When Daddy Came To Stay...

Since the little people left us we've had more glorious sunshine than you could ever hope for up a mountain in March. Well, more than you could hope for up a mountain in North Wales perhaps but not, it would seem, in the French Alps! The locals are fully prepared with strappy tops and light walking trousers, the skis are left behind and lift passes are purely a 'bus ticket' to the restaurants or their surrounding deck chairs.

Phil and the staff at Les Cimes took advantage of the beautiful weather last week and the fact that our chalet owner is a high mountain guide and took a trip up Mont Blanc. Sadly for me they were doing a rather tricky route, made even more difficult by the fact that there had been no new snow for several weeks and by all accounts it was pretty difficult, hard-packed and icy.

From what I can work out, their morning consisted of a very early start, a couple of big lifts up the mountain, a trecherous trek across a ridge in harnesses and whilst roped together, followed by a lot of slipping, swearing and sliding. Once down at the bottom, some sensible peopple decided to have a long lunch but Phil, Martin and Alex - the chalet owner/guide - went up onto the glacier a couple of times just to make sure they were completely and utterly worn out!

I spent the day with our lovely guests and guided them from Rochebrune to Cote 2000 with lunch at La Radaz (a special day off treat for me) and back again. We had a great day and the snow was excellent. Since then the snow has stayed good but is getting very soft in the afternoons - something I don't mind as I prefer soft snow to ice any day! However, as I write, the snow is falling, the temperature has dropped and we are back in our little snow globe. Daddy, who arrived on Wednesday to 18 degrees of sunshine and not a cloud in the sky, is rather excited!

We had a lovely family at the weekend who were here to celebrate a 60th birthday. I enjoyed their company very much and hada great time decorating the chalet and making a yummy birthday cake!

We currently have just 4 guests who leave tomorrow when 4 more arrive for a very short break and then at the moment we have no more bookings (book now - the snow's good!) and our flights are booked for the 8th April back to sunny England! We do, however, have friends coming for a week and we can't wait to see them, ski with them on the new snow and show them the beautiful town of Megeve.

Beautiful Megeve

Today is one of the most beautiful days I have ever seen. Yesterday the fog was down low, the skiing difficult as visibility was down to 2 metres in places, the snow was occasionally falling and it was cold. We welcomed 2 guests and enjoyed a dinner of 'clean out the freezer' which turned into scallops on pea puree, honey and balsamic glazed duck breasts with mixed vegetables and strawberry and mango Eton Mess!

This morning I enjoyed a sunrise with the mountains turning from black to deepest blue and slowly gaining definition against a dawn sky. The sun then starts its path down the mountain, highlighting just the tips first before steadily making its way down the sides to wake the village. The sky is now bright blue with the odd wispy cloud and a few vapour trails from the local little planes. We've also seen the early morning balloons making their way through the valley and what views they must be seeing!

Phil had to take the car to the airport this morning to help with a mammoth transfer. I am stuck in waiting for 5 guests to arrive but have been outside to defrost the van and take the guests we already have to the slopes. They are a lovely older couple from Australia and one has never skiied before! I've had to lend them our ski trousers and gloves as they had no stuff and then take them to the ski shop, book a lesson, get lift passes, equip them with maps... I've also cleaned the chalet, made dessert, done afternoon tea and now I'm watching the Australian Open and Andy Murray trying to make his way against Federer.

We have a rather complicated few days with people arriving and leaving at various times and then on Wednesday we get 8 men with a 9th arriving on Friday! I think after that we're back to corporate but I'm not sure - they like to keep us on our toes!!

This week we've got the horses in town for some polo matches which I can't wait to see. Last week was the dog sled racing but I was rather disappointed to find that in actual fact most of the dogs looked like random strays and there were very few husky dogs around. We also didn't get to see any proper racing as they did a 'Megeve challenge' in the evening before moving on over night.

Our guests last week had a lot of fun on the fabulous snow and one pair even decided to try and ski back to the chalet on their first day out! They were in the right area from what we could make out on the telephone, but walked the wrong way (away from the chalet) before coming back, finding the horse field and eventually the chalet! not happy that he'd provided his wife with a suitable story of adventure for the week, the next day, our gentleman in question, took his wife off-piste through some trees, one of which she became rather entangled with by all accounts! So on sunday we skiied with the pair of them and had a fabulous time on piste whizzing around Jailet.

