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May 11th 2008
Well , we are back in Sunny Aberdeen now but there is a lot to tell you about our last 2 weeks in The Espace Killy. On the closing night of The Moris we went to see Mike’s last show. He asked us to get up and do a tune or 2 so we obliged, then later at Mullit’s final performance I was asked up to do Sweet home Alabama with them for one last time for the season, it would have been rude not to. (I note you don’t mention anything about your toffee vodka extravaganza?!?! ingrid)
We were asked by our pal Karen if we would like to play at Cafe Face with her at Apres for her last few performances so we jumped at the chance and played there 4 times in the last 2 weeks. It all went well and fingers crossed it may lead to some gigs there next season. We also played another outdoor gig at Tete de Solaise on the last Friday of the season, glorious sunny weather and a big crowd on the terrace made this a memorable day and this is also looking good for work there in 2009.
Ingrid cooked a deal with Uffe (Karen’s husband) to swap a massage for a ski lesson, Uffe is an instuctor with Snow Fun. I had a sneaky word and asked him to bring along one of the bibs that the kids wear in ski school. Ingrid was quite the ticket in her “Telly Toon” vest, she liked it so much that she kept it on when, after the lesson, we all met up at the The Folie Douce and Karen invited Ingrid up to sing a song.
While we were at the Folie the weather closed in and it started to snow then it turned to big flakes so we went down the hill. It snowed overnight and the following morning we met up with Uffe again for off piste adventure number 3 and were treated to 15cm of fresh powder, beautiful sunshine and hardly anyone else to share it with. We went up Solaise and then went off the side of Mattise down to the Laissenant chair getting our first fresh lines , we then went down to the Pyramides chair and then the Signal poma and then over the ridge into The Grand Vallon , here we were treated to light fluffy powder and no one else in sight. Back down to the chair and up again we then went a little further and into The Vallonee , here again we had fresh snow and peace and quiet all the way down to The Point St Charles bridge and then a gentle pole down to Le Fornet for a well earned beer.
Saturday was the closing party at the Folie Douce so we went along for a small champagne or so - at times we were getting sprayed with more than we were drinking. It was very busy and a lot of people were really going for it so we ducked out mid afternoon and went for our own wee party on our sunny balcony with the bottle of champagne that our Irish chums gave us (thanks guys) and then went down to XV for a beer to round the day off. (andy had his first public unicycle misadventure - personally I think the champagne was a large contributor).
Sadly the final day arrived, although it was a marvellously warm and sunny day. We met Karen & Uffe and set off up the Olympique - from the top we took an off piste line down to Grand Pre getting some great spring snow in the process, then it was the long way into the Tour de Charvet. The snow was good but unfortunately everyone else seemed to have the same idea and it was a little busy. From the bottom we went up the Manchet Express and then over to the Tete de Solaise for a chocolate and to say Happy Birthday to Jean-Claude. After our chocolate we headed over to Fornet and into The Vallonee again for a final run to the bottom and then to the cafe at the Fornet cable car for a very unusual Dandelion salad , the jury is still out but it was certainly different.
So that’s it, the end of our first season, and the jury has decided that it was a pretty awesome experience. We both hope that you’ve enjoyed reading our blog - some feedback we’ve received is that we don’t update it often enough, so we’ll try harder for next year. Thanks for reading and catch up with you all soon!
andyandingrid.
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April 20th 2008
Where shall I start , well we’ve got all the gear and we’d done our beeper training so we set off on an adventure , the “Tour de Charvet” seemed like a good idea for our first “Hors Piste”, it’s a gentle run from the top of the Grand Pre lift going round the mountain anti clockwise and brings you out at the head of the Manchet Valley , there was some fresh powder and we got some nice lines , we only saw 2 or 3 other people on the whole run so it was very peacful and quiet , adventure number one in the bag.
