the meltdown

I am currently sitting in the blazing sunshine on my balcony, it is 10.30 on Sunday morning and it is already +20 odd degrees!!!! I am wearing a t shirt and a lycra mini and have bare legs!!! I am covered in factor 40 sunscreen and I have just had to cover my chest as I can feel it burning!!!!! Who’d a thought we were in the Alps??? Granted it is spring and I did expect warmer temperatures but bloody hell, it has been +23-28 degrees all week!!!! I hardly need to say that the snow is not holding up too well. Apparently it is at least 10 degrees warmer than normal and this is one of the worst winters (???) they have had here for at least 35 years!! Great!!

I have skied once this past week, for about and hour and a half. It is just too warm to put ski clothes on!! And when the sun is shining, it’s boiling hot and the snow is a melting muddy mess the last thing you feel like doing is going bloody skiing!!!!

It poses a problem though, as mentioned previously some time ago, there really is’ nt very much to do when you are not skiing. All there really is eating and drinking, which is A: too bloody expensive to do everyday and B: not conducive to my fitness and weight loss regime!!!!! So I have upped my gym visit’s and we have adopted the French way of ordering one coffee and making it last an hour outside on a sunny terrace!!! Thank goodness we have a sunny balcony as at least we can just sit out here and read a book!!

But you can’t just laze around in the sun, gets a bit boring really. So Thursday we had a drive out, for something to do and to get out of the village. This weather also poses another problem, my wardrobe!! Of course I have vest tops and a couple of bits for slightly warmer climes but all I have for my feet are boots (I am now realising 9 pairs is maybe a bit excessive!!) and a pair of gym trainers, oh and my Louboutins but I can hardly trot about the village in them!!!!

So knowing there was a H&M 2 hours away and needing to cool down we headed to Annecy for the day, we had been once before but now it is warmer it was just lovely. The lake was full of boats and pedalo’s. It was surrounded by people lazing in the sun and playing games. Just like summer, but with boots on!!!!

We walked by the lake, had a lovely, leisurely lunch outside by the canal that runs through the medieval center of the town and mooched around the shops where purely out of necessity I managed to purchase some beige peg leg chino’s, a couple of vest’s, a light weight top and a pair of ballet pumps for the grand total of €40.00!!! I know its only three weeks till we leave but I would have gone insane or spontaneously combust if I had to survive 3 more weeks of this heat in my snow boots and jeans!!!