21st February 2008 Flu and Lunch

This morning we said goodbye to Shauna and Simon, who returned home from Bourg train station.

Tim is with us until Saturday, however, he could not face the train journey home (his outbound trip was awful), so he decided to book himself a flight instead!!

We all decided to take the day off as Fiona and John are still feeling tired and Tim's cold had kept him up during the night.

We went to the Nordic Centre at Nacroix for a long walk with Heather, where we saw our friendly Chamoix's (See Pics).

We then drove to St Foy for a spot of lunch (see pics)

and then home for a chill out and Fiona's extra special chicken Thai curry.

20th February 2008 - Flu and Ski

Today Fiona and John took the day off skiing, mainly due to Fiona's flu having come back with with a vengance. So, Fiona spent most of the day in bed and John spent most of the day cleaning the apartment and looking after Fiona.

Tim, Simon and Shauna were dropped off at the Arcs Faniculare at 9 AM and spent the day crusing the slopes of Arc 1600, 1800, 1950, 2000 and anywhere else that took their fancy.

They had a great lunch at a favourite restaurant where we had all celebrated James's 18th birthday 3 years ago. (See pictures)

Later in the evening, we had a Shauna special spaghetti bolognese with champagne etc and then watched a DVD, most of which Shauna slept through!!

19th February 2008

Today we travelled to Les Coches at the base of La Plagne. The snow was OK in places and it was another sunny blue sky day.

The resort was very busy, with lots of children. We managed to avoid most of the lift queues. We found some lovely red runs and a half pipe which were great fun.

John managed to take out a small child who was skiing without looking where he was going. Luckily both parties were OK, with the blame going to the child!!!!

Tim, Simon and Shauna, were dropped off at the local bar whilst John & Fiona went home to walk Heather. Fiona did not feel so good, so John went down to pick the others up and then went to the local super market to buy dinner.

18th February 2008

Today we went to La Rosiere and La Thuile. Fiona was still feeling grim, so we went to the pharmacy to get some potions.

La Thuile was uninteresting skiing, apart from the black runs. Fiona and I went back early for Heather, leaving the others to ski down to the base lift in La Rosiere.

Fiona and I picked them up and we all had drinks at the base bar, watching the sun go down.

We all went home for a Fiona Carbonara special. We watched a terrible film called the party and then dawn of the Dead, which was also pretty bad.

17th February 2008 - Les Arcs Fun

Today was another great weather day, with blue sky and sun. We all blasted Les Arcs to bitys, covering the entire mountain from left to right.

Poor Fiona was unable to join us due to her having a really awful cold. We missed her on our skiing trips.

Fiona felt better later in teh day so we went to Arc 1600 for a pizza. The restaurant was empty but the pizza was fantasic.

A great day, we hope Fiona will be better soon.

15th & 16th February 2008

Friday was a non ski day, as we fancied a day off and had some chores to do. We went to the Nordic centre for a nice walk in the sun. John is still feeling a bit below par but is improving every day.

Saturday was not such a good day as Fiona has gone down with a flu type cold (same as John). John went to Chambery airport to pick up Simon, who arrived early in the morning. His flight was slightly late, so John drove our of Chambery airport reaching a beautiful lake where he found a hotel and had a coffee.

The journey back was not too bad for a busy Saturday. Tim had arrived on time via the snow train. He was not that impressed with the train as he had only got 2 hours sleep and also has a fluey cold!!

Heather had a bath in readiness for new visitors.

Tim, Simon and John went for a ski in Les Arcs whilst Fiona stayed at home with Heather to try and nurse her cold.

Shauna arrived last via a cab from Chambery airport. again her journey was good for a busy Saturday.

Heather was very pleased to see all her old pals.

We got everyone's ski's sorted out and had a great lasagne that Fifi had made. Very nice!!

We also recieved an email from John and Maureen who are on the QE2 doing the final world tour. They have sent emails to Pat & Ad but have not had a response. We told them that they are fine.

14th February 2008 - Love In Le Rosiere!

Happy valentines to all. After a romantic breakfast in town and a walk with Heather in the local park, we drove over to La Rosiere where we found a new parking area lower down the valley with a link lift and lift pass office, fantastic.

The snow in La Rosiere and La Thuile was very good, the very cold weather is allowing the quality of the snow to remain good.

The back side of La Rosiere was very good. we skied some red runs to the left of La Thuile although they were more like blue runs.

We took a lovely run all the way from the middle St Bernard lift all the way down to La Thuile centre, passing a lovely restaurant.

There is still good snow around and with little to nothing forecast for the next week, that's not a bad thing.

