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

A snowHead

@Steve Angus, 100,000 masks may show for how long the mayor expects the population to be wearing them. But 900 tests - would that be enough for one per person?

A snowHead

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

PeakyB - thanks and ill pass it on! Yes it is a good action and welcomed and testing does seem to be key but 100,000 masks for Val alone - really!
Kenzie - I was thinking that but unless they are disposable every day that is still several months supply of! The 900 tests approximately means 1 for each full time person living here at the moment!
pam w - indeed - he was over the moon to see it!

Day 41

With the kids having a slightly earlier night last night it ultimately meant they were up slightly earlier today... doh! So I was rudely awoken by the lights coming on a little earlier than I was planning. Anyway not all was lost as I had my Sunday treat of scrambled eggs on toast - yummy!

We had a pretty lazy morning - kids did some painting, I did some hoovering and put a wash on. The weather was good in the morning so we made the most of it and went for a nice walk and the kids took their bicycles and had a really nice walk about.

A chilled lunch of soup and sandwich was followed by the kids and Clare having a sleep whilst I caught up on some jobs. The weather in the afternoon got more and more threatening until it finally started raining but the kids were starting to climb the wall so we made sure we got out for a second walk!

Bath and bed time were the order of the evening!

In local news there is a local family rather happy as there was a birth in town yesterday afternoon (well down in Bourg to be precise!) so that is something for the community to cheer about!

But apart from that there is not much else to report - I am feeling a little lackustre this evening so will sign off early! Sorry not feeling it tonight!

The weather forecast suggests that we might even have snow later this week at the top of the mountains - rain down here in town but that will make a chance of scenery!

I have never really worked out what this 'fake' balcony is at the back of the Toviere hotel is - always wondering what it was for - bird perch!?

TTFN

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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@Steve Angus,

You'll need to Register first of course.

thefatcontroller - yea tell me about it!
PeakyB - like your thinking! Oh yes it is somewhat more upmarket now!

Day 42

Entering week 7 I can't believe it!

I had a bad nights sleep in the end... I sort of did a little on my accounts at the start of the evening - replied to a couple of emails! Before I knew it I had drifted off to sleep on the sofa and when I woke up about an hour later I then had a racing mind when I went to bed so could not sleep! Doh! It got worse as I was snoring so got a dig in the ribs and could not get back to sleep for a second time and then it got worse as Ben woke early and make a racket which woke Olivia up and so the day started too early! Arghhh!

So I have been in a bit of a grump most of the day! Hey ho!

With Ben this morning we cut up some paper and tried to make some shapes which he enjoyed for a few minutes. He has a infatuation with cleaning so he got his 'hoover' out and broom and spent a while 'cleaning' the house which he enjoys! Olivia settled down really well to do her school work but to be honest she is increasingly looking forward to her birthday in a couple of days time... and with Clare spending much of the afternoon making her cake there was much excitement about the place!

Walk time was a really nice outing. The day started sunny and progressively clouded over (this was after much rain last night that cleared away over night!) but I was taking Olivia for her time outside and we decided that trying to cycle 2.6 km's for her 2.6 challenge was the way forward - I was on foot! So off we set and went up to the outskirts of time - bumped into a couple of people but generally kept going... we ended up coming back down to La Daille and over the road and around the buildings there where she lapped quite a few times and loved free wheeling down the little hill there - did it about 10 times so she did about 26km's bless her!

Lunch was the normal followed by sleeping!

One of the main activities for the afternoon was to make a 'cardboard max in a box'.... the kids loved making it for a few minutes but much of the time was spent by them also bouncing up and down on the trampoline which they loved even more - we can but try!

After that it was time for a change as I had seen some 'plans' on how to make a water turbine so we went about trying to make that... the problem however (when we came to test it at bath time later on) was that the fin paddles were not strong enough so it was a FAIL at bath time... but the kids by this time were more interested in other stuff (attention span of about 30 seconds!).

So that pretty much sums up another groundhog day!

The weather forecast unfortunately has not improved much for the rest of the week but we have Olivias birthday to look forward to on Wednesday but apart from that all eyes are still on the publishing of the government plans (tomorrow I belive) and then hopefully that light at the end of the tunnel for schools going back!

Meanwhile I wrote yesterday about the tests and the masks - well have a read of this - sounds nothing like what it was on paper yesterday when the news broke eh! So again this is directly from Radio Val:

"All the doctors of Val d'Isère wrote us a press release, which we are sending you here in full:

