Snow, wind and cold - no, we're not back in the UK!

Finally, we got some of the snow that has been dumping down over the UK for the past week or so. Which is nice. We were actually starting to get a little jealous of all those "sledging in Hyde Park" photos in the papers.... But the weather has well and truly turned now, just in time for the February half-term holidays. Which, the more you talk to people who have worked here before, sound like absolute hell on earth. For example, my ski school has over 200 children booked in for our group lessons next week and that's just in the morning. Luckily, I have just heard that I am being spared that chore, having been assigned a nice (hopefully) easy private lesson on full days - so free lunches for me all week, assuming I can actually sort out booking the restaurants every day. Which will be no mean feat with the number of people about! And apparently I am spared again the week after - I must be doing something right to keep the right people happy! Vicki on the other hand is not so lucky with 4 kids under the age of 6 in the chalet. Kids teas, cots and high chairs all round!

The big news the past week is that Vicki went snowboarding! (photographic evidence attached!)Hurrah! Having always sworn well away from having anything to do with those weird people with two feet strapped to one piece of wood, she eventually decided to make the most of being out here for a season and give it a whirl. She did remarkably well for her first time, and again on our second outing until a freak twist meant that the session came to a slightly premature halt. But turns were made, edges were held and only one or two edge-catches were seen (and felt). So a good time was had by all, and I can announce that we are not getting divorced, despite me having taught Vicki to both ski and snowboard. Result!

Vicki here - Just joined Rob in the pub after our team meeting (in the church hall of all places as there's nowhere else big enough for us all to congregate!).

I've had a nice (relatively) simple week with 3 days off (luxury - but only because I had to give up a day last week to cover for an ill chef!) and 2 days shadowing the chef in the flagship SV chalet, which so far has been fantastic. Makes me realise that I really am playing at this cheffing thing (although from my guest feedback so far I seem to be pulling it off!). Last night we were preparing a full on 5 canape, amuse bouche, starter, main, desert and cheese affair. Needless to say the stuff these guys know is amazing and I learnt more in one evening that I ever have before. It's great as it's the only chalet with a seperate (ie not open plan) professional style kitchen so I can ask loads of random questions and taste everything! I'm really looking forward to my full day up there on Thursday too.

Chalet changeover on Sunday was made all the more bearable by the fact that my chalet is one of only a few who have Sky Sports. Unfortunately I've only found Spurs fans here so clearly none of them were welcome to come over and watch the match!! Shame it wasnt a better result!

Too much snow for skiing at the moment which is a bit of a pain. Most of the lifts were shut for wind today but hopefully will get out tomorrow afternoon for my free lesson (with one of the ski schools we use rather than Rob). Whilst Rob is the most fantastic teacher ever, I probably don't listen as much as I should so it's been quite good having someone else tell me what I should be doing every now and then. Having been out on the snowboard once or twice I'm quite looking forward to getting back out on skis and reminding myself I can do this snowy mountain thing!

More from us once we've recovered from half term!

Two months in and all is well

Although the January slump is coming to an end, it has not been all bad. The last week has seen long sunny days, which following the amazing dumps of snow we had means long days spent on the slopes! Vicki decided that snowboarding was something she wanted to try so got as far as hiring a board and boots (for free obviously...) but for various reasons, we never quite made it up to the beginner slopes for our lesson. Shame, but hopefully we can remedy that before the season is out. I know a few people in the Colchester area who will be weeping with pride if Vicki actually makes it out on a snowboard!

The week has gone well despite the failure to go boarding. Vicki joined four of her SV colleagues in taking up her "Employee of the Week" prize (and no, she doesn't get to wear a badge with stars on, so stop asking!) by going paragliding on Thursday. She got to go last, having watched the other four take off earlier in the afternoon so got some idea of the take-off drill entailed. Despite this, she did it anyway. The preparations were made:

And so the flight began. Vicki was strapped to one of the orange-clad twins (it's either Mike or Stu, we're not sure which) and they skied off down the mountain in a more or less upright position and flew into the bright blue yonder. While they were up there, Mike (or Stu, take your pick) took some photos of their voyage into the cloudless skies above Verbier.

There are a few more which will be uploaded to Facebook at some point for those who have access, but uploading on here is slow and tedious. So there!

Afterwards, as it was a day off for both of us, we decided to take stock of all that excitement in the Farinet Apres Ski, with a cheap pitcher of beer. Once Vicki had established that her services would not be required particularly early the next morning, we launched into our second jug. At which point Patrick Kielty (he the presenter and comedian of BBC fame, with gigs such as Fame Academy and Comic Relief) arrived with his mate, Brett the hedge-fund manager. Using a story involving a mix-up to do with his ski lesson that morning, I opened up the conversation while Vic was in the loo, and we then spent the next couple of hours partying with Patrick and Brett. Both very good lads, not scared of sharing their drinks. For those non-believers, proof is in the picture (we can't publish pudding on the blog...):

This was when Pat (yes we got that pally - it's amazing what a few beers, Jaegerbombs and assorted shots will do to people) was dancing on the bar. We were busy dancing on the tables opposite at the time. So all in all we had a good night. Well. Actually, it was more like a good afternoon. After staggering back (still in our ski boots may I add) around 8ish (times are approximate and should not be used as evidence against us) to the flat, we may have some food, probably made lots of unnecessary noise in the corridors and definitely both took our contact lenses out. Some of us more than once... Ouch indeed. But luckily we had a nice lie-in to look forward to as neither of us had anything planned until mid-morning at the earliest.

Or did we? Oh cruel fate, how you taunt us. A rude awakening phone call around 8.15am led Vicki to understand that her presence was required immediately to go and clean some chalets. Apparently text messages had been dispatched late into the night - well ok, around 9 pm, but still! So off she tottered to go and dutifully work, whilst I sunk smugly back under the duvet having set a DVD going, to leisurely waste a morning in bed. But once again, that damn cruel fate interfered. Ten minutes into my film, I got a call from the office, informing me that I had one hour before my meeting for a last-minute lesson with a Greek gentleman and his daughter at one of the poshest hotels in Verbier. Oh joy.

So both of us having had our planned lazy day ruined returned back to the flat, duly exhausted, but actually not feeling too bad. The beauty of apres-ski is that being in bed by 9ish means you get a full night's sleep to give your body a chance to eliminate at least some of the ridiculous substances you ingested the previous evening. Bonus! So from now on, we will only drink from mid-afternoon to early evening. Sounds like a fool-proof plan to me. Right, who's with me? I'm off for a couple of shots and a pint or eight!