Stephen and Therese's voyage to redemption
together we must fight this false reality!
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Ok – so not really posted anything about the holiday as yet, due tom arriving back, unpacking, repacking, going to Zurich, coming back, unpacking, repacking and going to London.
In the meantime, here’s a photo of the view from our chalet. More to come in next couple of days.
Tags: arc 1800, bourg saint maurice, les arcs, skiing
It doesn’t matter that we’re out of the ski resort by 0900. Within an hour we’re stuck in queues. It doubles our travel time to Lyon.
A couple of stops as we travel North. Around 1800 we arrive into Epernay. It’s great if you want champagne and French Champagne food. Less great for vegetarians. We’re staying at an Ibis which turns out to be both well located and presented.
We do spot one Italian restaurant which looks great. However, everyone else has the same idea and it’s booked out. No choice (really!) but the inferior restaurant next door and a rather poor pizza. At least it’s followed in a bar subsequently with a couple of glasses (each) of some local fizz.
Tomorrow – Belgium, then home 
The title says it all. Very little snowfall. However, given the temperature varied between –20 (plus wind chill) and just below freezing, there was little chance of the existing considerable snowfall disappearing. One day over at La Plagne, the rest at Les Arcs. Considerable pizza and vin chaud consumed. My comfort zone moved from easy reds to hard reds. I no longer cry when on red moguls 
Therese did the black moguls though 
. Well once.
We are knackered. We crawl to the chairlift and get to the base of Meribel around 1030. Enough energy is mustered to get up to around 2800 metres and I’m encouraged down my first black. It’s pisted, but it’s a black none the less.
We cram in a few more mixed reds, then down to Meribel. Since it’s our last day skiing, we decide to splash out on lunch. Two pizzas, some chips and a couple of soft drinks later, we’re stunned when the bill arrives, leaving us almost no change from 50 euro.
Lunch is worked off with another hours skiing – but by then 10 days have taken their toll. We’re looking ridiculously healthy with all this exercise, good food and next to no alcohol. However, our legs are totally stuffed.
We chill out for a couple of hours then have dinner and watch the most recent Indiana Jones film. The reviews are spot on . the first half is good.
Tomorrow . no skiing.
Tags: europe spring 2009, france, meribel, skiing
We heard the pitter patter of snow during the night. Around 0800 we slide open the top screen and sure enough, we can see from the inside there’s a little snow. We expect a couple of centimetres.
I open the front door. We have around 20 centimetres! Brrrrr.
Visibility looks poor and it’s still snowing. We take the chairlift down to 600 metres and the local town of Brides Les Bains and pick up some bread, followed by brunch back at the motorhome.
Early afternoon and the sun appears. We make for the slops.
At the top of Tougnete 2 there’s almost no visibility and a fierce wind whipping up the fresh snow. The first couple of hundred metres of decent are slow, though we get to move a little after down the rest of the piste.
We do a few more runs . but the weather descends again and we call it a day.
Tags: brides les bains, europe spring 2009, france, meribel, motorhome, skiing
After picking up the chairlift outside our place, we move quickly from Meribel over to Courchevel. It’s a bit lower down, busy and complete with slushy snow. It doesn’t take us long to return to Meribel.
Lunch is the leftover sandwiches from yesterday as punishment for eating chips the previous day. Still, better than what we’d have purchased from the shops here.
There’s a little cloud in the afternoon, causing some problems with visibility when we’re in the shade. Still, all in all another excellent day’s skiing.
I take a long walk through Meribel at the end of the day (long due to wearing ski boots) in search of some more bread. And cakes. Therese promises to eat only half but manages it all. I feel obligated to follow suite to avoid embarrassment.
Tags: cake, courcheval, europe spring 2009, meribel, motorhome, skiing
Michael Foot: A Life by Kenneth O. Morgan