Up in the Alps (2)

Matt is about to sign contracts to purchase the apartment in the first photo. The current owner kindly let us stay there, and we were very impressed and comfortable. For you skiers it's about 10 m from access to the pistes!

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The next two photos show Matt's bar (last night tonight as I type this, after a very successful season). It has a lovely atmosphere with great staff (hi, Val & Jackie) and friendly clientele, and the beer isn't bad either!

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Of course the weather was stunning on our last day and we enjoyed a cup of coffee and a spot of sunbathing on a café terrace. You could see the thaw was setting in - look at the icicles on the side of the church in the last photo.

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We loaded up the car mainly with Matt's things to help him with his twice yearly trip across France, and set off for Figeac.

Up in the Alps (1)

On the Sunday we left Phil in the safe hands of Loulou & Co to visit Versailles by day and Pigalle by night (oh la la!!) and we set off on the long journey to Val Thorens, the highest ski resort in Europe.

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The weather was pretty disappointing for the first couple of days as visibility was very poor - still it gave us the excuse (if we needed one) to make the most of Matt's bar! We decided to drive down the valley a bit below the clouds and the tree-line and visited a couple of very picturesque villages at St Marcel (Photo 1) and St Martin de Belleville (Photo 2).

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The forecast for Wednesday was better and we took the pod up to the Cime de Caron (3,200 m above sea level). Photo 4 shows us at the summit, and you can make out Mont Blanc in the third photo. We ate outside at the restaurant there before Matt snowboarded back to Val Th and we took the leisurely pods. Sorry all my sporty readers, I don't think skiing is for me!

Paris by afternoon

I don't think I mentioned that we've bought a GPS/SatNav and we were very impressed with it particularly in finding our way around Paris, not the easiest of cities to drive in (understatement!)

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After we left La Famille Alexandre we daringly drove into the centre of Paris (followed by Loulou, Sylvie & Co), parking underground at l'Hôtel de Ville and went walkabout. Tine, Matt, Phil & I walked around the Pompidou area, then over the bridges to St Michel, eventually meeting the others at Notre Dame.

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We HAD planned to drive to a restaurant near the Bastille but the traffic was so heavy (and the driver so stressed) that we made our way back to Vincennes for a take-away pizza and our last night with Loulou and the gang.

Family Reunion

Since moving to France we've seen most of Tine's Mum's family but we hadn't had the occasion to see any of the Alexandre family. So cousins Nathalie, Marijo and Tine spent a lot of time emailing and telephoning to assemble the masses together for a meal at a lovely restaurant called Chez Clément.

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We were allocated a great room at the restaurant, decorated bizarrely with spoons and copper pans - look carefully at the light-shades in the photos above! It was a beautiful spring day and we made the most of the gardens.

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I like the 'before' and 'during' of photos 2 and 4. Jean-Mi had printed up a family tree which Phil, Caro and Rems are studying in the third photo.

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It was wonderful to see relatives, some of whom hadn't seen each other for over 20 years, and we will keep our promise to return to Paris soon to continue this contact.

They're never at home...

That's not La Tranche, I can hear you say!

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Yes, we've been off on our travels again starting our motorised Tour de France in Paris chez les cousins Christian & Jacqueline. We couldn't have been made more welcome and I know we'll be back. A big thankyou to them. Whilst there we visited Tonton René in hospital (on the mend now) and Tata Colette who we haven't seen in a very long time.

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We moved on to Vincennes a couple of days later to await Loulou & Sylvie with Caro & Rems. We were all very excited as the next day we were heading for Disneyland Paris! Not only that but we were meeting Matt and Phil there, direct from a very early rise for their train from Chambéry.

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We had a wonderful (if shattering) day as the photos show. Photo 1 is a ghoul disguised as Loulou outside the Haunted House; photo 2 shows all but Tine queueing for Space Mountain - a good way to settle your breakfast! As you can see Tine was in charge of the camera and photo 3 has the rest of us in front of the Pirates of the Caribbean. The last two photos were taken of the parade. The soldiers from Toy Story were AMAZING and the conga drummer had us all laughing with his stare.

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A day we'll all remember, but it felt good to get back to Vincennes to get some sleep before the big Alexandre family reunion next day.

Update on changes

So, we're getting nearer to the completion of our new living space. Some days we have been invaded by workmen, but we've been very impressed by their hard-working attitude and good humour (and reliability - forget 'A Year in Provence'!)
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The windows are in, as you can see here, the mezzanine has been lowered slightly and the electrical wiring is ready for the second phase of plaster-boarding. The builders have done all the digging and pipework for the new bathroom, in readiness for the plumber.
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All very exciting stuff (if you're saddos like us!!)

The boys WERE back in town!

We had a great few days with Matt & Phil although we only really saw Matt at mealtimes! We drove them up to Nantes yesterday (Sunday) to catch the train to Chambery via Lyon. They are now safe and sound in a VERY snowy Val Thorens. However we will see them again soon at an Alexandre family reunion.

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Phil and Tine went for a bike-ride to La Terriere and through the forest, leaving me at home to continue the dreaded weeding! I like Phil's impression of John Travolta in the first photograph. He assured me that he went into the sea up to his knees - the sea temperature is 11.7° at the moment.

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La Tranche was built on old sand dunes with marshlands behind. These marshes were drained many years ago and the land is very fertile (and flat). All along the dunes are coniferous forests, wonderful to walk in during the hot Summer months but still very pleasant out of season. The other photos show Mother & Son's exploits, including finding a tadpole-populated pond!

