Category: Chalet Diary 2008

Hope you all had a great Xmas and you have an even better NY.  We have had a lovely time here, the girls got everything they wanted and as well as a chalet full of guests my mum and Tony were here as well. We had the Hilton Family and the Hopkins family in and they all made Xmas a lovely time for us.  We visited the live nativity as normal on Xmas Eve and Santa came down the mountain on his sledge. Snow was good although we didn’t have any fresh over the Xmas week. The Hiltons went out with Pierre, the guide a couple of times and found some new routes. Unfortunately on the last day of the holiday Kit Hopkins broke a bone in his leg so hope you are doing well Kit. The turkey was huge this year and we were very lucky to have expert carvers Rob and Matt Hilton in the house who did a great job of carving, thanks boys.We then went on to play games , including Mr and Mrs which Jonny and I lost.  Ive enclosed some photos from the week.       The Deer was taken from our lounge window Xmas Morning! The skiing photos are in Ste Foy on Xmas Morning too.      

We’ve had a lovley start to the season with a trip up to Tignes last week and the opening of Les Arcs last Saturday. The snow has been on and off all week and we have had up to a metre up high. In Val D’Isere and Tignes over 1m fell overnight, with another 80cm the following night. Its the most snow we have had at the start of the season for 50 years. The Carpet, Locksmith and IT conference went well this weekend with a few Mutsigs flowing and some powder to be had. The boys had a great time and Gonz proclaimed himself as a ski god due to his new skis, Scott Crusaders!!! That is even after a slight collision with Jim(lets see how fast we can go) Lloyd.We recorded a speed of 60k’s on one piste. Gav excelled himself and skied effortlessly, so much so we may have to drop the name MALINGERER!!! I have skied tody with Tony in Les Arcs. Conditions are superb with no-one on the pistes. We could not believe how quiet it was. W have had a forecast of sunshine most of xmas week so the Hopkins family and the Hilton family are in for a great time. The turkey is ordered and the champagne waiting. We are looking forward to a family ski on Xmas day, along with the live nativity and Pere Noel’s arrival on a skido Christmas Eve. We would like to say a Merry Xmas and happy New year to you all and hope to see you soon. Below are a few photos from the week.                

We’ve had 3 days of snow with nearly a metre dropping high up. Conditions for this time of year are said to be the best in years. Everyone is very happy and early bookings are coming in to make the most of it. We’ve just had 2 days of sunshine and the girls have done lots of sledging, igloo making and ice museums (Anneha’s new thing). Temperatures have been cold but it hasn’t put them off playing out. Today Jonny skinned up Ste Foy and then skied back down to Ste Foy Village.He said the snow was unbelievable and the Valley looked amazing.  Here are a few pictures from today.     The chalet is just about ready for the first guests to arrive. The Christmas shopping is the next thing to do and order the turkey which I will do this week.The Valley is starting to get busier now, queues in the Supermarkets are something we are not used to normally. More snow is forecast for the middle of this week so will keep you informed.  Bye for now!!!      

We’ve just had a great day skiing in Val D’Isere, Villaroger and Les Arcs do not open until 13th Dec 2008m, but Val D’Isere/Tignes opened this last weekend. Jonny and I  practically had some slopes to ourselves, there was no-one there. There was 10cm of new powder overnight and we even manged to get some tracks in, as you can see from the photos. Its a brilliant time to ski up there, so quiet and superb snow. Its an excellent start to the season. We are offering the following dates, Dec 16th to Dec 20th for anyone wanting an early ski for only £59 pp per night fully catered including all drinks. Its snowing again as we speak and is forecast to on and off all week. Here are some pics from today.          

Its stopped snowing and today we have had beautiful sunshine all day. The Valley looks amazing all white with the bright blue sky. We are still getting last min jobs done in the chalet, first guests arrive at the moment on the 12th Dec.We can still fit people in from 16th – 20th if you fancy a pre-xmas break. We have some dates in January too we are wanting to fill up. As the girls have a Wednesday off school we went sledging with friends. It was very funny and the snow was really light. Here are a few photos from today showing the snow and the second picture is a view from Aime of Les Arcs. Will write again soon.                                                     

Its snowing!!!  Started at 8.20 am this morning and forecast for most of the weekend. Just what we need!!!! Here’s a couple of photos taken in the village!! Happy Days!!!    

We’ve had snow down to 1400m today (12th Nov ) with bad visibility so i’ve been unable to take a picture. Temperature is due to drop tonight bringing the snow down to around our level of 1100m. The good news we have heard today is 2 new snow cannons are in on the blue piste down to Villaroger on the track meaning less chance of having to download late season, we are all so excited as we have been wanting this for a while now. Michel at La Ferme is just as excited as us, and has made alterations to the bar and restaurant making more space indoors for eating with big patio doors that open on the Terrace for the sunny days and a new roof terrace to catch the rays, perfect!!!!!!  Rhian is here at the moment visiting before heading off to Indonesia for a holiday and Xmas and NY back in Australia. So lovely to see her here again, we’ve missed her.  We still have some spaces left to fill, Easter is still fully available so please don’t hesitate to get in touch.   Jonny went for a walk with some other guys on Saturday (Nov 15th) and here are a couple of Pics from then. He is close to the Italian Border here.                                                                                         

