I am still here!!

hello all,

having a technological nightmare but in a couple of weeks it should be all over!!!

the dongles we bought to get online have corrupted the modem in our laptop which means it is dead!! so we have had to order  new one, not budgeted for!!! but we have a shiny new mac on its way so should have no further problems as long as we stay away from dongles!!!!!!!!!!!

so using internet cafes is a nightmare, since the invention of wi fi there are hardly any actual computers to use anywhere, when they are available they are 9 euro an hour and have a french keyboard so it takes twice as long to type as all the keys are in the wrong  bloody place!!!!! but hey ho could be worse, could be working!!!!!

had a great christmas a la francaise style, christmas dinner cooked on christmas eve by moi, we had smoked salmon canapes and champagne on our balcony, then foie gras and goats cheese brioche with fig jam, then roast duck breast with port sauce, obviously did'nt make cheese course or desert as we were bloody stuffed!!! needless to say i feel like a blimp after eating all this fattening french food and all the copious amounts of wine finding its way down my throat!!!  and no the skiing does not burn it all off, its all a myth!!!! i feel fat!!!

we have friends coming out next week (really looking forward to that, and some female company as i am the only girl my age in resort!!) for the week so more drinking and eating is not going to help this situation, oh and the million course new year dinner in a lovely local restaurant with the obligotory consumption of alchohol, my god i will be rolling down the hill at this rate!!!

talking of rolling down the hill, i had my first major fall which scared the living bejesus out of me and knocked my very fragile (skiing) confidence right out of me, still in one piece though, just a bit of bruised ribs and a pulled stomach muscle, physically repaired now but certainly not mentally!!!! but is all part of it i guess.

so hopefully i will back to blogging with gusto in the new year when we finally get our new laptop, its so weird as we are already living in a strange bubble like existance as living in a mountain resort is already pretty remote and its a permanent holiday resort so its like you're part of the holiday too but without a computer it is even odder as we literally have no idea what is happening in the world.

so feel free to let me know whats going on, it would do me good to have a dose of reality!!!

Fashion Advice!

Just a quick one on the subject of snow style advice.


I was dressed very casually (well I thought so), black skinny jeans, fitted denim shirt with puff shoulders and my heeled hiking boots, we were going to have a quick drink last Thursday evening (I swear we are not drinking as much as it sounds!) in the V Spot (cool boarder hang out, of which I am most definitely not it must be said!).

We got there and it was pretty quiet about 8.30ish, (but this is a late place you can literally go out every single night till about 6 in the morning) but anyhow we were sitting having a quiet drink minding our own business when some young chap who works for our landlord turned up. Now I must say he is pleasant enough, bit of a smelly baggy boarder type, long messy curls, permanent woolly hat on, dirty jacket, baggy pants, but that’s fine there are a lot of them knocking about. We have seen him around and always have a quick chat about nothing in particular.

HE decided to give me a bit of style advice on Thursday night!!!! He said “you’re a bit glam you, you need to get in to your baggies and hoodies and be comfy and warm”, I was ever so slightly speechless (I know hard to believe eh?), but I smiled politely and said “I don’t do baggy, this is me casual and comfy”, at which point he laughed and looked at my boots, and laughed again, and told me I needed some trainers on!!!! Since when did boys start caring? Or sharing advice? Or not as the case may be!! There was nothing left to say quite frankly.

Then Friday night we had the cool party thing, what on earth to wear??? Go ultra casual (like everyone else) or be my own glam self, decided on what I consider a casualish grey marl, zippy, fitted dress with thick tights and my wedge ankle boots, perfect. Oh and some dangly chunky earrings, bugger it if I’m not gonna be in the skanky gang then I may as well go all out!! But we got there and It was fine, I was’nt the only one in a dress (I saw probably like 4/5 others out of hundreds!!!) and the hostess was wearing leopard tights and heeled boots!!! Whoopee I am not the only ‘glam’.

But funnily enough on the way out, balancing across the snow path in my ankle boot wedges, another boarder (a clean one but baggy all the same), who we had met once before, stopped me and pointed at my feet and said “Have you got heels on? Bloody hell you’re mad”, Chuckled and went on his way. Have these boys never seen a girl in anything other than bloody trainers????

Hello again.

Well hello there from here in sunny (!!!) Val d’isere. I am trying desperately not to turn this blog into a French mountain weather report but unfortunately we are rather weather dependant up here!!!


We still have had no more snow since one day last week and I know back in the UK you will be muttering that I am mental but we need snow, and we need cold! Temperatures reached +5 this week, compared with -23 last week that is not good (I know I was cold, I know I know). But bright days mean lovely skiing conditions even if it is getting very icey under foot.

We started work last Wednesday (by start I mean one whole day!!), did a spot of cleaning in a few apartments which was fine, I say a spot of cleaning, we cleaned everything, and I mean everything, from knives and forks to toilets! But being paid for housework is not to be sniffed at, not exactly challenging but it suits us perfectly. So if you happen to end up in an apartment rented through Peak Services here in Val d’isere it will have been yours truly who cleaned your loo!!

But it’s not all about work, our employers very kindly invited us along to a soiree Friday evening thrown by a very cool mountain restaurant (think outdoor DJ’s and champagne on the terrace). Nobody is entirely sure of the purpose of this event as they are already hugely successful and clearly make a fortune as the evening was rumoured to have cost them £30,000,It was invite only (no rif raf in their hi-tops here!!) and it was for local business’. It was held in the local sports centre, but that is an ultra glam location by itself, all moody lighting, stone and chrome, not your typical council run leisure centre!!!! The party was held poolside with a live DJ and singers (including one er.. guy? In stilettos and a wedding hat!!), there was champagne on arrival with canapés then cocktails, wine and beer plus more food all for FREE!!!! Fabulous!! Oh and a fashion show, but that was rubbish, it was all awful ski clothes which was weird as there’s some really nice stuff about. But unfortunately the bar ran dry at just gone 10 but it was fun whilst it lasted!!! So we left and went to a fully stocked bar to buy drinks!!! We found out whilst there that Friday was the French evening and then they were doing it all again Saturday night for the Brits, odd as our employers are British and there were loads of Brits there so we decided that it must be for the unpopular ones on the Saturday and they probably ended up with our leftovers and shit wine!! Bet they did’nt get champagne!!

