The view from............ Val d'Isere and the Espace Killy

A snowHead

@Steve Angus, Chester Zoo are having a virtual Zoo Day tomorrow - may be good for your gang.
Also never considered freezing eggs but apparently (google) you can freeze scrambled eggs & omelettes - today's nugget Smile

A snowHead

@Steve Angus, a masterpiece! Please congratulate the builders!

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Steve thanks for the updates and wishing you and the family all the best.

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Scarlet - quite re the eggs situation. And yes it is annoying the snow as conditions are still great out there - arghhh!
MissElectra - thanks for that tip about Chester Zoo - we have been tuning in much of the day to see the animals - awesome thanks! Kids enjoyed it! Thawed scrambled eggs - no thanks!
Hurtle - ill take most of the thanks thank you!
FrediKanoute - thank you - you too!

Day 11 - entering the bear den

The main story of the day after getting the kids up - well actually they were both up and ready to go in the dining room before me, was shopping! As I mentioned yesterday we are not sure whether we can (allowed) go to Bourg food shopping but more importantly than that I didnt want to go down and wanted to stay closer to home where chances of becoming infected are (hopefully) lower! So for variety and wanting to do a big shop to last us a week and hopefully 2 I went to Cash 2000 the cash and carry in town! It was pretty busy in there but it is a strange shop - the fruit and veg 'room' for example you have to be careful you dont trip over anything as there are crates everywhere. Some things in the shop they only sell in MASSIVE multi buy packs and other things they didnt have in stock so it was always going to be a list and try and get as close to it as possible type day! The other was that the chances of coming into contact with contaminated surfaces and people was going to be much greater (as a family we have basically not been near anyone else now for 10 days or so as not needed to go into shops etc - but today was different! Anyway after getting most of the list and queuing to pay for ages and getting it all in the car I then had to stop at the spar petrol station to pick up a couple extra things they didnt have in Cash - and there it was 1 in 1 out..... that took AGES as there was a bit of a queue -arghhh! Anyway got there in the end! So about half the am was spent queuing and waiting and the rest actually shopping! The job wasnt done as then needed to get it home and clean it - mild detergent in water and some clean water and tea towels and disposing of the external packaging outside the front door was all needed to be done. Finally got it all through the front door and away... lunch was a VERY later affair for me after 1400 in the end!

No rest for the wicked as I had to change clothes and get them on to wash (before I came in the front door it must be said!) and then shower and then finally head out back into town to collect some homework that had been left for Olivia outside school!

By the time I had gotten home and done a live broadcast on Instagram and caught up on the days news etc it was nearly 1700 - phew time to play with the kids for a little while and then get them ready for bed - phew what a tiring day!

As both kids seem a little highly strung at the moment - well Olivia was rather tearful at one point today - I think the repetitive nature of the days at home without seeing her friends was getting to her a little bit (and limited time outside!, Clare had a chilled day with them - split between watching the animals at the zoo (see above) as well as a movie and few other bits of fun (I purchased plenty of treats for the kids at the shop for bribery! Ha ha!). One of the advantages of this set up is that we can take today as a 'weekend' day and tomorrow we can (maybe) treat it as a Friday in terms of school work - she will never know! We shall see!

In local news Radio Val are giving the strongest hint yet that people HAVE now tested +ve here in Val for it but without using those words.... within the confines of the resort I dont know of anyone directly but contact assure me they know of a friend of a friend of a friend - hmmm! Either way its not getting any further away thats for sure!

Eggs wise we have had a good day... both the kids and myself had ham, egg and chips for dinner so that was 6 eggs, Clare also cooked some brownies and made pancakes for breakfast for tomorrow morning so we are now down to 36 eggs! Might have to buy some more soon!

It has now been about 4 days since I saw any idiots on the mountain but I noticed a couple of people skiing down from the folie area this pm - they had obviously been for a tour - what idiots!