First of all, in addition to the figures released yesterday morning, only 8 patients are in intensive care out of the 83 hospitalized in our department. (Saturday evening, there were 41 virus-related deaths in Savoie, a stable figure compared to Friday evening. 1 more person was hospitalized on Saturday and 295 people returned to their homes following a recovery, one more than the day before Editor's note). Since the beginning of the crisis, in Savoy, "PCR" tests on a deep nasal swab, have only been practiced for people with "suspicious" symptoms and with criteria for hospitalizations, symptomatic healthcare staff, as well as residents symptoms of nursing homes and other medico-social structures. To date, only 10% of PCR tests carried out in the department are positive for COVID-19, a sign that the pandemic is drying up in Savoie thanks to confinement. In connection with the Bourg st Maurice Hospital Center and the medical analysis laboratory, Health professionals should be able to increase the indications for tests after May 11 since it is possible that we will experience a second wave of cases COVID after deconfinement. By widening the indications for sampling, this will make it possible to isolate new cases and contact cases more quickly, in order to circumscribe the mini-foci and avoid a new containment. To date, serological tests, by blood test, are not available

Tests were ordered at the initiative of the Mayor and Dr. Louis Albrand. A priori, these are neither serological tests nor PCR. These tests, if received, will not be performed until their reliability is established, and until we have official authorization from the Regional Health Agency (ARS). If, and only if the reliability of the tests is confirmed, they can only be useful after deconfinement and only in the event of a second wave of contamination by COVID-19. They will only be performed for symptomatic people and contact cases. In no case will these tests allow you to know if you were in contact with COVID-19 during the confinement period. They also will not tell if you are immune. In conclusion, the doctors of Val d'Isère will first of all follow the official national recommendations concerning COVID 19. The village doctors point out that medical follow-up remains essential, especially concerning infants, vaccinations and chronic pathologies. These remain available for all acute pathologies. Finally, it is always necessary to respect the barrier measures and to maintain social distancing as far as possible to protect yourself and others."

So there you have it folks... as usual not too much to write about!

Hope everyone is staying well and looking forward to the next phase of this all! Bring it on!

TTFN

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

@Steve Angus, I don’t usually comment on this thread but do always read it so just wanted to say ‘Thank you’ as it’s one of the parts of my day I look forward to. Very Happy

Keep on keeping safe as a family and coming up with creative ideas to keep you all sane!

After all it is free

@Steve Angus, the webcams are a bit of a surprise this evening !
Regarding your bird perch I think it may be part of the avalanche/flooding building control regulations.
I’ve spent a bit of time going over Vald’Isere planning codes and in new builds/extensions, depending on the aspect and avalanche/flood risk windows over a certain size must be 10m above ground level. So I presume the small groups of tiny glass blocks are probably bedroom windows below 10m, doubt they open for beer storage Very Happy

Iski - thanks so much - will do!
muppet - yes I know snowing really hard for a while this evening! Stopped now - won't settle properly at this time of the year but novel non the less! Interesting thoughts - so the perch could be a way of deflecting snow that comes up to the 10m mark or something then? Weird either way!

Day 43

I had a much better nights sleep - yay! And even was awake before the kids this morning and it was a very calm start to the day... Olivia got dressed before leaving her bedroom and even made her bed - wow! Breakfast was very calm and she even got on with her school work without fuss - I think she knows its her birthday tomorrow! So whilst she was getting on with her school work I played with Ben and he wanted to build things - so thats what we did - boxes / lego - you name it! We were also on the balcony (it was chilly all day and cloudy at the start of the day but eventually as I said turned rainy and then snowy as the day went on) and watched the pisteurs on the bashers driving to each lift pylon and snow cannon etc taking down all the crash padding and obviously looking to get that all squared away as soon as possible! Bearing in mind the ski season officially finishes in a weeks time....

For walk time I took Ben and we had a nice little walk about but spent most of the time chasing each other around in the outdoor car park - he just loves playing the game where I pretend to be a monster and run around after him! He loves it so why not - ha ha!

Lunch time and early afternoon was the normal stuff and then when both kids were awake they helped me rearrange some of the furniture in the lounge as we decided that we needed more space and I had a cunning way of creating some more space! So whilst Clare was busy decorating Olivias cake - its multi coloured layer sponge cake with loads of multi coloured icing all over it; the kids and I were furniture removal experts! It was a successful afternoon!

As the weather closed in we decided to put a movie on for the kids and they loved watching that before I had a quick chat to my mum, who is doing OK and settled in her room on pain killers but pretty relaxed about it all really and thankfully no one at her care home is showing signs of CV19! Bath and bed time for the kids followed and Clare and I have just spent the last hour or so wrapping Olivias presents for tomorrow - the main thing I had to do was build her own high beam bar thing so she can have a go at her gymnastics! She will love that present! However unfortunately her main present, a new scooter, has not arrived yet - but I am sure the other presents will soon take her mind off that!

So that is pretty much all the news here. The president released details of how we are going to get out of lock down in a couple of weeks time and it looks promising as long as case numbers etc dont start rising again. Within the Savoie region numbers are falling still so things are looking promising, fingers crossed!

TTFN

Before it started to snow this evening

Stacking and building - some of his favourite things!

P.S. Not sure whether all those masks and test kits arrived today - sure will find out tomorrow - ha ha!

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

@Steve Angus, Happy Birthday to Olivia! Apart from the last 6 weeks, those 6 years must seem as if they’ve flown by fast.

