Fun in the sun

I know it's been a while, but as I explained in the last post, the tourists have been staying away the last few weeks, which means no work (for me that is) and plenty of parties and nights out. So somehow managed to not get on the internet very regularly the last few weeks. Sorry all.
Anyway, what has happened here? Well - not a huge amount as far as me working goes. This week has been the first in four that I have worked. Had a delightful group of little cherubs ranging in age from 4 to 12. Interesting mix I can tell you... The sweetest thing happened when I needed to swap a pair of 4 year-old twins down to the lower group as they were lagging behind. I had had one of them back in February and we got on great. When the other instructor and I explained the situation they burst into tears saying they wanted me and only me! They even grabbed my legs and would not let go. I had to remove them and ski away whilst the other instructor held them back. It was then made worse when we saw them at break time and it all started again! A kind lady asked if she could help as she thought one of them was injured...! But apparently. love's young dream was gotten over relatively easily, as two days later one of them confided that "I am not in love with Rob anymore". "Neither am I" replied the second one! Aw, bless.
And one of the parents of one of my 5 year-old girls actually asked me to text him if we decide to come back next season and I work for another ski school! Flattering, if nothing else.
Only one week left of real tourists in town, but should be a lot quieter than this week, as loads of people are heading home after Easter Monday. Guess the late Easter means less people are keen to stay for the two weeks - makes sense! So should have some work, but not a huge amount. Ah well, will have to sit in the sun and work on my face tan!

Vic has of course been working hard with no respite but only one week of guests left when these guys leave on Sunday, so hopefully they will be nice and easy to deal with. Sod's law says not, but what can you do?! The last week for her will then involve cleaning and closing down a whole host of chalets, but at least that can be done with a hangover. Which is lucky as there is an endless string of seasonnnaire parties starting on Sunday 19th!

Vicki very kindly bought me a gift voucher for a paragliding tandem flight, after having enjoyed hers so much a couple of months ago. So last Monday I took to the skies and had a flight down into the valley. Mine was different to Vicki's for a number of reasons. Firstly the lack of snow down in the valley now means that you can't really take off on skis - the landing strip is now well and truly grass! Also the wind that day meant that it was not such an easy flight for the pilot. I suppose they have to work for their money sometimes! But the wind also meant that we were not able to do a whole load of aerobatics - although we did manage to do a quick spiral to get some G's going. But the experience was brilliant and this way both of us have a special flight to look back on this season. A few photos taken by Vicki below - note they are a lot better than the ones I took of her, sorry about that!


Still think Stu (the pilot behind me) should have been facing down the hill, but I guess he knows what he is doing... And I was starting to get worried about what the guy in front of me was doing as well.

Take off with the stunning view of the (very green) valley below us

Almost an arty picture here with the mountains in the bottom of the frame and me gliding along through the clouds... Very nice.


It's hard to believe there are only a couple of weeks left now before the dreaded trip back to London. Although it will be nice to be back in our house, with our things and a real hob and oven to cook in (!), it is definitely going to be weird to be outside the Verbier bubble, especially at the start. Things like going to Sainsbury's will be a whole new experience again (how much choice is there in there compared to the tiny teeny Migros and Co-op here!) and having a choice of pubs of more than 5 will be plain strange! But in the meantime, I am off to sit in the sun to try and even out the goggle mark by wearing sunglasses and no hat. At least Vicki should be happy then! I am still surprised not to have found a bottle of St Tropez kicking around yet...