Looks like the lockdown has now been extended until the 15th April so thats another 15 days... making it a 30 day lockdown total it will have been! Arghhh - needs must though!

FINALLY I thought since everyone is being inventive of ways to keep everyone occupied, that I would try and do something too... SO with that in mind ill start the game of 'name your favourite run' in the Espace Killy. Ill go for the Plan Millet on the Solaise - long wide, sweeping - little bit for everyone... catch it first thing in the am before it gets busy and watch everyone peel off early doors going down it to head on the up and over and you get the 2nd half of the piste much quieter all to yourself. So there you go guys that is my nomination!

Over to you.

TTFN

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Hi Steve, I read your blog every evening, my thoughts are with you all-hopefully they will ease the restrictions mid April , maybe a late spring ski tour! Favourite slope- millet is a great slope though i prefer the rt hand fork just after the up and over . Mine is foret- a real challenge but love the away from it all feeling (then you realise the telepherique is almost overhead!) Please keep the blog going!

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My favourite run? The D902 to Bourg? No, that's a bit harsh, its just that EK isn't my cup of tea! Really, it would probably be Marmottons after a fresh snowfall.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

@Steve Angus, very impressed with your cautious approach to provisions shopping. I’m in a minority over here I think, strictly limiting number of visits and trying to go only when quietish.

Haven’t gone as far as washing outer packaging and putting clothes straight into washing machine upon return yet. Is everyone there advised to do that, or your own initiative? Sounds good anyway.

Favourite piste in EK is a tough choice. One I keep heading back to and doing repeat runs of is Arcelle. The red off the side of Madeleine, down into Manchet Valley.

Variable steepness and snow texture on different sections. Demands respect but rarely too scary, unless done too early in day, when icy. Usually best between about 11 and 2. Rarely crowded and good fast chair back up.

After all it is free

Been to shops twice since getting back from Val just under 2 weeks ago. Surgical gloves and ski mask yesterday, people kept their distance! Gloves off and thrown away before getting in car! That should last us another ten days or so I reckon. Milk and bread I can get by walking to petrol station / Spar locally. No idea if it makes a difference, but I have loads of them at home so it certainly won't hurt. As I used to wear gloves and masks and clothes specifically for work etc there is little change for me, ( not allowed to work now though).

Favourite piste, Face, cos it's the last one I did and was lovely and quiet. Also Moraine, but we never got up there.

Piste Perdue, part ski run part caving trip Laughing

an unforgettable route. Otherwise Marmottons, a largely rock free off piste route full of gulleys and interest which reminds me of Scottish skiing snowHead

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

Got to be OK/Orange runs. Steep sections, fast blasting bits, always brings a smile to my face no matter the conditions.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

retsil - yes good option that too - I enjoy it. Thanks for tuning in.
jellylegs - fair enough. Its not for everyone! Yes Marmottons - I reckon the hardest piste overall in Val in most conditions but love soft pow bumps any day anytime!
PeakyB - its sort of best advice and recommended now in France. Im especially conscious that IF one of us gets it then we will all come down as we live in such a small area and that will be a nightmare even if it is mild symptoms for us all! So being mega mega cautious! Whenever we go outside we all wear gloves too so that helps! Yes Arcelle would be my other choice but as you say gotta get timings and conditions right otherwise its a nightmare!
endoman - not ALLOWED to work anymore... id have thought looking after dental health is something that can't 'stop' due to coronavirus. Zoo keepers etc are still working surely dentistry profession is still 'vital'? - yes Moraine my other choice but not a mega fan of the Face!
Peter S - yes thats an interesting option!
Purplecat - Yea it has its moments but I'm not a general fan of that part of the resort but the run is quite nice!

Day 12

Im not really sure what happened today but the day seems to have evaporated! I suppose that is a good thing!