We did our last thursday at Foret on the 10th (but we are playing there with Mullit for the closing party tonight) hopefully the bar will be open as usual next year and we can get another regular gig there. We also did our last Pacific for the season on the 14th , we’ll maybe be back there next season too
Off piste adventure number 2 was wednesday , there was quite a bit of snow on tuesday night so we headed off up the Cugnai chair , a few people had traversed the high path under the chair so we followed suit and were treated to a run back to the chair through knee deep fluffy powder. Back up the chair we then got fresh tracks on the other side of the piste , now it was time for the real off piste. We went back up the chair and side stepped up under the rope , this leads to a huge bowl which winds down the valley ending up at the Manchet Express chair , when you are nearly at the bottom there is a lodge which does drinks and snacks , there is a great sun deck so we stopped for a juice and some crisps , only in Val could you have a great off piste run with a cafe at the end of it.
Thursday we had a different kind of adventure , our first gig in Tignes , we played a bar/restaurant in Lavachet called “Le Brasero” , it was a fantastic gig very busy and a very appreciative audience , hopefully this will lead to more work there next season.
Ingrid has finished her Saturday transfer job and has been offered the job for next season (however whether she takes it is another matter!). She’s still getting regular massage work from PhysioVal.
It’s getting very close to the end now , as I mentioned before , Foret closes tonight , The Morris closes on tuesday and there are other closing parties every other day for the next week or so. The mountain is very quiet now , no queues and empty pistes, The snow just keeps coming though , we had 15cm on friday and there is another small dump forecast for tonight , I suppose we had better go for a ski.
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April 3rd 2008
It seems that spring does not wish to make a reappearance after it’s brief showing in February. We’ve had a complete return to winter weather and even had to dig out our winter woolies again. After the huge dump we had on the 21st March we kept getting little top ups all week so always had a little fresh powder to ski on.
The day after all the snow I had a transfer bus to Chambery - not the most fun-filled day I’ve ever had, made worse by the fact that I knew that Andy was out skiing the powder all day. I was slightly mollified when I came home and he said it was actually too deep - it was up to his chest in places and he spent a lot of his day digging himself out.
We had Marion and her friend Claire out last week so spent time with them, they had a great week although the weather was very mixed. It was down to -17 which with wind chill felt like about -25. Andy also skied with Swiftie and Karen from Glasgow, doing some rather serious off-piste. As a consequence of this we decided it was time for us to kit-up properly so that when we go off-piste we know what we’re doing and have the right equipment. We both now have transceivers, shovels, probes and yesterday did our transceiver training so we know how to find each other should the worst happen. It was good fun doing the training - the weather was absolutely appalling so it made the transceivers even more impressive - they can find the signal of what they’re looking for right down to 0.2m. I still seemed to spend more time on my hands and knees in the snow than Andy, and when it came to the timed search he beat me by 2 mins. Obviously I haven’t lost my competitive edge as I wanted to do it again to get a better time!
Now that we have turned into April there is a real feel to the resort of things winding down. We will only have a few gigs left as places start to close. The last night of La Foret is the 20th April and Mullit are playing and we were delighted to be asked to play with them. Unfortunately our outdoor gigs haven’t taken off as there has never been good enough weather, and we’ve heard a rumour that it’s not going to get any better next week. It’s great for the snow, but the seasonaires are now wanting a bit of sun to top up the tans before coming home! We have had the odd nice day, but temperatures have been nothing like they were back in February. Well, we’ve still 4 weeks to go so fingers crossed I’ll get that day I’ve got planned with one of the many deck-chairs in the resort.
Here’s Andy on Solaise with the dam in the background, on a rare appearence of that elusive sun.
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March 21st 2008
Happy anniversary to us , 16 years today , it snowed back in Aberdeen on the day we got married and boy has it snowed here in Val , we must have had over 60cm of the stuff and it’s still coming down heavy.
Chris from Aberdeen has been out here this week with his pal Heidi and her daughter so they have had snowy days and sunny days but I think it was all a bit too much for Chris today , I took him down through the trees in Le Fornet , his legs will remember that in the morning.