Last nights curry evening with Adam, his family and the boys from the other apartment went well. A quiet evening tonight.

13th February 2008 - Arcs still has good snow to offer

Today we took Heather up to the Nordic Ski Area in the National Park. IT was another sunny cold start, but we soon warmed up. On the way round our walk we were passed by some husky sledges. We have also found a nice restaurant (Only open during the day).

After a few chores, we headed for Les Arcs for an afternoon ski. It was a tad warmer than yesterday with no wind.

We stayed over the Arc 2000 side of the resort, taking the chair lifts up to the top and then to the peek at the Aguile Rouge. We took a series of runs all the way down to one of the lowest points called Villaroger almost without stopping. This means taking a black, red and finally a short blue. Fantastic!!

Then back to 2000 and up and over into Arc 1600 for a wee drinkie. Then back up and down to the Fenicular.

We are off for a curry tonight with our neighbours, but not until 8.30!! Talk about buring the candle at both ends.

12th February 2008 - La Plagne With Sugar

Today we drove to Les Coches and skied La Plagne. The weather was very cold but sunny. The sun seemed weak today and for the first time my toes were cold for most of the day.

We travelled up to the top (Roch de Mio) and the snow was not good. Most of the pistes were icy.

We came back over to the main centre and then went over to Chambery. The snow over there was better, but mnay pistes are suddenly a mixture of ice and sugar.

I (John) felt a bit naff come late evening, due to my lovely flu bug. Still, it's not as bad as it was.

Praying for snow, but currently it's sun all the way.

11th February 2008 - Recovery on the cards?

I (John) had a pretty awful night last night with a bit if a temperature. I felt better by mid morning.

Fiona took Heather for a long walk to the Bourg park and back in the morning.

After coffee and a food shop, we went back to the National Park for another long walk.

On these walks we have seen many Chamoix. We got talking to a local man who had a view finder. Great viewing!!

The snow is still OK, but with nothing for over a week and nothing in the forecast, we are getting worried. We really could do with another dump of the white stuff in the next few weeks.

Heather has decided that not all French dogs are bad and has made a good friend of a god who lives over the way from us.

10th February 2008 - And then there were three

Today we said goodbye to Russ and Lynne. We went for coffee and pastries at our usual cafe. Russ got chatting to the owner of the Boulangerie.

Russ and Lynne headed off to Grenoble at just after 11AM for their flight home.

We then decided to visit the National Park which lies in the valley between Les Arcs and La Plagne. What a beautiful place this is. You can Langlauf, walk, sleigh ride etc. in this valley. We decided to walk.

During the walk we saw Chamoix high up on the mountains

We also passed a group taking a sleigh ride through the park.

Heather loves this place and had a good run as always.

Unfortunately, l began to feel a but tired half way round. By the time we reached home l had the flu!!!

We have just been invited to Adams apartment this Wednesday for a curry.

9th February 2008 - My god, she's got it!

Today was an early start as we headed back to Bourg St Maurice for a days ski at Les Arcs.

Lynne felt better this morning although she still had a sore stomach.

We were up on the slopes by 11:00, and we (Russ, Fifi and myself) went off to Arcs 2000, 1950 and the higher parts of the resort.

Lynn had a lesson with Guy (local French instructor she met earlier in the week). Lynne really enjoyed her lesson and skied from Arcs 2000 back down to 1600. We think she may have caught the ski bug!!

We had a wee apres drinkie in 1600 and then took the mono rail back down to Bourg. We will eat in tonight.

8th February 2008 - Some Ski Some Don't

Lynne had a bad stomach today and spent most of the day in bed. Heather was there to help and give medical advise, but Lynne felt poorly for most of the day.

The rest of us went over to the third valley in the area called Les Menuires and Val Thorens. The skiing was not as good as we expected and the lifts were slow and busy. We did not like this area as much as Meribel and would not rush back.


We eventually travelled back to Meribel where the skiing was lovely. we travelled back down and met Lynne and Heather. Lynne was still feeling a bit off colour.


Fiona and I took Heather for a walk in the local park, which is pitched on the side of a hill over looking the river.



We went to a small restaurant for pizza but the food was awful. Far too rushed and not really cooked enough. We retired to bed early

7th February 2008 - Brides Les Bains - Nice Place!

Today we went to a resort at the base of the three valleys ski area called Brides Les Bains. The resort is in the valley but a long bubble lift takes you up into Meribel via Les Allues and Le Raffort. The lift takes 30 minutes from the BLB but is far quicker than driving.