The weather was nice today so I was really happy to have a nice relaxed start to the day... a nice family breakfast of pancakes and then there was lots of chores for the kids to do which they actually enjoyed doing so that was a very productive morning! One of the highlights of the day was taking Olivia out in the sun and we 'played' tennis on the hard standing of the heliport - it was 'freedom' for an hour!

Whilst I was up there we saw the PGHM chopper flying about looking for people on the mountain that were breaking the rules and off ski touring etc etc etc... no idea if they caught anyone BUT slightly later in the morning we were on the balcony and saw a police car put its sirens on right by the base of the La Daille gondola as there were a couple of people with skis strapped to their backpacks and it looks like they were going to walk up and (bad timing for them) they got caught and fined!

The magical moment of the day was that all of Clare, Olivia and Ben all went for a sleep for about 2 hours at lunchtime which was bliss for me - I have to admit that I didnt really use the time very well as just veg'ed on the sofa but hey ho better than nothing!

The kids did some work of painting and then they enjoyed my scavenger hunt before we all sat down for a curry together courtesy of Huski - a yummy (my favourite) Chicken Tikka Masala.

And now I am listening in to my wife sitting down and having a 10 way 'zoom' conversation with all her besties - I have not been able to think straight for the last hour - arghhh! It is worse as Olivia has been coming in complaining about the noise from the conversation. This will now mean that Olivia is in a foul mood tomorrow as will not have gotten enough sleep in! Arghhh!

Right think thats all for now!

TTFN

The people being reprimanded and fined by the lifts! (I assume they were fined!)

Oh dear - a friend snapped this photo - someone decided to give the ice driving track a go and got stuck!!!!

snow reports

@Steve Angus,

[quote=
endoman - not ALLOWED to work anymore... id have thought looking after dental health is something that can't 'stop' due to coronavirus. Zoo keepers etc are still working surely dentistry profession is still 'vital'? - yes Moraine my other choice but not a mega fan of the Face!
[/quote]

Yep, not allowed due to the possibility of being superspreaders and aerosol contamination, only face to face contact with patients allowed is in Local Urgent Dental Care Centres ( which as of yet are not operational, I am told due to lack of appropriate PPE) everything else has to be phone advice only. I'm doing a podcast interview about it later with a member of the Canadian Speed Skiing Team.

You know it makes sense.

Late to the party, but my favourite run is Santons....I love the half pipe feel of the run

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

@FrediKanoute,

A snowHead

PeakyB - yea it seems so infectious and knowing some people that have it its a nightmare for many people so being down with it and the likelihood of Clare having it too would be a disaster! The kids on their own watching the iPad all day - arghhhh!
endoman - well I never! Now I know! Im amazed. Well hunker on down then!!!! Arghhh!
FrediKanoute - yes as PeakyB says that is an interesting choice - the actual run itself I dont mind at all and like that 1/2 pipe feel BUT the walk at the end puts me off every time!

Day 13

With the likely reality that we have another month to go in lockdown the weather being a little grey for the most of the day and even remaining / snowing here in town at day end meant it was a 'grey' day! The clocks changing at least meant there was 1 less hour in the day!

Anyway the kids were up and off from the offset and there was loads of chores to get done form changing beds to putting the washing out etc - lots to be done! So that was a good couple of hours used up!

I then took Ben for his walk whilst Clare took Olivia and I decided to go somewhere totally different! So it was out the front door and turn RIGHT down towards the water treatment centre and the central services depot where things like the school meals are all made / where the road clearers are kept / the maintenance trucks are kept etc etc etc. Being lockdown AND a Sunday the place was totally deserted so we had a really nice walk around! Ben just loved getting up and close to the 'diggers'. It was a lovely long walk and hour outdoors! Ben walked the whole way - bravo - tired this evening though!

A nice family lunch and then in the afternoon Olivia started what seemed like a long stream of FaceTime chats with her friends and grandpa - well actually for a 5 year old it is just messing about and running about and screeching etc!!! Anyway kept her occupied one way or another most of the afternoon!

