Words Failed Me

Settled down to watch some UK television last night. Channel 4's "A Place in the Sun...Home or Away" programme is featuring the resort where our Spanish home is situated. Naturally we recognised all of the locations shown to the prospective buyers. The couple decided that the Costa Del Azahar was not what they wanted, even though they were shown a place with a view much like our's.

Personally we like opening our shutters each day to see the Med lapping a 4 kilometre sandy beach.

Weird Times

Some of my recently uploaded photos, did not get the code uploaded with them, so when you click on them, you get....nothing. I have hunted through the help pages, and ..gave up...here they are again .

Val D'Anniviers Season Finale

After heading back to Geneva Airport with my partner Andy, we parted company, as he caught a flight back to the UK, and I caught a train to Sierre, with the intention of getting the Postbus to Grimentz. Plans do sometimes go wrong, and faced with a three hour wait for a bus , another stranded traveller did a deal with a taxi driver and we shared a taxi to up Val D' Anniviers. The view next morning makes up for any travel related stress.








Met up with ise and his friends and family for a great sunshine day both on and off piste. Grimentz was surprisingly crowded and we encountered queues for the lifts ise found a nice little gulley to ski in, even I managed to cope on my "girly Stormriders" (to quote ise) !















13/4 Grimentz and Zinal

Started the day cruising empty pistes in Grimentz, then caught the bus to Zinal to meet up with ise and ski the Chamois piste back to Grimentz. an excellent run, though the snow cover on the itinerary back to Grimentz was rather patchy. I'm so glad I have a rucksack with a ski carrier! After a substantial lunch, it was straight onto the Bendolla telecabine to meet up with brian who managed to spot me from the description I had sent by text....short, fat, old, black kit, girly Stormriders We took a few off-piste runs in the slushy afternoon snow, where ise decided to check out the snow depth by lying down and resting his legs.





Because I'm a nice person I did not get out my camera . He claimed it was my fault, as I wanted to ski in the "nice" gully we were in yesterday, only the snow was a little less pleasant!

Grimentz 14/4

Skied around in lovely warm sunny weather. Met up with Brian and his family for lunch. Sent a message to ise, but he was not feeling well, perhaps I skied him too hard yesterday . Spent the afternoon on the black Lona piste, top section, which was in excellent condition and very quiet.


























Grimentz 15/4

Hot and sunny day. Met up with ise, who had been indulging in some retail therapy, and wanted to try out his Stockli Stormrider Pit Lights, and Garmont Megaride boots. He had some new skins to match as well, and just had to try them out.

The pisteurs were busy taking down the marker poles (perhaps they had heard about me), and safety netting, so the piste skiing was a little more interesting. A live band was playing in the Bendolla restaurant at lunchtime, where we met up with Brian and his family. The conditions held up pretty well through the day, I fell over three times, and ise liked his new skis and boots, so all in all a pretty good season finale.

A Quick Visit to the Tarentaise

After leaving Chamonix, we drove through the Gorge D' Arly and across to Seez, to spend several nights in a Logis de France.



Sunday 8th, Les Arcs. Took the funicular up from Bourg St Maurice for an Easter Sunday ski around the Les Arcs system. We met up with Rob at the Arpette restaurant, and took a trip over to the Grand Col area, then back to the Arpette for lunch. Beautiful sunny weather, and the pistes were holding up well, though it did turn slushy off-piste by mid afternoon. Despite it being a Sunday and a holiday period, the slopes were not very busy.


Easter Monday, Tignes and Val d' Isere The sun was out (again), and so were the piste ants.
We drove over to Tignes Breviere and caught the Sache gondola up to the Aguille Percee. Saw so many sights today, mono skis, tons of vintage dayglo clothing, antique rear entry boots. We decided to avoid the crowds and head off piste a little, so skied over into Le Spot, stopping to pick up a sandwich and some drinks, to enjoy a picnic. We were fortunate to have some entertainment whilst we ate, as two english guys had found themselves out of options and were climbing out of their chosen route in Le Spot. It took them the time for a two course lunch plus drinks to reach a skiable slope. One of them subsequently fell over, and shed lots of gear over the whole hill, which resulted in lots more climbing for him.

We had passed by their route earlier, it took us just a couple of minutes, mind you, we did have a look at the terrain from the lift.

Tuesday 10/4 Spent the morning skiing around Les Arcs, and met up with Pete Garwood, Emily, Rob and Jane at the Chalets de l' Arcs restaurant above Arc 2000 for lunch. Very warm skiing conditions, boiler plate up high, soupy at 1600. I killed a piste marker on the black Refuge piste at Grand Col, and I still have a bruise...well it was in my way Here's Andy discovering the true meaning of "piste non damee" on his way to Arc 1600.

