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

A snowHead

@Steve Angus, mmm...that’s the one I was thinking of. Furthest left, looking down mountain, and ends up through tree lined section down to valley at La Daille. A few snow cannons on the lower section? Must admit I thought it got pisted. Hope to take a close look next December snowHead

A snowHead

PeakyB - theres the Raye piste that has ski races on it - quite and obvious piste to ski down! Used a lot for racing! Then the Trifollet but dont think any snow making on it at all but yes steep at the end and trees around it! No pisting on it no!

Day 18

Well today was another sunny day but the kids were awake somewhat earlier than the last few days - doh! Anyway it was a good start to the day and Olivia had some nice easy school work to do so she got on with that nicely! I then discovered some old binoculars and as you can see the kids decided that doing bird watching would be a good way to spend 30 mins on the balcony looking at .... well not much at all really but it kept them happy!

I headed out with Ben for a walk and he took the bins with him to look for ducks but either way we had a lovely walk about.

Suddenly it was lunchtime (how did that happen) and the kids were sleeping and having down time so I took the opportunity to make a few phone calls - my mum banged herself in the care home this morning so was speaking to the care home manager about that. She also informed me that they have made the decision across the whole care home group of about 15 homes to lock down in their own rooms each resident to make sure that if someone gets the virus it doesn't spread / too quickly! This was a relief to me! Anyway mum is a little bruised but OK!

The afternoon was actually spent on the balcony a lot as it was warm enough to play with the mini paddling pool there - yay! We also got a delivery from the Trading Post of the goodies we ordered! We watched a couple of more science video things which was cool too and Olivia and Clare made cookies.

I seem to be totally shattered tonight therefore can't think what else to write - sorry!

Sure will perk up tomorrow but gonna get an early night.

TTFN

P.S. That second photo down shows the machine they use attached to the back of the piste basher to carve out the lines in the snow on the cross country track to allow the skiers to follow those groove things! Ha ha!

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

Track layer.
Weather looks good. Looks to be warming up over here too. 16c in North Yorkshire. 19c in London. Cool

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@Steve Angus, thanks, I’m getting mixed up between Trifollet and Raye probably.

@Peter S, yes a warm spring weekend here with repeated messages for everyone that can to stay home.

Cool weather recently has meant daffodils put on a long show this spring. They’ll fade soon and make way for lots of other flowers.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Peter S - is that what its called - thanks! Yes was sun bathing weather here today!
PeakyB - yes i think you are! Nice flowers - dont get em in these parts - haha!

Day 19

Is it really that long... well looks like on Tuesday we'll be about half way there as almost certainly another 3 weeks after that through to the end of the month before we might be semi (whatever that will look like!) released!

Talking of which despite it being the start of the Easter hols for the Paris region (which is pretty much ground zero for the issues in France now!) and heavy police presence trying to keep everyone wherever they are in France in position there are a fair few Parisians that have come to the mountains yesterday and today. Lets hope that it does not spike the problems here now! Doh! Fair few Parisian car plates spotted here recently - how they have gotten here with all the checks I dont know!

Anyway today I was once again the last out of bed! Doh! So it was a nice easy start to the day and then the kids were both keen to earn some chores money so they spent ages helping Clare change the beds, do the laundry and lots of other things - brilliant! The kids and I had some fun with marbles and making out of lots of odds and ends like loo roll holders a massive series of tubes and shapes to roll the marbles through! There was also some bird feeders made - a pine cone rolled in honey with oats stuck on to the honey and then hung up - brilliant idea!

Talking of food lots more eggs have been used up one way or another and we are now (SHOCK HORROR!) down to our last 12! We are off shopping on Friday so only 5 full days to make those 12 last!

The weather was absolutely glorious today - sunbathing weather almost it was that warm! Either way with Ben sleeping at lunchtime we all took the time to sit on the balcony and either snooze or read a book - it was mighty pleasant that is for sure! And there was a long family walk - we decided for the first time since this whole thing started that we could all go out together - just this once and today was it Normally we try and get space and go one adult and one child but technically a family unit can go out together so thats what we did! It was lovely! We spent ages throwing stones in the river and trying to skim stones etc! Lots of fun! That was followed up by a yummy family meal - hu.ski came to the rescue and an amazing sticky toffee pudding to finish - yummy!