When we chatted with Grandpa we were talking about 'games' and we had a brainwave - download a chess app - so then Olivia and I spent about an hour playing remote chess with grandpa - we won. I loved playing the game with my dad and it was 'our' thing so really hope that I can get Olivia into it and also Ben in due course! Hopefully some more games can happen in the next few days and weeks!

As mentioned earlier on the weather was not that nice much of the day - snowing in town later on lightly too - so it was a cartoon on tv sort of evening and then get the two tired and argumentative kids into bed! It didnt help that Clare is a little depressed that her knee is still sore meaning that she cant go for her runs in the morning etc... I have tried to persuade her to have a FaceTime chat to a physio friend of hers but I dont think they will be able to do much remotely - so all in all she is a little fed up!

Nothing to it other than a stiff drink and bed I say!

TTFN

Darn I just realised I forgot (again) to get the 'view from balcony' pic - ok back on it tomorrow!

A snowHead

@Steve Angus,
Talking about good online games to share with friends around the world-Mr P and I are longtime fans of Word with Friends-It's online scrabble. You can download it for free -as long as you don't mind the ads- or pay for an annual subscription which I think is about £10. It's a game you can pick up and put down at times of your choosing. As well as Mr P playing against each other while in the same room, I play with a mate in Australia, my father in law (aged nearly 89-keeps his mind occupied). It's really quite addictive, very competitive but in a good way I think. There are no debates about whether anything is a word or not as it has its own dictionary. You can play against the computer, or pick a random fellow competitor, or get going with friends who are also signed up.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@Steve Angus, enjoying your updates! I'm late the the "favourite runs" thing too, but probably would go for Plan Milet too, or any combination of those blues under the Glacier chair - just love it up there.

Made the mistake of looking at the snow forecast - looks like a nice top up on Friday before we were due to come out on Saturday 4th - and then a fine week rolling eyes

Stay safe.

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@Steve Angus, as visitors, maybe we tend to take for granted those cinderella services essential to keep the town moving.

In Tignes, on the last PSB, we had one heavy overnight snowfall at the end of the week. An early morning walk to the supermarket for me turned into half an hour watching the assorted heavy plant clearing the roads and open spaces. Sent a few short videos to nieces/nephews of a similar age to your kids. Never fails to fascinate!

As for that sore knee, I’d have thought a remote chat with a physio could be very helpful, as long as the symptoms can be described clearly? Lots of snowHeads post details of their knee injuries on here and many seem to get useful advice; sometimes from professional specialists. Other than that, bag of frozen peas and anti-inflammatories I guess?

Chess can certainly occupy many hours and is OK to leave then pick up the game again when convenient. Also, a few years ago, my son had a Monopoly app on his phone, which we’d play on long rail journeys.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@PeakyB, i am having video sessions with Chelmsford Physio. Pretty effective and all of the medical insurance companies have approved the approach

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Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Perty - thanks for the tip - thats a good idea. Ill add it to the list. Been getting into the chess today with my father in law.
dunc999 - Thanks. Yes agreed I like it up there on Solaise - find it a nice balance between busy and quiet / nice terrain etc. Don't look at the forecast - arghhh!
PeakyB - yes there is lots of things that go on behind the scenes for sure! Monopoly - night one thanks! Yes I have told er about the remote chat option but she is sceptical - ill wait until the moaning increases again then suggest it again! Ha ha!
PeakyB - thanks so much! Will look into.
thelem - ha ha glad you worked it out. Yes the Combe is a good'un too - dont ski it enough tbh!

Day 14

Much to our amazement the kids were still asleep at 0900 this morning - yes I know! So we had a good lie in then even had time to eat breakfast before the kids woke up! Bliss!