Chamonix Valley

A quick late season trip to Chamonix, and hopefully to ski the Vallee Blanche, before heading into Switzerland. We started our stay with a warm up day in Vallorcine/Le Tour. Lovely conditions, weather warm and sunny. Skied down to Le Tour village and enjoyed lunch off-piste. The car park at Vallorcine was able to cope with the volume of customers, though the lift queue at Le Tour was quite awful.










4/4. We were booked to ski the Vallee Blanche today, the guide phoned at 8am and said it was not possible due to the weather, so we spent the day in Les Houches.
We had fresh snow to play in, though the visibility was a little poor. The top section of the Kandahar piste was most enjoyable, with uncut snow down to mid station. The evening saw us revisiting the Guides Office AIGMB, to be told that we would not be doing the Vallee Blanche the next day either. Apparently we don't have enough off-piste powder experience.















4/4 Argentiere. The sun was out and so were the crowds. Good snow up high on the Chamois piste and underneath the Herse chair and GM cable car. Pistes had been refreshed with a little fresh snow, but underneath is rock hard. Skied down to Argentiere, which was rather like water skiing. Walk out through the mud to a very large Orangina.









Vallee Blanche...or not.. A couple of weeks before heading out to Chamonix, I booked a private guide for Wednesday 4th April. On the morning the guide phoned and said no go, bad weather. We were told to call at the Bureau that same evening, where we were told that we could not ski well enough in powder and we should go back the next day. We went back yet again, to be told..."conditions are great and we have no guide available for you" So we asked for a refund. To be honest, the prospect of undertaking the run by now was much less appealing on a public holiday. Think of any Theme Park in any country on a Bank Holiday! The bureau kept talking about us doing the Classic Run as well, something which we had specifically advised them that we did not wish to do. I'm not sure I would go back to Chamonix to do the Vallee Blanche. This was to be an early Birthday present, so I'm either €260 better off, or I've missed out on the trip of a lifetime.

A very sunny Good Friday, takes us back to Vallorcine and Le Tour again to try to avoid the crowds.
It was quieter than earlier in the week, and as the sun was very hot, the off-piste had softened up nicely. We spent around 50% of our time away from the pistes, on some very pleasant slopes. Just in case you are wondering, yes, I did jump off the edge, and land it Our next destination is Seez near Bourg St Maurice.

Massive Attack

As soon as we had arrived back in the UK, we went up to Birmingham to see Massive Attack in concert. They were very, very good, and I would definitely go and see them again. It was quite a small venue and we managed to get quite close to the stage, and both found that our trousers were flapping in time to the base line!

I would want to go to see them an an outdoor venue next time, as the amount of folks smoking left us both with sore throats and eyes.

It's been many years since I went to a concert, and I was hoping that the venue would be smoke free, no such luck.

A Really Good Ski Trip

Just returned from two weeks in Switzerland. The journey went smoothly, the snow was good, and the company was excellent. Apparently some European resorts have been suffering from a lack of snow this winter, but we seemed to have a snow pocket to play in! Now back in the UK, I have put on around 4 kilos in weight, and we have a laundry pile big enough to need planning permission. Here's a competitor in a parapente competition in Zinal.

We skied in Grimentz, St Luc, Chandolin, Vercorin and Zinal. During our stay we met up with some friends, some of whom live in the mountains, and some who are visiting. Naturally, our friend ise knows the best places to eat, and where to find the powder. He's a really good skier most of the time, and there is a link to his blog, Snowslider, from here.

A quick ski trip to Engelberg

Took a quick break to get some pre-Christmas skiing in. Early am flight to Zurich, with plenty of time to get an afternoon on the slopes. Except for the plane being an hour late departing, traffic jams in Zurich and fog all the way. We gave up and took a long late lunch instead.
The World Cup Ski Jumping circuit was in town for the weekend, so the resort was quite busy, and together with a Christmas Fair in the centre, it felt very festive.

Strangely, all the shops in the village closed up at 5pm on the Saturday, ignoring the crowds staring through their windows.

Engelberg is situated at around 1000 metres, rising to 3028 metres with glacier skiing available. Access to the glacier is via a revolving cable car, which gives great views. It rotates quite slowly, and I did wonder if it had a spin cycle.

The glacier had the best snow, so was pretty busy at the weekend. It was really great to get onto well prepared glacier slopes, really early in the day, and be able to go as fast as I can, with no-one else about. On the lower slopes, conditions were quite variable, with rocks, ice and bare patches to catch the unwary. Our skis needed a full service and repair after three days in these conditions. We braved the two days of fog, which made the slopes quite challenging. The resort had also started their snowmaking cannons, which added to the fog effect.