The first casualty of the Summer here in Val happened today - unfortunately the inauguration of the new France to Italy walking trail and the run / endurance walk has been cancelled in early July - doh! I am sure others might follow soon!

Think that is all for now!

TTFN

Shock horror there was a vapour trail in the sky - not seen one of em for a while here!

Look at that gorgeous sky!

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Parisians! Gah! What on earth can they be thinking?

Thanks for keeping the blog going @Steve Angus, hope you snd the family can stay safe despite the idiots.

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

@Steve Angus, surprised Parisians or others able to get into the mountains. Can’t be that difficult to monitor the few roads up the valley and toll booths must have CCTV, number plate recognition, etc. What the hell are they thinking they can do once in Val D, Tignes? Puzzled

After all it is free

Daffodils just coming out in north Yorkshire and today is the first sunny day for a while. Are there daffodils in Val D’isere Steve, perhaps in June? snowHead

My daffs have been and gone - in NYorks. At altitude too...........

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moosepig - I know its annoying! But yea thanks ill keep it going. Family are safe.
PeakyB - well exactly I dont understand either. There is ONLY ONE road (at this time of the year) that EVERYONE (trains aren't running and theres no walking path either) has to drive along between Aigueblanche and Moutiers so a road block there and problem solved for EVERYWHERE this side of Moutiers - annoying doesn't cover it!
Peter SWow that early - well something to look at eh! Nah we dont get Daffs here - other nice flowers but no daffs (I dont think anyway!)

Day 20

I had a relatively early night last night and it was gone 0800 before I woke up... the kids were just rising too. So we had a chilled family breakfast and then we let the kids let of some steam and build a den and basically trash the house - occasionally some unstructured play time is good eh!

There was some great fun playing some games with the kids before I took Ben out for a walk and run about - he wanted to take his balance bike but I ended up basically carrying it around for an hour - ha ha! We played some chase in the car park which he always enjoys before we had lunch altogether!

With Ben sleeping Olivia called some of her friends which she really enjoyed. I think she is getting a little sad not being able to see her friends so seeing them on the iPad cheered them up! I took some time for myself and say on the balcony by myself in the sun for about 30 mins which was amazing as it was so hot. Whilst I was sitting there I watched about 3 groups (couples or 3's) skinning up from La Daille - where are the gendarmes eh!) and then a couple of dog walkers / hill walkers hiking up... its really annoying as Radio Val - not sure how they know this, but they reckon a total of about 50 extra people from Paris are in town as of today - how come they werent stopped before getting here I dont know!

In fact later on in the afternoon I went for a walk by myself (the kids and Clare were enjoying some play time on the balcony in the sun and could not be bothered to get dressed up) and the path up to town was HEAVING with people - it was busier than I have even seen it in season even! Arghhh! Admittedly it was so warm that everyone was probably trying to get their pm hit of sun at the peak of the temps but stilll!

I then was ic the family bbq. Whilst it was just sausages I did on the BBQ I also did one of my favourite 'smoking' (we have a gas BBQ by the way dont worry !) cider and bacon flavoured beans. An hour of smoking and the sausages and beans went down a treat with some wedges - yum!

The day was finished with a family film and then the kids had an early night!

On the eggs front we are down to 9 as Clare made a cake today... we might even need buy some more soon!

Think thats all for now folks.

TTFN

P.S. Sorry the updates are not that exciting but there isnt that much you can write really when its deja vu each day!

Canneloni (sp?) beans and kidney beans, mustard, cider vinegar, sugar, tommy k, bacon all in there - yummy!

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

@Steve Angus, I guess it is up to a responsible member of the public to inform the police if they see someone skinning up the mountain.

snow reports

A "responsible member of the public", or so he or she thought he was, called the police to report someone drinking beer in our local pub garden. It was the landlord.

@Steve Angus, which peak is your first pic from yesterday looking at please?

As for Parisians arriving last weekend, perhaps authorities turn a blind eye to the wealthy and influential?

Then again, if the Chief Medical Officer for Scotland decides to ignore her own advice, by twice visiting her second home during lockdown, nothing surprises me.

You know it makes sense.

Simply Val d'Isere reported about 50 people turned up for the easter holidays, unbelievable!

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

@Steve Angus, I expect those Parisians are the ones who arrive in the winter without winter tyres or chains. They were always the ones who used to block the roads and hills in Les Gets on Saturday afternoons.