We had 2 good gigs this week , monday was St Patricks day of course and Pacific was very busy , the bar staff were all dressed as Leprechauns , at 6 foot odd Guffy was stretching the imagination a bit though. Thursday we had a special guest up with us in Foret in the shape of Al from Mullit , also of course Tim did his thing including a beat box version of Teenage Dirtbag (shamelessly pinched from Mike at the Morris).
Also this week I was back in Dicks doing sound for another tribute band , U2OPIA , a U2 soundalike band this time , they were not as good as the Oasis mob but they went down pretty well , I never knew Bono was a chubby scouser with a grey goatee though.
We had a beer in Switch at apres today and it’s looking good for a gig on the terrace there next month when the nights are longer and warmer , still time for you all to book a last minute deal for the end of the season and come out see us.
Last week saw the return of the Lisburn Canine appreciation Society , otherwise known as The Youngs and The Coopers , this could probably be best described as a “wet” week. A huge thankyou goes out from us to Ian , Lesley , Ivor and Kerry for giving us a great week with loads of laughs and probably a few too many long lunches , I hope you have all had your certificates framed and are wearing your badges with pride , seeya next year.
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March 11th 2008
Well, spring has now sprung right back into it’s box and winter has returned with a vengeance - finally the long awaited snow arrived last night and we had 15cm in resort. There should have been around 20cm at altitude although the wind really got up in the early hours so it might not all have landed in the right places. There is more snow due to fall today and possibly into tomorrow which is great news. The snow has been not too bad at all since the temperatures plummeted last week, as the pisteurs have been doing a marvellous job at maintaining the slopes. It was a bit of a shock though, after temperatures of +10 deg, to go out running last Thursday morning and find that it had dropped to -16! It was a fair old clattery day on the pistes, but then Friday it warmed up a bit and the snow was really nice.
I’ve finally managed to pick up some massage work from the local “PhysioVal” company which is proving very profitable although it meant I had a busy week last week, between that and my Saturday transfer (which turned into the transfer-day-from-hell). The plus side is that for the first time in my life I’m earning more than Andy is! (He has suggested that it’s now my turn to pay the mortgage but I’ve declined as I’m quite happy with the status quo). I’ve been working at Le Chardon Chalets doing massage which is about the poshest place you’ll get in Val - how the other half live, indeed. It’s always nice to come home to our wee 23msq apartment though at the end of the day!
Unfortuantely Andy has picked up another cold, but that makes us 2 each this year so we’re even. He struggled manfully through last night’s gig which turned out to be a great one, the place was absolutely jumping and we had superb support from our Irish friends who arrived on Saturday for a week. It was so nice to see them - not least since they came bearing gifts of Drambuie, something we can’t get a hold of out here. We’ve added another couple of new songs to our set and these went down very well. The Irish managed to get into town in time for the rugby, although it wasn’t the best of games for them. We watched the Scotland/England game and I wished afterwards I taken on that bet from Andy!
Our outdoor gigs probably won’t be happening while the inclement weather is around, but we may get going with them next week. The French holidays finished at the weekend (thank goodness for that) so this week and probably next week are a little bit quieter, then we’ll have the Easter rush after that.
Right, I’m away to have my porridge and go find some powder, ciao!
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Feb 26th 2008
So it would appear that spring has now sprung out here in the Alps. The last snow fell 3 weeks ago yesterday, and since then the temperature has been steadily rising. Great for the suntan but not for the snow depth. There are rumours of a big dump coming next week, and I think everyone in the resort has their fingers crossed. It has been warm enough that I’ve been skiing in a sweatshirt (well, and a few vests too) and by the afternoon we’ve been skiing big splashy, slushy bumps. Which is good if you like that sort of thing, which we do!
