Marmotte Hotel Val-Thorens

... the week but on Saturday we leave for St Anton - apparently it's an 8 hour drive so up at 6AM.... when we get there we get to go to our permanent accommodation - we're living with the other couple and apparently our appartment has en suite bathrooms and a washing machine so sounds pretty good to us!

attached a couple of pics showing the view from our window when we arrived and the view now...

speak to you all soon!

Gemma and Dave

... terminal of a ski lift. At this point, Tom got called back to meet the Sylki Roadrunners. So we waited at the top. We could see the tracks for what appeared to be the off-road centre, but we couldn't really see the right track to get round/over the top. We certainly didn't fancy heading straight up the hill. even in the Landy. After a few minutes, Tom called us to go back down, because there was a new route to ...

... après un 2eme jour de 9 heures de marche. Heureusement, au refuge nous avons retrouvé une très bonne cuisine Italienne, dans une décor irréel, tous les murs étant tapissés de toutes sorte de choses, un vrai chni composé de photos, de drapeaux, d'objets oubliés par les randonneurs, etc... ah ces Italiens !!

Citation du jour:
La montagne nous offre le décor.... a nous d'inventer l'histoire qui va avec !

... and, eventually, vineyards.
Both of us are getting ready to go home. We have been to the Loire (almost three months ago) and are only keen to do a little sight seeing and a lot of resting.
Three nights in this quiet place (La Fleuray Hotel & Restaurant) is like going on a retreat before the last few days in Paris and the long trip home.
Spent some time seeing some of the country chateaus and a few small country villages. After that ...

... drove over one of the passes to the beautiful Lake Cenis. There is an old village submerged in it, but you can see some evidence of it as the water is still low. You can also see the Italian Alps at this point. We saw lots of grazing animals, a few ski areas, and a very simple, mountain lifestyle to enjoy. We certainly would not have known about this place without Yasmine's help, so a big merci to her and her family for letting us check it out! A bientot, -Jamie et Stopher

Se on sitten aika jäähyväisten taas kerran. Vaikka lisäaikaakin otin, niin kaikki kiva loppuu aikanaan ja tämän tytön on aika palata kotimaahan työnteon pariin. Valtteri jää vielä muutamaksi viikoksi, kun hissit on auki 3.toukokuuta saakka. Voitte vain kuvitella, miten kurjalta tuntuu lähteä edellä pois mutta ehkä mietimme iloisempia asioita eli miten hyvä kausi taas olikaan!! Aika tuntuu menneen aivan mahdottoman nopeasti ja en oikeastaan ees tajuu, mihin se on mennyt ...

... pin bowling instead. Back to Philippe and Emilie's for a great meal and an evening spent playing Guitar Heroes on the PS3. Garth was brilliant on the drums and ever since has had no problems hearing the beat in any piece of music - think how much better we'd get on in our ballroom dancing lessons now! We had a brilliant time with Philippe & Emilie - thank you so much both for your unbounded generosity and hospitality. It was great to start our trip amongst friends.

... deck chairs out the front which were spread all over the mountain.

Meribel village was also hosting a mini jazz festival, each cafe's outdoor seating was packed, a few places had bands playing and everyone was kicking back in ski pants and t-shirts having a lazy afternoon beer - it's one of my favourite times of the season after doing the hard yards in January, Feburary and March.

... The descent to Bourg-Saint-Maurice is so steep and we go down so quickly that it makes my ears pop. I was pretty nervous about school. When I spent a week in a Chinese school, I had my sisters there with me, and it was a primary school, so we were obviously heaps older. But here, I am alone and these people are my age and older. We arrived at school when it was lighter, but still pretty dark for 8am. My first class was PE. We first went ...

... nationalities together at the potluck were American, French, English, Canadian, Swedish, and Irish. It was night of great food, drink, music, and laughter (even if I could only could understand half the words spoken). The main dish of the night was lamb fresh from slaughter that had spent the summer grazing on the slopes we will ski this winter. Best lamb we have ever had. It must have been the Swix wax that has settled in the soil.