So you can imagine that Saturday we were not up bright and early skiing, although the hangovers were not bad considering!! But it has been the mens world cup ski championship here this weekend so we got up and watched that which was good, a great atmosphere and free milka chocolate!!

So that’s it for a while, meant to be working tomorrow (Monday) but our employers said they might take us skiing instead!! It is a hard life!!!

E xxxxx

Rain!!!!

Right we still have no internet!! We have purchased another dongle and that won’t work either!! AGHHHH. That is all I am going to say on the matter. Copy and pasting from now onwards. Although very frustrating that I cannot read any blogs either as time will not allow when paying by the hour for wi-fi!!


It is weird when you don’t have internet or TV, you get so spoiled in having these things eh? It also makes you realise that you don’t really need them as much as you thought you did, but when you are living in another country the internet is a life line back to your nearest and dearest and in these days of technology gone mad it makes you wonder how we did ever live without it.

We had been going on to everyone before we left to make sure that they are on Skype and now it is virtually impossible for us to use it ourselves, typical.

But enough moaning, we went out Saturday evening, first to a bar opening, Swedish owned and run so more of the beautiful people (I was the only girl in there without long blonde hair!), then on to a party where we met a few more (non-Scandinavian) people. I actually blow dried my hair (a rarity now that my hair is mostly under a helmet!) I put on a skirt and attached some sparkly earrings and looked more like my former self!! It was quite nice to see though that the birthday girl was wearing a dress and I actually saw someone in a pair of silver sandals!! All I am going to say is that she must’ve had a pair of snow boots in her bag or that she was staying in the hotel above the bar, it was freezing and as we have had no new snow the paths and roads around this village are like an ice rink!

There was a band (you know my thoughts on bands, I think I am going to get my fill of them in certain places here!!), It is incredible the singer was about 40, he still had that look of complete arrogance and ‘I’m gonna be discovered, you just wait’ look in his eyes, he had a new bunch of younger lads playing with him and I swear he thought that he was famous already and that he was giving these new guys their big break!! Unbelievable! His wife was really nice, she does the work, runs luxury chalets and apartments (I’m meeting with her tomorrow for a bit more work) whilst he is in a band. There is a common denominator here, the women are the ones running the place whilst the men play in the snow (or believe themselves to be such talented musicians they could not possibly work in real jobs!!!) Who are the stupid ones really???

Too much vino resulted in day off the slopes on Sunday, hangovers at altitude are not for the faint hearted, don’t know why they are worse, they just are. But that was fine, had a spot of lunch then just vegged out and made pizza’s for dinner, another healthy food day!!!

So the weather, it has decided to about face and go from -23 last week to raining today, with highs of 5 degrees, not brilliant for snow!! Although at the top of the mountain there should be 30-60cm of new snow due to this rain lower down but the avalanche risk was up to 4 out of 5 today what with the warmer temperatures add in 50mph winds at the top and I don’t think I need to clarify that I am not on the mountain skiing in rain/wind/blizzard today!!! Bloody mad people if they think that’s fun.

So that’s about all for now folks, hope that the UK is thawing out.

E xxxxxxxxxx

Chilly!!!

Blimey it’s been cold. I know, I know, we are at altitude,1850 meters above sea level to be precise, we are in the mountains, we knew it was gonna be cold, we’ve been here before, we knew what to expect, but bloody hell!


We have had some great days skiing now that the slopes are open, brilliant blue skies, bright white never ending snow and amazing snow conditions as well as empty slopes as there are hardly any tourist’s yet. Although we had one day this week where it started snowing when we woke up but then it got harder and harder and harder and lasted all day and night. Mr had the great idea of getting up to the glacier that day, 3,488 meters above sea level, we made it halfway before we were snow blind, buried and stuck in snow up to our calves before giving it up as a bad job. Added to the fact that we saw no one else after a certain point made us realise that maybe it was not a good idea! Back to the warmth and comfort of our little home.

After a whole days snow fall the last couple of days have been excellent on the mountain, but clear skies mean cold, cold, cold. The warmest it has been has been -8, but averaging on -15/-19, then this morning it was -23!!!!!! F*CKING cold. Today I have frozen. I was wearing 2 sets of thermals, insulating socks plus ski socks, plus 2 extra tops and my ski clothes!! I have battery operated boot heaters (which are not bloody working properly), I have glove liners and I had a headband and hood up under my helmet!!!And my neck warmer was tucked into my goggles to protect my face! I had to keep my gloves on at lunch in the restaurant (a little treat to warm us up) and it was still cold inside the restaurant, they did not have their fires on!! How cold does it have to be before they put the heating on for god’s sake????

Am I a bit feeble or is this normal?? I have been consuming meat and dairy in a bid to ward off the cold and it does not seem to helping, I had so many clothes on today I could not bend over to take my ski boots off!!!!! What else can I do to warm up?? Apart from stay indoors I hear you say!!!!! I am confident that I will acclimatise at some point, I’ve got to haven’t I? When we were living in Australia after 8 months 23 degrees felt chilly!!

But enough of my moaning about the cold, that is the way it is and it will get much colder at some point so I will stop bitching and get on with it!! (Although, I’m not entirely sure Mr would believe me saying that last statement!!!)

We have other developments though, work will begin on Wednesday, got an early start though, bloody 10 am!!! He, He, only kidding, It is a 10 am start though! Back in the summer whilst I was emailing business owners out here in Val I had quite a positive response to getting a bit of work. One contact emailed me this week wanting to meet up and discuss something she had for me. We met up for a drink the other evening to have a chat and go from there, Mr and I met her and her husband, a lovely couple from Woking who have been running an apartment rental company here for the last 5 years. What a great way to have an interview, cosy little wooden bar, a glass of wine and a good old chat. That was it. I start weds! Now would’nt it be nice if everything was done like that?