Good news that lockdown rules in France might be tweaked in a couple of weeks.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

PeakyB - thanks - yes time has flown by indeed! Last 6 weeks haven't! But yes looking promising still for easing in this area! Fingers crossed!

Day 44 - birthday girl

The day started well actually. Olivia had woken and gotten herself up, dressed and made her bed all before we came in to tell her it was now OK to get up and she was sitting on her seat reading a book - thats my girl! Even Ben was not up too early!

Of course the first thing was mega excitement at the presents in the sitting room and we let her open and play with the obvious ones like her balance beam and bar! Whilst she and Ben were full of energy Clare made some pancakes and the day started! It was a very slow start to the day with lots of playing and we had basically just finished getting dressed / cleaning up breakfast and making a couple of calls to family when the first delivery of the day a birthday present from a neighbour and her kids - we chatted from a far for a fair while and no sooner had they disappeared but we had another visitor with presents and then another... including a couple of calls on the phone suddenly it was lunchtime and the morning had disappeared!

The excitement in the air was too much so there was no way the kids were going to have a sleep so we didn't bother trying.... but lots more presents and cards to open - they just seemed to keep on coming all day long - lucky girl! She was over the moon with her presents! Later in the afternoon with the weather generally good all day we headed downstairs for some outside time and the kids ran about like crazy things and Olivia got to play with another of her presents a remote controlled car!

That was topped off with the lighting of her cake and eating it - the photo tell the story - yummy!

By the time that was over both Clare and I were knackered! Tea and cake just about kept us going before a couple of more calls to family and a film settled the kids! I enjoyed bath and bed time and now looking to get into bed myself! The kids really enjoyed Olivias new favourite meal - meat balls!

Not that much else to report from today - back to the normal tomorrow and I am heading to Bourg for a food shop but apart from that... lockdown as normal! Oh one thing regional numbers of cases in the Savoie - on balance getting better still!

Yesterday:
75 people in hospital with CV19 currently
8 of which are in intensive care
311 hospitalised patients have now returned home in total
41 people have died in hospitals here

Today:
76 people in hospital with CV19 currently
10 of which are in intensive care
317 hospitalised patients have now returned home in total
41 people have died in hospitals here

TTFN

snow reports

Great cake!

Wow! What an amazing cake Smile

You know it makes sense.

Iski / Sheffsnow91 - I know - Clare was rather chuffed!

Day 45

I must admit I have totally lost track of days and times but I do know that today was shopping day!

But first there was the normal activities to get sorted out including Olivia back to her school work and putting the washing etc on. However we are going through a bad period weather wise at the moment so it rained much of the day turning into snow this evening. In fact it might snow / rain for the next couple of days - doh!

Anyway I headed down the valley and dropped off something we were selling on the way to Super U - a baby carrying backpack thing and said hi to our friends who were buying it off us which was nice! It was nice to see they were keeping OK! I did my usual collecting after Clare clicked the other night and then went into the store to top up and buy the bits that we had subsequently thought of. I also needed to refuel the car and it is now so cheap - with the exchange rate at the moment about £1 a litre of diesel - when was it last that low eh - a long time ago! Yippee one good thing!

By the time I got home and unloaded it all and got it away it was gone 1900 and then had a long list of jobs to do - such as fish stuff out from the back of the sofa that had been dropped down there during the day and WW3 was in danger of breaking out if it had not been retrieved. I was happy when the kids were in bed and I could catch up on jobs that needed doing - its go, go, go as usual!

I am not really sure where the time goes but all I know is that we never have a second to spare! Roll on the 11th May. Talking of which the preliminary first coloured coded 'lockdown release' map for France was published this evening. So looking at factors such as the readiness to react to a possible 2nd peak, numbers of new cases / death rate etc, the country is graded prefecture by prefecture either green, orange or red... effectively if you are in a green zone then you are likely to get back to speed more or less on the 11th May such as schools going back but if you are in a red zone that might be a couple of weeks later etc... so the Savoie is in the 'unsure' Orange phase. I thought it would for now but get to a green level by the most important date of next Thursday when the final decisions come out - please turn green is what I say!

In local news the promised masks - well they are stuck in Lyon - somehow they have not gotten any further up the train line than that - we shall see as and when they finally arrive in town!

TTFN

Only snapped one photo today and that was it - whoops!

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

Day 46 - T-10 days!

I say T-10 days but that is just me hoping after the news came through that at the moment we are in the orange zone for deconfinement which means we might or might not be easing back to normality on the 11th - it might be later or not as relaxed as those in the green zone - we watch and wait as the daily figures pass but I think we will make the green zone break - just about!

Today was marked by snow falling virtually continually outside the front window - OK warm and wet 'English snow' as we say but its settling even down here in town. There are talks of there being about 1 metre of snow from mid mountain upwards over the next couple of days as this weather should continue for that amount of time - hmm we shall see!

Most things were 'normal' today family / work etc wise - nothing special to report. However the scooter I picked up for Olivia as the last of her presents (replacing a non delivery from Amazon!) went down a storm! She loved it and I also managed to put her new bike stand on for her which she loved too!

