The Monthly Shop......

Hi Everyone,

We have had a week of mixed weather so have either been out riding, shopping, walking or doing jobs round the van.

Sunday it was a bit cloudy so we decided to get the bus up to Meribel Village and get the Golf chair lift up to the Altiport and do one of the woodland walks through the forest and make our way back down on foot to the Lodge Du Village (LDV) one of the local bars/restaurants just in time for happy hour.   We didn’t sleep much at all that night as it started snowing early evening and all night we could hear was massive snowflakes hitting the sky light above our bed and at 4am we looked out the window and it was still dumping it down.  

At 7.30am Monday morning we were woken by the local digger once again clearing the snow from around the vans at the Caravaneige, he is fast becoming our early morning alarm clock for snowy days……! We just couldn’t believe how much snow had fallen and when I opened the door of the motorhome it was almost right up to the bottom of the door.  We decided to have an early start so headed out and OMG what a day it turned out to be.  We did a couple of runs but some of the higher lifts weren’t yet open as they were still blasting the snow to clear the avalanche risk.  By 11.30am our favourite run had just opened and we were about the 6th chair off at the top after a few skiers ahead of us who were heading for one of their favourite black runs, we headed straight on towards our favourite run and just couldn’t believe it, pure untracked, untouched powder, the best we have ever had anywhere before, it was a shame to spoil it but it had to be done.  We carried on down the run and shouted at each other to do it again so we raced back towards the lift and on the way ended up going through a tunnel which hadn’t been there a few days before (it turns out that they had made it as a diversion as the usual run above was being prepared for racing), it was quite strange but fun. We carried on doing that run until we were exhausted and decided to stop for our lunch.  After lunch we went to do some other runs and again made the most of the deep powder. A perfect day :-)

Tuesday was very cold with -12 at the summit so we wrapped up with an extra layer of thermals and headed over to Les Menuires via Meribel to try out some runs over there, it was OK but we had been spoilt the previous day.  One of the chairs we went on stopped for about 20 minutes and we were left suspended in mid air, so when we got going again were a little bit cold.  At the top we headed down in to Val Thorens did a couple of runs and then had lunch at our favourite spot before heading back home via the LDV and happy hour again.

Wednesday was again cloudy so we just caught up with a few chores and then went for a drink in town at the Barometer bar although it was a little pricey compared to happy hour at the LDV but it had a fantastic view over Meribel Centre and the runs/mountains in the background!

The owner of the Caravaneige had offered to take us shopping today but last night her husband was taken ill so she had to go to the hospital (everything is fine and he will be home tomorrow) so we didn’t bother her and decided to just take the van instead which we thought would be really easy, Julie did some washing and said while it was in the tumble drier we could go to the Supermarche and be back in time for it to be dry, how wrong could we be……

We asked a few of the other English people if they wanted anything and then I started to de-rig the van which usually takes about 10 minutes, everything was going well until I wound the rear steadies on the back of the van up, one was fine, the other was frozen solid to the ground and in a bit of a hole so I filled the watering can with hot water thinking that would free it, about an hour and more water cans later it was still frozen solid, but eventually it freed itself but was slightly bent which meant it wouldn’t wind up fully so I had to take it off altogether and give it a few whacks to straighten it out - eventually it was sorted and I put it back on the van but it had been a bit of a nightmare to say the least laying on the silver screens under the van in a confined space!  We were now ready to go so I started the van up and I put it in reverse but it just wouldn’t move, it was stuck solid, it must be the handbrake I thought and as hard as I tried rocking the van backwards and forwards it just wouldn’t release and I couldn’t drive forwards on the ice and couldn’t go back either - while we were deciding what to do next another English couple Catherine & Adrian asked what we were up to and we said that the handbrake was ceased on. He came back about 5 minutes later and said that we could try releasing it using the winch on the front of his Land Rover Defender which was parked on the opposite side of the campsite but luckily the winch cable was more than long enough to reach and hey presto it did the trick, it turned out that it wasn’t the handbrake at all it was just that the wheels and tyres had been stuck solid to the ground.  That took us another half hour……

I then made my way towards the exit of the campsite, all was going well until I turned the bend and the wheels began to spin so out came the snow chains and the next problem…..they seemed to be too big for my wheel size although the size on the bag said they should fit…by this time I was joined by two fellow French campers who came to the same conclusion - luckily one of them had a set of chains that fitted and got us out so after another half hour delay we finally headed off down the mountain and decided to buy a new set while we were out as we will obviously need them.   We did a big monthly shop in the Supermarche which included a 10 litre box of Rose wine as we decided a little retail therapy was needed after the day’s antics but it’s all part of our adventure and was more exciting than your usual trip to Sainsbury’s!!

