What Leanne was really saying was...."Damn...it's snowing again!!... that means I'll have to go skiing..Bother!!!" No need to explain what Mike, Graeme and I were thinking.
Today we decided to head over to Morzine for a trip down memory lane. Over 20 years ago, Mike lived and worked in Morgin (near Morzine but over on the Swiss side), a small resort included in the Portes du Soleil ski area. Morzine is only about 35 minutes drive from Araches and getting there is easy.
It's a vast ski area - 650 km of marked runs and about 230 lifts in total, spread over 14 valleys and about 400 square miles (1036 square km) of trails. We congratulated ourselves on our choice today. It was snowing heavily and visibility was poor, but the low elevation of Les Gets and Morzine meant that there was plenty of tree skiing.
Unfortunately, our first impressions of Morzine & Les Gets were not good. A sticky mixture of natural and man-made snow, the slopes packed with British tourists, and a dodgy morning-tea stop failed to enthuse us. But as luck would have it, we discovered the "locals side" of the hill in Les Gets - Mt Chery. The majority of Les Gets' black and red runs are here. There are no beginner runs. We learnt that the tourists generally stick to the Les Chavannes side of the hill. To our delight, there was no-one on the slopes and the snow was deep!
We even managed to find the nicest Salle de Hors Sacs. After a disappointing start to the morning, we were cold and spirits were flagging. At first we thought we'd have to eat our picnic lunch in the windswept corridor of the telecabine station. But with a little more investigation, I found the most delightful picnic room. As I have mentioned before, the majority of Salle de Hors Sacs we have found are dark smelly windowless rooms located next to the public toilets. In contrast, the Mt Chery room was toasty warm, clean and although near the toilets did not smell! There were lovely wooden benches & cupboards, red gingham curtains on the windows and local artwork on the walls. Very homey. And we were the only ones there.
Warm and refreshed, we were ready to ski the hill.
Did we mention that the snow was deep? Even Leanne converted to a "Powder Piggy" for the afternoon. There was some consternation however when we took a wrong turn and ended up on a black run instead of the intended red one. At times like this, I have always found it best for the relevant partner to make themselves scarce! Leanne was very brave and followed me down with minimal bad language. I have a sneaking suspicion that the outcome may have been different if Mike had been her escort!
We rewarded Leanne's outstanding efforts with a delicious hot chocolate in a lovely little mountain restaurant.... where we were served by...you guessed it...a lovely young Englishman!
4/ Powder Piggy #2 - Leanne!
French Observation
There are no French left in the Portes du Soleil!
No comments:
Post a Comment