A snowHead

@Steve Angus, I expect those Parisians are the ones who arrive in the winter without winter tyres or chains. They were always the ones who used to block the roads and hills in Les Gets on Saturday afternoons.

A snowHead

Daily walk!

Pretty!

Is it changing much? - maybe ill do a Day 1 v Day x comparison

Kenzie - indeed - have seen plenty of people skinning and hiking up etc. But what do you say "someone walking up" - the police then have to wait for x amount of time at a certain point to catch them when they come out OR call in air supper - difficult to police. However I have seen when the police have passed by on the road and someone in the wrong place that they have stopped and had words!
Jehu - doh!
PeakyB - think you mean the Roc de Toviere - the big rock band / mountain you pass under when you come into Val! Yes possibly re Parisians!
kitenski - yea it was Radio Val that had said it initially but 50 is the supposed number - who knows it felt busier last couple of days thats for sure!
Pamski - couldnt possibly comment on a true statement like that!

Day 21

Well its deja vu again today... kids up and about before me and I followed them out. Ha ha!

We are a well oiled machine now as before we knew it Olivia had made all the beds and was dressed. Ben and I did some chores and fun things about the house whilst Olivia started her school work. She did her work brilliantly which meant we could get out and about quickly!

So Olivia and I headed to the 'snow slide' behind the Cret Parking... its somewhere that Olivia and Clare had discovered a couple of days ago! Its a huge pile of snow and she spent ages walking up and sliding back down - hope that tired her out sufficiently!

A yummy lunch and then Ben slept and like yesterday it was so hot so we spent some time on the balcony reading books etc. When the kids were both awake again I had found a fun activity to do which involved making a paper caterpillar and using straws you blow them around the table - it kept the kids totally occupied for ages and turned into a blowing battle on the kitchen table - brilliant! After that Ben helped Clare do some cooking whilst Olivia and I made snowmen out of strips of paper! And this was all mixed in with a cool online lesson about the planets and the solar system - thanks to CBeebies for that!

I gave the kids bath time and have just gotten them into bed - yay!

One of the big things to happen today was that after a fall at her care home over the weekend the head of nursing at the home got my mothers GP to assess her and given what is happening at the moment this was done by Skype with the registered nurse at the care home doing the work and giving feedback... cutting a long story short the GP thinks mum might have fractured her hip! And further more with my blessing given the current state of things think it best for mum to stay at the care home. She will be put on strong pain killers and since they are all being kept in their rooms in the care home for precaution at the moment anyway she will be bed bound more or less! Even IF she went to hospital then she wouldnt necessarily be able to have a general given her age etc to fix it and if she was in hospital sure as hell she would get IT!!!! Not good.... and then the care home are saying that they would not want her back in the care home if she had left to go to hospital anyway. So mum is OK and on painkillers but when this has all blown over hopefully they can have a closer look at her and I was adamant that I didnt want her to go to hospital which was the thought process of the GP and care home too. Fingers crossed it all works out OK!

Anyway folks I have quite a lot to do this evening so had better get on.

TTFN

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

@Steve Angus, it is a very difficult time with relatives in care homes and think you and the home have made the right decision to keep everyone isolated as difficult as it seems.
Chris’s Grandmother is in a care home right next to our house and we cant even visit via the driveway and window, we’ve just got to hope we can get to visit in person soon.

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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

best wishes to your Mum.

Strange question, are you seeing anything "different" to the snowpack vs previous years without the grooming/skier traffic??

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muppet - thanks! Yes indeed lets hope this is all over soon. Fingers crossed!
kitenski - thanks! No not seeing anything different from where I'm stood - difficult to know really but it looks a normal amount of melting going on currently!

Day 22

Well as we enter the 4th week of lockdown it is getting a little tiring - just the repetitive nature of it all but still we had a productive day non the less! Again the kids were up early and on form which always starts the day nicely! When Olivia started her school work Ben and I spent a while on the balcony looking at the world going by which was lovely - hot cuppa tea and a lovely view! With the sun shining it was set to be another lovely day and once again I saw several people going 'walkabout' on the mountain when they are not supposed to - arghhh!

