Skiing goes down hill

A rather later start to skiing yesterday had its root in an over ambitious wine tasting the night before,  together with similarly enthusiastic skiing in perfect conditions from the ageing parental fraternity, gathered in Meribel for the week.

The night before, discussion has turned to the tragic events in South Africa where the para Olympic champion Oscar Pistorius stands accused of shooting his girlfriend. It was noted amongst our gathering that when the case finally comes to court he won’t have a leg to stand on.

There was a mishap before we went down to the lifts to commence yesterday’s skiing. Mr Clipboard, usually so organised and, of course, an organiser of some repute in his own mind, indeed some might say anally preoccupied with detail, walked down to the departure point but had forgotten something pretty vital for skiing, his skis. His hang-dog expression said it all once he had caught up, but I did suggest I would not mention it in this  column, which as you now know I have because he never reads it, but if  you see him on the slopes today, please keep this minor aberration to yourselves.

For me, skiing is all about building up an appetite for lunch.  Starting  late with aching limbs did nothing to dent that appetite, but the physical rigours of the day had two effects; firstly to delay the start of skiing and secondly to bring forward lunch, which was taken at Roc Des Marches at 2703 metres above sea level atop a fantastic panorama of snowy mountains. Personally, I always find that one bottle is never enough, and so it proved at the 6 of us managed to lay to rest about 6 bottles of wine before the descent.

The route towards Val Thorens

There was a minor altercation after a late toilet stop for my good self on the way back. Thinking that the party had become bored waiting for my ablutions to be completed and had departed,  I skied alone back to the chalet only to receive a call to say that they had stopped for a drink at a bar in the way back.

Last night, too exhausted to venture out, we stayed in and ate a Thai green curry. Some of us enjoyed the cheese course, even to the extent of mistaking the coasters for cheese biscuits. I am sure with some To give you an idea if how well things went, That Nice Lady Decorator was once again dancing on the table well before midnight. It was during the evening that I was told I it looked like I had received a parking ticket but having imbibed freely decided I would wait until this morning to move the car. Big mistake.

Awaking this morning to more blue skies, and having forgotten about the parking ticket, it seemed as everything was perfect. I looked out the window to see what all the activity was about and saw that there was a market being set up across the road. How nice I thought until I realised that our car was no longer parked where it was. Parking is at a bit of a premium in Meribel, but just how much of a premium I will hopefully discover today when I go and reclaim it from the police pound, probably at the expense of a big fine. I am so glad that I used the services if Currencies Direct to move some money to euros ahead of the trip. At least this will enable me to give my aching limbs the morning off from skiing.

Chris France
@Valbonne_News