All was well until mid-morning on Christmas Eve, we had both gone skiing in the beautiful morning sunshine. Instead of stopping for a hot chocolate at 11.30am (which, with hindsight would have been sensible) we carried on down another run. I stupidly lost concentration for a moment and took a tumble, the next thing I knew, my left knee didn't feel like normal and I felt cold and dizzy, apparently I also kept saying I was thirsty and kept eating handfulls of snow.
I saw the Doctor in the village and had an x-ray, the result of which is that I haven't broken anything (hurrah) but I have got a bad knee ligament strain/tear (hurrooo). I now get to wear a very fetching knee brace for at least 10 days and hobble around on crutches. The Doctor says that I will hopefully be able to start skiing again in a month, and he has given me some really, really strong painkillers that also seem to make me feel quite elated, so obviously, the lovely Doctor is now my hero.
So, it isn't ideal, but it could be much, much worse. As long as I can keep taking these lovely painkillers, I can enjoy the sunshine, the great views of the mountains and read some books. Paul is being fantastic, although he balked at my suggestion that I have his bicycle bell to ring for him whenever I needed something.....funny, it seemed like such a reasonable suggestion to me!!!
I hope everyone had a great Christmas and here's to a happy, healthy, New Year.
Monday 26 December 2011
Sunday 18 December 2011
A day of firsts
Apologies for Friday's posting, it wasn't my intention to scare the horses.
So, today started with the first experience of frost in the pipe work, all quite easily sorted out by the fan heater/extension lead system. Running water available by 9am.
Next, it was the first installation of snow chains on the campervan - 25 mins of faffing about, 5 mins driving, then 10 mins getting the stupid things off again because the road was really clear. Did I mention that dismantling them involved lying down in slushy snow?
Got to La Foux eventually and 2 chairlifts were open, lots of stylish Nicoise skiers and boarders enjoying the first day of the season. Sun was out but there was a cheeky little biting wind, blowing in irregular, but powerful gusts. I enjoyed the first run on my factory fresh Dynastar skis.
Then, I caught the chairlift up for another go and about 5 metres from the top it broke down. The 3 people in the chair in front of me got so bored waiting that they all jumped off, it was about a metre and a half for them to drop, but still looked daunting. It would have been a 4 metre drop for me so I waited instead. The ski operator (let's call him Monsieur Roblochon, because he looked like he'd enjoyed plenty over the summer), scratched his head and kicked the equipment a few times, then he paced about in the snow for a while, shouted something at me, huffed and puffed a lot and eventually radioed his mate. Matey (let's call him Superman) arrived on his shiny snowmobile, scaled up the ladder, cranked the pulley wheel round and freed it up, needless to say, Mr R had retreated to his warm shed to enjoy more cheese. So, first ski mini-drama over. It was a bit chilly up there, but I hear that last week, 15 people were stuck in a telecabine in Val d'Isere for 4 hours so I ain't complaining, honest.
I then spent a couple more hours enjoying the sun, avoiding the chilly gusts and practising my turns. Had a hot chocolate and then got all the way home without even having to think about getting the wretched snow chains out again.
All in all, a good first day's skiing.
X
So, today started with the first experience of frost in the pipe work, all quite easily sorted out by the fan heater/extension lead system. Running water available by 9am.
Next, it was the first installation of snow chains on the campervan - 25 mins of faffing about, 5 mins driving, then 10 mins getting the stupid things off again because the road was really clear. Did I mention that dismantling them involved lying down in slushy snow?
Got to La Foux eventually and 2 chairlifts were open, lots of stylish Nicoise skiers and boarders enjoying the first day of the season. Sun was out but there was a cheeky little biting wind, blowing in irregular, but powerful gusts. I enjoyed the first run on my factory fresh Dynastar skis.
Then, I caught the chairlift up for another go and about 5 metres from the top it broke down. The 3 people in the chair in front of me got so bored waiting that they all jumped off, it was about a metre and a half for them to drop, but still looked daunting. It would have been a 4 metre drop for me so I waited instead. The ski operator (let's call him Monsieur Roblochon, because he looked like he'd enjoyed plenty over the summer), scratched his head and kicked the equipment a few times, then he paced about in the snow for a while, shouted something at me, huffed and puffed a lot and eventually radioed his mate. Matey (let's call him Superman) arrived on his shiny snowmobile, scaled up the ladder, cranked the pulley wheel round and freed it up, needless to say, Mr R had retreated to his warm shed to enjoy more cheese. So, first ski mini-drama over. It was a bit chilly up there, but I hear that last week, 15 people were stuck in a telecabine in Val d'Isere for 4 hours so I ain't complaining, honest.
I then spent a couple more hours enjoying the sun, avoiding the chilly gusts and practising my turns. Had a hot chocolate and then got all the way home without even having to think about getting the wretched snow chains out again.
All in all, a good first day's skiing.
X
Friday 16 December 2011
Ode to soup
A nice bowl of soup; a fine meal.
Classless and timeless,
and without borders,
from the finest porcelain or a simple bowl,
from spicy Mexican blackbean to warm Welsh leek and potato,
a mouthful of soup will nourish and soothe,
take the edge off the cold,
pep you up,
warm your hands from a mug.
Flavoured with pepper, salt, rosemary, thyme, mint or parsley,
or even with ginger, paprika, cayenne, harissa (no!), chilli (what?), or garlic ("your father would never like it"),
soup is egalitarian, non-judgemental, non-discriminatory, cross-border, multi-disciplinary, non-injurious - a one stop shop for lunch, dinner, or even breakfast.
The UN should set up a soup corps.
Soup: great, isn't it?
Short version:
I made some soup today; it was quite nice.
Classless and timeless,
and without borders,
from the finest porcelain or a simple bowl,
from spicy Mexican blackbean to warm Welsh leek and potato,
a mouthful of soup will nourish and soothe,
take the edge off the cold,
pep you up,
warm your hands from a mug.
Flavoured with pepper, salt, rosemary, thyme, mint or parsley,
or even with ginger, paprika, cayenne, harissa (no!), chilli (what?), or garlic ("your father would never like it"),
soup is egalitarian, non-judgemental, non-discriminatory, cross-border, multi-disciplinary, non-injurious - a one stop shop for lunch, dinner, or even breakfast.
The UN should set up a soup corps.
Soup: great, isn't it?
Short version:
I made some soup today; it was quite nice.
Wednesday 14 December 2011
Settling in
Finally arrived on 4th Dec to a warm and cosy chalet (very much appreciate H and E's hard work in the Autumn)
Managed to get all the chores in Dignes done and dusted in the first few days, we now have more prepaid SIMs and pasta than you can shake a stick at.
Whilst waiting for the snow to arrive, have managed some stunning walks around Allos, saw 2 chamois and a stoat (wearing a fine ermine winter coat).
There was a snow flurry on Monday that started to look quite promising, and was certainly a flipping nightmare to drive through, but a nice sunny day today has put paid to that for now. It doesn't feel cold enough for snow today, but who knows what difference a couple of days may make up here?
Managed to get all the chores in Dignes done and dusted in the first few days, we now have more prepaid SIMs and pasta than you can shake a stick at.
Whilst waiting for the snow to arrive, have managed some stunning walks around Allos, saw 2 chamois and a stoat (wearing a fine ermine winter coat).
There was a snow flurry on Monday that started to look quite promising, and was certainly a flipping nightmare to drive through, but a nice sunny day today has put paid to that for now. It doesn't feel cold enough for snow today, but who knows what difference a couple of days may make up here?
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