Mid morning I took Ben out for his exercise and we headed over the road to the Bellevarde and other big blocks over there and for once I let Ben lead where we went... he decided that he wanted to go for a long walkabout in the underground passageways that connect all the buildings over there together. Well to say we walked, and walked and walked would be an understatement ! I think he enjoyed counting all the hundreds and hundreds of stairs up and down in the maze - we loved it! Lots of good exercise but after doing the walk around for a long while we headed out into the sun to enjoy it... pity not too!

Lunch was pasta and then sleeps for both the kids which gave us a nice break!

When Olivia was awake she finished her school work off whilst Ben and I played a game. There was a little sunbathing and then the kids made a den on the balcony which kept them entertained for a while! However this week one of the themes in the house is 'space' so we watched another CBeebies thing on space travel which they loved and then the kids and I drew some scale drawings of where the planets would be in the solar system and then moved onto the main event which is starting to build our own 'space rockets' - more on that tomorrow - if we get around to it tomorrow - we have all the time in the world!

The usual activities for the evening including a phone call to my mum (she is in good spirits) and then kids bath time! Clare has taken an early night and I will not be far behind! The government here in France also announced that Macron will be speaking to the nation this Thursday evening - we think he will be announcing a continuation of the lock down until the beginning of May - arghhh - that will have been 6 weeks by then!

TTFN

The outdoor pool over the road is starting to be seen again after the Winter!

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

@Steve Angus, good news about your Mum. Shout out to all Carers too.

As ‘Space’ is a theme for you this week, did you get to see the April pink super moon last night? If not, some excellent images online.

After all it is free

BBC News this morning said France has now banned ALL outside exercise...is that really the case??

rungsp,

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/world-europe-52202700

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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

Day 23

FINALLY SOME GOOD NEWS - but more on that in a moment!

PeakyB - yes quite - thanks! Yes we watched some BBC Newsround footage on it today - awesome to see!
rungsp / Bergmeister / muppet - yes just Paris between 1000 and 1900 - and yes today the interim mayor (the new mayor didnt get sworn in due to the CV outbreak!) announced that face masks are now needed for all and sundry when outside! I can assure you when I'm in the middle of absolute nowhere ill be pulling mine down as it is HOT HOT HOT out there at the moment! But yes face buffs to the rescue! Arghh! Cant imagine the kids will be best pleased having that over their faces in this weather ffs!

So it was the same start to the day but today Ben and I did some letters work whilst Clare and Olivia did some school work and he engaged pretty well. Bravo! The weather was beautiful again so it meant that getting out was a pleasure! However it was obvious that Olivia was beyond tired as she dragged her heals somewhat! I think its the later night and Ben is waking her up in the am and she really needs her sleep!

Luckily lunch was a popular feast all round and then all three of the family (me excluded) went for a sleep so I had a whole hour to myself in the middle of the day! Winning! I actually put my feet up and watched the latest in a program I have been watching on tv and dozing as the sunlight came through the window - bliss!

We did some more work on 'space' and todays video clip was all about what its like actually being in space - tomorrow it will be 'life on Mars' apparently! So as part of our space theme we actually built out own paper rockets and the kids loved firing these - tomorrow I have a variation of rockets to build utilising a Berocca but to be honest the days seem to be whizzing past pretty quickly at the moment!

After that we sat out on the balcony and the kids played a little in the glorious sun - it would have been wonderful sunbathing weather but of course the kids need a lot of attention! Lots of painting was done and doodles and Ben once again enjoyed looking through the binoculars for about an hour - looking at absolutely nothing at all! Ha ha!

It was so nice that the kids were able to actually have their dinner on the balcony which is quite amazing for early April! But it was glorious and since the kids had helped make home made flap jacks we all tucked into them too! Yum!

With the economic fallout from this Corona Virus the town and town inhabitants are obviously keen to try and make ends meet wherever possible and try and progress so the local police yesterday had to shut down a building site that had gotten going again in town. Im not sure whether building is technically allowed or not under the CV lockdown rules BUT I know that outdoor building is prohibited in Val each Winter (and of course the rules haven't been repealed!) until the lifts stop running! Of course with this rule still in place the police had not choice but to shut them down which was unfortunate!

OK THE GOOD NEWS... I got an email through today from the MCC (Lords Cricket people for those not in the know!) to say my associate membership offer was finally available! It has been about 5 years of waiting but this is awesome news that I will finally be an associate member of the MCC - very excited! Yay! Must get form filing now!

Ha Ha!

