A change of scenery.

  A change is as good as a rest so they say. Well I did’nt really need a rest but I did need a change. A change of scenery, a change of pace, just a change.

  I do love it here in the mountains and I am aware that I have sounded a little down on the whole seasonaires lifestyle lately and despite being a little (??) negative about the people that I am surrounded by I am having a great time. But it is the little things sometimes, things that are not at all important in the grand scheme of things really. I knew before we came here what I was letting myself in for, I knew that it is a small place miles away from real civilisation, I knew it was a completely different lifestyle and I knew it would not always be plain sailing and I think deep down I knew it would be a challenge for me at times.

  It is a small place and that can start to feel a bit claustrophobic at times, same faces, same places. It feels like you are in a bubble sometimes.

  So what with it being hideously busy with half-termer’s we decided to get out of town for a few days, avoid the crowds and just check back in with the real world for a bit.

  And that is precisely what we did. We have just got back from Turin in Italy where we spent a few days away, it’s only 3 and a half hours drive from here and it was just what the doctor ordered. I have mentioned in the past about my love of Italy and being on the border here in Val it was too good an opportunity to pass up.

  Although Turin is at the foot of the Italian Alps it does not feel like a mountain town, it is a vibrant cosmopolitan city full of history, with amazing architecture, fabulous bars, café’s and restaurants, theatres, galleries and museums and not a bad spot for a little retail therapy either.

  I don’t really need to say it but the food and wine was incredible as usual, I don’t ever think you could eat badly in Italy and I don’t think I could ever tire of the amazing fare on offer.

  Turin is apparently also the birthplace of the ‘aperitif’, and they do it a way unlike anywhere else I have ever experienced. From 5 o’clock everyday the bars and café’s, housed in incredible old buildings under the archways in the grand piazza’s of the city, have what they call ‘aperitivo’ which basically means there is a charge of €6/7 each and you get a drink and a full on anti-pasti style buffet, odd but brilliant. Smoked meats, cheeses, roasted veggies, bruschetta, you name it, and everywhere was buzzing with people.  But obviously you have to be a little careful or you can just stuff yourself silly with this and ruin your dinner!!! But it really is a Turin institution all these places were busy, everyone was partaking and not in one place was the situation abused in any way, unlike a lot of places I can think of!!

  A change is as good as a rest so they say. Well I did’nt really need a rest but I did need a change. A change of scenery, a change of pace, just a change.

  I do love it here in the mountains and I am aware that I have sounded a little down on the whole seasonaires lifestyle lately and despite being a little (??) negative about the people that I am surrounded by I am having a great time. But it is the little things sometimes, things that are not at all important in the grand scheme of things really. I knew before we came here what I was letting myself in for, I knew that it is a small place miles away from real civilisation, I knew it was a completely different lifestyle and I knew it would not always be plain sailing and I think deep down I knew it would be a challenge for me at times.

  It is a small place and that can start to feel a bit claustrophobic at times, same faces, same places. It feels like you are in a bubble sometimes.

  So what with it being hideously busy with half-termer’s we decided to get out of town for a few days, avoid the crowds and just check back in with the real world for a bit.

  And that is precisely what we did. We have just got back from Turin in Italy where we spent a few days away, it’s only 3 and a half hours drive from here and it was just what the doctor ordered. I have mentioned in the past about my love of Italy and being on the border here in Val it was too good an opportunity to pass up.

  Although Turin is at the foot of the Italian Alps it does not feel like a mountain town, it is a vibrant cosmopolitan city full of history, with amazing architecture, fabulous bars, café’s and restaurants, theatres, galleries and museums and not a bad spot for a little retail therapy either.

  I don’t really need to say it but the food and wine was incredible as usual, I don’t ever think you could eat badly in Italy and I don’t think I could ever tire of the amazing fare on offer.

  Turin is apparently also the birthplace of the ‘aperitif’, and they do it a way unlike anywhere else I have ever experienced. From 5 o’clock everyday the bars and café’s, housed in incredible old buildings under the archways in the grand piazza’s of the city, have what they call ‘aperitivo’ which basically means there is a charge of €6/7 each and you get a drink and a full on anti-pasti style buffet, odd but brilliant. Smoked meats, cheeses, roasted veggies, bruschetta, you name it, and everywhere was buzzing with people.  But obviously you have to be a little careful or you can just stuff yourself silly with this and ruin your dinner!!! But it really is a Turin institution all these places were busy, everyone was partaking and not in one place was the situation abused in any way, unlike a lot of places I can think of!!

