We Continue

Hi everybody, and welcome back to another post from your favourite blogging Méribel ski instructor. The last few weeks have flown by, mainly because the resort has been very busy. The four weeks of the French holidays have passed safely, and there has been a lot of smiley people up the mountain. This is great to see after the nonsense of the last two years. The snow conditions remain pretty good, even though it hasn't snowed properly for three weeks. Oh, and the Alpine Ski Racing World Cup Finals are just about to start here in Méribel and Courchevel, ahead of next year's World Championships.

A slight change of subject for this week's post, away from skiing for the moment. For over twenty years I've driven past Chambéry, about an hour's drive from Méribel. On the way to various airports, to and from the UK both in the summer and the winter, I had never stopped at this town. To be honest, that's not quite accurate, I did spend ten days in Chambéry's Hospital a few years ago after having had a stroke or two. But let's not dwell on that. Many people had told me how beautiful the old part of the town was, and for years I needed an excuse to take a look.

Well, blow me down, I've now had the opportunity to walk around this wonderful place four times in the last twelve months (thanks to the process of applying for French residency). And I thought that I'd share some photos with you that I took recently. My wife Harriet had a late afternoon flight booked at Chambéry airport, so I suggested that we left Méribel early (due to the French holiday traffic), and have lunch there before heading onwards again. We agreed to this, and in fact made it in time for a late morning coffee as well. After the coffee we went for a gentle stroll.

Perhaps walking around in an environment of what is 'normal life' for most people, ie a Saturday morning trip into town for some shopping and lunch, isn't unusual. But for me, someone who lives and works in a ski resort up in the high mountains, it was a nice change of scene. And I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed the break from resort.

I could bang on about the history of the town, however you can always take a look at wikipedia's Chambéry page if you fancy. Needless to say, it is a typical pretty old French town, with lots of character and lovely architecture.

Back to skiing again. A couple of weeks ago, the ESF ski school had several evening events up the mountain after work. A couple of enjoyable torchlight descents marking the 30 year anniversary of the Albertville Winter Olympics. These are always fun, and you can catch up with images of these events on my Social Media links. Another event, was to try and organise a group photo of some of the ski school's instructors. This depended on weather of course, and we eventually settled on an evening.

After teaching, we had to catch the last Rhodos lift up to the Altiport. Some of us grabbed a cheeky beer at the Rhodos mountain restaurant, who had stayed open for us a little longer than usual. Then we jumped on the Loze chairlift up to the Col de la Loze just before 6pm.

As ever it's always a privilege being up the mountain this late in the day, just as the sun was setting. And of course spending some time with colleagues away from the busy work environment.

The official photographer, and also a drone operator, had to work quickly as the sun was setting. And I particularly felt sorry for them trying to work swiftly with such a large group. In a way it was nice to be on the other side of the camera, compared to my wedding photography work in the summer. And within moments, the sun had set. Some of us paused to soak up the mountain scene, before skiing back down to Méribel at dusk.

Needless to say, the season rushes onwards towards spring. The clocks will change soon, with the days getting longer. Factor 50 is the suncream of choice now. And Easter will soon be here. Do come back again soon, I'll try to post a little more frequently again. Live With Passion. Martin.

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