When we got back we headed to the bar for a few beers with Pete & Debbie another English couple who are doing the same thing as us.

The sun back’s tomorrow for a few days so we are looking forward to getting back out on the slopes for a blast.

That’s it for now.

J&J

x

Sun, Snow & Stella Artois.....

Hi all, really pleased about the feedback on the blog and that a lot of people are still following our adventure and looking forward to reading our updates

We got up on Monday the 20th to a bit of a dull day so after getting the usual stuff out the way i.e. emails and bank stuff on the laptop we decided to get our walking gear on and do the woodland/stream walk down to Les Allues which is the next village down the valley.  We set off following the signs and I must say it was lovely even though it was cloudy with light snow.  We arrived in Les Allues in about 40 minutes had a quick walk around the village and then both looked at one another and said shall we do the trail right down to Brides-Les-Bains which it said would take about 1hr 40 mins, it was early afternoon so we said let’s do it.

The trail zig zags it way next to the river all the way down and you just can’t get away from the roar of all the water tumbling down the valley but it’s so beautiful.   I spotted what I thought was a mountain goat watching us but it turned out to be a tree stump - should have gone to spec savers sprung to mind!  When we got to the bottom it had taken us about 2hrs in total from Le Raffort so we jumped on the bubble lift back up to camp for a nice bowl of soup and french bread.

On Tuesday the local radio station said that the weather was going to be low cloud below 2000m so we decided to get our gear on and head for Val Thorens which at 2300m should be above the cloud.   We went the quickest route to get high and at the summit we were well above cloud level, it was kind of spooky as there was a thick layer of cloud below us with just the mountain peaks poking through, Mont Blanc being the most prominent.  Above the cloud there was plenty of sun so we stayed there all day and had our lunch perched on a rock on one of our favourite runs.  We couldn’t believe how much building work and changes are going on over there but it was nice to see Val Thorens once again although its not as pretty as the other valleys due to lack of trees.

Wednesday saw the sun back in the Meribel valley once again and not a cloud in the sky

so we headed the other way to Courchevel and La-Tania to the lovely wide open runs over there and it was really quiet apart from the odd russian blinged up to the eyeballs with sparkly leather jackets, gold skis with matching poles and skin tight white leather trousers, OMG what a sight!  We made our way down into La-Tania for lunch in a sunny corner which was nice, did a few more runs and then made our way home.

Thursday was dull again so Julie caught up with the washing and house work and I did all the blue jobs around the van then we went for a walk around town and a few beers.   I tried something new for dinner, noodles with chicken, red & green peppers, garlic, bacon and chorizo with a splash of soy & chilli sauce, I think we were both surprised at how lush it was YUM YUM.

This morning Julie woke up all excited with an extra 8 inches ……. (of snow that is), so it was a leisurely breakfast as usual and out.  Just as we reached the summit the cloud broke and the snow stopped to make way for the sun.  The fresh dump of powder was amazing and hardly touched, we had such a laugh falling over and not being able to get up in places as it needs such a different style of riding.   It was so much colder today and when the heavy snow started again we decided play time was over so did the La Raffort run back directly to the van had a quick cuppa then went back into town for more free Vin-Chaud.

Catch up next week.

J&J xx

Mountain Life

Just a quick update, we arrived here in Meribel on the afternoon of the 14th Jan and just parked up for the night without really setting the van up properly so the next morning we picked a nice spot and set the van up more permanently, fitted the new bonnet/grill winter cover which fitted really well and helps to keep the really cold wind /weather out of the front end of the van and I must say does make a difference, it’s hard to believe we are surrounded by snow yet it’s so toasty warm in the motorhome.

Once all that was done we decided to get our gear on and go and get our season lift passes for the 3 valleys and do a few runs just to blow the cobwebs away and get the feel of it again as its been a while plus the sun was out and it was looking fab up the valley with a layer of fresh snow.

After a few runs down it all started to come back and it was like we were only here yesterday but our leg muscles thought otherwise, so we opted to call it a day and go for a well earned beer at Le Martagon where we are pitched up.  We have been out on another couple of days but whats nice is if it looks cloudy or dull we have no pressure to go out so we normally get some jobs done and chill out or go for a walk on one of the many Alpine trails that link all the villages up. 