   So we spent 2 nights there, during the day we walked through the cobbled streets and ancient buildings, wandered alongside the winding river and strolled through the parks, stopped in the piazza’s for espresso and a spot of people watching (Italian men and their penchant for coloured trousers!! Particularly mustard and red!!!), generally soaked up the atmosphere and then in the evenings went for ‘aperitivo’ and then on to dinner. Fabulous! I should add at this point that we did not get rained on, which is a first!!!

  I must say I loved being back in the real world just for a bit, I think I needed it. But it is also great to be back up here now surrounded by the most beautiful natural scenery, although it did remind me of what I am missing.

   So we spent 2 nights there, during the day we walked through the cobbled streets and ancient buildings, wandered alongside the winding river and strolled through the parks, stopped in the piazza’s for espresso and a spot of people watching (Italian men and their penchant for coloured trousers!! Particularly mustard and red!!!), generally soaked up the atmosphere and then in the evenings went for ‘aperitivo’ and then on to dinner. Fabulous! I should add at this point that we did not get rained on, which is a first!!!

  I must say I loved being back in the real world just for a bit, I think I needed it. But it is also great to be back up here now surrounded by the most beautiful natural scenery, although it did remind me of what I am missing.

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  We have now been away from home for 3 whole months. Strange that I still call it home as for the time being my home is here. But I suppose home is where the heart is, wherever that may be.

   I have never been one to be home sick, having never felt particularly attached to living anywhere so far and not having a close family, apart from my lil’ sis of course and a very special aunt. Having lived abroad before it was the lack of female company that was one of the hardest things then as it is now. I have a wonderful group of girl friends that I have left behind. But maybe it is being older, maybe it is feeling unsure of where or what happens next (getting scarily close), maybe it is just the lack of female company but I have been missing everyone terribly, especially my lil’ sis and my girls. 

  There is such a thing known as the mid season blues, maybe a bit of that but more than that I feel that I should be helping out in unforeseen circumstances, but am too far away to do anything of use.

   Sometimes when unexpected things happen back home you feel powerless to help and selfish for not being there. But I suppose that this is the reality of living abroad and the very worst thing is being away from those dearest to you. All I can do is be there on the end of the phone or the email, or jump on the next flight back home to where my heart is at the moment?????

    

This week just gone.

  A crazy, busy week in Val d’isere. Not for us lazy ski bums obviously but the French half term proved to be just as mad as promised and now the English have arrived!! This little French village has 1,800 year round habitants and in peak weeks like now and Christmas and Easter, the population swells to over 30,000!

 What happens though is that the mountain is crawling with people jostling for room and the village is pretty buzzing with activity but the bars are empty as, quite rightly, the children are not welcome in them. This place actually is not designed for small children and there are few restaurants equipped to cater to the little ones let alone the bars, which really are not family friendly.

  But we have avoided the slopes bar one or two days this week and have successfully avoided being caught up in the madness of half term.

   We did have to be good Samaritans last Sunday though as we ended up as chaperone to a British guy on his own, who could not ski, had no idea what the difference in the slopes are and who was booked in to lessons starting the next day, Monday. We found him stranded on probably one of the hardest, steepest, busiest red slopes in the resort (the infamous Piste M for those that know, and that would easily be a black anywhere else). He was a third of the way down and completely stuck, he thought he was on a beginner’s slope until he was on it and then it is too late, no other way down apart from on your ass or on a stretcher!! He stopped Mr and asked if we were English and if so could we help him down. It normally takes us 10 mins to ski that treacherous run, it took us at least 45. You should’nt laugh but it was hilarious watching him falling and slipping, but we were not that evil, I taught him how to slide sideways and we made it to the bottom in one piece. We never saw him again. I hope he is still alive and well!!! 