Tonight we are off to a fortieth birthday in a bar with some people we met last week, ( god I hope they are not the swinging set Mr Robinson!!) the lady who knows everything and everyone invited us to meet up with all the other normal people out here. So should be a good night. I had a lovely comment from my friend K a few days back regarding what to wear to this party. I hate to admit it but I may be changing, for the first time in my life I had’nt really given it a second thought. I knew it was like this but people really do not dress up. I have not seen a single other girl in a skirt or dress apart from me and those of you that know me know that I was always covered in dangling earrings, bundles of bangles and chains of necklaces and rows of pearls but I am sorry to say that they just get in the way when you are layering up with scarves, hats, gloves etc, etc and metal gets sodding cold (and we all know where I am with that at the moment!!) I have barely worn a pair of earrings! I will sort that out at once, I promise I will not turn into one of the boring basics brigade! But I would feel a bit of a pratt turning up in what I may have worn at home, but I am going to stick to my guns and do as I promised and try to add a little glam to the never ending sea of jeans and jumpers. Maybe I’ll mix things up and wear a jumper with a skirt!! That’ll shock ‘em!!

Hope you are all keeping well and not too fed up with the snow back in the UK!

E xxxx

Copying and pasting again!!!!

Well once again I am sat here at the table looking out to a vision of white, the snow has been falling all day and we cannot even see the mountains it is so thick. So copying and pasting a post again, and it will be a scheduled post due to me already having one other copy and paster lined up from Monday!!!!. We were online in our apartment as of last Thursday, and then it all went wrong.


We had purchased a dongle so that we had internet access in our apartment. There are a couple of wi-fi spots but its either 5 euro an hour at the tourist office or spend 10 euro on two drinks for an hour’s surfing in the cafe, that makes it hard to have enough time for the both of us to reply to emails, check our bank and update blogs etc etc and you cannot really Skype then either. So either way, annoyingly expensive and not particularly practical. We had always intended on getting a dongle as we knew that we did’nt have a phone line here in the apartment, although neither of us had used one before, everyone said they were great. Hmmmm.......

We went into a mobile phone shop in Bourg St Maurice last Thursday, my French certainly does not lend itself to that sort of conversation but one of the sales assistants spoke pretty good English so between us we managed to buy one.

We got home, it was surprisingly easy to install (well thats what Mr said, I, Ms non-technology, left it to him). So we were happily Skyping and surfing the web until Sunday when it said we needed to recharge. Ok, just click on the recharge link on the website and buy some more time we had been assured.

It is now Wednesday and the f*cking thing will not work! The website will not load properly, it asks us to register, which we do, then the f*cking thing will not let us submit the information!!!!!!! We took it back to the shop (30 mins drive away) on Tuesday where they told us, “you just need to click here and register and then pay”, Oh you don’t think that we have tried that?????????? It will not work. The only way to recharge is on their website and it is not working!!!! There is no telephone number to contact the TELECOM (I may add) company. We have de-fragged etc, etc on our laptop and the f*cking thing still will not work.

Mr removed our security earlier and the website actually loaded, but there was a message in French saying that the website was unavailable at this time. AGHHHHHHH.........................

When technology is good it is really good but when it is bad it is just sooo bad!!

It is a bit frustrating as the snow is falling like mad and when we ventured up the mountain earlier to ski the visibility was non-existent, a complete white out ( no difference between sky and floor, just white all around, you lose all sense of where you are), very scary. And we only saw about 8 other people so we decided we had better head back to the village as it was getting worse.

So we are stuck indoors and I hear that lots of you in the UK are also stuck indoors due to snow too, so it would be brilliant to get online and have a chat!!! But oh no, we have no bloody internet. You do not realise how much you use it until you cannot.

But I have caught up on some washing, cleaned the apartment and have just baked a tray of chocolate nut brownies. These things are what you do when you have no internet or TV. Well I say no TV, we do have one but we only get a few French channels and you have to retune them every time you switch it on and we have been told it really is not worth the effort. Luckily we have got a load of DVD’s with us so that is how we have been spending our evenings in.

I am aware that parts of England have come to a standstill due the white stuff but you will be pleased to know that an hour or so’s drive from us had 60cm of snow Monday night/ Tuesday morning and their roads are all closed too, it is also apparently complete chaos there. We had’nt had any till today and they reckon that big dump they had down the valley from us is on its way, so we shall see. Could be stuck in with no internet for a while!!!

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

Down with the kids??

  Hello again, well we have now been here just over a week and things are looking good. We are due to start working mid December, just Saturdays cleaning apartments (absolutely no nannying!!) until things get busier after Christmas when I will probably be waitressing a couple of evenings a week in a hotel as well and Mr will be handy manning! And then tomorrow (Saturday) the ski slopes open. So plenty of time out to ski before we start work, well whilst we are working too, we are not here to work hard!!!


  It has snowed alot here this week, from Monday morning to Wednesday night then again last night. It has started to get sooo cold too, -10 yesterday and god knows what today, it is freezing, -23 tonight, though so this afternoon it is somewhere between -10 and -23!!!! Chilly!!!!

Thursday afternoon.

  So I thought I would give you a little shoe update seen as we have’nt really done much apart from eat and drink and pop out for walks to the couple of cafe’s open!!

  Essential news I know!! Many of you may be aware by now that sensible footwear is not, how shall I put it? My forte. As mentioned in another post my buying of proper snow boots is unheard of, and it has been 10 years of skiing holidays spent sliding and skidding around resorts all over the world.

  When planning to spend 6 months here in Val d’isere footwear was obviously a serious consideration, (never mind work, accommodation, etc, etc!!). Now was the time to be a bit more sensible, after all 6 months is a bit more serious than a week or two.