Exercise time today had to be down in the underground garage as we could not face going outside in all the rain / snow (even through there was no wind as such!). As usual it was deserted down there apart from some neighbours of our who were doing the 250m or so lap of the parking running for their exercise!

The kids had one of their favourites for dinner though which put them in a good mood before bed time; fish fingers, chips and beans - very popular choice!

My heart skipped a couple more beats mid morning too when I got a phone call from the manager of my mothers care home... first thing she said was ' dont worry no bad news' - so my heart beat rate could return to a normal level! She was just calling to get my permission for a swab test for CV19 to be taken as they were testing all residents at the home as one person had a temperature but as she pointed out that person is on antibiotics and temps quite often bounce about in that setting, BUT since tests were being offered out they thought it best to give the residents a test - lets hope the results come back negative!

Apart from that nothing else to report really!

I will be scaling back down the blogging etc as of the end of next week when we know whether we are still on lockdown or not and I will also be cutting back on my social media now too. But fear not a while longer of the daily here before going to monthly as is normal for the Summer months - just fyi!

In local news masks for Val are due to arrive on Tuesday it would seem! Still no word on how they will be dished out and on what basis e.g. sold or free - we shall see!

TTFN

A snowHead

@Steve Angus, mmm...that’s the most wintry scene for a couple of months. Hope that ‘English snow’ melts away fast.

A snowHead

Thanks for the daily updates Steve and yes have a rest from the blogging , Looks promising on the lock down front but I think we will have a new normal for quite awhile until the vaccine having said that there is some really positive news coming from the Oxford labs about a new one they may get by September October fingers crossed.

The real key to ease lockdown without a vaccine is going to be test and trace isolate the UK has scaled up its testing the same as many European countries now so with the army of trackers this will be possible. I am into my fourth week now helping out at my old NHS IT team and it’s amazing what they’ve done in the last month or so incredible pace of tech being implemented truly inspirational.

Thanks for all the updates though I’ve always tuned in just to see how the old place is looking hopefully be back next year on the white stuff

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

PeakyB - not melted yet far from it - brrrrrr NOT now Winter please - not now!
Pirate42 - thanks for posting - I will do thanks! Good on you with your work with the NHS - it all helps at the moment eh! Keep tuning in here too!

Day 47 - T-9 days!

Well the weather was pretty stinky all day and much like yesterday cold and wet! There was a little more snow down here in town this morning but much more up to - in fact there is about 90cm of snow up top and the avalanche risk was apparently 4/5 due to how heavy the snow was - not that anyone was getting any up there - whether they were allowed to or not!

We had a pretty relaxed morning and the Saturday am treat of pancakes was the order of the morning! The kids had been asking about swords and shields and 'playing' armies so Clare set about making swords and I made the shields followed by crowns for the 'King' and 'Queen' - a lot of fun but the funniest moment of the morning was when Olivia basically asked whether my Dad (he was in the RAF in WW2 and therefore 'military' and therefore 'in the army as a fighter') might have used the sword and shield like 'this'. I had vision of her mind thinking my Dad had fought in the Battle of Hastings or something - made me belly laugh for about 30 mins and it goes to show what goes through the mind of a 6 year old.... the thought that her grandfather was running around with a sword and shield fighting a war. All I could say was that 'he was not that old' - it really made me laugh though!

We werent going to get any outside time (Clares pre-dawn exercise had been 10km running around in circles in the u/g parking!) pre lunch but changed our mind and went on the scooters to the basement and the kids ran around like crazy things and I basically chased them for an hour - that tired them out. It obviously got their appetite up as they then consumed a whole pizza (family size) between the two of them for lunch - blimey!

Sleeps and the normal down time was then followed by a couple of hours playing with Olivias magic set she got for her birthday and she perfected a couple of magic tricks and we even then did a couple more to show off to the grand parents on the Skype later on!

A family meal finished the day off nicely!

Weather wise we have another 24 hours of nasty stuff before it gets warm and sunny again for the rest of this week. Bearing in mind tomorrow should be the end of the season it has been a weird one that is for sure!

In local news the toll from the effect of CV19 on Val d'Isere is becoming more apparent and Radio Val reported today some disturbing stats:

- The drop in the number of overnight stays this season was 25.8%
- 28% loss in turnover (€12 million) for the lift pass company
- 23% (€40 million) overall turnover of the resort down
- 15% total resort activity could be decreased for NEXT Winter following on from this! Gulp!

Anyway onto better news - the tax return is getting there... slowly but surely!

The view from the top of the Solaise with the 90cm of new snow today!

TTFN

You need to Login to know who's really who.

Thanks Steve for yet another daily update - I much prefer yours to our govt ones which I avoid!

If you want to find out about a real life soldier fighting in the second world war with not just a sword, but also a longbow, look up "Mad" Jack Churchill.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

I wonder if the 28% loss of income for the lift company includes refunds for lift passes, especially season passed.

