Category: Chalet Diary 2007

First week of the season has been and gone and what a week we had with Phil and the boys, Harry and Lisa and Boo, Gav and Gonz. No-one would have known they didnt know each other as they all got on so well and made it a great start to the season, so thankyou. The snow was amazing , the boarders found lots of powder. We sorted a guide out for the day who came up trumps and found them some good pitches. We skied in Val for a couple of days and then Ste Foy and Les Arcs. All over the snow is amazing.Ste Foy did a promotion on the Sunday where the lift pass was only 11 euros for the day. Michel opened La ferme and of course we all went after skiing.   The mutsig was flowing and of course the “Basin Challenge ” got mentioned. The 2 guys who rose to the bait were Harry and Geezer, well done you 2, you made Solange’s night (our neighbour). She has missed all the excitement this summer. Shame Harry lost his way to the hottub after, prolonging the agony of Geezer and hypothermia. Mind you he could have ended up in Italy, just like on the night he arrived, couldn’t you Harry? Jonny skied in La Rosiere on Monday but the weather was very wild and cold and the link to Italy was closed. The run down into Villard Dessus(SEEZ) was fabulous and practically unskied so it was worth going for that he said. Well we have Jim and Anna in next with all the xmas guests arriving this weekend. We have been planning the cocktails for xmas day this morning and writing the shopping list. All the xmas present shopping is done so we feel quite organised this year. Have a great time everyone and look forward to seeing you next year.  

  Sorry not updated sooner but we have been having boadband installed here at the chalet and our phone line has been cut off so we have not had internet access. However, the big news is the SNOW!!!!! It’s the best start for 12 years according to all the locals and we have had so much. Its been snowing now for about 5 days with a little break this weekend. We have had over a metre in the village and up high there is talk of 2.5 metre. Its so deep pisteurs are struggling to ski through it until its been pisted. One pisteur said today its the most snow he has seen fall in one go.   So the conditions are FABULOUS and anyone lucky enough to be coming before xmas are in for a real treat. We still have some rooms pre xmas so give us a call. 0033 6 12 73 35 23 We skied on Saturday in Val D Isere and it was great. We even managed to catch some sun and blue skis. Please find a couple of pics from Saturday of me and Rhian. Jonny took them. Our friend drove up to 1950 today as he is a photographer and kindly sent me these pics of the snow up there:   Can you believe it!!!? It’s still snowing as I write this although Wed, Thurs and Fri are forecast to be sun again, perfect!!Our first guests arrive tomorrow, Phil Croft and the boys, all snowboarders I think. Then we have Harry a friend arriving along with the Carpet Fitters/Locksmiths and General malingers Conference booked in for Saturday, you know who you are Boo, Gonz and Gav. Looking forward to seeing you all. Michel at La Ferme was clearing his terrace yesterday ready for the opening on Saturday. he is as excited as us re the snow. The girls have been playing in the snow at every opportunity,even when they arrive home for lunch they play for half an hour before eating. Glad they love it as much as me and Jonny. We do still have a some availability throughout the season so give us a call. Look forward to hearing from you and take this chance to wish you all a MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR. Bye for now.

  We had a good trip back to the UK during the girl’s school holidays although Jonny’s mum was not well during the week so we didn’t get chance to catchup with as many people as we thought, so apologies for that. We came back to Le Loissel to cold weather and had to start lighting the fire.Jonny cut up more wood for the winter and just in time too as its snowed inthe village for the first time on Saturday!!!! We had snow high up on the mountains already but none in the Village. Then Tuesday it started and didn’t stop for 24 hours. We have had loadsand according to the villagers we have not had snow so early for over 10 years!!! Hopefully this is a sign we are in for another great season. Here are some photos taken throughout the day yesterday. We were all veryexcited , even though you would think we would all be used to it by now!!!! They are taken in the village.   The commune was as good as ever, the snow plough woke us up at 6am Wednesday morning, the best wake up call ever, sorting the road ready for the minibus to take the girls to school. Anneha and Fi would have had their breakfast outside in their pyjamas if we had let them , they were so happy. We are pleased to say that www.snow-forecast.com/resorts/Villaroger.shtmlhave added VILLAROGER to their resort pages. This means by clicking on this link you can check the snow report for the next few days here in Villaroger. Jonny is still working hard before the beginning of the season and I am sorting laundry, curtains and last minute things ready for our first guests in December, as well as trying to do the xmas shopping, arghhhhh!!! Look forward to seeing you all this coming season and will update more often now the snow and soon our guests have arrived. Bye for now.