  Now I won’t go into all the boot purchasing again but I will share with you what I always truly believed. I will share with you the fact that I have indeed bought many pairs of boots, mmmm... 9 pairs to be precise. Two of which are flat.

  Now, I have heard that there is snow falling in the UK so listen up I have some advice from the snowy climes here in the alps! Heels, simple as that. Out of the 9 pairs that I have bought with me (now you know why we bought a bigger car, he he!) I have worn 4 in the last week , my flat biker boots are horrendous, sliding all over the show and my Ugg’s, although snug and warm, are as slippery as my ski’s!! On the other hand my knee high’s with a block heel are doing well, less skidding than both of the flats and more snow proof as they reach the knees!! And the best ones so far are my heeled hiking boots!!! Nice chunky sole, 3.5” chunky heel. You see the thing with heels is that there is something to stick in the ground first before the rest of your foot makes contact so you are already secure on the slippery surface, add a little grip on the front and voila the perfect snow shoe!!!

  I even walked up the foot of the (base) mountain a good few feet yesterday in my knee high’s and I swear if I had been wearing my flats I would’nt have got up the slope as I would not have had the heel sticking in the snow first, I would have been flat on face (not for the first time I know!!!).

See, I am not lying!!

  Now ice is a little trickier but I am starting to realise the more surface touching the ice the more likely it is that you will slip, so stick to rule of heels, heels, heels!!! Do you think wearing my Louboutins will be testing my theory a step too far??????

  The other seasonaires (ugh, so young and full of self importance, you know the type!!) have been arriving in force over the last couple of days and there seems to be a common denominator in their choice of footwear, I dunno if they were handing them out with every job placement or what, but it seems that the regulation footwear for these 18-22 year olds is the Nike Hi-top, in black and turquoise. I swear I have seen soo many of them wearing them. And even when they are all out together in packs, all looking the same, imagine that!!!(No I do not think myself above them, well......). These young kids, I dunno!!! I have realised, with relief I may, add that I am most certainly not ‘down with the kids’.

                                                                                      

Hmmmm..... not really me eh?????

                                                               

Some photos!!

All our belongings, dunno how we fitted it all in!!

Our apartment.

Celebration dinner!

The views from our balcony on sunday.

Le cheeseburger.

                             That's just what it' been like here today, I wore my camel coat too!!

                                                        I just love these old Vogue covers.



   Firstly I shall apologise for all the crap French I keep adding in, sorry, I’ll get bored soon!

   Well we have been here 5 days altogether now (another copy and paste version I am afraid) and we are really quite settled in and it now feels like a long time since we were at home, well I say home, this is home for now, so I suppose to say England would be more correct.

   It has been snowing most of the day today and as I sit here at the dining table with a cup of hot chocolate it is a bit like being in and looking out of a snow globe! Lovely, just what we need, it has not snowed since Thursday and the mountains desperately need more snow to open properly at the weekend.

   It is a little weird at the moment, as I mentioned previously in my last post, there is very little open so there is not a lot to do during the day, not even the(the 3 that are actually open anyway) bars open until 6pm! There are 3 cafes open though, one is a gorgeous patisserie and bakery selling the most amazing cakes and baked goods, just lovely, all alpine wood inside and metal bistro tables and chairs (K you would love!!), then there is a ‘salon de the’ which is very snug but at £4.50 for a cup of tea it is really a bit too pricey, the only one which has wi-fi, is the Quicksilver cafe which is in the actual Quicksilver/Roxy shop and is a cool diner style affair serving up deliciously bad, unhealthy food, that coupled with the wi-fi makes it packed all the time. Which leads me to a rather large confession, something I was prepared for really, but did not think it would happen so quickly!

   I have been a vegetarian/vegan (when being very good!!) for 3 and half years. I am not an animal lover (in fact far from it) and I turned veggie to help control my weight a bit more and to try to keep my body a little cleaner and healthier (well with all that wine and gin consumption you have to have a balance right??). I have eaten fish, a bit a cheese and a dribble of cream now and again but the only time I have eaten meat was in January whilst skiing here in France, one hideously cold day I succumed to a plate of spag bol! We had been here nearly 2 weeks and I was getting a little browned off with two choices of lunch, goats cheese salad (not really what you fancy when it’s bloody -10) or vegetable soup (a mediocre one at that). See this is the thing with the French they just don’t get vegetarianism, well maybe they do but they do not believe bacon or ham count as meat!!! I was told by a waitress a couple of years back here in Val d’isere that the local dish was vegetarian, I knew it was’nt, it is called ‘Tartiflette’ and is layers of potatoes, cream, cheese and HAM!! I learnt there and then it was not going to be easy and stuck to fish.

   So I had been thinking this year leading up to this move about the meat thing and I was thinking that really it was going to be near on impossible unless cooking for myself to avoid meat. I was also thinking about the fact that I have been much colder in the last few winters than I ever used to be, I must point out I was always convinced I was in a constant premature menopause having constant hot flushes, as I was always boiling hot all year round, but not so these past winters. So I was thinking about the local diet here in the mountains, which is a staple diet of dried/smoked meats, incredible cheeses, potatoes and bread (obviously once again this is France so bread with every meal!) oh and the obligotry side order of green salad. When you also look at the diets of the northern cold countries for instance Scandinavia it is the same again but being more coastal more fish. But a serious lack of veg. Maybe we need these animal fats to keep warm.

   By now you have probably realised where this going, so Thursday evening I sampled a little pate, which was delicious, then Saturday we popped to the Quicksilver/Roxy cafe for lunch where the menu is basically burgers. We did eat in there earlier in the year (with a terrible hangover, great hangover food though) and they had a vegetarian burger on the menu much to my suprise, but they now have a new menu, and guess what, I must’ve been the only veggie to ever order that burger so it is now off the menu! Now the fish choice was calamari and chips (which I love) but how much deep fried food should one really be consuming before the slopes are open for me to burn it off?? None I decided, so I had no choice but to sample the goods. (I am sitting here trying to remember what the conversation was in Pulp Fiction between John Travolta and Samuel L Jackson about what the quarter pounder with cheese is called in France??? Royale with cheese? Please leave me a comment if you can remember, it is soo bugging me.) Sorry off on a tangent there, all I need to say is that I ordered, ate and enjoyed a cheeseburger and fries!!

