Boiled eggs on the bar!

Well where to start. Been an interesting few days, we have skied, we have drank, we have discovered where to go out and where to avoid, and we have met some normal people.

We decided to check out a couple of bars that had just opened, we had already frequented a cool boarder bar called the V Spot, ran by a friendly Aussie, great lounge music, stylish surroundings and lots of ‘Scandies’, the beautiful people from those northern Scandinavian climes, how do they produce such people???? It’s a good spot to meet other seasonaires that are generally over 25, and who are not completely awful!! Most of the girls in here actually manage not to wear the obligatory Nike’s either. And now that we have been in a couple of times, we’ve even had a few free drinks, one advantage of being a seasonaire.

We also checked out a little bar called the Blue Note, have been told by all and sundry that this is a great place, hmmmm..... maybe it’s just because it was full of the kids from the holiday companies but anywhere they are I want to avoid. Then it was on to a Danish bar, Le Petite Danois, I will warn you now I do not have anything positive to say about this place apart from it has an exit! It was full of the little buggers we thought we had left behind in the Blue Note but they were out in force in here, firstly it stank, mouldy, damp and pet shop sprang to mind, add plates of smelly (going off) meat’s on the bar plus bowls of boiled eggs and you can just imagine (all of which were being eaten to save money on dinners, I swear I heard someone say that!!). Although I have it good authority that this boiled egg thing is a Danish normality, But I imagine in Denmark they are probably freshly cooked, not sure the same could be said for here, salmonella anyone?? Anyways I ordered a glass of red wine, I cannot describe how awful it tasted, it had a froth around the edge, looked like it was still fermenting, and it smelt so bad that I held my breath to take a mouthful, we left and so too was the wine. Ughh. I can safely say that is the one and only time we will be going in there, they sell food too, can you imagine?? Oh and obviously I stood out like a sore thumb as I had boots on my feet, not Nike Hi-Tops!!!!

The other places that have now opened that we will not be going anywhere near are, one bar, Saloon, that we are told the youngsters get soo shit faced they just throw up on the floor!! Nice. And there is a club, Dicks T bar, we have been told just don’t. I will try not too!!

We did discover a couple more nice places, in fact we had been in them before when here on holiday, proper French (I know in France!) bars. Not a pair a Nike’s in sight, drinkable wine, great atmosphere and clean and pleasant surroundings . What you expect to find, woodeny and cosy, this is an alpine village after all. And there are lots of lovely restaurants .

As the ski area was opening on Saturday we decided to pop out Friday night too as there were more openings going on. One place, Pub Morris, even had ‘The Coral’ playing live and as Mr is a fan he really wanted to check this out. I on the other hand do not really care for live music, gets on my nerves all that strumming and pouting, poor tortured artists!! Sorry, anyway Pub Morris is also on the skanky side, we went there earlier in the year and it was filthy and there was an boy( well, a few actually) about 18 working behind the bar, checking himself out in the mirrors wearing a t shirt that said ‘Ibiza loves me’. Enough said.

We stopped by the V Spot on the way, it was freezing about -15/-20. Kept having one more, shall we go up to Pub Morris or shall we stay here?? Well luckily for me Mr decided he could’nt be bothered so I got out of that one. We heard yesterday it was a complete shambles, they apparently only played one song as they were not happy with sound and then the crowd started chanting at them so they left. Such a shame to have missed that one, hmmm... Oh and by the way, over the knee suede boots (pair no.5 now worn) Perfect in cold, cold weather, adds another layer over your legs and reaches your coat bottom, no chilly drafts!!! See who wants flat ankle boots???

So, and to the skiing. After one too many Friday night we were not up bright eyed and bushy tailed for the first runs of the day but we did make it on to the mountain by lunchtime. Bloody hell it was freezing with a capital F!! -10/-20 with really strong winds, 30mph, so add that wind chill and it was COLD! But I had many a layer on and my new down filled Burton jacket, (toasty!) plus most of my face covered and it was bearable. But after a couple of runs along the slopes the clouds were drawing in and you could not see a bloody thing, add the wind blowing the snow everywhere and the run back to resort being icy and lumpy and well, it was all a bit hard work, especially with a bit of a thick head!! So not a very long ski, back home and into a hot bath!

Yesterday though was much more pleasant, we even had some sunshine for a bit, and the snow conditions were great, empty slopes, wide smooth runs and it was lovely, especially as we could see where we were going!!! Always helps!! Oh and a bit less windy and warmer too, only -7/-12. Only she says!! We stayed on the mountain till just gone 4oc and it was starting get a bit dark as the sun had gone down, so down on the gondola, no more icy lumps for me, and into a lovely little chalet style bar with an open fire for a little après ski drink.



In that very bar we bumped into a guy that we had met the other evening who is just a little older than us and he is a normal person, really nice and helpful, and he introduced us to his friend who knows everyone and everything in Val and she seems to be an invaluable contact, after 5 minutes she was on the phone to her friend to get us some more work. She has also invited us to her friend’s 40th birthday next Saturday night so that we can meet some more people. So we have something in our diary, our first social outing! We’ve all swapped numbers too, and we’re going to out for dinner one night with the guy, who also seems to be glad of some company of those over 30.

So it seems that we officially fall into the older crowd, and that is no bad thing. As you can gather by my many mentions of all these youngsters, that is just not my bag anymore. Although I cannot promise that there will not be drunken behaviour, I can promise it will not result in my throwing up on the floor next to where I am conducting my drunken behaviour!!

E xxxx