   But apart from being a lifesaver we had a fabulous dinner for my bosses’ birthday on Thursday evening. There were 13 of us, all older, all rather much more civilised than the normal rabble surrounding us, and it was a really lovely evening. Went to a restaurant that we had’nt been to before, bit out of the main village and it felt like we were somewhere completely different. The food was fantastic, the wine flowed well and the atmosphere very chilled out. Nice.  I was a little concerned leading up to it as there was going to live music after dinner and I don’t need to remind you that I am sick to the back teeth of live music but these guys were actually brilliant. 4 of them, all guitars (which I normally really despise) a couple of maracas and some very tuneful, easy going sound’s going on. Made a nice change, felt like we were on holiday!

  A crazy, busy week in Val d’isere. Not for us lazy ski bums obviously but the French half term proved to be just as mad as promised and now the English have arrived!! This little French village has 1,800 year round habitants and in peak weeks like now and Christmas and Easter, the population swells to over 30,000!

 What happens though is that the mountain is crawling with people jostling for room and the village is pretty buzzing with activity but the bars are empty as, quite rightly, the children are not welcome in them. This place actually is not designed for small children and there are few restaurants equipped to cater to the little ones let alone the bars, which really are not family friendly.

  But we have avoided the slopes bar one or two days this week and have successfully avoided being caught up in the madness of half term.

   We did have to be good Samaritans last Sunday though as we ended up as chaperone to a British guy on his own, who could not ski, had no idea what the difference in the slopes are and who was booked in to lessons starting the next day, Monday. We found him stranded on probably one of the hardest, steepest, busiest red slopes in the resort (the infamous Piste M for those that know, and that would easily be a black anywhere else). He was a third of the way down and completely stuck, he thought he was on a beginner’s slope until he was on it and then it is too late, no other way down apart from on your ass or on a stretcher!! He stopped Mr and asked if we were English and if so could we help him down. It normally takes us 10 mins to ski that treacherous run, it took us at least 45. You should’nt laugh but it was hilarious watching him falling and slipping, but we were not that evil, I taught him how to slide sideways and we made it to the bottom in one piece. We never saw him again. I hope he is still alive and well!!! 

   But apart from being a lifesaver we had a fabulous dinner for my bosses’ birthday on Thursday evening. There were 13 of us, all older, all rather much more civilised than the normal rabble surrounding us, and it was a really lovely evening. Went to a restaurant that we had’nt been to before, bit out of the main village and it felt like we were somewhere completely different. The food was fantastic, the wine flowed well and the atmosphere very chilled out. Nice.  I was a little concerned leading up to it as there was going to live music after dinner and I don’t need to remind you that I am sick to the back teeth of live music but these guys were actually brilliant. 4 of them, all guitars (which I normally really despise) a couple of maracas and some very tuneful, easy going sound’s going on. Made a nice change, felt like we were on holiday!

  A crazy, busy week in Val d’isere. Not for us lazy ski bums obviously but the French half term proved to be just as mad as promised and now the English have arrived!! This little French village has 1,800 year round habitants and in peak weeks like now and Christmas and Easter, the population swells to over 30,000!

 What happens though is that the mountain is crawling with people jostling for room and the village is pretty buzzing with activity but the bars are empty as, quite rightly, the children are not welcome in them. This place actually is not designed for small children and there are few restaurants equipped to cater to the little ones let alone the bars, which really are not family friendly.

  But we have avoided the slopes bar one or two days this week and have successfully avoided being caught up in the madness of half term.

   We did have to be good Samaritans last Sunday though as we ended up as chaperone to a British guy on his own, who could not ski, had no idea what the difference in the slopes are and who was booked in to lessons starting the next day, Monday. We found him stranded on probably one of the hardest, steepest, busiest red slopes in the resort (the infamous Piste M for those that know, and that would easily be a black anywhere else). He was a third of the way down and completely stuck, he thought he was on a beginner’s slope until he was on it and then it is too late, no other way down apart from on your ass or on a stretcher!! He stopped Mr and asked if we were English and if so could we help him down. It normally takes us 10 mins to ski that treacherous run, it took us at least 45. You should’nt laugh but it was hilarious watching him falling and slipping, but we were not that evil, I taught him how to slide sideways and we made it to the bottom in one piece. We never saw him again. I hope he is still alive and well!!! 