   Now I am not saying I am going to be eating meat full time but crikey I have been here less than a week, I’ll be eating trotters and ears by the time this 6 months is over!!!!

   Off out this evening to try out one the bars that IS open, might have a ‘vin rouge’ or two, purely medicinal, need to clear that beef fat from my arteries! ( that is my excuse and I am sticking to it!!)

Ps. Apologies to all (well, L, L & C, you know who you are) that have painstakingly sought and cooked veggie meals for me for the last 3.5 years, much appreciated though, they were always delicious!!

E xxxxxx

Some pictures or not!

   In yesterdays post there was meant to be pictures but blogger was'nt letting me upload them, so I'm gonna try again. Here goes.

  Still not bloody working!! Will try again later in the week!!

Bye,

e xxxxx

Bonjour!

                                                                      Our new home.

   Well after probably what can only be described as the most stressful week of my life we have arrived in Val d’isere. I will warn you now that this probably going to be a very long post.

   Where to start?? Obviously saying the goodbyes was just so sad but it had to be done and I think I’ve used all my tears up for now. But we have visitors twice in January so it won’t be long before we see some familiar faces. And then we had major headaches with the house sale, no suprise there eh? We did’nt exchange contracts until the Tuesday in the end, the buyers at the bottom of the chain had’nt signed or returned their contracts until Monday so you can only imagine just how unnerving that was as we were told by our solicitor that he was getting wary, not what you want to hear. But all was well in the end, we exchanged Tuesday and we left on the Wednesday morning instead. I say all is well, the lying robbing bastards that are also known as the estate agents , have taken more money out of our sale than they were meant to so we are now on the case of sorting that one out!!! When will it end???

   Anyway enough about that lets start on the good stuff. W e set off Wednesday morning at 5.40am to get the euro tunnel across to Calais. Half hour later and we were in France. I should probably mention at this point that it is a wonder that our car moved at all given the amount of stuff we had crammed into it, travel lightly? Capsule wardrobe? Bare essentials I hear you say??? Ha, I do not know the meaning of those wise words, I must learn though! But it was not just me, whilst unpacking Mr found that he had bought an odd sock and four watches, one of which does not work!!!!!! I on the other hand found that whilst unpacking myself amongst countless other things I have bought 3 black vests, 3 white vests, 2 white blouses, 3 black skirts and a pair of 5” peep toe Louboutins!!!! When will I learn??? Oh and my heated rollers!!! He he!!

   So after a straight forward, no getting lost and traffic free 12 hour drive we finally arrived in the mountains at around 6.30pm. It was -5 and there was snow everywhere! We then had the almighty task of unloading the car, our apartment is on the 1st floor but it’s a split level building because it is built into the mountain, so each load had to go up 2 flights of stairs to get to the lift!!! It was then that we once again started questioning why on earth we have bought so much with us, but hey ho it’s here now!

   The apartment is great, needed an almighty clean, even though Mr was saying it’s me with the OCD even he agreed that it was in need of a major going over. What is it with dirty people??? But as it’s only a one bed apartment it was sparkling in no time at all. It is so strange but after just one night here it really felt like home, I have’nt ever really felt like that anywhere before. Bloody typical, if we wanted to buy it its worth £320,000.00, bit over budget!

    The first morning we woke up to it snowing, I cannot tell you how great it is to lay in bed and look out at the mountains with snow falling all around. We have enormous windows (which were filthy!! I may add, not anymore!!) the width of the bedroom and the living area so the views are just amazing, beats looking out at rows of houses!!! That evening I assembled a celebratory meal of smoked salmon, pate, cheese, olives, bread and salad with a bottle of champagne, an aperitif on the balcony then back into the warm for dinner. It felt lovely, good food, champagne, surrounded by candles and looking out to see it still snowing. This is what living is all about!

   It is strange to be here so early, the slopes don’t open till next Saturday so the whole village is a hive of activity with building work being done on hotels, chalets, shops etc, but there’s not really many people living here yet. There are a couple of bars open, a couple of restaurants and one cafe so it is a bit odd. But Friday night we went to one of the bars and got chatting to some of the other early arrivals and they were more our age group which was reassuring, although It’s mainly men!! Yesterday there were arrivals of a few groups of very young people that are rep training for the holiday companies, good luck if they are in charge of your holidays, they look about 15!! They were out and about orienteering around the village, they looked like they were on a school trip!!

   The one problem we do have is that we have no internet access in the apartment yet so have to use the one cafe that is open, you can imagine how busy it is as it’s the only one open. So I am currently writing this on Word so that I can just copy/paste and publish when we pop out later on. We do hope that we will be up and running sometime next week, but we are now living a life that does not require haste, rushing or stress so we just got to wait until we hear what’s going on. We have discovered that there is wi-fi in the building but neither of us know how to hack in!! Any suggestions would be much appreciated!!!

   I did the 1st shopping expedition on Friday, 35 minute drive down the mountain to a small town called Bourg St Maurice, and voila, a supermarket, I should add the only place open to buy food in Val at the mo is a Spar shop in a garage, £3.74 for half a loaf of bread!!!! But in the Super U in the town the same bread was £1.09, what an incredible difference! That is one of the reasons we drove out, I was already aware that food in the village is on average 60% more expensive than at the supermarket at the bottom of the mountain, so we will be driving down there once a week . The food selection was great though, loads of choice and loads of very unusual bits obviously , you know the French eat anything! Tripe anyone???