We're having a staff ski afternoon on Friday followed by Adam cooking some ribs I think was mentioned. I'm looking forward to it and we should have some amazing snow and new powder as the forecast says it's 'dumping' on Thursday night! 

A Great Week for Skiing!

So the snow has arrived in Megeve and we've been very spoilt with the slopes to ourselves for three days. Unfortunately today the excellent weather forecast and fabulous snow conditions meant that the Genevoise arrived in their dozens making the pistes a little busier and also inducing a little piste-rage at moments! There's nothing like skiing carefully down a green path, watching out for kids and beginners, and then nearly being run off the edge by a crazy nut shooting straight down taking no prisoners! I won't tell you the words that involuntarily flew from my mouth! It was worth it for the view though.

Earlier in the week Phil did some guiding whist I took Charlie shopping and then on Tuesday we both did some guiding. We were guiding our 4 guests plus two more from the hotel and somewhere along the way I had 4 with me and had lost Phil and the other 2 in the off piste somewhere! We waited for ages, decided to move on and if all else failed we'd meet up at coffee. We had some fabulous skiing and stopped for coffee at Chalet Bachais in Jaillet. Two of ours decided not to stop and then we lost them! 

We've also managed a little ski with Charlie the chef, Natasha and Toria and I have to say that I wish when I learnt to ski I'd been as good as Natasha is after only a month of trying out this crazy sport!

We enjoyed a ski today from Rochebrune to Cote 2000. We haven't been able to ski this bit until now because it's been icy and hard packed snow. We had a fabulous time playing on some long runs under the Petite Fontaine lift before heading up the steepest drag lift ever - 50% to be exact! But I still managed to take a picture of it! 

We had a lovely time until we met the crazy French and Swiss teenagers and young adults bombing it down to the air bag and ski park! I've had fun trying out some new skis although I think they'll be even better when there's new snow. Still, it gives Fred a chance to wax my other ones and sharpen the edges (when they're not eating all the cake we take them)!

We've got another busy week coming up with shopping, guiding, and a family of 5 arriving on Wednesday. But I'm sure there'll be plenty of skiing fitted in as there's also the promise of more snow on it's way...

How to Scare a Frenchman!

Yesterday afternoon the snow started to fall and I think it probably kept going most of the night. It was certainly enough for the lady next door to be snow-blowing our drive before 8.30 this morning. I don't mind the noise because it can only mean one thing: fresh snow! It also encourages Phil out of bed and into action!

Sadly it was still snowing and the cloud was right down in the valley so we had breakfast and made the beds upstairs for the guests arriving tomorrow. We then skiied to the bus stop, missed a bus by two seconds - the driver refused to stop even though we waved at him like crazy yetis - and we had to wait 20 minutes for the next one. We filled the time with a quick game of snowballs and were soon on our way to Mont d'Arbois.

We decided to stay low whilst the cloud was down and stumbled our way around the pistes down to the Mont Joux lift. We bumped into Martin, the ski guide from the hotel, who was enjoying the snow but probably not at the speeds that he's used to! There was also a mention of Mont Joly (a huge off-piste area for crazy nuts) tomorrow when he was free of guests! 

We dropped off the back of Mont Joux and headed for the Clementines blue run down towards Saint Nicolas de Veroce. After a rather steep drag lift we arrived at the top and carried on down. I'm not sure what piste we were on as it all seemed like off-piste to me as the snow was way above my knees!! We arrived down into Saint Nicolas via the Chattrix run and took the lift of the same name back up. The cloud had cleared out and we had some lovely views over the valley.

Phil had trumped me today by changing his skis to some fat all-terrain wide jobs ready to float through the powder. We had fun under the Croix du Christ lift (well he did, I sweated it out with the effort of keeping my sinking skis afloat!) and once back at the top decided it was time for lunch. As Phil missed out on Le Boitet the other day I decided we'd pop over there. I led the way and without too many diversions (I overshot one lift and had to get a drag lift back up) we were soon enjoying duck liver salad and local hams by the fire.

Phil hadn't had enough powder yet so we skiied down a bit further and went to play under the Monts Rosset and Princesse lifts. I did the obligatory recording of Mr Professional and after my fabulous attempt

it wasn't long before I was back into 'Kate style' and stacked it in a big heap right under the chairlift where everyone could see!!