The resort is a spa town and was busier than we expected with quite a few brits. The resort has some good bars and restaurants and we stayed in a dumpy two star because we couldn't get into the nice five star we wanted to visit.

We arrived by 9.30 am, and then went up to Meribel. We had forgotten how great this resort is and we (Fifi, Russ & Me) took a trip over to Courcheval for some slopes and a bite of lunch.

Lynne stayed down with Heather for the morning and then came up at 2PM to meet Russ who then took Lynne for a ski. Lynne found the busy resort a bit off putting which was a shame.

After going back to BLB, we went for a drinkie at the five star we could get into and then for a fondu in the hotel Le Hermittage, which was very good.

6th February 2008 - More Snow!!

Snow is falling again this morning, which was not really expected. It is quite heavy, so we are all going down to town for breakfast and then to the park for a walk in the snow.

Lynn has a lesson at 12:30 in arc 1600 when the weather is expected to clear.

5 hrs later - Well, the snow did not clear and skiing in Les Arcs was most unpleasant, with thick cloud and driving snow. after just over an hour, we gave up. Lynne, on the other hand, had a very good 2nd lesson and has just booked up a two hour slot for this Saturday.

After Lynne's lesson, we went for a drink and a couple of Pizza's at Arc1600, then drove down. It is now almost 4.30PM and the sun is breaking through and the moutain tops coming into view.

Tomorrow, we are off to the three valley's area, staying at a town called Brides Les Bains. This town is a spa town, so Lynne is going to chill out for a couple of days. The resort also has a long bubble lift up to the centre of Meribel.

We will not have the lap top for a few days so the next blog will be on Saturday. The weather is set to be clear until Sunday.

Bye for now.

5th February 2008 - Powder In Les Arcs

Today was wonderful with blue sky and cold air. We went up to Arc 1600 where we left Lynne who had a lesson at 12:30. We travelled over to Valandry and back to 1600 in three hours in lovely powder and beautiful pistes.

Once back at 1600, Russ & Lynne had a spot of lunch and Fifi and I went back up into the powder.

We finished the day off in the pub at 1950 and then back home for fromage, jambon, sausage and bread whilst watching the DVD Troy, which was very long.

4th Feb 2008

Lynne and Russ arrived on time and sat down to a hice Salmon and Prawn pasta salad, only to find that Russ had forgotten to tell us that Lynne can't eat prawns!!

It snowed all day today, so we did not ski but went to Ske Set, the sort their stuff out, then onto Arc 1600 to book Lynne's ski lesson and then onto Val for a spot of shopping.

The snow was still falling in the evening when we went for a meal at L'arssiban, in town. It was the best meal out to date and we will be going back!!

3rd February 2008 - we Love La Plagne

Today was a great day for a day on the slopes. It was also the coldest day so far and the busiest, although still plently of slopes far all. Here is a photo of Fiona shutting out the cold..

We started out from Les Coches, which is just 5 minutes further up the mountain from Montchivan but misses out the icy runs back to the car. LC is quite a nice place and we will probably go back when we next ski La Plagne.

Having scooted up to La Plagne we skied for almost 5 hours non stop, as we take our lunch with us and eat it on the lifts, although we did stop for coffee's and here are some photo's of where we stopped (it was also very cold) ...

We tackled one of the hardest black runs in the area, called La Coq. It has a large notice at the top saying "Expert Skiers Only". It was quite tricky at the beginning, with a narrow approach full of large icy moguls. Once past this section, we came to the steep piste which was covered in deep snow. We got down without any problems, although it felt very lonely, as nobody else was skiing this at all.

We were going to go to La Rosiere, but noticed that clouds were rolling in early on. From La Plagne you could see the clouds creeping over the mountain tops, but they stayed away from our area...

The dog who bit Heather (Fiona has named him Slicket), has come a cropper and is now limping around with a sore front leg. We are not happy about the situation but Heather is very pleased!!

Adam (the chap who ownes our apartment and who is currenty out here in his apartment) has some guests staying. They have too small boys who have fallen in love with Heather. The youngest wants to keep her..

Russ & Lynne are heading out to stay with us today for one week. They have phoned from the airport and have just started their car journey. Tomorrow is set to be another snowy day, so we will chill out and probably hit the slopes Tuesday. We also plan to see the band (who live downstairs and call themselves The Mountee) on Tuesday as they are playing at Tignes La Lac at the Crowded House bar.

2nd February 2008 - What World Cup Race??

Today started off with heavy snow. We decided to stick to plan A and drive to Val d'Isere for the mens downhill (world cup).