So what have we been up to in the intervening weeks since our last blog? Pretty much lots of skiing, gigging, new songs, a day trip to Grenoble, a Valentine meal out and a red rose for me, some very early transfer days for me (I won’t complain about getting up at 5am anymore, as that seems civilised compared to 3am), lots of traffic delays due to the French holidays, having to queue for lifts due to the french holidays (what’s THAT all about?), Andy having a cold and nearly losing his voice, me having a cold that came back again for a second round complete with conjuctivitis (it would of course land on my transfer day that entailed me getting up at 3am with gummy eyes, yuck), Andy making a guest appearance with Mullit, having friends round for dinner with their 5 month old puppy, having other friends round for dinner with their 8 month old baby (the puppy was harder work), and having even more friends round and having a great jam session after dinner since we’re all musicians!
It looks like we have the potential to have a very busy March and April as we have more opportunity to play outdoors - the days are longer and the weather warmer. Our set list is gradually becoming more extensive, and I’ve now performed my first solo song. To say I was scared is putting it mildly. I kept putting it off even though I had put in lots of practice, but Andy eventually just started playing it so I really had no choice but to sing (One of Us, by Joan Osbourne). I’ve now got a bit more confidence and in fact am turning into a diva as I want more!
My running has suffered a bit this week due to not being well, but last week I ran on tarmac for the first time in 3 months which was quite amazing. I’ve changed my tuesday run to late afternoon when it’s a bit warmer and it’s also more interesting. I have met the most amazing people and now can manage to have a conversation with french-only speaking people. Not the most interesting conversation I have to say, but better than it was at the start of the season! I met a woman last week who turned out to be the Madame of the local fromagerie. I reckon she was in her 70’s, and there she was out on the farm in her full-length fur coat and baffies! (slippers to anyone who has not come across baffies before).
Our friends from Ireland are descending on Val d’Isere on 8th March, then Chris from Aberdeen on 15th, and the lovely Marion on the 22nd, so it’s going to be a busy month for us. People are already talking about how many weeks there are left to the season (about 9) which is quite unsettling, and I think that after easter passes there will be a totally different feel to the resort.
Andy is currently making my dinner (no change there then from home!) and I’m just away to do my snow dance. Here’s a pic from our first gig at Tete de Solaise, courtesy of Graham and Aileen - thanks guys!
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Feb 8th 2008
Well , saturdays downhill was cancelled due to snow and poor visibility , shame after all the preparation of the course. On sunday however they ran a combined short downhill and slalom , if you watched ski sunday you’ll know that Bode Miller blitzed it. We had a busy week , saturday Ingrid had the transfer from hell leaving Val at 5 in the morning and not getting back ‘till half past seven at night , sunday in La Foret was another success , a good crowd and a good time was had by all , monday in Pacific we had a guest guitar player in the shape of Martin from Aberdeen , he joined me for a 2 guitar version of wish you were here , it made a nice change from playing along to the looper. Thursday we played foret again , Tim the singing barman did his 2 signature tunes again and was a great success. After the gig Ingrid treated us to a slap up meal at 1789 , I think that is still my favourite restaurant in Val.
Today was a really sunny warm day , we skied toviere a few times , the bumps were nice and soft , then lunch at Marmotte , they finally re-opened the face today so it was a treat to ski home the quick way and not have to dodge the mobile chicanes in santons.
It’s the French holidays over the next few weeks so the mountain will be getting really busy , hopefully the weather will be good and we should get a few more gigs playing on the terrace at the Tete De Solaise , keep your fingers crossed.
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Sorry about the delay in posting , we’ve been a bit busy. So what’s been happening ? well we had a bit of a white out last tuesday , the snow was going upwards so we had a lazy day , good thing really as we got up really early on wednesday to clear skies and drove over to Meribel to vist Ingrid’s cousins who were there for a week’s holiday. Neither of us have ever been to the 3 valleys before so we were treated to an exellent day’s guiding with suitable chocolate / lunch / and vin chaud stops , top day. In the evening we had a great meal at the chalet and stayed overnight. In the morning after a great breakfast we waved the clan off as they went ski-ing and we headed back over to Val , huge thanks to the Courtneys and Purple ski for their hospitality.
