Skiing...

Richard, bless him, last went skiing in 1988 and I reckon that was thirty five years ago.

He has hinted at a skiing trip but it's not really my thing which is why (I think) when we moved here to South West France he had on eye on the Pyrenees which are only three hours drive from here.

So, when his son said that he fancied a go at skiing last November Richard immediately agreed.  The plan was a weekend - Adam would fly to Bergerac from Stansted, Richard would pick him up as it's only 25kms from here and they would drive to somewhere in the mountains fairly close by.

But, as often happens with these things (and as my Mum used to say) the plan grew arms and legs.

Richard's daughter heard of the plan and wanted a piece of the action.  She lives in Paris and can get pretty much anywhere on the excellent TGV network.

Suddenly it wasn't a weekend in the Pyrenees - it was five days (over a weekend, 'tis true) in Val d'Isere with Adam and his girlfriend and Katie and her french boyfriend.

All this was fine but Val d'Isere is more than 700kms from here AND we had to pick Adam and his girlfriend up from Lyon... with all their gear... and ours... and the bed linen because that wasn't provided unless we paid extra (unlike here I may add with a slightly disdainful sniff!)... in a rear wheel drive cabriolet.

I needn't have worried - the rail network is very good in France, but so are the Autoroutes,  Sure they, are toll roads but they are very slick - although they're not empty of traffic they are pretty clear, smooth and comfortable.  We had no hold ups and everything was really easy - in fact, I would go as far to say that I enjoyed the drive across the south of France and wouldn't balk at doing it again.

We arrived at Lyon Airport to the minute predicted by the SatNav.

Val d'Isere is beautiful (if somewhat pricey) - it's a high resort so there was plenty of snow and the skiers (everyone except me) really enjoyed the experience.

I was chalet Mum which meant I got to meet the team off the slopes for a bit of Apres Ski before we headed back to the apartment for dinner, drinks and games.  And I got to walk, drink some hot chocolate and brush up on my French.

The drive home was a little eventful because easyJet changed Adam's flight... instead of flying from Lyon we had to take him and his girlfriend Montpelier.  It's 200kms further but again the Autoroutes helped the journey pass uneventfully and the drive actually enhanced the holiday because we got an extra couple of hours with Adam and his girlfriend to relive the experiences we had just had.

I could tell everyone enjoyed the holiday because the Group Chat Richard's daughter set up had lots of talk about what we'd been up to and where we are going to do it next year... yes, it seems that it's become an annual event already!