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I was going to say it's a lot quieter here now the 'children' have all gone, but there is the constant sounds of hammering/drilling from the garage. Yes, the workmen are back - more next time!

Preparations

I might have mentioned before (it's my age) that I can't believe how quickly La Tranche gets into gear again for the season. After 4 months' quiet time, in March there was the sound of preparation in many shops and cafés. By April they're practically all open - could be that the school Spring holidays started last weekend and there are far more people around.

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More close to home I love the 1st photo showing Pascal cleaning the swimming pool at the campsite, in readiness for their new season. I think Jean told me that it takes 3 days to fill from empty.

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So our daughter left us to go back to work, poor thing, but now we've been invaded by our sons. We drove up to Nantes railway station on Monday to fetch Matt who had journeyed from Val Thorens to help prepare for his and Stef's first season in their bar/restaurant.

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The 2nd and 3rd photos show Matt with a vacuum cleaner - now I know many people who won't believe these photos, but I promise they are true! Next we see Stef obliterating a very strong ochre with a more subtle shade. I must say that we have been VERY impressed with Matt & Stef's hard work in preparation for the season - opening 3rd May as there is quite a bit of paperwork to await- oh, the joys of French bureaucracy.......

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Finally you can see the bike Matt normally uses when in La Tranche, purloined by Stef who has added a special number-plate ('plaque d'immatriculation'): Matt & Stef Paille Hot 85. Good luck to them, we hope they are a HUGE success in their venture.

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Can't forget Peep who arrived at La Rochelle airport on yesterday. I borrowed Catherine's car (merci, Cath!) to fetch him as Tine was looking after the little ones at Cécile's. He arrived at the right airport (!) and we were soon walking along the beach checking on changes. More of Phil next time...

Garden news

Sorry not to have done a post on the blog for a while - I got too used to my guest bloggists taking over!

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We had a wonderful time whilst Nad was with us, not doing anything THAT special but just enjoying ourselves. Nad did get a bit of a tan but we daren't tell her the two days after she left (from Nantes, no change of airport this time!) were scorching - meanwhile our friends back 'home' were enjoying freezing conditions and snow. Is there any justice? Well there must be because since then it has dropped really cold and miserable again, and it rained buckets in the night - hope my French readers enjoy that one....

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So, we've been busy in the garden. The cherry tree in the first photo has looked after itself actually. Most of the fruit trees are now in flower so we are looking forward to picking their produce in the Summer. The second photo shows a very welcome lizard scampering over the potato patch - they're just peeping through not long after planting - yeh!! Sadly you can also see the dreaded mare's tail weed ('prêle') in that and the last photo. We're told it's practically impossible to eradicate but we're continuing to fight the fight.

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Yesterday Tine told me to come out to look at her latest find and YES, the caulies are flowering - it feels like they're having our babies! I must say they look very healthy and we are proud.

Time to say au revoir!

C'est deja la fin de mes vacances :( last morning here unfortunately. However, instead of getting up bright and early to make the most of it, we all slept in by accident! One hour left till we have to leave so I am under strict instructions to pen my last blog. You'd think it would be time better spent to weep into our Special K! (Note to all - the Shreddies have run out, I repeat, the Shreddies have run out...!)

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Sorry LCA, weather yesterday was STUNNING! As my sun burnt hand would prove. Put cream on my arms, forgot my hands. Elementary mistake. We made the most of it and lay outside for yet more lovely siestes in the sun. Grey and miserable today but I'm sure it is just the weather making sure I am not too sad to leave :)

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As the photos prove, we have all got our feet wet this holiday. Maman and I managed it in March but wussy Paps only managed April (albeit only 2 days later!) I think though that M&P are much better at hiding in their facial expressions just how blinking cold it actually was. Especially because by the time Papa took the photo of us we'd been there a little longer than we'd have chosen to be! Regardless, I can say that in my Easter holidays I have sunbathed AND I have paddled. Fab.

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Since the last blog we have been to see Cecile in La Roche for a lovely lunch in a Sicilian restaurant near where she works. Was lovely to see her. Merci pour les commentaires; ils nous ont beaucoup plus! As Cecile pointed out, it's odd to see each other more than just once or twice in the summer, but this is in fact the third time since last year! Add that to the list of benefits for having estranged parents. (Papaman: we're still married despite this rumour. In fact our 33rd Anniversary was this week!)

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On our way back we were VERY exciting and called in at the local garden centre which has just sprung up. I eyed up ridiculously expensive trees (seriously, €1700...) and we all ooed and ahhed over tiny rabbits and other small rodents. Think it's about time that Casa Clegg got a fish tank/pond though eh? My suggestion is to simply build a swimming pool with goldfish in it! Win win situation!

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Last night to mark my final night we thought it would be great to take a stroll into town after eating and go for a drink Chez David. We had a lovely walk over admiring the stars only to get there and discover that it was closed. As was pretty much every other bar in town! Even the PMU which is ALWAYS open wasn't tonight. It was like a ghost town. When the church bells rang, Maman pointed out that that all we needed was some tumble weed to roll past and she had a point. It was of course my fault for leaving midweek and not at the weekend. It's okay, I accept the blame. Instead we came home, had a drink whilst watching Grand Designs and went to bed. Rock and Roll eh?!

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Right, time is running out. I have to shower and breakfast and finish packing and there are only 49 minutes left! Many many thanks to all the comments; I am ECSTATIC to beat the world record (well Papa's record anyway) it's just good to hear from people I wouldn't do otherwise. Keep up the good work and a bientôt when I hopefully take my summer slot chez le blog.

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Bisous,

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Nadine xxx