You'll need to Register first of course.

motyl - ha ha thanks so much - hopefully more cherry subject material if nothing else! Loved that Jack Churchill thing - reminds me - will look it up tomorrow!
Kenzie - yea it would BUT season passes aren't being refunded as far as I know - the season happened and the fact that it was shorter than planned doesn't give a reason for a partial refund!

Day 48 - T-8 days!

As we get closer to decision day as to whether we get 'let out' a week tomorrow or not and more importantly whether Olivia is allowed back all focus is towards that goal so a day gone is a day closer to the end!

Being a Sunday was eggs on toast day for me - yum my favourite!

After that we did some games with the kids and called Clares dad as it was his birthday! Olivia also put together a routine on her high bar which she is loving playing with. But with the heavy snow and / or rain out there still exercise time out there was a non started so once again we headed to the underground parking (its supposed to get warmer and sunnier again from tomorrow so that will be nice!). The kids ran around non stop for a whole hour and totally tired themselves out with the help of me chasing them playing monster - well I certainly got my step count up too!

A short watch of a short film was fitted in before lunch and it was a simple soup and sandwich lunch again!

But then Ben decided today was the day to have a monster sleep - yay and Olivia had a snooze too so I got some time to myself so could get on with my accounts a little more!

After that both Clare and I watched as the kids made a show on the gymnastics apparatus which was fun watching that! We then sat down for a full on roast - it was amazing! Complete with crumble for pudding - yummy!

It was a quick bath time for the kids and now they are both asleep so all in all it was a slow day and pretty chilled but I am not complaining. Term officially starts again tomorrow so there will be quite a lot of school work coming through on the email which will help us structure our day better! Yippee!

Not much else to report from today!

TTFN

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

@Steve Angus, Thank You for the continued updates, many of us are missing Val d’Isere this season and your updates are a lovely link.
Regarding season passes we’ve been offered 258€ each from STVI as a refund, either to our bank/credit card or as a voucher against next seasons pass, we really didn’t expect this.

After all it is free

muppet - no problems! I do my best! Thanks for the info re season passes - amazing to hear that! I also had another SH contact me to say that the parking people over in Tignes are promising a discount for next season on parking even though no refund or whatever from this season - would be nice if that happens over in Val - we shall see!

Day 49 - T-7 days!

I am doing this countdown in the hope that it really does return the goods next week but there are couple of updates to this hope. Firstly we are still in the 'orange' zone and I think on balance it will go 'green' for proper easing of measures next Monday but also the school were in contact today and it looks like it will be a tricky on sending her back to school (if indeed it does finally happen), firstly there is the 'rules' that we were sent that all the kids would have to follow - blimey its gonna be tough on the little ones! Secondly there will be no school bus so we need to get her to school and back BUT it will also be there and back twice a day potentially as there will be dining option at school and being France they have a 2 hour lunch break when the kids will need to leave campus - gonna be a lot of cycling going on thats for sure! Balls! Anyway we shall see!

So in local news the sun was shining once again so that lifted spirits - yay! It was always going to be a damp day with all that snow melting away but hey with the sun shining it was actually nice to get outside! Olivias school work arrived and the topic was basically to learn a dance for their return to school. So Clare and Olivia set about learning the dance moves - it was fun viewing for Ben and I. She then completed her academic work really quickly whilst Ben helped me with a couple of little jobs about the house!

Our time outside was blissful. We walked all the way up to the outdoor parking and over the road to the playground which we passed by (it was all rather muddy up there!) and then walked home. It was nice just to wander and get some fresh air!

There was a strange feeling in the air that is for sure as we saw several cranes arriving into town to start the building works for the Summer and there was also the chopper buzzing about bringing things down off the mountain (well I guess that it was it was doing anyway!). So there was definitely a feeling of a slow returning to normal about the place!

Olivia spent ages perfecting her gymnastics movements that she has just learnt which kept her entertained for a while. A late birthday present arrived for Olivia which was a cool domino stacking and knocking down game which she loved - kept her going for ages!

In local news hairdressers are definitely being allowed to open from next Monday onwards (not sure how that is supposed to work but we shall see!) and the recycling centre in Brev is also opening to the public again too - phew!

Not much else to report as such! Same as, same as folks!

Those green fields are now under 5cm of fresh new snow - it'll melt back soon through!

Talking of which there was a few ski tourers heading out today - plenty of tracks to be seen about the place this afternoon!

Even out the front of here there is snow covering up the fun places to play!

A friend snapped this photo - goes to show that even after a multiple weeks without proper snowfall you COULD still ski the Face at this time of the year!

Amazing difference in 24 hours!

Day 50 - T-6 days!

It was not quite so sunny today - grey and cloudy most of the day with a few spots of rain about from time to time! But it was a normal start with the kids! With Olivia still learning her dance moves Ben decided that he wanted to help me clean the house so it was quite a fun / annoying / productive / stop start hour or so but we got there and hoovered and did lots of cleaning!

