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| The last view from our balcony at 06:00am just as we were leaving |
Our ski season and
Europe adventure is over and we are now safely back on UK soil after an easy,
but very long drive and ferry trip back on Sunday 1st May.
As it was the
middle day of a European long weekend holiday it was a good time to travel with
little (almost no) traffic on French motorways, a half empty ferry on the
Calais to Dover route and relatively quiet (if the M25 London orbital motorway
can ever be considered quiet!) motorways back to The Midlands and Jackie’s
mum’s house in Alvechurch.
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| Waiting to board our ferry at Calais eight and a half hours later |
We were ‘on the
road’ at 06:00am (05:00am UK time), setting off in heavy falling snow and
driving through fairly heavy rain and low cloud, occasionally turning to snow,
almost up to the Paris area, where blue sky replaced the cloud and we were in a
clear and sunny, but cold afternoon. Only stopping to change drivers and for
fuel we got to Calais at 14:30, just under 8hr 30min and had the welcome news
that we could board the 15:30 ferry, instead of the 17:00 one we’d booked, so
with less than an hours waiting in sunshine at Calais we were on board relaxing
in the half empty ferry.
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| On the ferry leaving Calais. It was sunny but cold |
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| Approaching the white cliffs of Dover |
Donning coats, hats and gloves we ventured outside on
deck in the afternoon sunshine in the cold stiff northerly wind watched the
beaches of Calais pass by us and could clearly see the white cliffs of Dover
not far away. It made us realise just how close the UK is to Europe and also
just how busy this stretch of water is with ships everywhere – one of the
busiest in the world but, being Brit’s we had a nice feeling of returning home
while looking at those white cliffs (but we didn’t see any blue birds!)
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| Safe and sound with a glass of wine at Pauline's house in Alvechurch |
We were at Pauline’s
house, where we’re staying until Friday, at 19:30, after stopping at the
Chinese take-away in the village to order a delivery of dinner for us and
Pauline, leaving the unpacking until the next day and cracking open a bottle of
wine with the meal. Finally home, at least until September when we plan to be
off again!
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| Our balcony from the top of the some down which the cats came. On the blanket asleep is Peter the cat with Groucho just peeking out over the edge of the box she's in |
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| Close up of the above. Groucho's white head is just visible |
However, we still
have news to report from St Jean d’Aulps, even though we only had two days left
and the big news (or what Jackie would consider to be the big news) is that
little Groucho kitten has given birth to an unknown quantity of kittens. She uncharacteristically
disappeared on Friday night and Saturday morning. I (Brian) took the
opportunity to thoroughly clean the balcony where they had stayed, as we couldn’t
leave it as it was for Carol to re-take possession after we had gone. The
blanket was taken away, the cardboard boxes they had used as little homes were
disposed of and I was in the middle of washing everything down with mop and
bucket when she suddenly jumped up on the wall and looked on with a mixture of
horror, need and pain. I left everything and went inside just as Jackie
returned after having been out looking for her.
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| 5 deer graze on the grass of the house on the opposite side of our valley |
Groucho came onto the
windowsill and it was immediately clear that she had not long given birth as
both sides and tail were wet and bloody and her rear end looked very sore and
bloody. She didn’t immediately want food, she wanted fuss and strokes from
Jackie and she absolutely lapped it up. I produced some warm water in a bowl
and a cloth and Jackie gently washed her down to help clean her up, afterwards
feeding her lots of cat biscuits and water with milk. She seemed to settle a
bit and then went off to tend to her babies.
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| Si and Cassie in the Bar National in St Jean d'Aulps |
Jackie went up to
see where she went and it turned out to be a high shelf in the tool shed of a
big house next to our apartment block. Not wanting to get too close as,
apparently that can endanger the lives of new born kittens, she could just see
Groucho climbing the slats inside the shed, climbing onto a high shelf and hear
the faint ‘meaows’ of tiny kittens.
By Saturday
afternoon and evening Groucho had been back on our windowsill several times
looking much better with clean fluffy fur, much more herself and demanding cat
biscuits, so everything seems to be well. As a final goodbye she reappeared on
the windowsill on Sunday morning at 06:00am, just as we were about to leave,
Jackie had strokes, left a mountain sized pile of cat biscuits and lots of
water and we waved goodbye as we closed the door and left. Hopefully we’ll see them
all again when we expect to return the year after next.