   But apart from being a lifesaver we had a fabulous dinner for my bosses’ birthday on Thursday evening. There were 13 of us, all older, all rather much more civilised than the normal rabble surrounding us, and it was a really lovely evening. Went to a restaurant that we had’nt been to before, bit out of the main village and it felt like we were somewhere completely different. The food was fantastic, the wine flowed well and the atmosphere very chilled out. Nice.  I was a little concerned leading up to it as there was going to live music after dinner and I don’t need to remind you that I am sick to the back teeth of live music but these guys were actually brilliant. 4 of them, all guitars (which I normally really despise) a couple of maracas and some very tuneful, easy going sound’s going on. Made a nice change, felt like we were on holiday!

Ps. It is snowing at last!!

some more photos

still sunny

the most expensive hot chocolate on the mountain, €4.20!!!!!!!!!!!!

this is a ski slope!

same one, but the others will catch up if we don't have some snow soon.

it is the only one with mud, but very bad!!!

you would'nt believe its the same mountain!!

french women don't get fat..............

…………….. But English girls do. It is official. I will explain.

  Here in Val we have a resident English doctor, Dr Al is his name. He writes a weekly column in the local rag giving health advice and medical information to us seasonaires. From broken bones to STD’s he is your man.

  This week according to Dr Al throughout a ski season the ladies pile on the pounds and the boys always lose weight. Another kick in the teeth for womankind eh? Apparently it s due to the fact that girls tend to do the jobs where you get fed and they end up eating the left over cake from all afternoon tea’s!!  Re, chalet girl, chalet cook, waitress, nanny, rep and they work more hours so therefore ski less resulting in a rather fuller figure. The boys on the other hand do more physical jobs, spend more time on the mountain and spend 80% of their budget on booze instead of feeding themselves. Told you this was a man’s town!!

   You really would think that all this skiing would be great for the figure and the weight control, plus I also have to walk up 74 steps to get to my apartment, which I walk at least twice a day, at least once wearing a pair of ski boots which incidentally if you have ever had the misfortune of wearing, are heavy, plastic and totally impractical for walking more than a few feet!!  And I still feel as though I have put on weight (and I don’t get fed with my job!!), plus my legs and ass really do not feel all that more toned. I am thinking that it is just never meant to be!!!! At this point I must add that true to form Mr has actually lost weight, bloody typical despite drinking far more beer and eating his weight in cheese!!

   I certainly feel fitter but do not feel (from a very vain point of view that I do not mind admitting) that my figure is benefitting from all this exercise!!! Although I do not have a full-length mirror so I actually have no idea what I really look like, for the first time in my life I cannot analyse and criticise every inch of my body!! I am not sure which is worse!!

   But the real culprit is the food and drink that finds it’s way down my throat. I have a healthy appetite, really enjoy good food and love a glass of wine (or bottle!), but I also know I have to be careful and I actually like to eat healthily! I cook at home a lot, which I enjoy having the time to do, we eat out at most once a week, as it is so expensive to do so any more, and we really only go out for drinks once or twice a week, I avoid hot chocolate on the mountain and generally try to stick to my meat and dairy free diet when at home. So where is the problem??

    The problem is the lack of gym workouts that I am used to, skiing just is not the same if you are used to high cardio workouts, add to the fact that the body is completely covered head to toe in bulky clothes so subconsciously (or not?) don’t think about exposing body as normal and it is cold so you feel like you need something warming and comforting like hot chocolate with rum or amaretto!!!! Or a café au lait!!! And there are naughty treats lurking around every corner, croissant, waffles, crepes….. the list is endless!! I would never have had these things on a normal day back in my old life, but here it is just the done thing, you kind of fall into the bad habits surrounding you!!

     And there is the eating out. The trouble is when Mr and I head out for a meal, obviously this being France it would be almost illegal not to have bread on the table (I barely ate bread before), then there is the French food, meat and dairy is compulsory, vegetables only exist in the form of green salad and veggie soup, and the deserts are to die for, again something else I would have avoided, add a gallon or two of red wine and you can put on a stone reading through the menu!!!

