Bonjour once again from Plan Peisey, the skiingest resort in the Les Arcs area.
We've had quite a week here, but one filled with the general feeling that it's beginning to come to an end. Fortunately the temperatures have dropped again, and snow is starting to reappear (finally) after our somewhat barren spell. The conditions on the hill are actually pretty good everywhere as long as you go 100m up first. This meant that the last couple of days have been spent doing some pretty spectacular snowboarding. We visited our old friend Comborciere, which has got a bit harder and even more tricky, but still ultimately fun, rewarding and pretty quiet. As, for some unknown reason, it's STILL French half-term the pistes/lifts are rammed until lunch when everyone disappears for at least two hours; it's spooky, and completely stupid.
Yesterday we got some serious high speed going on, managed to do a couple of runs we've not tried before (such as Arondelieres because the Aiguille Rouge lift was prohibitatively queue-y) and saw a full-circle rainbow! It was incredible, and quite vivid. I tried to take a photo, but it barely came out, due to the power of the sun. I'm including the picture anyway, because you can vaguely discern its brilliance. After this moment I had "Omen" by The Prodigy stuck in my head for a while, which probably made me faster. It was beautiful though: the sky was almost completely clear, and the rainbow-ring just sat around the sun. And we were at the top of the Transarc, so pretty damn high. Hooray for natural wonders!
The beginning of the week was spent taking a woman who had a massive "off" to the medical centre, then later catching her as she fainted at the dinner table (whilst simultaneously holding a water jug), calling an ambulance in French (probably one of the hardest things I'd ever done), figuring out what to do, one of us staying to finish dinner (including lots of microwaving, the following dessert course, then the cheese board) whilst the other took a trip in an ambulance, driving down to the hospital in Bourg, finding it, waiting around until the doctors had decided what to do, then finally driving home at about 1am. Quite a day. Especially as we were expecting a quiet week (which it's otherwise been).
I was going to add loads of things I've learnt over the season, but am slowly running out of free time for the day. I'm sure I'll get a chance at some point. What with trying to figure out a route for our tandeming, making the most of the snow in our last month here, and getting much-needed sleep, we seem to never have any real time to do anything.
I leave you with a panoramic view taken from the balcony on a Spring-like day. There's a bit more snow again now.
Wooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
We've actually definitely bought a tandem this time. It looks a bit like this, but possibly in burgundy rather than racing green.
Firstly, I should really make mention of the huge amount of help we've received from www.snozel.com
in buying our Viking Ascot. They've provided excellent service along the way: reserving us the bike with the supplier as soon as we enquired, altering their website to accommodate our specific requirements (being in France etc) and generally keeping us informed of what's going on at all times. They've also shown a genuine interest in our upcoming escapade (word surprisingly relevant) and been very friendly and helpful. So, to answer all of the following questions: "Has anyone used snozel.com?" "How good are snozel.com?" and "Are snozel.com the best tandem supplier on the internet?" The answer is yes, definitely. Oh, and the prices were more than reasonable too.
Anyway, paean of praise aside. We have a tandem, and are cycling (UNSUPPORTED) back to Manchester from Peisey-Vallandry in France. We'll be camping along the way and have no real concept of how long it'll take (or how far it is - recent estimates are in excess of 900 miles). We hope to visit Annecy, Verdun, and Brussels (in Belgium), but these are only our initial thoughts. Mostly we hope to raise a little bit of cash for our chosen charities at www.virginmoneygiving.com/team/snow.
We also hope to visit a few places/people along the way through England, and hope that the trip can be as rewarding for the charities as the effort will be for us.
Anyway, we're excited, and a little bit scared. But hooray for actually having bought a tandem, it should be with us within a fortnight!
I'll leave you with a completely unrelated picture from our trip to Bourg-St-Maurice last Wednesday. I found it amusing. It's almost like being in Cambodia. Let the phrase enter your general lexicon (e.g. Are you going for some fasty-fooding?)
Hello,
Once again this blog has lacked momentum. Now, in the last post I mentioned that I'd bought a tandem. That soon un-happened as the supplier decided that (after two emails affirming that delivery was possible) delivery was not possible. This was most annoying. So, note to everyone, if you want a tandem delivered to France by Winstanleys bikes, don't believe a word they say, or their website, they do not provide livraision at all. The refund was quickly processed though. Also, all other websites offering the bike we wanted are completely unsure how to get it delivered to anywhere, or when they're available. However, thank the lord, Avocet Sports were very helpful and pointed me in the direction of snozel.com who have been similarly very good. I therefore hope to have the Viking Ascot delivered to me by the end of March. This brings me onto my next point: we're cycling back to Manchester at the end of the season on a tandem. We're going to see a bit more of France and hopefully raise a bit more for our chosen charities (www.virginmoneygiving.com/team/snow).