   So that’s about all for now before I bore you senseless. We are meeting a lady regarding work tomorrow morning so hopefully that will sort itself out, but we have heard that there are quite a few people looking to employ so that is good news. Although I have been told twice now to go and do nannying!! There are plenty of nannying jobs available apparently and its good money and few hours. If things get desperate obviously I will do whatever is available, but bloody hell can you imagine me doing that????? “Oops, Cosmo stop stabbing Fenella with that icicle!!!”

Will be back more frequently once we have le web!

Au revoir mon amis.

E xxxxxxxxxxx

ps. there was photos of apartment and views etc but blogger is'nt working!!!

Sad.

             Yesterday I went to have my hair coloured for the last time (well professionally anyway, it will be Mr's job next time!!). I woke up feeling very weird, I had had a lovely evening having dinner the night before with some very special girl friends and it made me think of all the times I could'nt do things like that as I always worked so late, made me feel very sad that I had'nt had the chance to do it more often.

            So I think thats the reason along with the fact that I was saying the final farewell to my work girls was why I was feeling a bit blue. The house sale is dragging and stressing me out. I've been spending alot of time on my own packing our life into boxes and bags and I think the nerves are staring to kick in. I don't like the idea of saying goodbyes next week, the thought of it is making me sad.

            The lovely ladies from work bought me beautiful silver bangle engraved with a lovely message inside and I thought I'd been doing well, but their kind words in the card and the gift tipped me over the edge. It was only a matter of time of course before the tears started to flow.

            This saturday night is the final farewell to all our friends, then monday night will be the last supper with the family. Better get some waterproof mascara at the ready.


                                                        

New to blogging???

     When I started this blog it was so that everyone I was leaving behind could read what I was up to on my new life abroad, and so that I could keep in contact without sending hundreds of emails, plus I don't really do facebook so this was perfect.

     Many people that I have passed my blog address on to be it friends, colleagues and clients have never read a blog and knew nothing about blogging full stop, even down to what to do with the blog address.

    I was in a similar position myself before my Lil' sis and  Mrs Fab got me to start this blog, I have found it amazing how supportive other bloggers are and how lovely to meet (virtually) new friends from all walks of life and all over the world.  It's a great release and a real pleasure to write away your thoughts and experiences and as a naturally nosy so and so I was thrilled to start reading all about other bloggers lives.

    So I thought that for all you newbies out there I would share with you some of the blogs I really enjoy reading, I am sure you too will become addicted.

 Smashing Bird 
 My lil' sis, fabulous vintage musings.

Looking Fab In your Forties
Fantastic fashion advice and the latest finds.

Fashion's Most Wanted
The lovely Christina, about all things glam!

Champagne and Lemonade
All about a fashion savvy, yummy mummy's life!

Make do Style
Stylish advice from a lady who knows.

Fashion Pearls of Wisdom
A girl after my own heart with a passion for fashion!

Coco's Tea Party
Celebrity style and fab fashion from a magazine addict.

Shutterbean
The most yummy recipes!!

Liberty London Girl
A wonderful insight into the world of a fashionista.

Wendy Brandes
A NYC jewellery designer whose earrings were worn by Samantha in SATC 2.

    That should be enough to get you started, just click on the links above to have a look and there's plenty more on  my blog roll to your right.  Good luck and happy blogging!!

Ughh Packing!!

               
              Well I am a week and a half into the time I have had off to pack the house and organise the move. It is a bloody nightmare, how do we end up with so much crap??? I've done a couple of tip runs already and there's still more rubbish to be got rid of, where does it all come from?? I think the more space you have the more crap you seem to aquire and keep. Not forgetting it was only a couple of months back that I had a huge clear out and did a bootfair!! We've only been here 3 years, I dread to think what it's like when you've lived somewhere 20 odd years. Thank god we're moving into a 1 bed apartment!!!

               To start with it felt as though I was just moving things from one room to another and spreading it all around, and that just leaves you feeling in complete and utter despair about where the hell to start. But I am making progress, most things are packed, half is moved out and the only things left to pack are what we are actually using day to day. I've got to move more of the packed but keeping stuff out this afternoon so that the house starts to look a bit less like organised chaos.


                                    


               I've also obviously been sorting through my clothes and shoes and accessories etc etc, what to take, what not to take. Christ thats been a mission in itself. Thank goodness for dunhelm mills vacuum pack bags!! Still not sure how I'm meant to fit it all into the bags I've got, but it will, there is no question!!!!!How many boots is too many?? How many dresses is too many?? Where on earth will I store it all when I get there?? You get the situation!!!!
  
              I have also been buying 3 for 2, buy 1 get one free etc etc on all make up and toiletries for months too, I am aware they sell these things in France too but there are certain things a girls gotta have. The result of this is a little like Noah's Ark, a whole bag, I mean an overnight sized bag, full of cosmetics, body lotion, facial sunscreen (essential Clinique item!!) and skin care, in they went two by two!!!!

Do you think if I'm lucky the cosmetics et al will multiply themselves over time?? Would save me a fortune!!!

                          
               So with less than a week to go it's all getting a little stressfull but exciting too. We plan to leave on the 6.20am train next tuesday, 16th. The house is meant to complete next tuesday too, but less than a week away and the solicitors still won't confirm!!!!!!!!!! Do they have any idea??????AGHHHH............

Pom Pom Fun.

     Whilst out and about on saturday with lil sis, I was looking for a little gift for my cutie pie godaughter Katie who had just had her tonsils out! She's got to stay in for 2 weeks so that means mum too obviously, and little baby Isabella.

      So I had a look for something crafty she could do on her own to give mum a break and keep her amused. I came across a french knitting bee and pom pom maker!! Lil sis and I used to love doing both of these when were little 'uns, so we thought it would be perfect.

             

  
     So armed with multi coloured wool and the kit I set off for an afternoon with the little ladies! We spent quite some time trying to figure out the french knitting before giving up with that and concentrating on the pom pom making. What fun! Choice of big pom pom or little pom pom, we made a few of each and decorated little 'bella with woolly balls! It's a very satisfying pastime!! Although a couple of hours into it and Katie was happily chopping up the wool and scattering it around the front room!! Oh and we also spent some considerable time flying on her halloween witches broom!!!