    This then brings us nicely to the subject of alcohol, as mentioned once or twice, red wine or a gin & slimline tonic would normally be my chosen drink but with a G&T on average €8 and a ‘vin rouge’ €4, you can work out which one is the more affordable option. But you don’t need me to tell you that wine is the enemy of the waistline!!! I have never drank so much in my life, the odd glass or two here and there really adds up, but unless we go out we do not socialise and unless you have a drink it is miserable as everyone else is plastered. Then next day equals hangover, which needs to be fed rubbish!!!! There lies the other problem.

    So this week it has to change as there are only 13ish weeks till I will have to bare some flesh and the horrifying thought of maybe putting on a bikini!!!!!! Things maybe are not so bad as all my clothes still fit but my daily Pilates and Yoga really must once again become part of my routine now that my back has eased up.  

    So why don’t French women get fat?? God knows how they don’t. Olivia Palermo professes to owe her slim (child like actually) figure to growing up in Paris and eating like a French woman, eating everything but never over indulging. Hmmm…….food for thought, not for eating!!!!!! 

Mud!!!!

  Another beautiful, warm and sunny week in Val d’isere. I really am trying not to make this blog into a weather report (as mentioned previously) but bloody hell, this is the worst ski season for lack of snow for years, still no proper snow since Christmas, and that seems like forever ago.  There is mud!!!!

  And as of today the French are on half term so that marks the start of hell on ice! It is already tricky skiing conditions as I keep on mentioning but double, maybe even triple the people on the slopes over the next few weeks and it will be carnage. It is hard packed and icey which means you pick up speed far too quickly and ice makes it near impossible to bloody stop, so faced with the possibility of having a hurtling nine year old impaled in my leg (or worse!) Mr and I will be having a little time off the ski’s.

  So what to do?? This week we tried to make the most of it before the stampede, so had a few days up the mountain sliding around (and praying for dear life at times), had a little relax at home and had a very nice lunch out. That is the beauty of the sun shining, all the village café’s and restaurant’s suddenly produce outside seating so as to soak a few rays whilst partaking in a ‘menu de jour’ and the odd glass of wine.

  The ‘menu de jour’ (menu of the day) is a great thing, not only do you get the freshest and tastiest food, you get 2 courses for less than the price of a regular main dish. So for us cash strapped seasonaires (us older ones anyway, the stinkers obviously do not do such nice things) it means we can eat in some of the best restaurants for a fraction of the normal cost. We enjoyed a lovely lunch at ‘Le Pedrix Blanche’, a lovely restaurant famed for it’s seafood and excellent meat, we had grilled seabass with wild rice, broad beans and bacon in a garlic sauce then for dessert we had almond topped camembert all for €15 each, bargain, especially here where it can cost you €14 for a bowl of soup!!! As you can see the vegan diet is holding up well!!!!!!!!!

   This week coming we will be trying to sort out where we head to next and what we are going to do with the summer. Not an easy task. Many choices but trying to decide what is best for us is a difficult one. We are also planning a few days away for the following week (when the Brits arrive with hoards of spoilt, screaming children). We are thinking that seen as we are so close to many places and we have a car that we should make the most of it and have a little explore. Geneva is looking a close contender, only 2/3 hours away and looks like lots to see and do, oh and there may be the odd shop or two???

  

Celeb Spotting

  Playground of the rich and famous? Skiing has long been synonymous with the wealthy and famous people who surround us mere mortals, and there are many world famous resorts that seem to attract these types, Verbier, St-Anton, Chamonix, Courcheval, Kloisters, Aspen and at times our very own Val d’isere.

  By the looks of things in the press Kloisters can now kiss goodbye to their swanky reputation thanks to Katie Price/Jordan turning up last week and lowering the tone of the place, she gets around does’nt she??? No pun intended (well maybe just a little one!!!)

  We have had a couple of famous faces show up here too over the last few weeks. Firstly Heston Blumenthal was in town, he just so happened to be at the same après party as us one Wednesday evening, very friendly he was too (although I also saw him at the ski/snowboard show at Olympia in October, we arrived at the same time, if he show’s up again I’m going to have to tell him to back off!!!)