  My mum ,Tony, and my sister Kirrin and family have been over to stay for a few days and we have had a lovely time. Lots to eat and drink and the weather was good so we manged to go to the Lake, up the Col etc.It was great to see my little neice and nephew too as we do miss you all. My mum and Tony looked after the girls for 3 days and Jonny and I met our friends Sharon and Andrew in Nice. We drove down and picked them up from Nice airport then had 3 relaxing days with them. We went to Monaco for the day which was amazing with all the Ferrari’s and top end cars. We did plenty of people watching that day!!!Once again the weather was good and we made it to the beach even though it was too blustery to go in the sea. Here a couple of pics from the weekend. We have been watching the rugby and this weekend we are looking forward to England-France match. We will be watching it with the French so it will be a great atmosphere. The new hottub is looking good and the girls have been in it more than us. Sunday we are going to Park Walabi(theme park) with some friends. The winter is coming up fast, we have to sort our ski passes out in the next week or so for all the family. Anneha has been telling Jonny this year she wants race skis, so glad she as keen as us on the skiing front. She will be skiing with Villaroger ski club again this year!!! Ive ordered new skis this time too and we are all looking forward to the first snow fall. Ive been testing more new recipes for next season and we have had the wine delivered, all you regulars will be glad to know we have the bottles of Grand Sud back this year!!! Jonny is busy plastering a chalet out, its for a French family in Villaroger so he’s close by.He’s been out on his bike quite a lot recently as the weather has been so good. We are busy with bookings so anyone wanting to come and see us again this season get in touch sooner rather than later to make sure we have availability. Flights are all out and also the Jet 2 flights for next summer into Geneva are out to book now if anyone fancies coming for a summer holiday. Will write again soon.

  We’ve had a bit of mixed weather the last week, with fresh snow on the mountain tops. We took this picture from our kitchen window the other morning! It was the bike race at Le Monal Hotel, Ste Foy last week and thankfully we had a beautiful day for it. The race is for mountain bikers and is a circuit round the village of Ste Foy with different obstacles on the route. There are 2 people to a team and they have to do as many circuits as possible in an hour. The race actually goes through the bar, as you can see from the photos below.We are proud to say that 2 English guys came 2nd in the race, having being up against mountain guides and some proffessional riders!!!!   We have been spending quite a bit of time down at Plan D’eau just recently. The other day the girls swam to the island and back. I thought Fi would sit it out but she insisted on going and loves this photo of herself at the otherside. I have just come back from a long weeked in Nice with some friends. It was tracy’s 40th so we left on the Friday morning and came back Sunday evening. It was a perfect place to go with lots of bars,lovely restaurants, great shopping and beautiful beach and sea.I’ve just about recovered from it now. These are a couple of photos from the trip   The girls are back at school now and I am able to try and do a bit of sorting out etc. We cut our wood the other day and stacked it up ready for the winter.We are getting a new hot-tub for this next season so are getting that fit this next week. Will write again soon.

  We went climbing to Notre Dame du Pre, near to Aime last weekend. We had Phil and Helen staying in the chalet so we decided to take the children climbing, as Charlotte and Jack had never tried it before. The weather was great and we took a BBQ with us.We could not get the kids off the ropes, they all did really well, even Fi had a go. Phil also managed to get a climb in, but had to wrestle with the kids first for a turn. This is a picture of Anneha taken that day 15th August was the day of Villaroger Fete. As always it was a busy day with lots of stalls/games and dancing. They always have a procession made up of floats from all the local villages. There are people dressed in traditional costume for this area and the day is finished by a large confetti fight where everyone gets covered. In the evening there is a ball at the local hall where we eat local sausage!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Here are a couple of photos from the day.   On the 21st it was Fi’s 4th Birthday. She had all her friends round for a party(11 kids), I must have been mad. We played games and she got a new tent so slept that night in it on the landing with Anneha.We mums opened the champagne so that helped to make everything run smoothly!!! Heres a photo of her blowing out the candles Well thats it for now, will write again soon.  

  We have just had Denise and family from Bradford upon Avon to stay in the chalet and they seem to have had a good time.They said a week wasn’t long enough to do everything. Jonny and I went mountain biking this weekend with some friends. It was a great day out and we finished off by coming down from Arc 1950 to Villaroger and having lunch at La Ferme with the girls. Here are some photos from the day. On Sunday it was Ste Foy village fete and it was a very hot day. They had apple bobbing, throw the bale of straw as far as you can, and a pond where you could catch your own fish and cook it on the BBQ. We went down with some friends who have a house in Macot. Another thing was to climb up the church tower and zip line down. Anneha had a go at this and did really well, as did Dan and Nile. Below are some pics of her:-   Afterwards we all ended back up at ours for something to eat and they all jumped in the hot-tub. We’ve got the Watkinson family out tomorrow, so looking forward to seeing them. Its the Tignes wine festival next week along with the Villaroger Fete, so lots going on. Will write again soon.