Again the kids were on top form doing a million and one errands and chores around the house before Olivia settled down to do her school work... todays exercise was to learn some of the shapes of some of the French 'script' way of writing. So part of it was to use play dough - Ben loved getting involved! Its amazing how long these things actually take! We had some snow on the ground (a tiny little bit) and it was pretty chilly first thing so we ended up waiting a little longer before getting out the house and when Clare and I did it was quite nice - I took Olivia and Ben went with Clare. Olivia wanted to ride her bike so I took her (I was on foot) for a descent ride about and then on the heli pad we had a game of chase (well I think thats what the aim of the game was!).

One of Olivia and Bens favourite thing to do is play 'monster' with me which is basically I pretend to be a monster and chase after them in the house and inevitably they both jump on me and attack me back - they love the game. Its blooming tiring but I enjoy it!

Anyway we enjoyed some pasta for lunch and then there was some watching some animals - we learnt about puppies and dogs for a while and chilled out for a while - not really sure where the afternoon went but it did!

The highlight of the day though was to have a full on family roast dinner complete with crumble (thanks to Hu.Ski) for pudding. Was a really enjoyable meal! Stuffed now though!

Weather wise it should get warmer and sunnier little by little now all the way through until the weekend when it should feel like Spring once again! Yippee!

TTFN

Hmmmmmmmm!!!!

Bit fancy this script in French for my liking!

Listened to David Walliams too - awesome!

Chase is about to begin on a heli pad!

After all it is free

The Muppet household favourite Piste are - Double M, Grand Pre, Pisaillas (anything) Arcelle and Face.
Also we love it when one of our friends forgets something in the morning at the La Daille gondola as we get a few corduroy laps of OK/Orange while they nip back.

Thanks for the view of the council depot. It’s something most of us only see as we come in and out of town.

@muppet, oh yeah Grand Pre - normally lap that a few times 1st thing to warm up, love it too!! In fact I love it all really....and I should be there on Saturday, introducing the family to it for the first time (normally go on mates trips) Sad

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Favorite on-piste run (after a lot of mulling over) would be Aiguille Percee, late season on a sunny day, after the warmth has softened the snow enough to be able to leave deep tracks - timing is all with this, and a season's worth of strengthening up the ski legs needed as the snow is so heavy with melt (the bottom of the ski pant legs can get soaked, too!). Off-piste would be Grapillon (worth that long staircase climb to get over the ridge).

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

Can I put in a vote for piste L? When quiet (and open) it is superb fun.

snow reports

@Captain Primrose, is that the one down to Laisinant? If so I really like that one too.

@PeakyB, yep, it’s like Santons should be!

You know it makes sense.

muppet - yep I agree with those choices! Thats a nice idea for the La Daille laps - good idea! Yes I have never been to that depot before - interesting side to the town for sure!
dunc999 - next time, next time!
Kenzie - very underused and rated run that one - I enjoy it too but dont ski it more than a handful of times a season to count on my hit list unfortunately! Grapillon is awesome - you gotta know how to get there though!
Captain Primrose - like Santons certainly not everyones cuppa tea!

Day 15

The sun was shining but chilly to start and the puddles were frozen but things soon started to warm up. The start of the day was the same yesterday with the kids laying in until 0830... so all very chilled! Clare started Olivia on her school work whilst Ben and I played some games! Luckily it was time to get out for some sunshine and Ben and I had a lovely walk - kicked a football about and went on his scooter! It was a lovely outing. On the way over there a fire engine van thing came past and Ben was waving at them so they put their sirens on for about 5 seconds which he loved! Ha ha!

We enjoyed a nice family lunch together before Ben had his sleep and Olivia had some quiet time before then doing some more school work - some spellings! But when both the kids were up it was action stations as they initially did some painting and crafts as tomorrow being the 1/4 the tradition over here is all about 'fish'! So they painted some paper fish and we made a fish scene in the window!!! Don't ask! With still more energy after that and lots of chats with various members of the family they were keen to bounce about so (and you can see it on my Instagram story for today - its quite a laugh!) we learnt (well had a stab at it - me more than the kids really!) to 'dance' with Oti Mabuse on YouTube (her of Strictly Fame!)... it was a fun and energetic 30 mins or so! And if that wasnt enough they still wanted to play Monster with me afterwards - now that is knackering I can tell you!

