On Thursday the weather was perfect for being on the slopes! But we really had to go shopping. Well, the main reason for the trip was to fill up on gas and we really wanted to go before the weekend to avoid any traffic issues.
To Cluses for LPG, shopping and driving practice
February 23rd, 2009 by lucyI had a bad day
February 20th, 2009 by lucySometimes I wonder how we manage to function from one day to the next. When we woke up today and (eventually) got ready to go snowboarding first Simon tried to open the front passenger door where he’d sat to put his boots on, but couldn’t. So I tried to open the side, sliding door to rescue him…and couldn’t!! We really were snowed in. I managed to push hard enough to make a gap to squeeze through, then got the shovel and started digging Simon out. The snow plough had been to clear the car park in the early morning and they had just shovelled big piles of snow all around the vans and cars that were parked up, building a wall around us.
This is cold!
February 19th, 2009 by lucy
It’s definitely much colder and snowier here than last year. I looked through our 2008 photos and only once did we get so much snow at 1000 metres where we park. When we woke up 2 days ago and checked the temperature inside the campervan it was -6°!! If someone had told me that number before we came I’m not sure if the prospect would have been so attractive but still, we’re doing fine and keeping warm enough.
Finally escaped the car park to stock up
February 19th, 2009 by lucyIt’s a very good job we made it to the supermarket on Monday because the snow dumped down again all day on Tuesday. The forecast said about 5cm over the course of Tuesday day and night, yet it didn’t stop from the time we woke until we slept and I reckon we had well over a foot. It was quite amusing watching people returning to their parked cars in the afternoon after skiing and having to dig them out and work out how to put their snow chains on.
Everything can change so quickly
February 14th, 2009 by lucyWe had expected to spend most of our time at Les Prodains car park by the gondola up to Avoriaz. We knew it was secluded enough there to use the generator and on our favourite ‘home’ run we can board right down to the car park within about 20 metres of the van. However, there’s no chance we could get internet there – even the phone signal is poor, and with the snowy state of the roads we haven’t even dared drive up there for a day’s boarding.
Wi-fi, electricity, heat, snow and soup
February 11th, 2009 by lucy
We finally made it onto the slopes today. And it turned out better than I had dared hope. It turns out that snowboarding IS a bit like riding a bicycle and somehow I haven’t forgotten how to do it. We had a beautiful day for it - after loads of snow last night the sky was blue with a few fluffy clouds.
Pictures on the way…
February 10th, 2009 by lucyHello! It’s nice to see everyone’s having a look. We’re working on the pictures. Having Vista trouble as usual (my laptop has this new Microsoft operating system where nothing works like it used to).
Almost snowed in already in St. Jean d’Aulps
February 9th, 2009 by lucyIt has been a busy couple of days so I’ll try to be brief!
We spent Friday night at a motorhome ‘aire de service’ in Poligny. This is a service area where motorhomes can get water and dump waste - a municipal site outside a campsite in this instance, but they can be council-run or private. You can stay here for 24 hours so, although there were no other vans and the campsite was closed, we knew we were somewhere that we could park officially which gives peace of mind.
To France through the Channel Tunnel
February 6th, 2009 by lucyFinally we made it! We opted for a crossing on the Channel Tunnel as the price of the LDLines ferry shot up for a Thursday crossing. The Tunnel is very flexible with crossing times and will move you to an earlier or later crossing on the day, usually with no charge, which is great for two people who are pathologically late! The timetable is still reduced after last February’s fire, so there’s a crossing every ninety minutes but that will increase soon to every 30 minutes.
Too much snow!
February 3rd, 2009 by lucyA progress update…
We stayed in the UK while Simon finished the launch of a website project which, I’m happy to report, is up-and-running. There’s still plenty of work to do when we get to France, but the time for leaving is almost upon us!
But now it’s snowing in Britain. The heaviest snow the country has seen for 18 years! Common sense says that you don’t travel unless you absolutely have to, but does that apply to us when we’re driving to the snow anyway?!
