I Don't Believe It

Last Monday it was time to leave Leamington Spa for the long drive down to Meribel for the winter. I'd factored in enough time for a couple of stops before reaching Folkestone. However 20 miles later on the M40 it all went pear shaped. I was motionless, for an hour, in the lashing rain staring at a flashing sign stating long delays between junctions seven to four, and I hadn't even reached junction eleven. "I don't believe it" ran through my mind several times.

There was only one thing for it. When the next junction appeared, I would pull off the motorway and make a mad dash cross country and to try and find the channel tunnel. Whilst this was happening I was constantly looking at the milometer and computing whether I could make it in time before missing my crossing. Professor Brian Cox would've been impressed with all the computations that were made. Coffee and toilet stops were sacrificed and match sticks were found and erected around the eye sockets to help the mission.......... The end result, I made the deadline with three minutes to spare. Phew, but still didn't have enough time to get a coffee at the terminal though, RUBBISH. The glamour of travel?

All went well the other side of the channel, and stopped overnight in the Champagne area to recover. The next day I had planned a walk around, and coffee (!), part way down the country in the Burgundy area. However, what with it still lashing down with rain, I decided to put that on hold for another year and opted to crack on with the driving.

It felt as though the journey had reached the point of 553,553 kilometres since Leamington before finally seeing some mountains. And what a sight it was. Spirits were lifted as I wafted towards the safety of Meribel and a night of unpacking the car. It is always a pleasure waking up the next morning after arriving and looking at the window. I felt as giddy as Michael does just before he tucks into his next fine dining experience.

Anway, enough of me blathering on. "How does the snow look" I hear you cry. Not too bad at all. I've skied over in Tignes mid-week which was great fun; where I bumped into a few Meribel ski instructor colleagues who were also having a free ski. It was great to catch up with them. And then yesterday I went across to Val Thorens here in the Three Valleys, and skied on their opening day of the winter.

The snow at the top of the mountain has gorgeous soft dry conditions, with very good snow-cannoned coverage (or cultured snow as the French call it) at the bottom. Bearing in mind it is still mid to late November, this is typical for this time of year and certainly nothing to worry about. It was fun standing on the skis again. However sliding around in control is another matter, but it always returns after a few days. Anyway, who cared what we all looked like, we were in the mountains again.

The plans for the next few days? Continue settling back into the alpine way of life, and going for a few more slides. If you enjoyed this article, you might like another post written about balancing on skis, click here for the link. Please feel free to share away on Facebook, Twitter and Google+ by using the social media icons. Or leave a comment below, it's always nice to hear your thoughts. Right, time to have a well deserved coffee. Martin