Hi All,
Well we are now back in Blightly after a fantastic 7 weeks in Meribel, we had a fantastic time and although the weather was quite unseasonal at times the conditions were absolutely perfect and out of a possible 47 days on the piste (yes I said piste, just in case you thought I meant something else!) we had 38 days out on the slopes so 80% of the time which was fantastic but very exhausting with long distance days at times but we absolutely love it. We love two elements on planet earth, the mountains and the sea, they are just amazing and sometimes you just find yourself in awe of nature's beauty.
It's funny as up until now we were out and out snowboarders but now we have our own skis we hate to admit it but we are actually torn between the two but seem to prefer our skis to our snowboards but it depends on the conditions as when it's deep powder then the snowboards are our weapon of choice - it's great to have the best of both worlds but skiing without doubt is far more civilised, we must be showing our age!
Some days the weather was quite brutal with high winds and heavy snow. Down at resort level it could be fine but the moment you headed up higher it was just crazy. This particular day day we got off a lift and were nearly blown off our feet it was blowing a gale with horizontal snow and zero visibility so it was quite a challenge but later in the day the snow stopped so we headed below the wind and made the most of the fluffy powder and better visibility .
On the way back down, checkout the frozen beard!
An hour later blessed with sunshine & fluffy powder
Julie after a cartwheel then trying to get up in the deep powder!
One of our fellow seasonnaires who wet first met back in 2014 and makes the annual pilgrimage to Meribel is Ernie who believe it or not is 76 and has the privilege of getting his season lift pass for free. On his last day he joined us, Pete & Deb, he is an inspiration to us all. He brought up the rear of the group all day to make sure we were all present and correct and gave Julie a helping hand every now an then, we had a great day out and he thanked us for making his last day so memorable. We stopped to take a photo and decided to put one leg up but it was hilarious as me, Pete & Julie were falling all over the place but not Ernie, he just lifted his ski without a second thought!!
Take one.........!
Take two after we got our balance!
It's really nice having a little community and banter at the campsite with us Ernie, Ron & Chris and Pete & Deb. We have a lot of laughs along the way, not to mention the case of the missing towels, knicker gate with a lady washing her smalls where she shouldn't and Pete hanging our washing up plug in a tree after we left it behind! This year we met another couple - Phil & Elizabeth who we affectionately nicknamed the Windsors after they told us their names were just like the Queen & Prince Philip!!! We read in the paper this week that Prince William & Kate were also in Courcheval last week so Phil & Elizabeth weren't the only Royalty in town!!
They are taking some time out from the UK along with their very cute dog Bridget Jones (by the way she's a Lhasa Apso not a Corgi!) and touring Europe in their Winnebago which they have named the "Beast" as it's absolutely huge. One dull day we all had a trip out in the Beast as they needed to fill up with LPG so we all jumped in and headed off down the mountain, it was a great day out and I am sure it turned a few heads as we pulled up in the car park at Aldi!!
One evening Liz hosted a great dinner party for us in the Beast "Come Wine With Me" and we certainly did. We had a brilliant night with great food & great company and Bridget had a great time too with Bailey who you may remember is Pete & Deb's dog. Julie had quite a hangover the next day but fair play to her as she was up and out early and after a few hours in the fresh mountain air managed to shake it off but I am not sure she appreciated the lift that stopped on route that left us suspended mid air and was swinging from side to side & up & down!
The Beast
We had some fabulous days out led by ski nazi Pete and enjoyed more on piste picnics and a beer or two along the way and of course the obligatory hip flask filled with rum....for medicinal purposes only of course!
The week before we left Phil's dad arrived for a week, it was quite bizarre really as like my late Dad his name was Gordon and he is also into vintage motorcycles and lives on the Isle of Man. On our last day we had a great day out and Gordon who hasn't skied for 20+ years loved every minute and managed to stay in one piece, just, I am sure the medicinal rum did the trick! It was an amazing day and to finish off the day and our season we all had a lovely meal at Le Martagon. I was chatting to Gordon during the meal and he said that he'd had a "magic" day which again was quite bizarre as it was one of Dad's favourite sayings. We all hope to meet up again next season.
Meanwhile Bailey was still enjoying himself with lots of walks and having fun in the mountains.
We arrived home last week as Julie has some hospital appointments back in Kent so we headed to Dave & Brenda's where we are staying for a few days before heading down to Devon. On Sunday it was Mother's Day so Julie & her sister Karan hatched a bit of a plan to surprise Brenda. It was a great surprise for Brenda when Karan, Damon, Devon & Lillie appeared in the kitchen while Brenda was peeling the spuds!! Now she knows why I asked for extra spuds!! We all had a great day and a lovely roast dinner. Devon brought his hover board and scooter and Lillie had her scooter complete with pink tassles so like big kids we had some fun.
Devon showing us how it's done
Julie, Karan & Lillie
Happy Mother's Day Brenda
And to end the day Cousin Sue, Paul, Jodie & Lucy also turned up which was another surprise for Brenda
Our planning permission and building regulations have all now been approved so we will be heading down to Devon and hope to get cracking on the house very soon so watch this space.
Over & out for now.
J&J
xx
