On Friday morning one more gentleman arrived and after a late night and a large donation to Megeve Casino, bacon and eggs were a very welcome start to the day. We visited Fred in his ski shop for skis and I took one gentleman into town for Telemark skis before making our way up the Mont d'Arbois telecabine. Keen to get going, we skiied at least three runs before a coffee stop was requested so we made our way via a green run (no one fancied the black?!) to our new find - Little Freddy's - for hot chocolate, coke, rum, coffee, and more hot chocolate!
Lunch was booked over at the Alpette restaurant so we made our way back down to the Rocharbois to get across the valley. We arrived at the Alpette and as I took my skis off, a gentleman came and took them for me, stood them up against the racks and attached my poles to them too! A whole new type of valet for me! The Alpette has a reputation for being the best mountain restaurant in Megeve and I would agree with that completely. The service was great, the food fabulous (especially the dessert buffet), the staff completely unflappable and the company wasn't too bad either!
We managed to enjoy lunch outside in the sunshine with a great view of some very interesting cloud formations gathering round Mont Blanc (which I now know exactly which one it is) and Alain Prost, Formula 1 driver extraordinaire!
Once Phil had finished the dessert buffet and several bottles of wine had been consumed, it was time to head down the mountain before the lifts closed for the day. After hot tubs and showers and a couple of beers with afternoon tea (and maybe a sneaky nap), we found ourselves on our way to the Beef Lodge - a lovely hotel and restaurant in the heart of town. Two more guys joined us and after a couple of pink mojitos, we sat down for dinner at 1015!
Our starters were all really good, especially my prawns wrapped in a basil leaf and filo pastry, but the main courses were a bit of a let-down as quite a few were not cooked the way they were ordered and sauces were mixed up. The accompaniment of potato puree was tasty but a few vegetables would have been gratefully received! We beat a hasty retreat as the clock crept up to the early hours of Saturday morning and somehow ended up in the Casino hoping to claim back the 'donation' from the night before!
Needless to say, the Casino came off better than the players and we left with our tails between our legs!
On Saturday it was left to me and Phil to decide a ski plan and lunch stop so we took our enthusiastic bunch over to Jaillet. It was a beautiful day and some hot air balloons were making the most of the gentle breeze to cruise the valley.
I used my best French and booked the 'P'tite Ravine' for lunch - a tiny chalet with simple, good food and great views of Mont Blanc. We skiied well on good snow, enjoyed delicious hot chocolates, did some mud sliding on the barer patches and water skiing on the more melted sections before coming to rest at our lunch stop. Somehow we got to 4pm again and, once back in the chalet, it was my turn to do dinner. Thankfully I had thought ahead and cooked the lamb shanks on Wednesday so all I had to do was make the lemon tart.
This morning I had to guide our guests by myself as Phil was not feeling too good (there's a nasty virus going round). I think the guests were a little nervous as I had previously shown very little knowledge of knowing where I am at any given time on the mountain, including pointing out Mont Blanc from places where it's not even visible! However, I am now in possession of a very useful panoramic postcard view of the local mountains, and can tell you the names of 4 different mountains! We did not get lost and I did not loose or break anyone, I found our lunch stop (one I've previously never been to) and everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves!
Over the past two days Phil and I have been treated almost as if we were one of the group. We've been very lucky to experience some famous restaurants, meet some great people and have been made to feel like we weren't really working at all! Thank you PVM, and we're looking forward to welcoming the next groups in February.
Just now I'm off to bed before I go shopping tomorrow with Charlie, who very kindly invited me for breakfast at the hotel before we go. I'm currently undecided as to whether poached eggs and bacon will win over 20 minutes extra sleep...
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