The Transition

Hi everybody and welcome to the latest post from your favourite blogging Méribel ski instructor; the first of the winter direct from the Alps. The last few days have been a blur of rushing around like an idiot. Frantically packing, crossing off items on the things to do list, before adding double the amount and starting the whole process all over again! And then the drive with a fully loaded car, a whopping 850 miles.......At least there were a couple of overnight stops planned.

The first overnighter was in Wivenhoe near Colchester in Essex. Wivenhoe is where Harriet and I became husband and wife, eighteen wonderful years ago. Several members of her family live there. It was a nice last evening in the UK catching up with them. The next morning arrived with an early breakfast before jumping in the car to start the BIG drive. All went smoothly, but my goodness it's a long drive especially when it was all in the rain. At least I could look forward to the second overnighter in Bourgogne (Burgundy).

I do love the Bourgogne, and have stayed there on many occasions whilst travelling to and from the UK and the Alps. I opted for Beaune, somewhere I have stayed a few times and very much enjoyed. It was still piddling with rain the morning after my stay. But I wanted to have a walkabout, so I borrowed an umbrella from the hotel.

Yep, loved it again, and it was another wonderful re-introduction back into France. Wasn't so happy about the Beaune autoroute junction being closed for roadworks that morning, I had to drive across through vinyard-themed countryside to find the next available junction. The arrival in Méribel, and unpacking that evening, was a bit of a blur mind you. The transition was complete from summer to winter life.

The next day, Tuesday (Nov 29th), I did a load of chores before popping down to Chaudanne to see what was going on there. I had noticed on the webcams the last few weeks, that the infrastructure was going up in preparation for the World Championships. Here's a link to the webcams if you fancy taking a look.

Well, Ladies and Gentlemen, it is all a little larger than I was expecting!?! The first thing I must say is that there were notices up that said the public access was forbidden. I dutifully respected these signs, and got as close as I could without being shouted at by the site staff. Hence not quite the usual standard of photos.

There are a couple of different ways of thinking about this season, down at Chaudanne (the bottom of the main ski lift/pistes area). I have to say that it is all really impressive with the amount of planning, and scaffolding work that's gone on. It's a different scale to when Méribel co-hosted the World Cup finals last March, and also back in 2015. If you were able to attend either of those, think bigger for this winter!

There's no denying that Chaudanne will be a very different experience for us compared to normal. I'm guessing I'll gather more information about how it will all work in the coming weeks, including at the massive start of season ESF ski school meeting later in December.

Anyway, that's enough photos of a snowy building site for today, I just thought you might be interested. My unpacking and getting organised continues. I'll pop into the ski school in the next day or two to show my face and grab my lift pass. Courchevel opens some of its ski lifts and pistes this coming Saturday; fingers crossed I'll put on a pair of those slippery slidey things called skis and take a look. Keep posted....... until then don't forget to Live With Passion. Martin.

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