Unfortunately at the end of Clare and Olivia working on the dance moves and thanks to YouTube on the tv a new video started playing and one leads to another so there were a fair few videos of kids dancing etc - that kept us all entertained for a further 30 mins before getting outside for our outside time! We had only been outside for about 30 secs when the heavens opened and it started to rain so we dashed inside to a darkened La Daille underground parking where there was just about enough natural light for the kids to play and some exercise to be had! Luckily 30 mins later it had cleared up enough for us to get outside properly for a walk. After the rains yesterday there were lots of snails that had come out of hiding so the kids by the river were fascinated playing with them!

The afternoon was pretty drawn out and I think I have been burning the candle too much at both ends so will be having an early one tonight that is for sure!

In local news the masks the mayor ordered have arrived - check the photo out - single use ones so thats why he ordered 100,000 of them! Looks like they are from a UK supplier! Maybe I'm reading too much into it!

The French Federation for Skiing were in town today to talk to the powers that be about how they might be able to get the national french teams here training on the Val glacier in the near future! But they also separately are having talks with the pisteurs etc etc etc to see if any skiing on the glacier at all can happen this Summer! Linked into that the regional authorities are looking into whether they get the road cleared up to the Col de Iseran at all - they might not open it until after the Col de Petit St Bernard is cleared - so I am watching that one!

TTFN

Snail hunting

Cranes parked up and ready to go on site

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

We were also studying the photos on Radio Val d’Isere this morning trying to work out the origin
of the masks

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

The blue sticker says 'China Cargo Airlines' and the code on the box 'GB/T 32610-2016' refers to a chinese specification... so if I had to guess I'd say China.

snow reports

HandyHand - good detective work... the mystery continues... until I get my hands on a pack for myself!

Day 51 - T-5 days!

I must say it is getting more and more challenging to write this blog at the moment as the days really are the same over and over again but I do try and think of new things.

First up today was a good session with Ben working on his numbers and he blew me away (Olivia was doing her school work with Clare so I was with him in the bedroom as is customary in the morning) as he counted by himself without prompting up to 15... so that was good. He then did some great number matching and a few other activities so it was successful!

With the sun shining out there we were all eager to get out and had a really good nature walk... looking for bugs, snails and anything we could find really. We found a huge pile of frogs spawn in a puddle which was an interesting find too!

We had a very chilled and relaxed lunch before sleep time for the kids. I caught up on some bits and bobs and then there was an afternoon of arts and crafts... some kids painting and making a custom (wool wrapped around 'O' and 'B' shaped pieces of cardboard) clothes hanger. Olivia also spent about an hour on FaceTime to one of her besties from school on her birthday too!

We had an enjoyable family meal of fajitas and then it was bath time! One of Clares friends from the UK has her son reading to whomever wants to tune in to the Zoom video call, a kids bedtime story! So we tuned into that again this evening which is always a nice way of hearing a bedtime story but also for Olivia and Ben to see some other kids!

In local news the details of the masks was today released:

"People over 60 living in Val will receive masks for free... and for those under 60, the masks will be for sale, but we do not yet know the price or the point of sale." - Hmm I guess we will get the details tomorrow!

The weather continues to be generally pretty good and apart from some clouds and the odd little bit of rain later in the day the days are pretty nice... lets hope it stays that way!

Meanwhile the plans to reopen the school are progressing. The school in Val is doing all the steps from cleaning to rearranging the desks etc etc etc ahead of the hoped for thumbs up tomorrow evening for a return next Tuesday - we are waiting and seeing!

Meanwhile the summer clean up continues with the street cleaning and they are due to Spring clean down here in La Daille by the end of the week!

Finally the numbers of builders wagons etc etc etc continue to stream into town by the dozen!

TTFN

One of many lorries with crane on its back heads along the road!

I know NOTHING to do with this blog but I saw this today and it made me think - have seen something similar to this several times before but it always amazes me.

In a puddle!!!!

@Steve Angus, life a bit like this?

You know it makes sense.

@Steve Angus, that Australia map is amazing!

Thanks for the blog. I hope it all works out for you all. You've been doing a brilliant job in the lockdown. snowHead

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

Day 52 - T-4 days!

thefatcontroller - totally - thats brilliant... id add option 'a' as 'Whisky' and option 'b' as 'no kids not now' to those options! - Ha ha!
pam w - yes it is! Thanks ever so much for your kind words as always!

Well Clare didnt go for her run this morning so it was a nice easing into the morning... well it was going well until Olivia decided that she did not want to take her vitamin pill - she's on new ones starting from today after the old stockpile ran out - and boy she kicked up a huge fuss - even though Ben takes his without blinking and eyelid! It was certainly a great big fuss that went on for a while - grrr! Anyway tomorrow I have mashed up the pill into her breakfast cereal (which we pour out into a bowl the night before so its already sitting ready to go on the table now!) so hopefully it'll go down better tomorrow without her even noticing!

Apart from that it was weird as no school work was sent through (no idea why!) so Clare and I sort of decided to allow today to be a sort of weekend day as far as school work was concerned - it took tensions down a little which was welcome that was for sure!

