DRIVING HOME FROM CHRISTMAS
I’m dreaming of a White Christmas someone once sang and we all do, I should be used to them, having spent ten of the last twelve in the Alps but I still get excited about the idea of a white snowy Christmas!
And this year it was time to get very very excited! With unnecessary alarmist media reports at the beginning of December, that I wrote about in a previous blog, the snow was now falling across the Alps. Unfortunately I wasn’t out there to enjoy the opening days of the season as lifts opened but some fantastic reports of skiing and snowboarding filtered back to the UK – fantastic pictures of deep snow on Facebook, early reports of great ski holidays on Twitter – I couldn’t wait!
My parents, sisters and their families had booked their ski holiday in a hotel in Courchevel and for a variety of reasons I couldn’t commit to the same holiday at the time so when I could book something I booked my girlfriend and my ski accommodation in a catered chalet on the other side of Courchevel. It proved an inspired choice with our own space, able to eat with the family and a shortish walk home at the end of the night with an excuse to stop for a drink on the way home but still able to ski with the family!
We drove out and broke the journey at Troyes, a comfortable 5 hour drive from Calais where we had booked into a chain hotel and grabbed something to eat and got an early night before rising early and taking a morning stroll round the beautiful medieval town centre having a coffee and a croissant before jumping back in the car and heading onwards to the Alps with my excitement about skiing that fresh deep powder snow and my girlfriend’s excitement about the snow (she doesn't ski but loves the snow as much as I do) growing!
The miles ticked by and we arrived in Les Carroz where we were to spend a couple of days, enjoy a great day of powder skiing, a few beers, an open fire and then we were on the way to Courchevel.
The chalet was great, very comfortable with an open fire to relax in front of, the staff were great and they couldn’t do enough for us and Rich the chef provided superb food even for my special dietary requirements!
The snow just kept falling – some fabulous powder skiing and you couldn’t ask for a whiter Christmas! Whether it was skiing the off piste around 1850 or the quieter slopes over in 1650 (a personal favourite area of mine), for some reason doesn’t get as busy and the snow is great – check it out when you next ski The Three Valleys. We loved the snow, the roads had to be constantly cleared, our car had to be dug out and then it snowed some more! And that was all before Christmas!
Christmas Day itself was fantastic with the weather clearing, some great skiing with the family, entertainment on the slopes in the resort centre for the children (big and small!) and a traditional Christmas meal!
It was soon time to be going home and another drive back across France. This time we went via Dijon and a lovely stop over there.
Driving home from Christmas! Dreaming of a white Christmas.