Bonjour,
So here we are back in one of our favourite places, Meribel in the 3 Valleys region of the French Alps. We had a leisurely drive down and stayed overnight at a camper aire at Aix-Les-Bains on the edge of Lac Du Bourget as we wanted to go and buy some skis and load up with some provisions before we headed up the mountain the next day. The weather was absolutely fine but the next day, the day we chose to do our shopping and drive up the mountain we woke up to heavy snow right down to the valley floor, we have never seen such heavy snow at that level before. So we set off and after a few attempts to leave, due to the slight slope up towards the exit and automatic barrier, the wheels just began to spin but there was no way I was putting all the snow chains on just for approx 15ft so after Julie rang the helpdesk they held the barrier up so I could take a long run up and begin our journey. Well we made our way towards the main motorway and could not believe the snow it was absolutely dumping it down, had it been the UK it would have been carnage and nothing would be going anywhere!!
The last toll on the main motorway
It did us a favour stopping to do a bit of shopping as the conditions on the motorway were becoming quite challenging with cars and vans stuffed into barriers and each other all over the show. By the time we had bought our skis and provisions the motorway had cleared so we headed on up the mountain road towards Meribel but we only got three quarters of the way up when the snow on the road became too bad for the camper so we had to pull in and get our snow chains on…….like we always say it’s all part of the adventure! We arrived at camp and were greeted by Ron & Chris the retired couple who are regular visitors every season...oh nearly forgot we are also retired now...and shortly after we arrived Deb, Pete & Bailey the dog arrived too, it felt like we’d never been away.
Getting our provisions.....spot the crates of beer & 25 litres of Rose!! (its cheaper to get it low down before you get up the mountain..that's our excuse anyway)
It carried on snowing that day but the next day although very cold the sun shone and we had a great first day out with Deb & Pete in superb powder conditions.
A bit of fresh mountain air & photosynthesis...just what the doctor ordered
We’ve been here 4 weeks now but it feels like a lot longer and are feeling very settled and enjoying mountain life. The weather is really weird though as when we arrived we had very cold temperatures of around minus 18 at the summits and heavy snow for about 3 days and thick ice on the back of the van. Then it warmed up and temperatures were hardly even freezing and we had a spell of wall to wall sunshine and daytime temperatures of 14 degrees and at one point we saw 17 degrees down at La Tania. Watching the weather forecast on Countryfile on the TV it seems like it's the El NINO effect so all very strange, everywhere not just here.
Minus 18....a bit chilly
Not a bad view from our bedroom window in the motorhome
Ice on the back of the motorhome
There’s plenty of snow to be had and skiing/boarding conditions have been good considering the warm temperatures which is mainly due to the sun being lower this time of year but we have had rain too which is not good at all and causes the snow to become icy higher up and slushy lower down so a real mixed bag. We have had some fresh snow but one day the trees are laden with snow like a picture postcard but by the end of the day it’s all melted as the temperatures are just not low enough, it's really unseasonable weather.
We had a visit from Dave Smith the last week of January and we enjoyed showing him round the vast area that is the 3 Valleys and although we didn’t have any fresh snow we were blessed with sunshine and great conditions. We took him on a tour round and over to the 4th Valley, Orelle, which is the other side of Val Thorens and close to the Italian border, the highest point is about 3,230m so the views are amazing and it's a great place to find a rock and have your lunch.
Showing Dave round & having lunch on a rock over at Orelle
We then had a visit from Sarah & Steve Dorking and Samson the dog who came over from La Clusaz for a couple of days which was fantastic, we were again blessed with great conditions and had a fantastic couple of days showing them round our winter playground and Samson & Bailey had a great time too. It was great to see them so thanks for taking the time out to come over. From the comments we received they had an absolute blast.
Fantastic couple of days with Sarah & Steve
We’ve had plenty of days out on our new skis but each morning we now have to decide do we ski, do we board it's such a hard life but one things for sure we love our on piste picnics.
On piste picnic over at Courchevel...just stunning
We've had a few rainy days too so on one of them decided to do one of our favourite walks down to Brides Les Bains, it's a very steep walk down next to the river and in places you traverse under the Olympe bubble. It takes about 2 hours to walk down but thankfully you can get the bubble all the way back to camp which takes about 20 minutes.
Great photo by Deb...looks like I am holding the bubble up!!
We went to meet the Husky dogs that come and visit the resort, this fella was so chilled out he laid down for some belly rubs!!
Bailey has been having a great time too!! (apart from the sticky snow)
In between having fun we've been busy sorting out house stuff ready for the start of work on our new home in Devon, don't think we realised how much stuff there was to sort out prior to getting started but our architect is brilliant and all the paper work can be done while we are away, so fingers crossed once back it will be all systems go...
So that's what we've been up to so far.
Catch up soon,
J&J