Thursday night we played Foret at apres and then on Sunday we played again in Foret from 10:00 ‘till midnight , it was the first time they have had a band on later at night and it went very well , nice and busy with the crowd boosted by the attendence of Mark “2 ski holidays in a month” Masson and his chums.
On tuesday we had a bit of a result , we have been speaking to the owner of one of the mountain restaurants about playing on his terrace on sunny days , well tuesday was clear blue skies and a big orange sun so we loaded all the gear into the Solaise cable car and up we went , we set up right in the middle of the terrace at the Tete de Solaise and played a 2 hour set to a very responsive audience , it was quite surreal playing and looking out over the mountains , it was also quite weird how many people were taking photo’s and videos. The owner was very happy so this should be a regular thing , especially when the weather gets hotter later in the season.
The weather has closed in a bit today (wednesday) and the forecast is for snow , this would usually be welcome but could screw things up a bit this week as the mens world cup downhill is here this weekend , they have been preparing the Face de Bellevarde for about a week and snow could ruin all the preparation , ahh well if it all goes ahead you will be able to watch it on ski sunday , look out for us waving from the crowd.
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Jan 20th 2008
After our hectic week last week with friends it was nice to have a relatively quiet week last week and recover a bit from all the festivities. We waved our friends off on Sat 12 amidst heavy snow - this continued all day and my repping trip back from Chambery was a bit nerve-wracking to say the least. The road was very difficult with cars and buses all getting stuck and needing to put chains on.
Sunday dawned sunny with blue skies so I went off to have a ski by myself since Andy was still laid up with his torn calf muscle. However, a week of twice daily massages have finally mended him and he’s now back skiing. We met up the mountain for some lunch, after I’d been chatted up on the chairlift by 2 frenchmen - fair made my day so it did!
Monday and Tuesday I ski-guided with Dawn and Robbie - they were out for a week with their kids and Dawn works (worked) with Andy. Monday night we had a gig, Tuesday night we went to see Mullit at apres, Wednesday we went supermarket shopping at Bourg followed by a Macdonalds. Very naughty but very nice I have to say! Wednesday night we had a dinner party for friends Karen, Uffe and their 8 month old Leo. Andy made his wonderful thai curry - which if any of you have tasted you’ll know how great it is. Thursday was a french lesson for me, various jobs for Andy and a gig at La Foret at teatime. Dawn came along and did a couple of songs, and we also had 2 of the bar staff up doing percussion - it was a great night.
Thursday night it snowed again and we had another 10 cms of powdery stuff. Not nice for running but lovely to ski on. Andy decided to have a go at skiing to see how his leg was, so we went up and had a good few runs. It was a bit sore for him but more massage has helped. Friday night we went and ate with Dawn and Robbie at their chalet, took our instruments and had a bit of a jam after dinner.
Saturday saw me leaving the resort at 8am to go to Chambery. I wasn’t in the least bit upset that Andy spent the day skiing with the Mullit boys and lunching at Breviere, in gorgeous sunshine, only just making it back for the last aeroski! Fortunately today had the same kind of weather, so we were out at 10am and had a most superb day skiing until 4pm. We lunched outsite at L’Alpage and it was fantastic to get some really warm sun.
Our set list is gradually growing as is our confidence, although I have been practising to sing a song I have yet to sing it as I keep losing my nerve when it comes to the crunch! Ron, you need to come out here and sing it with me!!! We almost had a gig in Tignes lined up but unfortunately they wanted us to play on Mondays when we play at the Pacific. Hopefully some juggling can be done and it may yet come off.
We are off to Meribel on Tuesday or Wednesday to meet up with my Irish cousins who are out for a week, then we have Mark coming back with another load of chums next Saturday, which will probably entail another busy week, better rest up this week as much as possible to ensure we are ready!
A bientot!