   But I suppose I ought to also mention that whilst having a drink in our favourite bar Friday evening (another week off the booze going badly!) who happens to be in the corner but Timmy Mallet. Mr spotted him in the corner with a bunch of friends. I texted my Lil’sis as we almost always watched ‘Wackaday’ when we were little ‘uns and rather embarrassingly asked him for a photo. It came out badly on my phone but maybe that was a good thing as he was wearing a ridiculous hat that would not have been amusing 15 years ago when he probably bought it!! But he was pleasant enough and I expect secretly pleased as he exited the bar to a chorus of “Timmy, Timmy, Timmy” by some incredibly pissed Irish folk at the bar!

   

My new hobby part 3

   Part 3 of my new hobby, at which point does it stop being ‘new’ I wonder?

     Anyway here are some more snaps of people that really should know better than to assault everyone else’s eyes with their terrible outfit choices. Note that thus far the men are outnumbering the women in the (non) style stakes, why on earth do men think that A, dressing in an all-in-one is perfectly acceptable and B, not only are they all-in-one’s but such colours and designs should really have been left in the 70’s & 80’s where they belong. But it is highly amusing to the rest of us with some iota of taste!

A day out!

   Last week we also had a day trip!! We left the mountains (sort of) and went to a town! A real town with shops!!!  Not just a supermarket, a bakery, a butcher’s and a few crap souvenir shops like our nearest town, real shops like H&M and Mango, but I could not find Zara, though I could feel it must’ve been close!!! And only a 2 hour drive away!

   This is a place known as Annecy, a huge lake in the middle with mountains all around, not like our mountains up here in resort but more gentile mountains with rocks and grass (not unlike some of ours due to lack of snow!!!!). The lake turned into little canals running through the beautiful old medieval town, with pretty little stone and ironwork bridges here and there and it made for a very pleasant change of scenery.

   We went to Annecy with two others, a guy we have known since we arrived who Mr was sure was gay (he definitely is not, I knew he was wrong. Men! When will they learn to listen to us!!) And one other companion who, wait for it, was a GIRL!!!  A 21 year old university graduate who is a rep for a ski (obviously) holiday company. She is not smelly, does’nt have dreadlocks, wears make up and does’nt appear to have a pair of Nike hi-tops!! 

   We met her a couple of weeks ago whilst we were out one Friday night, our week of not going out and not drinking did’nt go to well as you can tell, our friend (as mentioned above) works for Oxygene ski school (and got Mr his job there) and in his marketing role has to get to know all the reps. He had arranged to meet this young lady and kind of made us go along with him so he was’nt on his own but he was very shy and she and I ended chatting away instead!!

    So whilst out (again) on weds we convinced her to come out for the day on Friday and she came, so luckily I was not the only female, our friend did’nt feel like a gooseberry with just Mr and I and I finally got to have some proper girls conversations!!

   We arrived in time for a lovely canal side lunch (a damn sight cheaper than Val too!) and took a lovely stroll around the lake before heading into the maze of shops that made up the town centre.

   And as lovely as it is living in a ski resort it is not the real world and it is a small place to live (although Val is much bigger than most) so it felt good to get back into the real world for a day and escape the bubble that is our day to day lives in the mountains.

   Also the other plus was just a little peek into a couple of shops (that don’t sell ski clothing!) just a little hit!!! You would be proud though as I left empty handed although the longing for new everything came flooding back as I wandered around H&M!!!!  Hmmm, don’t think it will ever go away.

   Here’s some snaps of our day out! 

Panoramic setting, France def not China as it kinda looks!!!

  

The halfway point!

   I cannot believe it is February already. That makes it half way through this ski season, meaning just 12 weeks left to decide where we are off to next. It also means just 12 weeks till everything closes and we really have to move on. February also means crazily busy as the UK and the rest of Europe descends into the school half terms, which in turn means it will probably be horrendous here!!!  Especially as we still have not had any real snow this year, the most that we have had is 10cm since Christmas day and there does’nt appear to be any forecast soon!!!! Not a good thing as the slopes are becoming more appropriate for ice climbing as apposed to skiing, but hey ho once there are thousands more people over the next few of weeks sliding around on the icey slopes I am sure it will only get worse so should’nt really complain right now!!!

   It has gone soo quick these last few months so I just know that May will be here in no time, even quicker will the resort closing be though if we don’t get some snow soon!!!! Today it was +11 degrees, far too warm for snow!! But rather than think about that I shall concentrate on now.