TTFN

The snow is receeding

snow reports

@Steve Angus, oh well, I suppose if the kids can decorate their face masks it might make it a bit more acceptable?

Wow...associate membership of MCC! One step closer to the Long Room and rubbing shoulders with the likes of Tim Rice, Mick Jagger and...errr...John Major. Very welcome good news.

BTW, I finally got round to reading Best of Views from the Boundary, compiled by Peter Baxter, recently. What an entertaining and absorbing book.

Get the kids to roam around Mars on Google streetview, uses the curiosity images and is mind blowing https://www.google.com/maps/space/mars

You know it makes sense.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52206832

Strange, that hotels in the area are still "technically open"

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

I saw a report somewhere that something like 17%? Of the population of paris had managed to escape

A snowHead

[b]@Steve Angus[b/] out of interest, what is the population of the resort now?
I'm assuming even though there's a lockdown, it's a bit of a ghost town with no tourists and (probably) most fo the resort staff gone. Or have resort staff/lifties/seasonairres etc been forced to stay? Not sure if you live there permemnantly or just for the season so forgive my ignorance if it's been covered before...

I can also imagine that from a resort POV, there will be a huge amount of work to do to clean up the resort once the melt has happened, work that would have normally been happening as the season winds down. I suppose that all depends on the length of the lockdown and how far it eats into the normal summer preparation period.

A snowHead

PeakyB - yup! They're wearing buffs so they're OK and happy! Yea happy about the Pavillion - been in there on match day once before as my best mate and father in law are both full members!
orange - thanks for the heads up - we spent hours looking around the site at all the planets etc - it was brilliant yes thanks!
summer events canx
jafa - its a pointless technicality that they are not 'shut' along the lines of if they were then key workers could not stay there etc - like hotels in the UK (as far as I know) are not forced to close so they can chose to take key workers etc etc etc. I saw this article - not gonna comment on it here though!
countryman - the total population of central Paris is down 6% according to official stats - some areas are way up but Savoie has actually evened out numbers wise (surprisingly).

Day 24

Well the day started as it always does. Sun shining and quite peaceful. Olivia had a lot of work to get through so Clare and her rattled through that whilst Ben and I played! We all enjoyed our walk in the sunshine - we all went out as a family which we dont normally do so we all get our space and headed to the slide. On the way there we bumped into friends and talking to them for a couple of mins (they were on their balcony) before heading on. I noticed the Police pull in and chat to someone who had just hiked and was walking down the slopes - dont know if there was a fine involved there or not!

Either way it was so hot out there and so when we got back we were able to have lunch on the balcony - we are getting a lot of use out of our balcony now - ha ha! It was really nice!

So as mentioned today was the first day that we had to wear face masks when out in public - was slightly weird having to put it on in this heat etc and the kids were OK with it thankfully! Hopefully tomorrow will be the same! However I could not believe when I looked at Radio Val today - they had a face to face meeting in the Mairie offices of 10 of the key players in town. No social distancing going on here, no need to meet in person surely and all in all ridiculous all indoors wearing masks a little like this - no. Is it me? See what you think?

At lunchtime the news filtered through that the dad of a friend of mine (haven't seen said friend for a long time admittedly) had died of CV19 - heartbreaking as he had only just become a grand dad - so sad!

Here in Val not much is happening - across the whole savoie there is 120 odd people in hospital with it and still nothing confirmed here in Val - lets hope it stays that way! We have the Macon speech on Monday and all expectations are that the lockdown will continue until early May now! So both my wife and daughter will have their birthdays in these 4 walls - mega party will have to follow suit!

Ben had a good sleep and then when they were awake we did some colouring - designed an easter egg pattern - did some fun and games around the house but had a fairly chilled afternoon in the sun once again! Tomorrow I am heading down the valley for the first time in about 6 / 7 weeks to shop at Super U and by the time have driven down, shopped, gotten back and cleaned food and put it away it will be a long afternoon - wish me luck!

Meanwhile there are still plenty of people breaking the rules - saw 5 people (2 x 2 groups of 2 and a single person) skinning up / skiing down this afternoon alone from my balcony - when will people learn!

Thats all for now folks.

TTFN

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

Specialman - Population officially is about 1500 full time residents!

Yes a ghost town - no tourists and 99% resort staff have left so just the locals like restaurant owners etc!