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Jan 12th 2008
Well , what a fantastic week that was with one possible exception but we will come to that later , Ingrid did her first transfer to Chambrey and guess who was on her bus back up to Val ? Yes our first visitors from Aberdeen , Pammie , Colin , Michelle and Karl , Ross and Stella and Chris who works offshore with Mark , no Mark however as he was stuck offshore and missed the plane. I met them all off the bus as I had been having a few beers in La Foret waiting for them and we and their chalet girls , Rachel and Lia showed them to their chalet on a very snowy night. Sunday morning it was still snowing heavily as I set off to meet Mark at Chambery as he had managed to get back to Aberdeen and get a flight over , I got to the airport on time and Marks flight was only fourty minutes late so we made good time and were sitting in XV bar in val just before 2 o’clock. Monday the snow was still falling heavily as we all set off up the olympic lift , the ski down to the folie douce for a chocolate was a bit of an adventure for some but we all made it in one piece , we spent the rest of the day ski-ing the tree line down to La daille as the visibility was just too bad to venture further. Monday night we played apres at Pacific and as it was the Finlays welcome party we did the kilt thing again , it was great to play to a full noisy bar with some pals there and we had a great time. Tuesday morning dawned bright and sunny with lots of fresh snow so as Pam and Ross decided to stay on the blues to get some practice now they could see the snow and Stella went in search of a lesson the rest of us decided to head over to Breviere for a nice lunch , here’s where the one exception to a fantastic week occurred , the lure of the fresh powder under the aguille percee chair was too much for me to resist , unfortunately I had a wee tumble resulting in a torn calf muscle , I managed to ski down to Breviere but after lunch my leg had stiffened up so it was decided that Karl and I would stay there for a beer while the rest skied back to Val and then Ingrid came over in the van to get us. Tuesday night we all went to see Mullit at Foret and then over to our appartment for some champers , then we all trooped (well I limped) down to the Bistro des Cimes for a fantastic meal followed by a beer or 2 in XV. Wednesday everyone else went ski-ing and I went to the medical centre , as thought I have torn my calf muscle so no ski-ing for me for a week (ish) , ah well shit happens eh ? Wednesday night we were invited to Laiglon to share a meal with everyone , and what a fantastic meal it was too , huge thanks to Rachell and Lia and also to our chums for making it happen. Thursday night we played apres to a very full and enthusiastic Foret bar , once again our chums were the loudest cheerers and we had another fantastic night. Friday everyone had a fantastic day of ski-ing and I drove down to La Daille to meet them all for lunch in The Rosie Blanche. In the evening we met in The Grand Marnier and then went on to The Morris to see Mike and Richie , a thoroughly good time was had by all , a great end to a great week. There were a few tears as we saw our chums off to the bus this morning but they all had a great time and hopefully they may manage another visit later in the season , we hope so.
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Jan 2nd 2008
Happy new year , and we had a belter , we played Pacific apres (wearing our kilts of course) and had a good crowd in for Finlays welcome drinks party , it looks like that will be a regular monday thing now so that’s good for us. After we had packed away the gear it was down to 15 for a few beers and then on to 1789 for our special New years dinner , and very nice too , we saw the bells in at the restaurant and there was lots of handshaking and kissing done , these french blokes really like kissing other guys but it’s not so bad after the first few. After our meal we went on to La Foret as Mullit were doing a special gig , not long after we got there they played “500 miles” and as we were still kilted up it seemed appropriate that Ingrid and I joined the boys on stage to sing it with them , that went down very well. We had a great time in foret and even better we were treated to a nice bottle of bubbly by the management , our new years celebrations finished with us hopping accross the road to bed at about 3 , who says we are too old. New years day saw us heading up the hill a little later than usual , at about 12 we donned the kilts again and off we went , we got a few waves and a few funny looks but it was a great sunny day , perfect kilt ski-ing weather. We rounded the day off with a few vin chaud’s in The Grand Marnier and then headed home for a fine meal with our pals from Precision Ski and an early night. Today was back to ski-ing in ski clothes , warmer but not so much fun , we had our first trip to the top of the motte over in tignes , stunning views but noticeably colder , we had an early (ish) finish to avoid the crowds down to la daille and as I type this Ingrid has gone for a swim , we get free entry to the pool and sports centre with our VIP season lift passes so thats a bonus. Only a few days now ‘till the first of you all come out for a holiday , the forecast is for snow soon so hopefully you will all get fresh powder to make your visit even more memorable , we are looking forward to you arriving , seeya soon.