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| Drew and Leanne in the Bar National St Jean d'Aulps |
But that’s not all
the news, in between all this on Saturday afternoon we had an invite to a live
screening of a Navy vs Army rugby match being played at Twickenham. This was an
event that Si and Cassie had organised at the Bar National pub in St Jean d’Aulps
village and Si had flown back from his month long diving job in Belgium to be
there (a nightmare journey as it turned out as Brussels airport had only just
reopened after the terrorist attack and security was very high and so very
slow. Coupled with a nightmare road journey to the airport as well, he only
just made his flight). Si is ex-Navy, all his other mates in the Morzine area
are ex-Army. Apparently the Army usually win, the last win for the Navy being
in 2010, but Si takes it in good part and there is friendly banter between him
and all the others.
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| Si basks in Navy glory to the tune of 'In The Navy' |
Watching a live
rugby match is not top of our things to do (we know nothing about rugby), but
Si and Cass had arranged it, they had prepared food along with Leanne and Drew,
they were doing it all for their charity, so we thought it would be nice to go
as well as being able to say bye-bye properly before we go.
The food was
excellent and the atmosphere good even though not that many turned up. There
were maybe 20 or so of us, just enough to make it go and, to our relief not everyone
was ‘glued’ to the match, it was more in
the background so we could have a chat and meet new people (there’s a new
bridge club starting up we found out and, had we been staying there I could
have learned to play – Jackie already knows).
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| Si making announcements for his charity |
Anyway, early on
the Navy scored a try and then a conversion and the score was 7:0 – a good
start and Si was on form, not missing this opportunity. Sometime later is was
7:7, then 7:14 to the Army then later on it was 7:29 with only about 10 minutes
remaining. Ah well, pretty much like previous years and Si was quite accepting,
while I was chatting to a French girl with Scottish husband (complete with red
hair and red beard) about their house purchase in the nearby village of Le
Biot. A while later someone shouted across to Si to look at the screen;
unbelievably the score was 27:29 to the Army, but a player in the Navy was just
setting up the ball a long way out to take a conversion shot.
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| Fun in the bar just as we were leaving. We're on the left! |
We watched as he
ran up, took the shot and saw the ball go between the two uprights to score 2
points and level the score at 29:29 with only 90 seconds to go. That was the
final score, a draw, but apparently the Navy beat the RAF and the RAF had
beaten the Army, so victory was claimed by the Navy and they lifted the trophy.
Si raising his hand to claim victory with a broad grin was a picture (oh yes, I
did get a picture) and we were glad we were there to witness this apparently
rare event.
I asked the barman
if he could find and play ‘In the Navy’ by the Village People, so he searched
through his mobile phone, connected it to the PA system and played it quite
loud. Si recognised it from across the room much too quickly, waving his arms
around and laughing. We were expecting it and still didn’t immediately
recognise it – he did, what does that say?
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| The victorious Navy team hold up the trophy |
After eating far
too much of the food we said goodbye to everyone, had a great send off from
them and drove our luggage laden car back up the hill ready for the long
journey the following morning. The packing had gone extremely well, it all
seemed too easy making us wonder whether we had forgotten something big, but
no, everything was in, including 14 bottles and one carton of the Roche Mazet
wine we had taken a liking to and the extra pair of skis I had bought for €25
at the beginning of the season and used most of the time.
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| Bye-bye St Jean, we're going to miss you! |
Sad to leave, of
course, but we’re heading for new adventures, a summer in the UK and then our
big trip to South America in September for 12 to 14 months – better get on with
planning that, it’s only 4½ months away and there’s lots to do! Yesterday, as
we got in the car to go and see our friends Sarah and John in the village I noticed
the date, 3rd May. Oh, that’s our anniversary, 13 years today, ‘Happy
Anniversary darling’. Neither of us had remembered, but that doesn’t matter,
too many things to do, too many places to see and too busy enjoying ourselves.
Here’s to our next many years and anniversaries together!
By the way, I have created a Youtube video of 132 still photographs taken of the mountain view from our balcony, one photo for each day we were there and all at 08:30 every morning. The first picture on this blog is the last one, admittedly taken at 06:00am on this one occasion. It shows the changing weather and snow cover and lasts for just under 5 minutes. We appreciate it may not be everyones 'cup-of-tea' and possibly could be likened to watching paint dry, but some may appreciate art in it's higher form! What do you think? Here's the link to view it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=vFw8e6ehmAs
