached the summit and had our lunch in the fresh clean air on the deck of the restaurant at the top with views across the whole of the 3 valleys.  We decided to try and get a picture of us jumping in the snow but it was a lot harder in walking gear rather than bikinis & board shorts, so this is the best we could do for now!!!

We headed back down via the Boulevard De La Loze which traverses along the side of the mountain and from here we got more views looking down over the golf course below and the runs on the opposite side of the valley.  

The final leg was down through Piste De Animals, a trail which is set out to educate children about the animals that live in these surroundings, we found a couple of marmots and an ibex along route before walking back down the fairway and back to the XT parked up at the altiport.  It was great to jump on the XT back to camp as after another 4+ hour hike our legs were again feeling it.  The XT has done us proud all year taking us to many stunning places off the beaten track and been great for our many shopping trips but she is now tucked up for the winter and our last few weeks on the road.

The free bus service is now running and as we said there has been some snow so fingers crossed our days of walking everywhere and hiking up to the summits will become less and less and it won’t be long until we will be flying down the runs on our snowboards where everything will look completely different again but at least we will know what is hidden beneath!

We love the snow, being in the mountains and walking so Meribel really does give us the THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS.

Until next week au revoir for now.

J&J

x 

Full Circle

Bonjour,

So eight and a half months ago we said our goodbyes to the snow and friends we had made in Meribel and continued on our amazing adventure around Southern Europe.  From France into Northern Spain, then Portugal, then Southern Spain, back into France for the summer then onto Italy, a brief stopover in Slovenia, then Croatia, a ferry from Croatia back to mainland Italy, a ferry across to Sardinia, another ferry back to mainland Italy and then back into France via the Mont Blanc tunnel and here we are today back in Meribel!!!  So we have been FULL CIRCLE but sitting here again now it seems like we haven’t been away and it all seems a bit of a blur.  

We decided to head back here to spend Julie’s Birthday, Christmas & New Year and to finish our year off and to hopefully get some snowboarding in and catch up with friends who will also be here over Christmas & New Year.  The way it’s all worked out we are here a tad early but that’s not a bad thing as from here if we need to get home to see Dad it’s an easier journey and we know if we need to we can leave the van here for a few days and it will be safe. Dad is still in hospital where he is being well looked after, I know he would want us to carry on our adventure but of course if things change then we can get home within 24 hours.  

The snow hasn’t arrived yet so it does seem a bit odd but to be honest it’s really quite nice as the resort isn’t due to open until 6th so if there were snow now it would be frustrating as none of the lifts would be open to get to the runs.  We always said we’d love to see Meribel in the summer and do some walking so as there is only a covering of snow on the surrounding summits it has enabled us to walk places we never would have imagined.

The campsite without snow

The day after we arrived we decided to walk up into Meribel (the free bus service is not running yet so it means walking everywhere which we don’t mind at all) and then headed to the La Chaudanne which is main hub of the resort and where all the main lifts depart from, it seemed really strange seeing it without any snow or people, it was so quiet!  

We then walked across to the green run Truite which is the home run from Meribel Mottaret 1750m back into Meribel 1450m, it was really strange and as we began walking we found ourselves walking up a tarmac road across a car park and over a tennis court, usually we are flat out down this run, it all looks so different and although it’s a green run, so very easy, it felt quite steep walking up it!!  We carried on walking until we reached Meribel Mottaret and had a quick look around but there wasn’t much going on apart from a few 3 valleys staff having a coffee probably discussing when its gonna snow!!! So we turned round and walked back down Truite chatting about the many times that we have bombed it back into Meribel.  We can’t believe the amount of work still going on to buildings and alike with only a few days to go till opening of the resort.   We walked all the way back to camp at Le Martagon and got to the bar just before closing for a well earned demi beer in the sun.

Every time we step from our van or walk anywhere you can’t help looking up to the mountains surrounding us, one in particular has the Olympic chair lift going to the summit at 2294m which is one of our favourites as there is some fantastic off-piste boarding/skiing to be had and also the views from the top over into the other valleys is fantastic but as there are no lifts running at the minute the only way to the summit is to walk.  As there are so many marked trails we said lets do it so after knocking up a packed lunch and getting our gear on we set off staring up to the summit both thinking thats a long way up!!!!  The first trail marker pointed us towards the Grand Lac saying 2.5 hours so we thought not too bad and began to climb on what is basically a goat track zig zagging its way up and with each step you got a better view of the Meribel valley below and as we stopped for a breather every now and then we pointed out the lifts and runs on the opposite side of the valley.  

The trail took us across the red Les Villages run which takes you back down to Les Allues and along the route there are little buildings which you never usually see as they are buried in snow.  As we continued to climb we could just about make out the van parked up, it was like a little dot far down in the distance.

The red dot is our van!

We carried on like this until we reached the summit and the Grand Lac which to be honest wasn’t that Grand as we were now up above the snow line so it was covered in the white stuff.  After a check on the map we had two options which were to either go back down the way we came up or to follow the ridge along the top of the mountain up to a view point at Le Verdet 2294m and the Olympic lift station which on the trail sign said 55 minutes, so off we set but this part off the trail was covered in snow so it was a bit tricky to follow and add to this a gusty cold wind blowing made it all a bit nerve racking but we just kept on following what we thought was the trail thinking it can’t be far now then I began to recognise parts of the mountain where I had dropped into when going off-piste last season with Pete so I knew that the Olympic lift station/view point wasn’t that much further up.  Julie and I finally clambered over the last ridge and snow covered trail and spotted the lift station so we decided to shelter from the cold wind by hiding round the back and had a quick drink and sandwich before deciding which way to head back to camp as time was getting on.  

Again we had two options, one was to follow the same route back along the ridge and down or ascend down what is known as The Face which we have done a few times on our snowboards.  It was created for the 1992 winter Olympics downhill, one thing we hate doing is back tracking so The Face it was!!!! Omg how steep, there is no way you could walk straight down it we had to traverse across from side to side, how the hell those down hill skiers straight line it from the top is beyond us!!! We eventually made it down as far as the Le Raffort run which takes you directly back to camp and is a lovely run down through the trees and nowhere near as steep as The Face thank god!!!   

The Face  

The view down the Face

It was a truly fantastic day and when we got back to the van we couldn't believe where we had been, I highlighted the route we took on the picture below which in no way does it justice, how far we actually went or the terrain we covered!!

Our route....

The next day we could feel the day before’s adventure in our legs and knees so as the weather was dry & clear and fairly warm again we decided to go out for a spin on the XT so we followed the road out through Meribel Village to La Tania & Courchevel which surprisingly wasn’t that far at all but somewhere you don’t ever venture by road as we usually board over directly from Meribel.

Oh before we go we forgot to say last week that while we were at Samoens there was a small earthquake and a couple of aftershocks just 18km North of Chamonix which measured 3.7 on the richter scale but although we were in the affected area we didn’t feel it in the van maybe because the rubber tyres absorbed the shock. Here's the link with all the details.

Small earthquake in Chamonix

We had a message from Jim about it and Julie also bumped into the cleaner and she was waffling on in French and after a lot of hand waving and a few familiar French words Julie understood what she was talking about!!!  I know exactly what you lot are thinking, no the Earth didn’t move for Julie……boom, boom!!!

Anyway that's all for now so over & out for another week.

J&J

x