Flying around!!!

                                                   


              


Pom Pom fun!!!

              Ahh I will miss these times!! But there is Skype and I will be home occasionally, Its not all bad.

80's ski party!

       Saturday night saw a pleathora of big hair, neon and leg warmers. It was a bad look back in the 80's, in fact I think it's safe to say there were many a bad look back then but what fun to recreate and dress up in!! It was my farewell party with the girls, the theme was 80's ski party and a great time was had by all.

        The house had been decorated with giant snow flakes, many twinkling lights and fake snow (oh and a christmas tree & a french flag!!). Complete with 80's party buffet including vol au vents and cheese and pineapple on sticks!! The lovely ladies had even made us lift passes, with Val d'isere piste maps included!! Obviously there were some 80's tunes going on too, although 'the snowman' was taking it a little far!(we skipped that one). Chuck us lot in, dressed in what can only be described as terribly, and we could have been in resort 1982!

        I think the only thing left I can do is show you some of the pictures!

My lovely Lucy (right) and I, how big is my hair???

Don't you love those neon leggings? That fur coat was gorgeous, I 'd wear that now!!!

Natalies (2nd from the far right) goggle tan was hillarious!

Was that the neon glow from Lucy's leggings??????

      One last thing, bring back the bumbag!! It was so practical!!!! My hands were free, I was'nt clenching a clutch under my armpit and it had so many compartments I could find everything!!! Fabulous!!!

      Oh maybe one last thing, thank you ladies for a lovely evening and such lovely gifts, I will miss you all so much! xxxxxxx

Officially unemployed!!

    Yesterday was my last day at work, it was a long busy day and now it is all over! 15 years of hairdressing done! It was a very strange day, just felt a bit weir, sad with lots of goodbyes of course, but I've been doing that for weeks now! People have been so very kind though, I've had some lovely cards and presents plus so many flowers my house looks like a florists!! I did'nt really say goodbye to my work girls as I'm going back to have my hair done just before I leave so we've put off the farewells til then, that will be sad.  
                                   

I have beautiful blooms everywhere!

     So now I have two weeks to pack the house, move everything we are keeping out to my sis inlaws, who is very kindly storing the homeless items, and sort out everything else! Mr finishes work in two weeks time, no use him being off with me, whilst I pack, phone, email, sort, move he would be playing golf and watching TV!!! Better off out of my hair I think.

     I have list's coming out of my ears of all the people I need to contact, things I need to get, things that need to be done and everything regarding the house that needs to be cancelled! My sleeping pattern is a little off at the moment as you can imagine!!!  I'm just like Carrie in SATC when she keeps waking in the night but she was waking because nothing was wrong with Aidan, don't think my nocturnal awakenings are because my life is lacking in drama !!!!

You know I can't resist a little Sex and the City!!!

   But I now feel because work is now finished at least I can concentrate solely on what I need to do and I will actually make a start on what I can!

Enough of the stressfull stuff though, tomorrow night is party time again!! My dearest girl

friends are throwing me a farewell soiree. At first I was kept out of what was going on but then my bestest girl L decided it would be wise to let me in on it all. It's an 80's ski party!!! How hillarious this is going to be, the original plan was not to tell me and then dress me up when I got there, I cannot tell you how relieved I am to know!!!! It's frightening how I have managed to concoct an outfit from my wardrobe (plus a few little purchases) and lent some extra bits to my sis inlaw!!! That is bad eh? Not the first time I have lent friends my clothes for fancy dress either!!!!!!! When I put my outfit on last week, Mr 's reaction was a look of utter distaste and the words "you look terrible", mission accomplished me thinks!!!! So looking forward to it, I think it will be much fun!                        

Will we look this glam????

                                                        

      

Cocktail Hour.

    Well this saturday night just gone was the first of a few leaving do's, my work one. A cocktail party at mine was the order of the evening and a great evening it turned out to be. All my work girlies (minus a couple that unfortunately were out of the country) and a handful of friends plus a gallon or 10 of alcohol made a fun night for all.

The party always ends up the kitchen!

Me (far left) and my girls!

Sensible, sober ladies!



Mrs Fab (centre) and work girls.






Looking good despite the copious amounts of cocktails!

Oh to be young!!!

The lovely Samantha before the windmill!

        The whole evening I must say turned out to be a civilised, albeit a drunken, affair, bar one of my apprentices becoming a little green and making an early exit. It was nice to get all dressed up , the LBD seemed to be a popular choice and everyone looked great. Everyone was having fun and my poor neighbours must've thought there were a pack of screaming hiyenas taking over the house! It was just lovely to spend the evening with all the girls having a good old chat fuelled by some rather ridiculously strong cocktails, funny how the drunkest people are the ones who end up in charge of the drink mixing! I don't have to tell you how that turned out!

        As ever when there is too much alcohol there are always one or two things not to be repeated, all I am going to say is windmill and large breasts!! If you don't know what it is I am sure you will find out somehow but I shan't be the one to say!!!

        The boys gatecrashed our fun and frollicks at 1 am, luckily that was after the windmill, although had they had known I don't think they would've gone out at all! I thought we were drunk until they came stumbling into the house, will they ever learn??? ( Although I am in no position to judge!!!) I think they have realised that they are getting too old for night on the town where we live, coming in moaning about loud music!!!

         I finally got to bed about 3.45am after the clearing up and was pleasantly suprised to wake up minus a hangover, the same could not be said for Mr!!!!

         Hope you had a good weekend too.

The search for a SENSIBLE winter coat!!

   Right, if you are familiar with my blog, you will also be familiar with the fact that I do not always buy the most sensible option when I am meant to be making a practical purchase! You may aslo be familiar with the fact that I rather like Zara, and so the story begins again..................