In local news there was 2 car crashes over in Tignes yesterday - both in the early hours... both involving drink driving (can you believe it!) and in one case someone had been to a house party - 5 people involved in one car in one of the crashes and 2 people hospitalised! Can you believe it. The silliness of these seasonnaires continued as another Romanian seasonnaire today had to be fetched out of a precarious situation by the PGHM after he went for a walk over in Tignes - what is the matter with these people!

However the stupidness doesn't stop there as a couple of people were arrested for being intoxicated and staggering about in the middle of Val high street in the early hours of Sunday am after a party in the Richards (staff housing) building... it doesn't stop there the stupidity as the Richards building also backs onto the police station!

What is wrong with people!

In egg watch it has been quiet on that front recently - but we have hardly gone through anymore - however I am having some scrambled eggs for breakfast in the morning which will get the numbers down to about 30 - getting there!

TTFN

Very Spring like

That table gets a beating doesnt it - but the results are good!

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

A snowHead

Steve Angus,

We beat our spare eggs and then freeze them - to be used later in omelettes. wink

A snowHead

@Steve Angus, that is a lot of "what is a matter with these people" 's.... but I share the sentiment!

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

muppet - I can imagine. Yes the weather is amazing again thankfully - makes getting out easier and easier to motivate yourself with thankfully! The options are great news - always an option here or there! Its the constant having to think of things to do thats the tricky bit!
Bergmeister - thanks so much! Will bear that in mind!
Layne - yup

Day 16

Well I used up more eggs after a leisurely start to the day again! (30 eggs left!). The kids had a change of breakfast too so we all had a spoiling breakfast! There was plenty of time to make our way through Olivias school work and whilst Clare was doing this I played lego with Ben and we built lots of things! Clare decided that she really needed to totally rest her knee for a whole 24 hours period as she is desperate to get out walking and possibly running again at the earliest opportunity! So I ended up taking the kids (both of them) for a long walk and play outside and as always this was the highlight of the day! We headed over the road and they wanted to have a scavenger hunt - I downloaded loads of questions but when we got over the road I just made it up and instead of the kids bringing the things to me I thought it better for all our fitnesses if we went together to find the things! That worked for 15 mins or so before we got involved in sitting on a skidoo and then a digger later on and ultimately ended up in the main outdoor car park and playing chase which was nice! In the lovely sun it was really nice... felt quite warm too! Yay!

At lunchtime we decided to put a couple of pizzas in the oven (for a change) and then there was the usual calm after lunch when Ben slept and Olivia watched her iPad in French!

When everyone was back up and running again we enjoyed some fun - playing with bubbles on the balcony and then got out some of my shaving foam as the kids loved 'modelling' it and 'painting' with it! It was chaos but fun!

I had a very small scare as I can check my mums live status at the care home - what she is doing, what she ate food wise etc etc etc... anyway there was an alert that she had a temperature! I think it was a spurious result as all her other signs were normal and it was back to normal within an hour or so - so not sure what happened there - phew!

We called my mum later in the evening and she was RIGHT ON FORM - the best she has been for ages which was truly lovely!

Anyway the kids are now in bed so I am once again trying to catch up on the days admin! Arghh!

If what has happened recently was not enough warning to people I saw another 2 people skinning up from here in La Daille today! FFS!

Thought this was apt!

I have it on good source that there were workmen working in these Tuff apartments yesterday!

TTFN

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Steve Angus yours is THE thread I probably go to first on the site most days. Always an interesting read

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@Steve Angus,

You'll need to Register first of course.