   This last week Mr decided to get back on two planks as apposed to the one he whizzes around on. I was so looking forward to him being a skier for a few days, not for any other reason but to see him fall on his arse and be worse than me for a change!  How very disappointing! He did’nt fall over and was’nt bad especially seeing as he had’nt had ski’s on for about 12 years, although I surprised myself as I was teaching him how to use these new fangled ski’s (carver’s did’nt exist way back when he was a youngster on ski’s) and I was constantly telling him to correct his posture (I am an expert after being told myself for many years!!), and even more surprisingly once I felt he was safe on his own I was the one doing the overtaking!!! But he is not converted and will be back on the board this week cutting us skiers up and thinking he’s cool, bloody snowboarder’s. They really must remember they would’nt be here if it was’nt for us skiers!! 

    But due to these warmer days that we are having it does mean that the village is less like an ice rink. The sun is blazing, the skies are perfectly blue, there are actual pavements to walk on, you can sit outside the café’s on the streets, I don’t have to put on 5 layers to step outside but it does feel a bit strange, it should be covered with snow at this time of the year and yes I have moaned incessantly about the cold but it almost feels too warm. I know, I know I am never happy!

 

Mr on the planks!!

Red sky in the morning, should be shepherds warning,

The shepherds warning was for sun!!!! 

The latest accessory!!!

   I am almost through reading my latest vogue, yes the Victoria Beckham one. I must admit to not being the biggest fan of Ms Beckham, not her personally, I am indifferent about that but I am not a fan of her ‘apparent ‘style. Neither am I a fan of celebrity designer collections, and I must say hers is astronomically priced for someone who is not a designer. And not all that remarkable in my own opinion, but each to their own. I will say though that her interview was the first article I read and I enjoyed it, and it gave me a slightly more positive outlook on the former spice girl. But still with regards to her sense of style I just cannot help thinking that she always looks just a bit too styled but tries to come across as if she is’nt.  I think she also comes across as wanting to be taken more seriously as a designer and mother (in that order) and not just another publicity hungry celebrity. The jury is still out on that one. But who am I to talk, the closest I have come to designing my own collection is spraying a vest with bleach (see previous post) last week.

  But that brings us (kind of) to the all the lovely new things on offer, obviously we are at that time of year again when we are seeing all the new season trends in Vogue et al, it really whets your appetite for, well everything really. One thing that I can almost guarantee that Victoria will not be purchasing this season is a pair of crampons! I will explain, they are rubber, they have grip, they have metal  spike’s, they slip on over your shoe to give you more grip and tread on ice and snow! So not the latest spring accessory but as close to one as I am likely to get! But kind of a god send as the village has now turned into an ice rink thanks to warm temperatures during the day (apart from today, -21) making everything melt and then freezing at night creating frozen slush and black ice covered pavements!!  They are ugly, but they work ever so slightly more than normal footwear (you know where I am on that score!!!) although I wore them out Wednesday evening over my ankle boot wedges and they gave the boots a rather architectural, Gareth Pugh look about them!!!  Once again I am learning to work with what I’ve got!

The only gay in the village.

  I know that I have banged on and on about the lack of females, the lack of dressing up, the slippery floor not conducive to my love of heels, the skanky hi-top gang and their penchant for being unwashed and keeping their ski clothes on all day and night.

  But not everyone is completely scummy. Clearly a resort such as this attracts some very stylish and glamorous people, the difference is they are normally dripping cash so it’s not really a fair comparison to us mere locals. But as everyone knows money does not always buy taste and there is also a fine display of that here too, I do not mean to stereotype but you can spot the Russians a mile off.  Just think shiny fabrics, furry everything, spike heels (even I would not attempt these ridiculously, often ugly, high heels) and bad hair and make up. Apologies if you are Russian.

  There are one or two locals holding up the style stakes here though, but mostly of the older, classic variety apart from one. One who is seen skulking about in skinny jeans, fitted khaki’s, Breton tops, the softest cashmere, fabulous hats, waist cinching leather belts, gorgeous fitted fur jackets, high heels, long boots, huge black sunnies and softly draping leather bags. It is a bloody man!!

   Unfortunately this is the only gay in the village!!!! Complete with 5 o’clock shadow and short blonde hair! How worrying that the practically the only person I have any fashion taste in common with turns out to be a tranny!