   I am moving to the French Alps in 3 weeks, I will be living in a winter wonderland all shiny and snow covered (and freezing cold and icey, but hey), so I have been on the search for a practical, warm but stylish coat. I intend to bring a little glamour and style to ski resort wear, No fleeces, No ugly footwear and No 'comedy' headwear, No unisex outerwear!!!!
                                                                
                                                                           

Casual but cool.

                                          

   So today I bought a lovely double breasted camel swing coat from Zara, I must add at this point egged on by Mr (shocking!!! He practically breaks out in hives at the thought of shopping, but he was so hungover I think he was still drunk!!!). I had tried on the down filled padded, black, hooded coat about 10 times but I dunno it just is'nt me. Bit like with the boot buying expedition (see a couple of posts back), before I knew it the camel coat was on with thoughts of gorgeous layers of scarves and hats and long leather gloves. The padded coat hanging there looking like the ugly duckling, no amount of sequin beret's, cashmere scarves and butter soft leather gloves are going to turn this poor little coat into a beautiful swan.  

                                                                   

D&G gets snow style right.

                                       

                                        
    Also in the defence of the camel swing coat, roomy sleeves and swinging style means more room for layers and lovely knitwear underneath! The padded coat just did'nt have a chance, plus I did neglect to mention that I actually do already have a slightly padded, khaki, hooded parka already hanging in my wardrobe that I bought a few years back for a skiing trip! Whoops!!!!!!!!!

Warm and stylish

                                

Lovely layers and not a padded coat in sight!

                                          

    Have you treated yourself to a new winter coat?

Nearly there.

      Apologies for the lack of blogging once again, I haven't had a chance to catch up on anyone elses blogs either so am feeling right out of the loop!!! I have been run off my feet, crazy busy at work, with just one more week left its been incredibly busy and that equals stupidly late nights and early starts!!! To top it all off I am throwing a cocktail party for my work leaving do this saturday, so I have quite alot to do! Couple that with the house sale, the constant chasing of solicitors is just so time consuming and frustrating!!!! But at least the sale is going smoothly and we are on schedule to complete as we leave around mid november! Luckily the buyers are actually having the majority of my furniture too so thats one more thing sorted. My list of 'things to do' seems to be growing though!

      I am off to London today for the Ski & Snowboard Show at Olympia so that should whet the appetite some what!! Thats just going to make it all feel a little more real I think and make it even more exciting!!! The trouble with seeing all the new ski clothing though is that I am going to want all new things, it happens everytime that I go!! Must be good!!!! Going to go a little early though so I can have a quick nose around Kensington High St, would be rude not too, also I actually do still need a new coat so there I have a valid reason!

      Will be posting all about the party after the weekend, I am sure there may be a drunken story or two to tell!!!  Think we'll have some outfit posts too!!

      Hope you all have a good weekend,
     
      e xxx

So much to do and practical boots, aghh.........

        Things have been a little busy of late, so between that and the fact that my internet connection has not been working properly means I haven't had a chance to blog. With only 2 more weeks of work to go things are obviously a little crazy there and now with only 4 weeks til we leave for France weekends are flat out too catching up with friends and family, seeing as much as we can of everyone. Oh and there's all the little things like packing the house, getting all the final paperwork things in order, chasing solicitors, getting all our affairs in order, sorting out international banking, etc etc etc.......................
You get the idea!

I am trying to keep calm doing lots of yoga, not juggling my own babies but trying to make the most of the little ones surrounding me whilst they are still little!

      

Amongst all of this obviously the auntumn winter finery has been hitting the shops and well you know I'm gonna need some new bits for the next few months ahead, it's gonna be cold, so new jumpers, cardi's, boots, coats. I have been good, recycling I like to call it, it's name is ebay. Out with old and in with the new, I am only spending what I have earnt (on ebay!!!) so thats not really spending is it???

Too many boots? What moi????

  So the essential item for any budding seasonarire is a pair of good, solid, sensible boots, snow proof, steady on the ice, warm and cosy. I should probably point out at this point sensible footwear does'nt really exist in my volcabulary, in 10 years of going skiing, spending at least a week a year in snow drenched mountain villages with virtually solid ice under foot I must admit I haven't ever bought a proper pair of snow boots or taken any appropriate footwear with me. I have a snug (but ugly) pair of classic Uggs and last year bought a pair of ankle biker boots which have a slight grip (that is useless!!!) but they are more for style than practicalities. I have skidded all over the Alps, Canada and Pyreneese in kitten heeled ankle boots, platform knee highs, four inch heeled pirate boots, suede thigh highs and slipped around in a pair (incredibly uncomfortable) Converse hi tops!!! So I was thinking it may be time to try out these sensible, flat, grippy  

boots that everyone else seems to be happily stomping around in seen as I'm gonna be there for six months of slipperiness!

Ahh Louboutins!!!

Choo's anyone?

   So off to the shops I trot after trawling the wonderful world of online shopping, but after much looking, trying on and pondering, I decide (once again!) I'm just not that sort of gal! Bugger it, it is just not me to clomp around in what can only be described as boot carnage! Everytime I was looking at sensible (ugly) boots, I was like a moth to a flame and the next thing I knew I was standing there with high heeled beauties actually on my feet with the ugly flatties sitting on the shelf looking down disaprovingly at me.

You don't really need me to tell you how this little tale ends, but just for the record I'd better had.

•  Pair 1- Brown leather lace up high heeled hiker, great grip with chunky 3 inch heel. ( I can walk in the snow in these I am sure!)
• Pair 2- Classic black knee high with 3 inch heel. Legs stay dry!( for not so icey days!) 
• Pair 3- Brown beaten leather pull on western style knee highs, chunky wooden 3 inch heel perfect for snow. (Hmmm, nice and casual though!) 
• Pair 4- Black leather ankle wedge boot. ( come on they are practically flat!!!!)

      Did I say I went looking for 1 pair of sensible snow boots???