The drive was tricky with many cars struggling in the heavy snow and snow bound roads. Our snow tyres were fantastic and took us all the way up to Val. We passed cars etc. that had stopped to put their snow chains on (what a bore).

We wondered why it was reasonably quiet when we arrived, although we had to park at the La Daille car park (the furthest away from town) as the others were full.

We took the bus to the other side of town and walked up to the world cup area. A big sign flashed at us from half way up the run saying RACE CANCELLED!!!

Wonderful. So, we headed for a cafe and consouled ourselves with a coffee. This was the best view we got of Val all morning!

The snow continued to fall and the local ESF said that the race would not happen at all today. We walked back to the car (the length of the resort) and began our slow journey back to Bourg.

We had hoped the traffic would not be too bad but we were wrong. It took almost 1.5 hours to get down, mainly due to a coach driver who decided to park his coach on the road in the small town of St Foy!!

We went shopping and then came back to the pad. we plan to go for a swim this afternoon as the clouds are still very solid on the mountain with light snow down here.

Tomorrow should be a good ski day.

1st February 2008 - A quiet day in France

Hi All,

Its been a quiet day in the Godley chalet - we didn't ski today as snow was promised but didn't arrive - in fact in the afternoon the sun came out - they are still saying we will get moderate snow tonight so we are crossing our fingers this happens. Heather got her stiches taken out today - not an event she really enjoyed but its all over now so hopefully no more incidents.

The mens down hill competition is taking place in Val D'Isere tomorrow morning so we are going to go along and see it - we went to today to see the practice day and its just amazing how few turns they do when comming down the mountain - the main run at the end of the race is the black run called the FACE - for us we'd probably turn at least 10-20 times to get to the bottom as it is so steep - they have 2 turns and they are down - these guys must really be crazy anyway we are looking forward to seeing the race tomorrow - hopefully we will have some pictures to show on the blog.

A big happy birthday to Sue B who lives in our Village hope you had a great day

31st January 2008 - Happy Birthday Fiona

Well it's a massive happy birthday to Fiona who is 21 today. The day started out a bit foggy but eventually the sun came out.

Many many thanks for all the cards and emails and phone calls we had today wishing birthday girl the very best. Also thanks to all of you who read the blog and send us emails. It's touching that so many keep in touch. It's good to have all our friends and family keep in touch.

So, we went to our favorite cafe for breakfast and walked H in the local park.

Adam and family (the guy who we rent this place from) arrived late yesterday so we had a good chat today. He is here for three weeks.

This afternoon we went to La Plagne as planned. We went as far right and down as we could go, ending up in Champagny. Wow, do they need some snow down there. We took the red down to the resort and nearly came a cropper. The run should have been shut. In the resort itself, the runs are brown and out of use. Some of the nice reds into the mid station are also full of brown patches. The snow gods have gone to sleep!!

The heavy snow forecast from Friday night has been down graded to moderate. So 20 cm's goes down to 8!! This has happened every time so far this season. There is still OK snow higher up, but the slopes are getting hard and icy.

We skied into Monchavin today to pick up the car and it was sheer ice. We need more snow soon and lots of it!! We have noticed that the web sites give the impression that things are not so bad, but that is not exactly true. I don't know if they do this on purpose, but their reporting always errs on the positive side.

We stopped for a coffee and sun bathe on the way down. Some one's got to do it!!

Tonight we are having a birthday chicken Thai curry and it smells terrific. Here we are 5 minutges ago after some bubbly and looking forward to our curry. Adam just popped in as we are trying to get him hooked up to the internet!! Nice Guy!!

Tommorrow Heather gets her stiches out and it's supposed to snow. Fingers crossed for a big dump of the white stuff!!

30th January 2008 - Boring Day In Chambery

Today we had to take the Volvo into the garage in Chambery because the passenger side doors can suddenly stop working so that you can not open them up, unlock them or open the windows. This is a known problem (wish they had told us before we left the UK!).

The job took almost five hours! So, we walked all the way into the centre of the town (over an hour and in the rain), had some lunch and them walked back. At least we found a supermakrket selling Thai food stuffs. We eventually got home for 6PM - What a bore.

We didn't like Chambery very much. The weather did not help, but the place was very dirty with tramps etc. in the main centre. Much of the area felt very run down, especially the part we had to walk through. Heather was equally unimpressed with the place. No sausages or liver anywhere. The place was not a touch on Bourg (see Bourg below).



Our pastry shop ,favoured Cafe and the main street

Tomorrow is Fifi's birthday (21 again), so we plan to ski the afternoon in La Plagne as the weather is the morning is looking foggy. A Thai curry is on the cards with some bubbly. We have also been to the local pastry shop and purchased some birthday treats.