No problems in asking! Most resort staff left when the operators and restaurants etc etc etc shut down! People can leave to move back to their home countries etc yes! So if anything (up until some Parisians came here a week or so ago) it got quieter and quieter day by day! Also people like lifties and pisteurs and many instructors live down the mountain in Bourg St Maurice so they are obviously not here at present either!

Yes LOTS of things still to do - the pisteurs took down all the signage and the municipal workers are still working so it shouldn't be as bad as it could be!

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It was Greater Paris that the article mentioned but it did say which I had forgotten that a lot had gone west.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/coronavirus-paris-france-lockdown-one-million-orange-phone-data-a9429896.html

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Hi Steve
Great news on the associate membership to the MCC. I will pick up your Bacon and Egg tie. When they let us into Lords again and present it to you next season. Best wishes to you and your family Mark, Marina and Mich

You'll need to Register first of course.

countryman - its bonkers really isnt it!
mpurser2 - hiya - good to hear from you... missed you this season and looking forward to better times next year! Hope you guys are all well - ha ha! Thanks so much - looking forward to a beer in the Pavillion and talking cricket! Stay safe!

Day 25

As it comes up on a month since I last had ski boots on (it feels like about 10 years ago to be honest!) I am really hoping that it won't be long until we get an indication of 'how munch longer'

So the day started as normal BUT crucially Olivia was so tired that she was still in bed at 0900 bless her! So it was a quiet start to the day indeed! When we got going (its not a public holiday here in France today!) Olivia did her school work efficiently whilst Ben and I worked on his numbers learning.

I took Ben out for his walk today and like the other day he wanted to walk the lengths of the corridors under the Vanoise and other buildings here in La Daille! All the steps and paces means its a good work out - esecpailly for him too! After a while I decided that being outside in the sunshine was probably better so we did a little more walking outside! Whilst outside I saw 3 people skiing back down - again its so annoying - arghh!

Lunch was a 'help yourself affair' before Ben went (grudgingly) for his sleep! I then got all my bits together and headed to Bourg. This was my first time out of Val since Feb - we did a food shop right at the end of Feb and then of course the lock down came about a couple of weeks after that and just before we were due our next big shop down the valley!

So the roads were quiet getting down and it was so warm down there. The click and collect was the busiest I have ever seen it at Super U (not surprising) and there was a LOT of substitutions / 'sold outs' on the order so that was more to add as I was always planning on going into the shop too for a top up shop. However it ended up being a big shop in the store too! The actual store was relatively quiet and everyone respecting the social distancing measures etc! However there was some weird things out of stock - e.g. the only bread was fresh bread, no full fat milk and no eggs - shock horror (luckily 20 eggs shipped with the click and collect element so we won't run out of stock!). So overall the shock was not as quite well stocked as I would have liked but nothing to worry about!

Anyway I then headed back up and passed (well I was waved through actually!) a police check point on the road just before the dam. They seemed to be stopping every other car and checking paperwork. When I got home the mass job of cleaning all the product purchased started - a big job. Lots of cleaning etc to be done but again we got there. Then put it all away and then got my clothes on to wash and of course have a wash myself - it takes ages!

Anyway with the kids finally in bed I am now catching up on the rest of the days jobs!

So in local news the sun keeps shining and it was hot, hot, hot today again! We also do need to continue to wear masks outside despite a local challenge to the rules imposed yesterday - the rules still stand! The town council have also announced that many of the Summer events have now been cancelled - apart from a few of the big ones but certainly it looks like the electric car show has gone and other things - boo! Also in response to a poor showing by the insurers many of the local restauranteurs have clubbed together to set up a social media campaign to draw light on their plight! They are severely out of pocket as the insurers are dragging their feet!

The local good news is that of the 120 odd Savoie cases in hospital (thats how you get the numbers here as they only test those in hospital!) that number is going down as people are released from hospital. So it looks like the situation is easing little by little. There is a population of about 400,000 in the Savoie. There have been 20 deaths in hospitals here from CV19!

A few photos to finish with as I need to go to bed - shattered!

My daughters easter egg decorated and displayed in the window - Radio Val are asking people to submit their entries for the chance to win a chevallot easter egg!

It is changing I think!

Never seen the click and collect so busy!

Weldom parking looks very quiet eh!

No eggs at Super U

Family members painted a message to the staff of my mums care home today! How sweet - made my heart swell.

