Bashed bonces.......

The post-Christmas hordes have arrived here in Courchevel in time for the New Year celebrations. As yesterday was a beautiful sunny day, we decided to blow away a few cobwebs and have a blast around the slopes. Although there are many many people in the resort (all Hotels and chalets are full), fortunately the slopes weren't too crowded. This may seem strange on the second busiest week of the season, but the reason is quite simply that many people come to Courchevel to be seen rather than to ski! We are certainly not complaining. But it's very fortunate that I wear a helmet, not because I'm tackling anything even remotely extreme, but simply to protect my head on this one week when lift etiquette is not observed in the slightest (and particularly not by skiers of a certain nationality - say no more :-)) - normally one sits on the chairlift, and looks to left and right to see if everyone is ready before gently lowering the safety bar, yet on virtually every lift, random fellow passengers just hauled the metal bar down, on some occasions narrowly avoiding our heads due to us ducking in time, and on others simply whanging us on the head with it (thanks so much trusty helmet!) - what is wrong with these people? But despite this, and other annoyances on this crazy week, we had a wonderful ski in fresh snow and sunshine - what more could one ask for?

Old friends and modern cars

I had a lovely surprise the other day when I found out an old friend's boyfriend had booked a short break in Courchevel as a surprise, and that they were a mere 5 minutes away on skis! We had a great afternoon skiing, topped off by watching the sun go down on the Bel Air terrace with a wee glass of wine - then faced the usual chilly ski back, straight into the Jump Bar where we spent way too much time! But it's just great to be among friends, with lots of animated conversation and that bit of 'what the hell, let's have another' recklessness which tends to happen in ski resorts and make us all feel younger than we are! Needless to say 'it'll nae be this in the morning' always rings true and yesterday I found myself grumpy and tired, when trying to negotiate ourselves into the best position to watch the Ladies World Cup Slalom (sorry for being a grump, Jane!) Next time, we will be at the bottom where we will see the timings/leaderboard, hear the commentary and not be taken out by lone snowboards flying down the piste. Bit of a learning curve that one, and reminded me a little of watching the Tour de France in Cap d'Agde many years ago!

Every Christmas our car reminds us that it's not invincible (last year on Christmas Eve the back windscreen exploded - yes, honestly!). Today when we descended to Moutiers, the car decided that the driver door wasn't closed (it was) and started making all sorts of alarming beeping noises, then wouldn't lock. A trip to Renault informed us that in order to lock our car and stop it from making said noises, we would be 200 Euros lighter. Merry Christmas! I do so long for older cars with no sensors, computerised messages and such like. Last week I was told the brakes were failing while driving down a mountain on hairpin bends, when it only needed the brake fluid topping up a little (hello Renault - again!).

Last thought for the day - fingers crossed that everyone who is stuck somewhere they are not supposed to be, and also my family trying to reach other family, manage to get to the right place in time for Christmas. Nite nite.

Back in the mountains.....

After a couple of months in the UK, we're back in Bozel, in the mountains - it's great to be back!There's probably more snow in Scotland (where my parents recently moved house in about 3ft of snow), but the sun is shining and the mountains look beautiful as ever. It's freezing though! I always forget what a wuss I am, and how cold it can be here (about minus 15 at the moment......). But we have a new apartment for the season - it's warm and cosy and the sun streams in from the balcony in the morning - bliss!

The highlight of my week so far was a lovely dinner in the Portetta Mountain Lodges 'Chamois' on Saturday - we were treated to champagne and the most delicious canapes, then a beautiful 4-course dinner by the Chabichou team. Shame I was driving!

No skiing as yet, but the skis are ready and waiting for me to 'man up' and brave the cold.....watch this space........