  Only 3 more days until the girls break up from school,we cannot believe how quickly the summer is going. We have been busy re-doing another bathroom in the chalet. We have re-tiled and put in a new shower so its looking good. We have been going down to the Lake when the weather has been good and the kids have loved it in the sand and catching the frogspawn/little frogs. Fi bought a new fishing net especially for that reason. Here are a couple of pics from there. We went over to Park Walabi(inbetween Chambery and Lyon) with some friends. Its a big theme park with a water park as well although we didn’t have time to make it into the Water Park.Everyone had a great time and we then had a BBQ back at our friends’ house. The lifts are open in les Arcs for the mountain biking. We have Johnny Henstock and the boys here with Phil Watkinson and some more boys joining them. The weather is great at the moment and there is still snow on the peaks. They have loved the mountain biking, especially the descent down into our village.They said they have ridden the best single tracks ever!!! Jonny has ridden out with them a couple of times, they rode one day from ours right up to Arc 2000(over 1000m of ascent) in one morning!!!! We are going to Majorca this Wednesday so looking forward to that. Will write again soon with more photos of the lads once i’ve downloaded their pictures!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We had a good trip back to the Uk and it was great to see all our family, especially our new little nephew who was born in March. We tried to meet up with as many friends as possible, but as ever there were people we didn’t manage to catch up with, so hopefully will do in July. Unfortunately the weather was not too brilliant, it always seems to happen to us when we step off that plane. The girls are back at school and I have been doing the flowers for the terraces and some gardening. Im trying to sort a patch of garden thats on a slope and very rocky. Its slow going but im hoping it will be worth it in the end.We planted some bushes last October and they are now starting to flower and look lovely. Everyone in the village is busy planting their vegetables and flowers, and always there to give you advice on whats best to put where. Below is a picture of the village. I am helping at Annehas school with the swimming lessons twice a week. I thought I was just going to help out with the little ones but have been allocated a group of 8/9yr olds , whos aim this summer is to master front and back crawl. Its ok but all they want to do is dive in and pick things up from the bottom so its a challenge getting them to do a few lengths of practicing. We have been down to Plan D’eau with the girls and their bikes. The Lake is now filled up and the cafe open at weekends. Here is a picture from the other day.   I met up with a few friends at the restaurant Chez Marie, the one where you can eat in the garden and then spend the rest of the afternoon in their outdoor pool. Its gorgeous and this is a picture from that afternoon The Col de Petit St Bernard over into Italy opened yesterday so im sure we will be heading over in the next week or so. Apparantly there is a fabulous food market there once a week so will have to make the trip. Here is a picture of a stag that we saw at the back of our house the other evening. It had a mate with him but we were not quick enough to catch both of them. The weather has been beautiful, although we have had 2 big storms early evening for the past 2 nights, which seems to clear the air for the next day.Its been cloudy today and I think it may rain tomorrow , but we do need it for the gardens so one days fine with us. Anyway will close for now but will write again soon.

  Well, we’ve had our last guests, and cannot believe where time has gone. Thankyou to Philip, Derek and boys, Phil,Karen and boys and Sharon, Andrew, Cal and Em who made our last week a fab one. We skied all over and although temperatures are warm managed to find some good snow by following the sun round and having late lunches. Philip and Derek did a bit of house hounting whilst they were here, please don’t buy guys as our takings will be seriously hit if you don’t come every season, only joking!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Andrew was on his 4th trip this season, he’s nearly part of the chalet now. All the kids got on great and Anneha loved skiing with you all. Here a couple of pics of the guests.   We watched a bit of the flying K in Arc 2000. The racers are timed over a kilometre by straight lining a run on the front face in 2000. Its amazing and the record stands at about 267 kilometres per hour. We took this picture to show how the racers look(like something off another planet) I know everyone has been saying have you still got snow, but this was taken only 2 weeks ago, need I say any more!!!! Jonny skied off the glacier at the back of the Grand Motte in Tignes the other day. He found great spring snow, although it was a 2hr walk out of the bottom. He is looking forward to doing some touring in the next few weeks. I met up with some friends in Tignes this week, hi to Geoff and Lorraine and thanks again for lunch. Also it was great to ski with Johnny Bramwell again and his group so thanks Johnny for that. I had to add this pic of my friends 2 boys, what a handsome pair you are Archie and Harvey!!! Just like to wish Callum a Happy Birthday for Monday. The chalet has been cleaned down and we are having a lttle break before heading back to UK on 8th may for a few days. We are taking summer bookings in the chalet (self catering) but could cook a little if needs be. Please get in touch if anyone fancies a summer break, the whole chalet for as little as £400 for the week. Also we are now taking bookings for next season,prices will be kept the same as this season for any early bookings. Please try and book early this year as we had to turn people away due to been full, which we do not like doing at all. Anyway thanks again to everyone who joined us this year and thanks for making it another successful and enjoyable winter. Merci Beaucoup!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Jonny, Kumari, Anneha and Fi xx