@Steve Angus, Have you tried the kids (or just yourself & Clare) with educational/entertaining online quizzes? A couple of egs:- jetpunk.com/quizzes/flags-of-the-world-quiz
sporcle.com/games/knight_of_ni/english-county-flags

There are loads more Geography ones, such as country capitals, US state capitals, blank maps to fill in etc

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Continuing the favourite run theme:

On-piste I always look for the Triffolet to be open. It has a nice combination of terrain, but it seems to be closed a lot of the time, probably due to the slopes above it and then lack of snow later in the season.

Off-piste I would vote for going over the Col Pers with an exit through the gorge. Again a good combination of terrain and surroundings.

Still following your reports to see what it's like in locked down France, since my trip to Val d'Isère fell through as everything closed down. Great to see things from another perspective.

After all it is free

@bolderz Trifollet is a great option for the lower section down to La Daille. My impression is that frequent closure is to save it for local competition races.
No doubt Steve will know.

Specialman - as always thank you! Interesting way of doing it but a sensible choice for a final blast - GM piste is a marmite type piste for most people certainly!
PeakyB - yes just watched that on TV and took part - felt a little weird being the only people on our balcony here in Val in our block but its the sentiment that matters!
Kenzie - yes they are on the list of things to try at some point - there are actually plenty of things to fill the hours but we have tried and continue to try lots of things! Thanks!
bolderz - cheers! Trifollet is never pisted and yes snow 'sticks' late and melts early so its a run thats only really in season for a few weeks of the season Yes the CP and Gorge are one of my favourites too!

Day 17

Well I was the last one out of bed this morning but again the kids were on form and we are training them well... Olivia made all the beds and chose Bens clothes before we knew it. Her school work revolved mainly around colouring in today (gosh being 5 years old is easy!) which she loves doing so that was easy to do! Since Clare was on form today having gotten a good walk in first thing in the am (her knee was better again! Yay) it meant that she took both the kids out for play time!

I used the time to make a few phone calls I needed to make as well as do the laundry and hoovered the house - look at me the house husband - ha ha!

We enjoyed some baked potatoes for lunch (giving the kids a balanced menu is pretty vital - and partly to stave off the boredom!) and the kids also wanted a egg so bang went a couple of more eggs - down to about 25 eggs now.... Clare is also going to make some more cake tomorrow probably so that will be even more eaten!

Talking of food the Trading Post which mainly sells UK expat style food are coming to Val tomorrow and offering free home delivery therefore we have put in an order to top up a few things we are short on - so once again we going to be totally stocked up and we think that next week all we will need to get will be some fresh fruit and veg!

I took the opportunity when the kids were having some downtime and Ben sleeping to go for a long walk myself in the sunshine and it was about the first time in a couple of weeks that I had really been able to get away from it all outside by myself and it was really nice in the sunshine! A lovely sunny day. Much enjoyed!

However when I came back in I was put back to work as the kids were ready to be entertained and before I played yet another game of monster - that game will kill me - ha ha, I taught the kids about the planets. Found a song about the planets on the internet, a little video and then we did some cutting out of the shapes of the planets and Olivia coloured them in and then tomorrow we are going to do some spacing of the planets on a scale using a tape measure! Should be fun... Ben loves a 'tool' and Olivia will be proud to have her planets stuck on the front window! That could kill 5 mins tomorrow - ha ha!

With the kids ready for dinner we had a family meal of fajitas which are one of my favourites and then we got the kids into bed!

Meanwhile in town there have been more people fined for going on the mountain - when will people learn and even today I saw yet MORE people skinning up the mountain - argh! The town council have been disinfecting the high street and things like the public bins and the road sweep has been going around and around... it is all being taken very seriously here thankfully!

Cleaning down the bins in Val!

The view IS changing ever so slightly!

Still looks stunning!

TTFN

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PeakyB - Wrong piste your thinking off - the trifollet is further (skiers left) over... you get to it by crossing the bridge just down from the folie on the green verte!

Help!!

The view from............ Val d'Isere and the Espace Killy

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