We went down to Brides Les Bains in the Olympe bubble as we have never been that far down the valley before, it takes about 20 minutes from here but is a nice trip down but very steep in places, the snow was right down to the bottom of the valley which is only 600m and we saw a few deer too which was a bonus, Brides Les Bains is nothing special though, just a very small little village which suits some people as it its probably a much cheaper alternative. 

Been up into town a few nights when there is stuff going on i.e. live bands playing and free Vin Chaud (hot wine) to warm your cockles while listening and yesterday we went over to Courcheval and did a bit over there,  the runs are so wide and so quiet and as we were doing a run down alongside the Altiport Julie spotted this metallic silver VIP helicopter coming and began to shout at me its David, its David (she meant Beckham of course) I muttered whatever darling but I am sure I will be dragged over there again! 

Life in the Motorhome is working out fine and we are actually surprising ourselves with some of the meals we are cooking in a confined space with only a small oven but we have plenty of recipe books with us and the supermarket has plenty of fresh stuff and we brought quite a bit with us too.  Julie has also sussed the washing machine and tumble drier out so we didn’t really need half as many of the clothes we have with us!

That's it for now.

J&J

x

King of the Mountains.......

Hi everybody nice to see that the views of the blog are good more than we expected.We had a lovely time at Mum & Alan's house and were fed very well indeed but we did treat them one night and cook for them both but Mum just couldn't resist and ended up doing the potatoes and some gravy.
Second to last day the sun was well and truly out so after a few odd jobs for them Julie & i went for a long walk and I must say the area they live in is lovely.

Obviously after a long walk in the sun we had to replace some lost fluids so it was to Mum's local Bar
in her village for a well earned beer in the sun.

On our last night we were invited to some of Mum & Alan's friends who live right in the village, Thierry & Francoise.   As you walk the cobbled streets of the village with small doorways to either side the houses look tiny but as we came across Theirry & Francoise's doo way it looked no different but when the door opened the interior was vast like a tardis, just amazing it was like three houses joined and all sorts of pictures, books and sculptures hidden away in nooks and crannies. Theirry had cooked some locally shot venison which he explained had been cooked five times which is a authentic way of doing it and it was super tender then it was dessert and drinks and time to hit the sack as we were up early to leave on route to Meribel.
The drive across to Meribel was doable in a day but why rush when you have all the time in the world  so Julie got the map out and said let's head for the Millau Viaduct as we had only ever seen it on Top Gear with boys racing across it in fast cars, we had had rain all the way from Mum's but luckily on arrival the cloud and rain cleared enough for a quick photo.

Julie had already looked up or stopover for the night in a little alpine village called Florac so off we headed via the A75 which climbed to an altitude of 891m, some of the scenery was out of this world then slowly we dropped down toward Florac via far too many hair pin bends for my liking and our Aire for the night was at the bottom of the valley.

Today we left Florac and had to now climb all the hair pin bends back up to the top to head of towards Mende we then joined the N88 and N182 straight through the Monts D'Ardeche which is again a huge mountain region with more bends and climbs but picture post card scenery and the icing on the cake was a dusting of snow which was a bit to heavy in places but just got us more excited for Meribel.

One of the tree lined roads into a village.

We arrived in Meribel this afternoon where it has been snowing all day but luckily the roads where clear so we didn't have to christen the snow chains.

Thats it for now we are both looking forward to hitting the slopes and being settled here for a while.

J&J xx

The Adventure Continues

We left Mont St Michel on the morning of the 7th Jan and after a quick fuel stop headed for Quiberon a place we had been told to visit by a french surfer we met last summer in La Torche, near Penmarch.  He said that it was one place you must visit, well oh my god as you drive along you can almost touch the sea either side of the road, one side massive waves coming in off the atlantic then the other dead flat water,  hard to take it all in but we were heading for an Aire out on the end of the peninsular for the night.

Well as usual nothing is simple and on arrival at the Aire we pulled up to the machine put our debit card in but nothing happened so we tried again but nothing so a quick phone call to the number on the machine and 5 mins later a very french looking man turned up in a van,  rattled away in french for a minute or so and pointed up the road so Julie backed the van out and followed  him up the road and through a gateway that I don't think I would have even driven through and proceeds through another even narrower gateway to a hard standing and in a round about way we managed to come to an agreement that we could stay for a couple of nights free of charge because the machine wasn't working and I must say the view was amazing and were the only van there.