Talking of school the French government did 2 things this afternoon... YAY... firstly they said that nationally enough progress has been made so the start of deconfinement can start and secondly this part of France (the Savoie) is in a green zone (about 2/3 of France is) which means much more (compared to red zones!) easing down of restrictions so things like being able to go to the park is now OK... we can also go outside (this is all from Monday onwards!) without an attestation filling in and we can go a 100KM too. The main thing is though that primary schools can open from Tuesday (Monday is set up day!).

However having said that there were phone calls / messages and lots of things flying around today within Val to the effect that dont send your kid unless you really have to ('better and easier' for them to stay at home!) and also the school asking parents if they were working or not (as if to say 'if the parent is working then we'll take em, if not then 'no').... so anyway lots flying around and won't be a clear decision until Monday now - arghhh! We really would like her to go back to school - mainly for the French immersion but also with the school holidays of 2 months on the horizon it would be best for her to go as she moves into CP at the primarie next September which is a big step up! Arghhh!

Anyway we had a lovely time out - repeating yesterdays walk going looking for nature and finding a huge ants nest! It turned into a really warm and hot day and ultimately we got some balcony time again this afternoon - lovely!

So the latest Savoie figures show some more progress but not as much as hoped for really!

66 hospitalizations in the department, including 9 patients in intensive care
52 deaths (+4 compared to the previous day)
332 returners to their homes (+4 compared to the previous day).
So the 66 hospitalizations represent 15.3 per 100,000 inhabitants.

Also in local new the media library in town are now offering a "Drive and select media" service - you select what you want online then drive to the Vie Val Vis building and pick it up from the comfort of your car and have your library card swipped - hi tech!

And finally in a bid to bring in some revenue many of the restaurants and hotels etc in town are now offering a takeaway / home delivery service... so places such as the Yule Hotel, the Casserole restaurant are offering limited menus... sample menu enclosed. We are going to get a takeaway to celebrate the end of lockdown on Saturday night we think! Yay!

Talking of the 'end' I have decided that Sunday evening will be my last daily update... will switch to monthly updates from then on in! I dont normally go on this long anyway in the season - ha ha!

TTFN

The nature walk finds a LOAD of frogs spawn in the little lake!

The plat du jour or the lamb itll probably be for me or the burger - hmmm decisions! - excellent value though eh! Happy to support them! Times are tough!

A snowHead

@Steve Angus, great news on Savoie being part of the ‘green zone’. A bit more freedom will be extra welcome this summer, after your long and strict lockdown.

Not sure where you can go in 100kms journey limit. Albertville certainly, rivers, lakes, mountains along the way?

Hope the restart of school works out well for you next week.

VE Day 75th anniversary being celebrated here today, within lockdown rules. What about in Savoie?

A snowHead

@Steve Angus, Congratulations! You've done a great job coping with this lockdown, continuing your blog and generally you and Clare have remained productive and positive. No small feat with two young kids in an apartment. Enjoy your freedom and your break from blogging, I'll look forward to the autumn when we can all see better what next year is likely to hold.

We've taken a lease on the same place in Tignes as last year and so we will be around all being well and would really like to catch up sometime. In the meantime, look after yourselves and all the best to Clare and the kids.

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

Steve, you and Clare have done a fantastic job over the last few weeks (seems like months) and you guys are so inventive with your kids. I cannot imagine doing what you have done in the apartment and not going insane. Bad enough in a house in rural location and garden. Many thanks again for all your updates over the season. Essential reading for anyone wanting to ski in Val d'Isere. Good luck for the deconfinement and the future. Look forward to your updates over the summer (if you do them) and ahead to next winter. Best wishes to all, take care.

You need to Login to know who's really who.

PeakyB - indeed! 100km as the crow flies it is... means we can get to Annecy and anywhere in the Savoie and as far as Chambery... in reality 99% of the places we could want to get to we can now get to! We have a family member who has an empty house (they're in the UK) in Annecy and they have said we could visit there for half term in a few weeks time - so we might just do that - change of scenery and all that! School - yes we really hope that works out! VE Day celebrations have not really happened up here in Val but there has been a few things like Macron in Paris laying a reef! But watching the BBC coverage and watching the Queen this evening has brought it home so to speak!
lynnecha - thanks so much guys! Hope it is easing up in the IOM for you guys too! It has been tricky this lockdown here - blimey if I was a single man id have watched about 100000 films in this time - ha ha! Yes heres to the future for sure and glad to hear you will be in Tignes again next Winter! The kettle is always on stand by here in La Daille if you want a cuppa - will be nice to see you!
Subseaeng - thanks so much... yes it seems like months - well it almost is 2 months now! Who said I haven't gone insane! Each day about 1700 there is generally a loss of sense of humour the house over - arghhh! Thanks ill be back next season for another round of fun and games here on the blog I'm sure! 'Essential reading for anyone wanting to ski in Val d'sere' - ill take that as an official endorsement thats for sure! Ill do monthly updates over the Summer here yes!