   The weather and scenery has changed over the last few weeks, the Valley is starting to go browner and the trees are all different colours. We love this time of year as it means the snow will not be far off. All the village is busy collecting their wood for the winter.  We have had our allocation of 2 trees from the forest, privilege of living in Le Loissel and Jonny will be going to collect them with the neighbours in the next week or so.  The trees were kindly picked out of a hat by Matthew one of our Summer guests as we were away at the time of choosing, so thanks Matt you did a good job!!!! Hope you enjoyed the glass of vino with the locals!! Below is a photo of Jonny chopping our logs, Ffi is looking on and obviously thought it was going to be a long job judging by her pose. The other Photo is of Steve,another Summer guest doing the High Adventure course through the Forest. This is only 5 mins from the chalet and children as young as 6 can take part on a special course as well as older children and adults on the harder one.        Its been the October holidays for the girls so we have been back to the UK. Tried to catch up with as many people as possible but its always so hectic.  We have always lots of jobs to do as some things do cost less in the UK so we always seem to be busy. We managed a trip to Diggerland as you can see. The girls loved it and so did Jonny and Boo(the dads), we had a great day out.  Anneha and Fi are in the bucket along with Archie and Harvey!!! Anneha had her 8th birthday there this year and was spoilt by everyone, thankyou.     It was Halloween and my mum did a party for all her grandchildren. Happy days!!!!    Whilst we were away we had snow here in France down to 1100m. There was 20cm in Ste Foy. We have to sort our lift passes out this week so it will mean a trip to the Mairie in Villaroger. They have been replacing the bridge between Le Loissel and Villaroger and its due to re-open this month. Looking forward to that as the girls have had to go via Bonneville to school everyday since September. Rhian is hopefully coming to visit this week, we are all looking forward to seeing her again. We are getting organised now. Bookings are still going well, infact Summer bookings have been coming in during the  last month too!!! The Tour de France is coming through this way in July so thats exciting for us all. Bye for now, will write again soon.  

The Fete on 15th August was a great success. We made a float with a neighbour’s trailer and the theme was “Carnival du Venice”, so we all wore masks and the trailer became a gondola. We even had someone in the stripy shirt and hat and the long pole for steering. The gilrs loved it. Afterwards, there was the customary confetti fight and the Ball down in the local hall. I was helping all day on the cake stand and would like to thank everyone for their cake donations. All monies go towards things like the firework displays and live nativity, vin chaud, etc at Xmas and NY, which is always the best display in this area.   It was Fi’s birthday in Aug so she had a little tea party with her friends. 5 yrs old now. Iv’e enclosed a photo below of one of our guests Parapenting in Arc 1600 the other week Only 80 Euros for the ride which we think is a great price for the experience.The photo at the side is the Solliet Restaurant in Villaroger(the one half way down the Piste), obviously taken this Summer.   The girls are back to school , infact Fi has started at Villaroger school now with Anneha.She has settled in well and seems to be enjoying it.They have been told they must speak French to each other when at school , as they are the only 2 English girls there.  The weather has changed this week and the temperatures have dropped. We actually had snow down to 1800m over the weekend, which is pretty early really. Les Arcs opens on 13th Dec 2008, although Val D’Isere and Tignes will be open the beginning of December. We are taking pre-xmas bookings up until 20th December so please give us a call. THE VANOISE EXPRESS IS ON SCHEDULE TO RE- OPEN ON 20TH DECEMBER 2008 LINKING LES ARCS WITH LA PLAGNE AGAIN. The season is creeping up on us fast and we are really looking forward to another great year with you. Thanks to everyone who has booked a return trip for this next season.I keep thinking back to” D Day ” in March last year when we had the best snow Jonny and I have ever skied in our lives. Lucky guests that week. Will write again soon.     

Well we have finally updated the website and we hope that you all think its an improvement on the last one. Hopefully this will mean I can now make updates myself, instead of having to rely on people doing it for me, thus making the diary entries more frequent and any latest offers up to date. We have been busy here during the last two months, we managed a holiday in Majorca and a camping trip to Lake Garda in Itlay for 5 days.We even managed a day trip to Venice. It was very nice down there and only a 4.5 hr drive from us here in Villaroger. Here are some pics from the trip to Italy.   The girls are on holiday from school so we have been having day trip outs to the pool, lake etc. Here are a few pics from when we went up the mountain to L’arpette restaurant in Arc 1600. Im sure those that have stopped there in the winter for lunch will not have realised there was a pool on the terrace.     Jonny has been doing some mountain biking and walking whenever he can.The lifts are all open in Les Arcs and even Ste Foy this year have made a VTT track, taking the riders up in a minibus so they can ride down.   Here are some pics from Jonny’s walk the other day(the goat pic is taken on the blue run down to Villaroger) and some of the guests mountain biking.   We had the Fete at Ste Foy and the girls climbed the clock tower again and came down the zip wire. They had to catch trout from the basin with a homemade rod, and then we took them home to BBQ.   Its the Villaroger Fete tomorrow, we have made a float for the village and Jonny and I are helping with the stalls. Will let you know how we go on. Bookings are coming in fast so please get in touch if you would like to come out this season. Look forward to seeing you all next season if not before.