Our journey home was also eventful, as our plane was cancelled, we were put onto an earlier one, which was then delayed, and flew into a fogbound London Heathrow, where we waited ages to disembark, initially waiting for a stand, then waiting for a bus, followed by chaos in the baggage hall due to a machinery breakdown earlier in the week.

Getting Good and Muddy

I enjoy off-road driving, so when I was invited to a UK Land Rover Test Centre, I was fortunate to be offered a very expensive new Range Rover V8. It's great to be able to get a posh car good and muddy, on a varied circuit, and to be able to hand it back dirty!

Part of the circuit was for demonstration, so the driving was undertaken by an instructor. Here's the car in a little sideways slide, just over the brow of a steep drop. Great fun.

I could not help myself

When is Spain, I do try to eat local food and drink. Took a quick night time trip across to Barcelona, followed by a two hour drive to our house. Next morning up and away to Southern Valencia to visit my Mother who has broken her leg. She seemed to be fine, so set off to return to our place, and realised that we had no food in the house and would arrive after the shops close. The Costa Blanca is a very popular destination for British holidaymakers and home buyers. Consequently, in the first supermarket I entered, I was drawn to buying English bread. I felt guilty and a bit embarrassed afterwards. To be fair, it was very tasty, and the remainder of the loaf flew home with us.

While I write this blog, I am eating Spanish Chocolate, so there is hope for me!

The weather had been fair up until the day before we arrived, broke for our stay, and resumed blue sky normality a day after we returned home.

My Mother is still complaining about the rubbish collection waking her up. She is so lucky.

Boiled or Fried....A Day Out On The Ebro Delta

We took a drive out about a hour north to one of Spain's biggest rice growing areas. The Ebro Delta is very large, and very, very flat. We drove past kilometres of irrigation channels and flooded fields, with rice growing, very much in evidence. Naturally, the souvenir shops sell...rice!
It's a very popular destination for fishermen, there are boats for hire, and lots of seafood restaurants.
Part of the Delta is a designated Nature Reserve, with well laid out routes to follow, and local information boards in several languages.
Surprisingly, there are also large unspoiled beaches, with sand dunes and some holiday accommodation nearby.

We Never Had it So Good

My local council in the UK, charges me a large sum of money for collecting my rubbish once a week. Now, they plan to collect the rubbish once every two weeks,with no reduction in charges. Meanwhile, over in Valencia, where the Council Tax is tiny by comparison, my Mother complains about the rubbish lorry men waking her up each night, when they collect the trash.

Paella Time

It's great to get back to Spain and chill out. The view from the house is always amazing, and we get to see some interesting weather, as well as the expected sunshine. It was Fiesta time, so the resort was buzzing, though we made time to chill out in our rooftop pool every day, and do some cycling along the coast.

A Natural Born Worrier

At the end of July, I emailed our Swiss solicitor to ask her advice and get some facts clarified. Trust me to ask the questions right at the start of the holiday period in Valais. So I sent a 2nd email mid August. No reply yet. I thought it was only the Mediterranean countries that closed down for August...

Dish of The Day

I can make a reasonable Paella, which is the regional dish of Valencia, though I feel that it's possible too go to far with authenticity. For the meat, I tend to use chicken instead of the traditional Water Rat, which used to be plentiful in the rice fields around Valencia. It was time to try a Swiss dish. I have a friend who lives in the Swiss Alps who seems very fond of Croûte au fromage, so I decided to give it a go. It looked a lot like the photo above, it's very filling, and I'm amazed that anyone could hike or ski after having Croûte for lunch. I settled down on the sofa for a snooze.

The Early Bird......

In our household, I'm always the one to book holidays, early. I always arrive at airports hours before our flight departs, and I'm always first in the line. As we are buying an apartment in a Swiss ski resort, we can stay there as regular tourists, whilst we await a permit from the Canton. Unless of course, someone else has made a booking whilst we debated my early booking habit. Which is exactly what has happened. I need to raise my game if I want to stay in our place.

The English Habit

It's a national pastime to talk about the weather. One set of parents moved to Spain late last year, where they initially stayed in our place. They liked the house, but the weather 2 hours south of Barcelona was too wet and too cold, they told me, and so they moved south as soon as the furniture arrived. Now resident in southern Valencia, our regular phone conversations are filled with tales of how it's too hot, and how they hate the heat there.

Why do they do that?

Spanish Banks that is. They make a charge for me leaving my money with them. They earn money from that, which they keep for themselves. Then, when I set up a Direct debit for a utility bill, each month, they send me a letter telling me that they have sent the payment. They charge me for that too. I should have opened a Bank.

The Big Game Plan....

It's good to plan ahead. In this instance, years ahead, take on extra borrowing and try and fund an idyllic retirement by having a place on the Med, and a place in a Swiss alpine village. Lots of "if's" and "buts", though most of it comes down to money..As usual.