The cloud was starting to come back down again so we headed back down the hills where I duly landed in a heap somewhere on a green run before we crossed the farmer's field back to the chalet. 

Now, onto the question of how to scare a Frenchman: Ski all day, jump in the hot tub (minus the swimsuit you left at home), wait for the French chalet owner to come and clear snow from his solar panel above the hot tub, et voila!! Thanks to Phil's hasty turning on of the most powerful bubbles, Alex's eyes and my dignity still remain intact - I think! However, the poor gentleman feeding his chickens at the bottom of the garden, who happens to be Alex's dad, may well have got more than a view of the mountains as he locked his chickens up for the night!!

Corporate Skiing and Alain Prost!

What a few days we have had! On Thursday evening 5 gentlemen arrived to Chalet Megeve, closely followed by another in a beast of a car - I'm led to believe it was a long-base Landy - for some skiing courtesy of PVM Oil Associates. A lasagne, salad and chocolate brownie went down well before a trip into Megeve to explore the bars. Phil and I were invited but declined the offer as we were 'preparing' ourselves for the next day when we would be guiding these lovely gents around the mountains.

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...

Chalet Girl Swear Word Number 1: Changeover Day

The two words 'changeover day' are the two words most chalet staff dread to hear. Most of the time we just pretend it's not going to happen, bury our heads in the snow, carry on skiing and avoid mentioning it until the last possible moment! Phil and I are no exception and it certainly was a hectic day, but with understanding guests and a bit of organisation, we made it through!

We started off by doing breakfast for our departing guests - who had promised to be out of their rooms by 10 - at 1015! We finished this about 1045 and by 1100 some packing was done and I could start in the first room. At 1130 Phil took the guests into town, via the ski shop to return skis, and then returned to find the new guests just arriving! I'd finished one room and started the second, so after a cup of tea they were able to change and head off to the ski shop with Phil and then ski for the afternoon. Phil came back again (I'd done the thrid room) and loaded up the departing guests luggage and the linen and took it to the 'mother' chalet. On his return I'd finished the fourth room and decided that once he'd hoovered his way upstairs we'd have some lunch (a quick sandwich and some chocolate and pear cake from yesterday). I've been given a new gadget for the shower doors, mirrors and windows. You spray the glass with cleaner, give it a quick rub with the soft cloth and then use the battery powered gadget to vacuum away all the dirt, water, soap...It apparently leaves it streak free but I still had to clean the bits around the handles and the bits it missed!

We then did a joint effort on the living area: Phil made a fire, I dusted, Phil wiped all the chairs, I hoovered, Phil mopped the floor, I laid afternoon tea - lactose free lemon and raspberry cake (yes we have one those weeks) that I made this morning during the slowest breakfast ever and I then I decided to have a shower and read a magazine. 

Phil collected the new guests from the slopes at 4.30 and made sure they were ok. Afternoon tea was enjoyed and swiftly followed by a hot tub experience! Luckily for them ours is lovely and hot unlike the one above we found on the slopes yesterday! Champagne and canapes (endive tips with Roquefort, walnut and honey as well as mini amoked salmon toasts) were served at 7.30 and dinner just before 8. 

Tonight we enjoyed Wild Boar Terrine with fig chutmey, Poached Salmon with Lemon and Pea Risotto and a Coconut Panna Cotta with red berries. 

I've discovered that soya milk does not like to be set with gelatine, it just splits and curdles, but almond milk makes a delicious chilled rice pudding.

I've made my menu for the week and can't wait for Christmas day. We even have presents under the tree now and lots of Christmas music and movies on the oh-so-cool Apple TV! 

As you can see from the above picture, I've now met Mont Blanc (that's him just to the right of the tree, I think)! As each area opens in resort Phil and I go up there, ski around and then find our way back. It's been good fun so far and I've now skiied some nice red runs (something I wasn't overly keen on 3 years ago) and have even been down my first black run of the season! I was rather put off doing it again though as on our return up the slope on the chairlift we saw a young man about to be given a lift in the sledge with a leg injury! I can't tell you the words I actually heard to clarify that his leg was the problem!

So for tonight we've left the new lovely guests relaxing and dozing by the fire, digesting dinner and planning tomorrow's adventures on the slopes of Megeve.