We had a lovely Christmas Day with our fabulous guests from down under. We were treated to a leisurely start with time to open presents, chat with family in various places of the world and a breakfast of brioche eggs benedict. Sadly it was raining but the guests were determined to get a ski in and by midday were ready for the slopes. The garden surrounding the chalet was looking very green and the promise of snow just seemed to be getting further and further away...
Our fabulous boss at Ski Royale invited us down into town for a Christmas Day beverage, so at 2pm, after I'd peeled a few potatoes, watched Carols from Kings on our amazing Apple TV and dodgy free British tv link from an iPhone App and made a very traditional Pecan Pie for Cristmas dinner, we ventured out into the wet. I enjoyed a demi-peche (half a lager with peach syrup in it) and a diet coke, we played a couple of games on a lotto ticket but didn't win anything :-( nothing to do with my dodgy choice of numbers!
We arrived back at the chalet loaded up with crackers, party poppers, Christmas Puddings, and even table cloths! The guests were also back and were enjoying a roaring fire!! The turkey made a quick entry into the oven with some salt and pepper and a clementine quickly placed inside (I'm not sure hwat this actually does but I've heard it's good for it!). Whilst the teenagers enjoyed testing out their Christmas presents, the adults enjoyed some champagne in the hot tub (with specially arranged fire works) and I enjoyed a Skype with Spiderman and Rapunzel!
By 7pm dinner was well on it's way to being an ample feast for 20 (there were 7 of us!) and a well-earned glass of champagne and a couple of rounds of a dodgy Christmas game later it was time to gather round the table. After a quick starter of scallops on a pea puree the main event was up: Roast turkey (including fights over the legs), very crispy roast potatoes, honey and mustard glazed carrots and parsnips, sprouts with chestnuts, pigs in blankets, homemade cranberry sauce, turkey gravy and of course a delicious apricot and pecan stuffing.
We enjoyed a couple of games around the table. I think Phil and I managed to make ourselves very unpopular with our game as it took the parents most of Christmas Dinner to figure it out much to the amusement of the teenagers! After a delicious dessert - voted for by the younger residents - a hasty retreat to the fire was beat and so ended our fabulous Christmas Day in Megeve.
Boxing Day arrived and with it, hallelujah, came the snow - rather a lot of it! I woke up about 8.30 (it's my day off!) and had a peak outside and might have mumbled the words 'it's snowed' to my snoring husband. Of course he didn't believe me and carried on snoring so 15 minutes later I tried again: 'It really has snowed'. This acheived the desired effect and within seconds he was out of bed, giving me all the covers, and on his way for breakfast! 20 minutes later and I was skiing down the road to the lift station with Phil walking behind insisting on boarding for the day.
We've had a fab day, tried a new ski area (Jaillet) that was much quieter than Mont d'Arbois, won a battle with the French ski school kids as I managed to get a seat on the bus, enjoyed lunch at a tiny chalet restaurant called la Petit Ravine, skiied some amazing 'closed' runs through soft powder, Phil got stuck in a hole but we made it back all in one piece. So I'll leave you now whilst I just pop upstairs to enjoy the hot tub whilst the guests are out at dinner before round two of the delicious Christmas Dinner! A bientot!
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