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Dec 22nd
Well, what a week (or 10 days) we’ve had. First up was Andy’s birthday on the 12th. After days of snow and bad weather the Wednesday dawned fine, bright and clear, albeit a bit cold at -17. We had a superb day of skiing, eating, and a bit of gigging, and then more eating, a wee bit of drinking, and actually lasted until 2am which was good for us. We have managed to ski nearly every day since then in what has been the best start to the season in about the last 15 years, or so we’ve heard on Radio Val. The weather has stayed clear although last weekend there were very high winds and the temp at the top in the wind was around the -36 mark. We did go up that day but didn’t last very long. Today is the first day of cloud and it’s trying to snow at the top, with the forecast of more snow over the next couple of days.
Gig-wise we played 4 times this week and potentially 6 gigs lined up for next week. In addition to the Warm Up and the Pacific we are playing in La Foret on Thursday. All of these are 5pm gigs which is a good time to play. The potential 6th gig is a late-nighter at a very posh place called the Members Bar and Club (MBC) next door to Dick’s T Bar. Unfortunately the start time is 11pm so we might have to have a long lie the next day.
I was successful in picking up a Saturday transfer rep job which should start on the 29th, so between all these things I’m not having much time to do massage. But I’m managing to keep my running going at the moment which is great.
The resort has been fairly quiet up until now, but from today it’s going to be jam-packed full of holiday-makers out for Christmas and New Year. We’ve got used to having the slopes almost to ourselves and will take bad with having to queue next week!
Here’s a view from our balcony during the bad weather. Good for watching from inside!
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Dec 11th
Oooops, we’ve been a bit lax in keeping our blog up-to-date, must do better!
So what have we been up to for the last week? Well, we played our first gig in the Pacific on Wednesday night. This went well so we’re now booked there to play Monday’s, Wednesday’s and Friday’s. With Sunday’s in the Warm Up this means playing 4 nights a week, which is a good start.
Thursday we took a trip down to Bourg St Maurice to go shopping at Super U. It was great fun, French supermarkets are ace. It’s a lot cheaper than buying pretty much anything up in Val, so we’ll probably take a trip down every couple of weeks or so. I also met my french friend Melanie and had a french/english lesson which was very brain-draining! The rest of Thursday we spent in practice, as we are still working on a lot of new songs.
The forecast for Friday was for storms and snow. And for once the forecasters were completely right. We did a little bit of skiing but the visibility was very poor. Friday night we treated ourselves to dinner out at Bar Jacques, which was quite wonderful, then took a trip in the blizzard up to the Moris to see Mullit, a local 4-piece band who are very good. Traipsing home at 1am in the now even more arctic conditions was interesting to say the least. I felt compelled to make at least 3 snow angels in the main roundabout in the centre of town! This seemed like a good idea at the time.
Saturday dawned with more snow. After a peek outside we decided a long lie was in order, and didn’t get up until 10am. The clouds then cleared and the sun came out so we both ventured up to see how the snow was. It was a good afternoon but turned very cold and the clouds soon came back in.
Sunday was total whiteout conditions the whole day. I ventured out for a run but half an hour was all I could manage. However, I went home via the patisserie so we had fresh croissants for breakfast. We played at the Warm Up at night to a much bigger crowd than the week before. Oh, after Andy had spent most of the afternoon digging Ruby out of her parking space!
