The 4 S's

Sun. Ski. Snow. Saucisson.

That's French for sausage.

Sausage rolls in France are different to the sausage rolls I'm used to. They're pretty much just some flaky pastry (think croissant) wrapped around a hotdog type sausage. I think I prefer the English version with it's big fat lump of sausage (sic) meat encased in not so flaky pastry.

Seven days of sun, ski and snow can really take it's toll on you. Our holiday was exhausting. But ... fun. We had a fantastic time. As we were in the South of France the sunshine was spectacular yet, we were lucky enough to still have a reasonable ground cover of snow. It didn't snow once whilst we were there - actually, I can barely remember seeing a cloud in the sky the entire time, but with a big dump prior to our arrival and the snow cannons working overtime in the night the snow did manage to hold up quite well for the full 7 days.

A typical day for us started with an 8am breakfast and then a 9:30am ski lesson (Paul in beginner, me in intermediate - but he quickly caught up!). Then if Paul's legs held up he'd come and do some extra hours on the slopes with me from 11:30am. Lunch, then maybe another ski, maybe not, 4pm obligatory snooze, pre-dinner drinks at 7pm, dinner at 7:30pm and then apres ski activities in the evening (generally organised by the rep that was looking after our group).

We met some great people and had a lot of good laughs. I am pleased to say that I'm very confident on blue runs now and getting there on the red runs (sometimes!). Paul started as a beginner but due to either a really really good ski instructor - or just sheer talent (I can't decide) he's managing to keep up with me pretty easily on the slopes.

Montgenevre is gorgeous. A picture perfect snow resort with imposing mountains looming behind a snowpacked playground and a cluster of old and new chalets and hotels, a good range of beginner and intermediate ski runs and some great off piste skiing as well, (or so I'm told by our new friends Jeremy and Helen - crazy snowboarders from Devon who jump over creeks and logs and hoon down black runs like they are tiny anthills). The village is really small and all of the village shopkeepers are charming and lovely and have the patience of saints when it comes to dealing with the non-French speakers like us.

There are a bevy of great bars and restaurants to choose from and it's just a short 2km stroll through gorgeous snowcovered parkland into Italy (and the village of Claviere).

We managed to take some nice photos so here's a link for your viewing pleasure. If I can work out how to load a video clip the next entry will be of me and my new-found-friend-Helen daggy dancing to a song from the Blues Brothers whilst out on one of our evening excursions.

Enjoy!