We quickly set up the van and unloaded the motorbike and did a quick lap of the island, it was another one of those places that in the summer you probably wouldn't be able to move so after a nights sleep (although most of the night we could heard the huge waves crashing) it was up and on the move towards mum's place with a quick stop over half way.  After a quick flick through another of our many books we opted for a little peaceful site in a village called Chef Boutonne just below Poitiers. We gave them a call and funnily enough they were actually English and owned an old water mill and had a few places to pitch up, perfect apart from doing a lap of the village first because we missed the sign for the campsite, but we were soon made very welcome.

We left Chef Boutonne mid morning and drove down through some absolutely stunning countryside and through some lovely villages but still avoiding any toll roads which is completely different to what we normally do when travelling. Once at mum & alan's as usual they spoilt us with some lovely food and of course plenty of wine and stories. Today we got up and decided to give the van a good clean to get rid of all the salt from the waves at Quiberon and to get it ready for the next step of our adventure.

Not many places where you can stay with free food, store stuff, get free wine, electric, hot power showers and you can wash your van on your pitch!  We will come back here for sure.......! THANKS MUM x

We will continue our journey from here early next week and head off to Meribel.

J&J

x

On our way and finding our feet !!!!!

On another wet, windy, miserable Saturday morning our tenants arrived and we handed our keys over then it was off to Dover via Julie's mum & dads to do a few last minute jobs and emails and say an emotional farewell, including to Millie the cat! 

It was nice to get parked up in Dover but the wind & rain was still relentless so we were both worried what the crossing was going to bring Sunday morning as we hadn't been on one for years but when we arrived it was clear blue skies and fairly calm.

Our first port of call on our epic journey was to be the famous Mont St Michel which apparently is to the French what the pyramids are the the Egyptians. We choose to follow the national roads and avoid the toll roads as for once in our lives we were no longer in a rush, would save money and it would be more scenic. In one of our many books onboard there were 2 aires here (overnight parking area for motorhomes with water and some with electric etc etc) so we were confident we had somewhere to stay for our first night, how wrong could we be! It was a little further than we wanted to do on our first day and upon arrival just as it was getting dark and with the Mont lit spectacularly every road leading to the aires were barried and we ended in a huge park & ride bus area which we knew couldn't be right!! After a couple of laps we saw another sign for an aire 1km up the road for €9.90 a night so that's where we headed. We pulled up at the barrier which asked for a code? We scratched our heads but then spotted a little machine under a little purpose built shelter - you just put your card in and hey presto you get an entry code so we drove in, connected our electric and settled for the night. The moment we went to bed to get a decent nights sleep the wind whipped up and must have been 50mph for most of the night so we didn't get much sleep!!  In the morning over our breakfast we decided that the 2 aires that we had been looking for had been flattened to make way for the park & ride bus station and we were in the brand new aire they had built to replace them!

As we awoke the wind had dropped slightly and from the aire there was a 3km cycle/footpath direct to the Mont alongside a canal. We opted to walk as it was a lovely sunny but windy day. As you turn the corner onto the path there is the Mont directly in front of you an amazing sight. On entering the Mont via a small stone entrance arch over a drawbridge you are immediately confronted by a narrow cobbled street lined with restaurants, a few shops and hotels which then ascends up to the ramparts and the abbey perched high on top. We opted for a beer each rather than paying €9 each to enter the abbey - as we needed to replace lost fluids....

When we left we again walked but this time head on into the wind so we were glad to get back to the van and decide where we were moving onto. 

Mont St Michel is must see place but    it must get absolutely rammed during the summer months.

We are now heading to a place called Quiberon, then La Palmyre in the Cote Sauvage before arriving at mum's by Friday.

J&J XX

Finally all done & on the move

Just sat down with a very large glass of wine in the Motorhome on our drive at home as everything we posses is in storage or locked away somewhere.

Tomorrow we hand over our home to the tenants for a year and our adventure begins 1st stop will be a stop over near Dover ready for the ferry on Sunday morning to Calais . Since both finishing on the 20th dec I can honestly say we have not stopped sorting , emailing , phoning & packing stuff away apart from one day to spend some time with family Julie's mum & dad have been fantastic feeding us and storing a few bits & bobs 

but most importantly taking our special cat Millie in while we are away bless her 

Don't think we ever realised how much was involved in going travelling for a year but we are finally realising our dream 

Right time for bed more blogs to follow

J&J