It's obviously a terrible idea, but my IQ has dropped at least 100 points since arriving here, so fairly understandable.
Anyway, onto the general update of activity since the last, short, blogging escapade. This picture shows some of the excellent cream-work I've achieved since coming to the Alps. I thought I'd create a new, edible, chocolate mousse-based version of Scrabble. We also do this with soup. All of the groups we've had want to make rude words, but until Fred, Ursula, Chris and Kirsty turn up in the correct order at the dining table, they're going to be sadly disappointed. We've got a bit quicker at stuff and so have a bit more free time in which to enjoy... the complete lack of snow. Well, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but it's been hot and sunny for almost three weeks now, and the snow conditions are deteriorating fast.
On one of our normal working days, we took a walk up the Route de Barmont to Arc 1800, to see how manageable it'll be for the Moomahs when they arrive in a couple of weeks time. It took only 25 minutes from Vallandry, and was a pleasant-enough stroll. Completely lacking ideas upon our arrival, we both had (the French approximation of) a kebab, and walked back. The route is clearly an actual road in the Summer, and we're not really sure why it's not one now. But at least the Moomahs will have easy access to the whole of the Les Arcs area.
On our day off last week we snowboarded hard, and it was good. Took on the Comborciere black run a couple of times (which stated on the chalkboard that it was a "super run" for "advanced skiiers only) and had some real mogul fun. Really felt like a 'boarder doing that. Then smashed some other runs on the way back. The picture below was from the top of Clocheret run. Still quite a lot of people out there, but we found some enjoyment amongst the queues of skiiers (normally lining up across the piste waiting to find out how stupid they are).
At the end of the same day we retired to the chalet where we enjoyed pink champagne, tarte aux myrtilles, and some salty caramel fudge cake in the evening sun. The champagne was "booty" left for us by some of our (recently predominantly generous and lovely) clients. Made for a good evening. We followed our aperitif with a trip to La Vache, a local cow-themed restaurant that serves an excellent mix of international cuisine, albeit at slightly inflated prices. It's the only place you can get falafel 'round here. Speaking of eateries, La Ferme, a bit further on towards the Baroque Church, is absolutely lovely. It's a proper family-run restaurant with only a few options, reasonable prices and amazing crepes with homemade jam. We popped in for a coffee and crepe during one of our afternoon walks and had a nice chat with the proprietor about our planned velo adventure (I say chat, more broken French phrases and wild gesticulating). Highly recommended (the restaurant, not the poor grasp of the French language).
This is the last real cloud we've seen, and it was all below us. Since then (and before) it's been full-on suntan weather. On Monday we went for a walk around the Nordic area at Pont Baudin and I had my shirt off for the full effect. Amazing considering there's still snow everywhere down there. The face-tan (which is the mark of a real seasonnaire - tanned face except for a white pair of skin sunglasses) is coming along beautifully. Every trip to Pont Baudin must have a quick sojourn at Les Chabottes which does incroyable cidre, cappuccinos and gaufres/waffles, all at reasonable prices. But elsewhere the sun has really melted the snow. We're seeing parts of the resort (such as our driveway) that we've never seen before.
Despite being our usual shattered selves after two days of solid work, Sunday saw a trip to La Plagne. It was only our third "go" at the sister resort and once again invloved more lifts than snowboarding, and more frustration than fun. That said, the weather was glorious and the views completely spectacular. There are too many flat bits for snowboarders really, and the weight of other people does slow you down, but at least the slopes are high enough to retain some snow in these deteriorating conditions. We went up to the glacier, which was surprisingly small and underwhelming, the took Combe back down (which was thin and full of skiiers). Source, the red run which goes 'round the back of the mountain back down into the La Plagne "bowl" was alright, but generally I wouldn't bother going over there. Great views, rubbish everything else.
Sure there was loads more I was going to add, but I generally forget once I've got the actual free time. I'll include details of our cycling trip once we figure them out. Hopefully we'll be able to have a finishing "do" at the end.
I'll leave you with a few pictures from Pont Baudin and Nancroix, further outlining how beautiful the area is:
