Transition

Hi everyone, and welcome to the very first blog post of the winter direct from Méribel in the mountains. Since the previous post I left Leamington Spa and attended a family gathering in Essex. The following day I then popped down to Sussex, where I'm from originally, to visit further family and then caught up with some friends. The following day the big drive started in earnest with a Folkestone channel crossing, and a route down to Burgundy for an overnight stop. I had the tail end of Storm Bertie to cope with, so driving in the rain had its challenges!

A friend of my wife's had mentioned and recommended a village she had stayed in during the summer, so I thought I'd give it a go. It's called Bèze, and is located about 10km from the autoroute North East of Dijon. Any further than that from the motorway, then I probably wouldn't want to extend the journey. I arrived in the dark in the pouring rain, so didn't see a thing until the following morning after the weather had cleared up.

I often choose to break the journey by stopping in the middle of France. Waking up in the country, especially when the weather is has improved is a joy. I know that the UK has some stunning villages, towns and cities; but France has its own unique vibe which is something I love about the country.

I'm glad I tried somewhere new for an overnight stop. And although I only walked around the village for an hour or so, it was lovely being reintroduced to France again before heading back to the motorway. I arrived later in Méribel Town on Tuesday evening, and the very next day woke to some beautiful weather. I took time off from the unpacking to go for a stroll to see how the mountain was looking.

It was lovely being up the mountain again, in the sunshine, and coming across people enjoying themselves doing wintery things.

It was also nice seeing in person that there was snow on the mountain, rather relying on the webcams. Of course it is still only November, but good to see a base of snow providing a fair start. There was plenty of evidence of snow making, and I'm sure this will ramp up soon in preparation for the scheduled opening in over a week's time. I hope to go skiing somewhere soon before then; if I do I'll report back here. Right, I'd better crack on with the unpacking and running around in circles. As ever, don't forget to Live With Passion. Martin.