TTFN

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

20 deaths?

Out of 400,000 ?

You do realise that is only 0.005 %
1/200th of a percent of the population.

After all it is free

Steve
I have always enjoyed your updates but your recent posts have taken them to a new level as you share the lockdown experiences with us
Good on you and best wishes to you and your family
I really don’t know how you cope so well with a young family in an apartment!
Let’s hope the lockdown ends or eases off soon

rungsp - I know its weird!!!!

Check this out.

So this is updated daily and essentially says for the WHOLE Rhone Alps area 257 new people admitted to hospital, 29 into intensive care with 34 deaths - so that is today! But 166 went home. So number of hospital admissions is tending down!

So the table shows TOTAL of 2985 hospitalisations, 755 deaths and 2857 discharges etc....

The table also breaks it down in regions of the Rhone Alps and here the area is the Savoie and it says the cumulative number of deaths here is 23!!! It was 20 until a couple of days ago!

So yes its incredibly low here in the Savoie!

snowornever - thanks so much! Yes its tricky but hey ho we have lovely views and can get out for decent walks etc!

Day 26

I slept really badly last night and was also awake early - not sure why as was exhausted last night when I went to bed!

Anyway right from the offset I understood myself - I knew I was going to need a lunchtime sleep which is unheard of for me!

However being Easter Clare made pancakes to start the day off - yum yum! We also tried to get away from the ground hog day so Clare decided to have a shower with Olivia and wash both of their hair and then Ben and I had a shower together and I had a shave - sounds quite trivial but ended up taking a hour or more! Some more little jobs around the house and more laundry to go on the balcony - ha ha!

I took a ton of rubbish out and collected something off someone that needed collecting, as they drove past! And our neighbours had made a mistake in ordering 40 baguettes for the freezer thinking that they would be about 15cm long mini things for the money they paid... they ended up being about 60cm long each so Ginny kindly gave us a handful which means we filled that gap of bread shortage from yesterdays shop - phew! Our freezer now is SOOO rammed we have a weight holding the door shut - ha ha! Means we have plenty to keep us going!

We found a pack of bacon in the fridge that needed using up so lunch was bacon sandwiches all round! Yummy! The day was perhaps getting better after all!

With Olivia having some down time (she is still tired) and Ben asleep I took myself off for an hours lay down! Clare sunbathed with her book! I dont remember sleeping but I must have as it was 1600 before I got up again! Brilliant!

So by 1600 it was time for family time on the balcony with a couple of Skype calls / Facetimes to family back home (thanks goodness for technology in these times eh!). The kids then had their dinner and were off to bed! Actually a really nice day all in all even though my watch is telling me I have been a lazy b*****d all day - haha it can but moan!

The only down side to the day was I was playing a silly game with Olivia and managed to flick the end of the skipping rope right into my right eye... its been sore all afternoon - I think after a good sleep it will be OK but I know I have whacked my eye thats for sure - closing one eye and looking out that eye it won't focus so I think I have bruised it or something! It sort of focuses but not as well as the other side and I'm 20:20 in my eyes it should be added! Arghh!

In local news the very interesting following was released by Radio Val this morning - Ill print the whole and direct translation but it is 'interesting' reading that is for sure!

"At the request of the Savoie prefecture, Val d'Isère set up a census of the resident population during confinement. Thursday evening, 1545 people lived in the town. This population breaks down as follows:

1031 permanent residents
138 secondary residents
331 seasonal workers
2 vacationers
42 others
1 without answer to the question

The figures should change this week with the arrival of new people who, like last week, did not comply with government directives, to come and spend a few days in our mountains. Other figures should reach us early next week."

I thought this was really eye opening - not only are the permanent resident numbers much lower than they should be - something like 1300 is the official population so either they did not reply or have left town????? If this is the case then surely the numbers of 'third parties' not replying would be proportionally lower too AND the numbers of 2nd homeowners etc would therefore be much higher in reality too! Either way 2/3 residents only is a surprising number either way!

TTFN

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

@Steve Angus, ouch, hope your eye’s better today. Chocolate might help.

I wonder what local officials are going to do with those Val D census numbers? Maybe a useful snapshot but I wouldn’t put too much store in their accuracy.

Most important just now I think is for friends, acquaintances and communities to watch out for each other’s well-being best they can.

Stay safe and Happy Easter to you all.

Help!!

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

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