Day 53 - T-3 days!

I can't tell you how excited I am to know that tomorrow is the penultimate day we'll have to fill in the annoying attestation paperwork every time we go outside! Drives me insane!

It was a lovely day again here - clouded over a little at the end of the day but Ben and I enjoyed our play time whilst Clare and Olivia rattled through the school work.

I went for a long walk to check the post whilst Clare and the kids started the walk... I route marched into town to check our couple of post boxes - I like a long walk from time to time for that and then met the rest for the remainder of our walk time. It felt SOOOO hot today and the laundry dried on the balcony in double time - how the season has changed in the last 2 months - its incredible!

Lunch was something totally different - because, well why not! We had a frozen family pizza which we all tucked into! The kids slept and even Clare had a lie down. Then Olivia wrote a letter to an man who is turning 100 in a weeks time in a care home in the UK. There had been an appeal (promoted by the BBC) for this old man who would be alone on his 100th birthday and the care home manager asked people to send him letters and cards to cheer him up. He will probably receive many thousand cards now! Its not Captain Tom but this man has a few things in common with Olivia so I got her to write a letter to him... I was most proud of her attempt (photo below!)

We had some nice balcony sun time after that and the obligatory few hours on the gymnastics bar after that and then bath and bed time...

Some of the clarifications of the new measures from Monday came through today which sound quite nice and novel on paper!

- It will be possible to travel within a radius of 100 kilometers without a derogatory travel certificate.
- Meetings will be authorized again if the group does not exceed 10 people.
- Shops will be able to reopen, including hairdressers and with the exception of hotel bars and restaurants, the latter may, however, do take-out sales.

It almost sounds like normality returning here! Hmmm we shall see!

In other news someone had had a couple of drinks too many the other evening and managed to wrap their car around the Richards roundabout at the top end of town - whoops! Thankfully only the car came off badly! However if you know that roundabout at Richardes then you will also know that that is RIGHT outside the gendarmes office - whoops!

We have ordered our takeaway for tomorrow evening - plat du jour is steak and gratin - so we are having one of those - yummy, a burger - the kids will share that I am sure and then a lamb dish - super excited for that - a celebration for end of lockdown! Yay!

TTFN

Front of the card and the inside:

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Great to hear it's getting better for you,

You'll need to Register first of course.

endoman - thanks - yes it is - phew!

Day 54 - T-2 days!

Well it has been a very relaxing day that is for sure - and quite a treat at the end but more of that at the end!

The sun was shining strongly from the start and we had such a lazy start and it was already mid morning before we got out for our walk. It was SOOO hot this morning - about 20c+ id say and shorts and t-shirt weather that is for sure! We had a really nice walk and bumped into a couple of friends en route which was nice!

A simple lunch and then Clare went for a long run as she had not been in the morning so Ben had a good sleep, I carried on with my accounts - getting there slowly and Olivia had some quiet time!

I had an inspiration I saw on the internet the other day - basically an 'O' (currently making a 'B' too) cardboard cut out wrapped in wool to make into a clothes hanger... has taken a few days on and off but Olivia was stocked with the result. Hopefully in years to come she will be able to hang some sort of clothes over it - I know not a traditional shape but I found it quite therapeutic and something the kids will remember me for in years to come - ha ha!

Anyway as it was so hot there was some time on the balcony until unfortunately the clouds arrived (and now the rain too!) and that put pay to that!

For dinner we got the Yule takeaway and boy it was amazing! Photos below - burger, steak, lamb split 4 ways with dauphinoise and chips etc - amazing! Not bad for €40 or so! And there is enough scraps for another meal tomorrow night too!

In local news; the masks! Over 60's can collect them FOC. Whereas for everyone else they will be €1 each and they are washable and last up to 5 hours apparently. However amazingly Radio Val published the mayors mobile phone number (!!!!!!!!!) and you have to contact him to buy them! Blimey!

The Altibus bus service starts again Monday down to Bourg which is good as that gets Val a little more connected up again to the rest of the world!

Anyway folks gonna be rainy tomorrow and probably most of the week - arghhh!

TTFN

Don't judge me..... lamb shank, steak, peppercorn sauce, dauphinoise potato all on the same plate!

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

@Steve Angus, I have food envy!

Also, I love the hanger - it looks really good. Very Happy

After all it is free

@Steve Angus, Food porn. Needs to be censored. Shocked

Looks incredible

@Steve Angus, as today's your last daily post for the season, thanks, your thread has been excellent as always.

I hope eventually, when you look back at 2019/20 season, some good stuff will be remembered, hard though that must seem right now...

eg best opening day conditions you could remember. Best month of December snow since you worked there. A few classic bluebird days. Ben on skis and Olivia's debut on the bottom section of the Face.

Wish you all good health and more freedom for the summer snowHead

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

@Steve Angus, Thanks for your updates over the season and especially the past few weeks.
I would say I hope to catch up with you in August when we are due to return but who knows how everything is going to change in the coming months.

Kirsty

Help!!

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

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