Heavy snow if on the cards for late Friday into Saturday. Let's hope they are correct!!

29th January 2008 - St Foy To Yourself

OK. Here is the deal. You pay 19 Euro's each and get a whole resort to yourself. OK, it's only got 15 runs, but they are all great, with hard off piste blacks, steep reds and smile inducing blues. And they are all empty (well almost). If you like the sound of this, then St Foy is your kind of resort. Three great mountains bars/restaurants offering local food and plenty of drinkies just top the place off.



At the top of the resort, you have breath taking views of Mount Blanc, Val'd'Isere/Tignes and La Rosiere. There are also some magnificent glaciers to be seen. A real top of the world experience. This resort is only 20 minutes away from Val d'Isere but is a complete contrast in every way. Sure, you will have exhausted the runs within a couple of hours, but when you have them almost to yourself, it's worth it.

Fiona was very pleased with the new pair of Nordica ski's that we purchased this morning!! After much deliberation these 160's hit the spot. Fiona is now like a speeding bullet!!

Heather is now almost fully recovered, the stitches come out at the end of the week. Here she is trying to look innocent!!

The sunsets here are beautiful, so here are a few shots for you to enjoy. As with all the images on our blob, simply click the image to see it full size.

28th January 2008 - Another Sunny Day - Snow please!!

This morning we said goodbye to Jenny & Simon. Simon's knee is much better and both are still thinking of going skiing again in the future.

Fiona is still not happy with her K2 Ski's, so we have taken a pair out from SkiSet for a free days trial. They are longer and heavier than her usual skies. We will do a half day in Les Arcs today and see what she thinks.

The weather is wall to wall sunshine this morning. We really could do with some more snow but there is not a lot in the forecast. Yesterday it was looking like we might get a big dump on Saturday but that has now been dramatically revised down. There is plenty of good snow from mid resort up, but a good snow fall would be nice.

6 hrs later - well the ski's were too heavy, so they have gone back. we are going to look around some shops tomorrow.

The snow at the top was OK, but some of the mid to lower slopes are very hard now and need some new snow. We hit the main black down from the Grand Col whch was very steep and with large moguls. The snow was lovely here. We then had a relaxing coffee at the top. The sun was very string and warm, probably too warm for this time of year.

We both felt quite weak today as we had a stomach bug last night which kept me (John) awake for most of the night. We feel better now and hope that a good nights sleep will make all the difference.

27th January 2008 - Relax in St Foy & Val d'Isere

Today is quite cloudy, with flat light, so we decided to take a day off skiing and to relax. we visited a small resort between Bourg and Val d'Isere called St Foy. This resort only has 4 lifts and approx. 20 runs but it is quite a size and beautifully designed and crafted.

All the accommodation is very pleasing to the eye and the restaurant we had coffee at was great (See above picture). We looked around the resort and picked up some information. The lift passes are nice a cheap, so Fi and L will pop back when we fancy some relaxing, easy skiing.

Val d'Isere was quite cold and cloudy. They could do with some more snow in the resort as much of what is left is very brown and dirty. We found a quaint tea/pastry house and had a light lunch (well Fiona and I had a light lunch whilst Jenny & Simon got stuck into some very nice cakes).

We are eating in tonight, Fiona is making a beef steak strogonoff with rice. Jenny and Simon will be leaving us tomorrow, taking the train to Grenoble centre and then a taxi to the airport.

If the cloud goes away, we plan to ski La Plagne. Fingers Crossed!!

26th January 2008 - Les Arc's Fun

Today was yet another fab day in Les Arcs.

Jenny & Simon both took lessons and we skied over to Acr 2000, 1950 and back down to 1600. There are some very nice runs just above 1600 which we had not skied. Simon's knee held up well and Jenny enjoyed her 2 hr lesson even though she had painful shins.

We then met Si & Jen for a spot of lunch. Fifi and i shared an amazing Pizza and Si & Jen shared a plate of local cheeses which was easily enough for 3 people. We have always thought that Arc 1600 is an ugly place, and certainly it lacks the visual charm of 1650, but it has some great walkways and is a massive sun trap. If our lunch is anything to go by, it also has some great restaurants.

We are beginning to notice a few bare patches on the slopes in the morning ans certainly the pistes have become a little hard in places. They were making snow this morning in Arc 1600. There is limited snow forecaste for next week, but we could do with a sizable dump of the white stuff soon. The picture below is from our lounge and shows how different the vista is from just a week ago.