Monday dawned with the same blizzard conditions. There seemed to be no end to the snow, and all-in-all it seems that about a metre of the stuff has fallen. So we went up at La Daille - you didn’t even need to go off-piste to get powder, the groomers had in no way managed to keep up with the snow fall. In places it was waist deep, and if you fell (which of course I did) it took forever to try and dig out of it all and get upright again. We did a few runs then went to the Folie Douce for a hot chocolate and catch-up on the Sunday papers. Very civilized. We played at the Pacific at night, a bigger crowd as the town gets busier, then went home for flaming fajitas of fire made by Andy.
Today I attempted another run and again only managed half an hour. I am limited to the village just now as the avalanche risk is so high no pedestrians are allowed on any of the roads outside town. It again continued to snow all day with the odd clear patch. Conditions up the mountain are superb, and this is the best start to the season the resort has had in many years. We did some ski, then some rehearsal of new songs, and are now ensconced cozily in the Warm Up catching up with internet access. The forecast for tomorrow is blue skies and sun (quite rightly, for Andy’s birthday!) so we will be up and out for the first of the lifts opening.
Au revior the noo!!
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Dec 4th
After arriving last week to green fields and only man-made snow at the bottom of the mountain, we had a complete contrast from Sunday night when we had pretty much 36 hours of continous snow, resulting in about 12 inches delivered to the resort. Unfortunately this was also accompanied by high winds, so at the top a lot was blown away. However, Saturday and Sunday were glorious days with enough snow to ski on, so we took advantage of the opening of the season and the Premier Traces Ski Testing. We both tested a few pairs and had good fun.
On Sunday night we played our first gig - we were also the first live band in Val d’Isere this season - which went down very well, even though there was a distinct lack of audience! This was mainly due to the 6.30pm start. We are playing the rest of December in the Warm Up on Sundays as we passed muster with the manageress. We’ve also secured another venue where we’re going to hopefully be playing a Monday, Wednesday and Friday if all goes well - we’re going to be busy which is good!
I have also made friends with a French girl and we’re going to meet and exchange French/English lessons; I’ve now got crampons for my running shoes, and met a running partner into the bargain; and applied for a job as a Saturday transfer rep - did I say we were going to be busy?!
Ruby’s first outing in the snow wasn’t too successful, her new snow tyres didn’t cope well with the ice on the hill outside our apartment. However, we appear to be living on Slippy Corner, Val d’Isere, as Monday morning we spent at our apartment window watching the chaos outside as car after car got stuck - and because it was so icy people couldn’t even get their footing to push them!
The forecast is for more snow tonight, with sunshine and blue skies tomorrow. Oh dear, looks like we’ll have to go skiing AGAIN !!
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Nov29th
Well, after a very long day on the 27th we finally made it to Val d’Isere. 1,262 miles door to door - phew! The season had got off to a very good start last week, but some warm weather really put a dent in the first snow. The resort is due to officially open on Saturday, 1st December, and it will indeed open but with limited runs available. There is snow forecast for this weekend so let’s hope the forecasters are right. We set up our weather station on the balcony last night, and this morning it read -5 deg. The sun was shining very brightly so I pulled on quite a lot of running clothes and decided to brave it. -5 isn’t that cold surely?! however our balcony must be quite sheltered as the temperature board on the nurserly slope was reading -8. Brrrr, it was chilly! After having some hearty porridge for breakfast we set off down the moutain to go to Moutier to meet with our solicitor and get snow tyres put on Ruby. She performed very well on the journey, so now she should be ready for when the snow comes.
We then spent the rest of the day touting for work and have our first gig organised for Sunday night in the Warm Up Bar, with a possibilty of playing in the Pacific Bar within the next couple of days. So a very auspicious start to our season!!
We don’t have internet access in our apartment but there are now quite a few pubs/cafes in the resort that have WIFI, so at the moment we’re sitting in the Warm Up Bar while the temperature plummets outside
Nov 27th
We’ve made it to france , thanks to tom-tom , overnight in St Omer , long trip to Val tommorrow
Nov 24th:
Two days until the big trip. See you in Val.
Nov 3rd
New video’s added to the website , please check them out |
