Mopping up and lots of cats

Chocolat Chaud break on the ski slopes in Chatel

Another 10 days have passed since the last entry, so we haven't been sitting around, though not as frantic as the previous fortnight, the weather has been much more as we expected after our last season, waking every day to blue sky and sunshine, obviously this is lovely to ski in, but not so good for the snow, though it is holding up remarkably well, days just have to be a little shorter, wait for the ice to soften a little first thing, ski, and then go home when it has softened too much and turned to slush!

Lots of days with cloud inversion views like this

We have been doing some strange days out so B can 'mop up' trying to do all the runs he didn't do either last or this season, I say all, he's now down to 8, one black that is always closed, two reds that are mostly grass, a blue that is inaccessible due to a closed lift and a few greens, so while he has been ticking off, I feel like I've been watching paint dry. There is a reason we haven't done most of these greens, and that's because they are full of five year olds and virtually flat!

Mont Blanc and Chamonix peaks as seen from the top of La Grande Terche, our local resort

Groucho's lion pose on our balcony

One day we had to walk 600m in Morgins to find three blues! We got there to find one drag, one blue and a beginners area. I refused to go up the drag again, as they do hurt my knees, and what was the point? He took longer to get back to me than expected, as he hadn't recognised the short flat area in front of him as a piste! It hasn't all been bad, don't get me wrong, we've had days out with Drew and his friend Mika, and Cassie, and yesterday we went to Praz de Lys, probably the nearest  unlinked area to us, but with our season pass we got three free entries to various other resorts so thought we'd use one. 

Little Smuts cat in a tree by our balcony

We nearly didn't go as we woke up in a cloud but found a webcam to look at and it appeared to be clear. I think we spent most of the day above the cloud which lead to some amazing views. It wasn't a huge area but great for a day out. It was incredibly quiet and those people that were there seemed to either be old or beginners, so didn't get in our way! The best run of the day was a long hard fast black, the likes of which we just haven't seen this season, beautifully pisted and completely empty. For some reason I got sent in front which rarely happens and throwing caution to the wind went like a rocket. We both admitted we might have been going slightly faster than we should have been. No problems, just the awareness that one wrong move and it could have all gone horribly wrong!

Drew, Cassie, Mika and Jackie skiing in La Grande Terche

Same people with Brian on a Chocolat and Vin Chaud stop

Today we went out under blue skies, him slightly grumpy, as I'd said no to a skin up and off piste ski down in resort as I didn't think the snow would be up to it. As it turns out I was right, what sent us home though was the wind, the forecast had shown 25km/hr and it was all that, plus. So spindrift pricking the face and lifts being shut and breaking all over the place, he ticked off one more green. Our route back involved his nemesis, a long flat blue, but had to be done, only to find it has been downgraded to a green, not that it's got any flatter, but also it was directly into the wind so progress was very slow!

Jackie looking cool skiing the off-piste black run l'Aigle in La Grande Terche. Mika and Drew in the distance

Waiting at a drag lift while maintenance is carried out

The sun on the balcony has led to earlier, more relaxed cat visitations as they come to sunbathe which has been great, though Groucho has just disgraced herself by appearing, saying hi, and leaping at the balcony rail and running off with a blue tit in her mouth! This is the second one, she got one the other morning about which B was distraught, guilt struck because they only came as we put bread out! We have now stopped so what this one was doing today who knows! I just think she's showing us she will be OK when we've gone! We did come back to her being very apologetic one afternoon as she had obviously leaped for something but got her landing wrong, destroying the bottle of white wine we'd left in the 'outdoor fridge'! Fortunately it had all gone down the drain hole and she didn't seem to have any glass in her paws!

Jackie in Praz de Lys with Mont Blanc over a cloud inversion in the distance

One more scenic cloud inversion photo (we have lots more of these!)

We've had Gizmo back for dog sitting which was funny, watching him get wound up, bouncing at the window as the cats just peer in fairly unperturbed! He's back tomorrow too, I thought we'd probably seen the last of him, but apparently we are just entering party season so we can expect a bit more of him! It's still busy on changeover days as Cassie and Si are still busy which is great, there weren't so many in this weekend, but Cassie had gone back to the UK early on Saturday morning for the weekend so it was just the three of us. Except that Judith, Simons mum had a couple of hours before her transfer to the airport and couldn't help herself and joined in!

This is definitely something Brian doesn't condone - pussy cats cleaning up dinner plates!

A fat (or pregnant?) Calico cat

B did his first private transfer on Saturday, Mika, the friend of Drew's who is staying at Si and Cassie's was coming in by train to the airport (?) Sadly he fell asleep and missed his change so just as I was expecting B home, I got a message from Si asking if I knew what was going on? So two hours later than expected B arrived home, oh well, Mika was very apologetic and the extra 50 euro on top of the agreed fee can only come in handy!

Peter cat doing his Meerkat impression watched by Groucho cat

Groucho cat tempted to leap in through the window while Peter cat feeds his face and Smuts cat sunbathes

 

Sunbathing cats on our wall and a hunting Groucho cat on the hillside in the distance

 

Posing cats. Smuts in mid yawn, Peter cat chilling out in the afternoon sun