Fun, Rum & The Royals...

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

Sun, Snow & El Nino....

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

Pastures New......Kentish Midgets Become Devon Dwarfs

Hi All,

Happy New Year to all our friends and family wherever you may be, we hope that 2016 brings you both health and happiness.

For us we are glad to see the back of 2015 and move on as it was a year that we’d like to just completely forget.  As you already know I lost my Dad on New Years’s day and then things just went from bad to worse, I won’t bore you with all the details but to cut a long story short Julie was diagnosed with secondary breast cancer in April after almost 10 years of being clear from the first episode back in 2005. We have come to terms with it all now and she is absolutely fine at the moment and long may it continue.  She spent most of the summer having treatment which was tough going for us all but she’s so positive and just gets on with it all and in her words not mine “I don’t have a choice so I just get on with it, it’s not going to stop me from carrying on my life as normal and I am not going to be one of their statistics, I am going to prove everyone wrong”.  Many people say she is an inspiration as just gets on with everything it throws at her and I for sure second that.  So for now it’s just scans and check ups every 3 months and daily medication.

When we returned from our year travelling we thought it would be really difficult to settle back into “normal” life and that we would feel really deflated but what with everything else that we now had to deal with and all the stuff relating to the probate for Dad and sorting out his house etc etc it kept us really busy and although quite stressful and emotional it kept us focused.  Our original plan was to come back and go back to work for a couple of years and then move to somewhere near a beach with a quieter pace of life as we noticed on our return that everything had got even busier and there was just more traffic and more people everywhere.  We said that we’d like to maybe go and live in France but would keep a small base here in the UK but of course that comes with the added complication of work and also the language barrier so it would have been a massive move, the other option would be to move somewhere in the UK that we love, is quieter and has access to our favourite beaches……somewhere like North Devon which we just love and ticks all the boxes.  

Following Julie's diagnosis we decided to do it sooner rather than later so started to look at the possibilities and then began looking for a suitable house, we first looked at a cottage back in April in Georgeham, North Devon, just a stones throw from the beautiful beaches of Saunton Sands, Putsborough & Croyde but at that point hadn’t really decided when we would make the move.  

 Saunton Sands

Putsborough

 

Croyde

The house we first viewed needed a lot of TLC so we decided it wasn’t for us but by July we decided that it was where we wanted to be so we had our house valued and were pleasantly surprised so then the cogs started ticking and we thought that perhaps it was all doable, at the end of the day if you want something you have to go and get it, it doesn’t just come to you, just like when we decided to go travelling we had to make it happen and we never looked back.  We kept looking for other properties but just couldn’t find anything in the right location for the right price etc etc and were being drawn back to the cottage in Georgeham every time, at the end of the day it’s all about location and you’re never going to find something that is perfect so there’s always a compromise so for us it was to take on a bit of a project (as you probably know nothings ever simple with us!!) so that’s what we decided to do and we put our house on the market.

After a summer of showing potential buyers around our home one gentleman came good with a fantastic offer back in August, however as we’ve already said nothings simple with us and he went AWOL until October but the agent told us it was because he worked away in Norway.  When he eventually reappeared in October it all came good and in the meantime we got the ball rolling with the Georgeham cottage and to cut another long story short everything has now gone through.   

Old House

New House

In between house hunting, multiple trips to Devon & back, hospital appointments and work, as Julie carried on working through her treatment, we have still somehow managed to fit in some fantastic weekends catching up with friends and doing what we love.

Kiting at Brancaster

Walking & Catching up with friends in and around the Lake District

So now the major life change bit begins as we are lucky enough with the sale of our house and Dads house to be in a position to give up work and to live the dream in Georgeham in our cottage and although it needs a slight renovation……it will enable us to spend more time doing the things we love in a place we love and will give us something to focus on at the same time. 

They'll be plenty more of this!

It's been a stressful and emotional roller coaster ride since the summer, and the last couple of weeks have been very hectic getting everything down to Georgeham but all our hard work and patience has paid off and we can't wait to begin our new life. To start with all our possessions are in a storage unit and we'll be living in the motorhome on the front garden overseeing the renovation project but we did it for a year so it won't be a problem and at least we'll be able to nip to the beach whenever we like for a walk, surf, sup or kite.

Keeping things simple.....Julie wanted us to take this to the new house..it only weighs half a tonne!!!

The removal lorry was to big for the lane so everything had to be transhipped to the big lorry up on the main road

The main removal lorry

The storage unit filling up rapidly!

The storage unit full to the door!!

While we are waiting for our planning permission to come through to renovate the cottage we thought that we deserved a bit of chill out time and rather than twiddle our thumbs we are off in the motorhome to Meribel in the French alps for a spot of skiing/snowboarding….it’s a bit of de ja vu really as we will arrive there exactly 2 years to the day of our travels back in 2014 and are looking forward to it and catching up with Deb & Pete & Ron & Chris and anyone else that turns up....you are all very welcome to join us.

If you enjoyed reading our blog the first time around then stay tuned as we will keep you updated on our adventures and how we are getting on with the renovations to the cottage.

One last thing before we go... we'd like to say a massive thank you to Julie's mum and dad for all their support over the last few months as it's been a very difficult time for them too so we really appreciate it.

Catch up soon,

The Devon Dwarfs