Avoriaz 2020

Fruit Cake

Rather than a cup of coffee, can I interest you in a Vin Chaud and a piece of home-made Christmas cake on the ski slopes of Avoriaz just on the border of France and Switzerland?

For the first time we have gone back somewhere two years running, as intrepid explorers it’s not our style.

We were just looking for something in budget, similar transfer time from the airport and somewhere that we know would do good food, somewhere authentic.

There is a little hamlet called Prodain just outside of Morzine with a small family run hotel, les lan.   The prodain lift is minutes away taking you straight to the main ski lifts of Avoriaz.

Getting There requires an early start!

  • 2:55am It’s Saturday and the alarm springs to life.
  • 3:40 and the taxi is here, there’s a bit of grumpy ness the boys hitting it off well from the start. The taxi moves through the streets with no holdups. There are few folk still out from the night before. Kicking out time from the club we pass.
  • 4:20 the bags are checked in and we are sat eating porridge and granola. My wife’s attempt at getting pre-soaked muesli through the scanner foiled!
  • 6:20 and the flight leaves on time, a little bumpy due to wind approaching
  • 9:20 local time (+1 hr) and if someone poked me in the left ear with a knitting needle I’d thank them for it. I’m in agony from the pressure changes and the remains of fluid from my cold.
  • 10:20 baggage claimed, skis in tow we get on the coach. An apple, a piece of Christmas cake and a thimble of coffee I’m almost starting to feel human. The lights different, the sun is shining and despite it being cold it’s an uplifting feeling.
  • 1:20pm and we arrive at the hotel, eat our home made Tuna sandwiches in our room….with a plan to explore the resort

Some Thoughts

That first beer on holiday, when you sit down breathe and realise for a week you’ve earned some freedom from the daily grind is worth its weight in gold.

The menu is exciting, mainly familiar to my school boy french….but with nuances. A week of good eating ahead of us.  Nice to be cooked for without having to think.

The weather, we’ve been fortunate with the first and last days being sunny.  The wind chill in between was punishing. We also had rain and some of the snow was washed away.

The skiing has been defensive, one moment free flowing through powder like coasting over velvet. The next hard packed ice, where the skis take on a life of their own, with a noise that cuts through the bone.

Despite what I would describe as the worst snow and weather conditions we’ve ever had; alongside the aches and pains from the muscles that are used to being sat in a chair all day I feel like I’ve got a glow from being weathered. I’ve not missed staring at a screen all day!

Tune of the holiday has to be the Blinding Lights by the weekend, seemed to be playing at the bottom of the chairlifts and if it wasn’t being played then, my son was playing it in the hotel room.

Now sat safely at home in front of the computer drinking coffee, feeling blessed. Tuning into the news the weather system is in a crazy state. If we’d been a day either side of our travel days it would be very unlikely we’d got away. At least 170 flights cancelled today. Homes devastated by flooding and my heart goes out to them.

The #WeekendCoffeeShare is an informal weekly link-up hosted by Eclectic Alli that serves as weekly heart beat and sort of of a mind-dump. Helps me reflect on my week, with a list of achievements, thoughts and rambles normally whilst drinking a beverage probably listening to music.

9 minutes to café Klaris

Coffee & Notebook

If we were having coffee I’d tell you about another bus enabled week this week. The wind a howling putting the idea of cycling off and a sore throat and head cold to boot.

Playing on my phone, I randomly swiped and noticed a widget telling me it was 9 mins to café Klaris. Sounds like a title of a good yarn but really it’s big brother keeping track of my regular haunts. First time I’ve seen myself tracked in this fashion. My normal stop off before getting into work.

Taking a moment to think I can’t decide if this is useful and helps me in my daily life or whether I should be alarmed. Not really useful, as I know exactly where this is and how long it takes me to get into work and I’m more amused that a piece of software is predicting where I’m heading. What would be really useful would be if it flashed up….come on it’s raining, it’s windy, and the gym is on the way why aren’t you going there.

I’m always on the lookout for a good lentil recipe, not sure how I missed this one in the paper but I’ve found it now. Rachel Roddy’s Lentils, potato, greens and sausage, definitely on the must try list.

The #WeekendCoffeeShare is an informal weekly link-up hosted by Eclectic Alli that serves as weekly heart beat and sort of of a mind-dump. Helps me reflect on my week, with a list of achievements, thoughts and rambles normally whilst drinking a beverage probably listening to music.

Hello February

Pen and Notebook

It’s flown by and the jump start to my body that I was hoping for has not happened. Not through the lack of trying. I think I had one week where I felt on top of the world and then due to a new exercise regime, potentially the new insoles I bought for my shoes…I started to have a stiff hip in the mornings that has thrown my confidence around whether I’m trying too hard.

Really really struggled to get up and at them, the black ice this week meant I used the bus more than planned and a late night post a retirement do on Thursday means I have my head in my hands thinking how I’m going to shake this.

So Saturday morning….the wind is a howling again the idea of getting on the bike without being blown off is a no. The boss had been out for a run and I’m slightly jealous…not in a mean way…just from the point of view of wanting to go too…but then the pain will kick in around my knee. I need to bite the bullet and see a physio. Just writing this has prompted me to book a session.

To share social media wise:

A great podcast on Circadian rhythm and how when we eat is really important: #81 Why When We Eat May Be More Important Than What We Eat with Professor Satchin Panda

As a result we are trying to bring our bedtime forward earlier so I can feel fresh faced at 6 in the morning. Alongside this trying to restrict our eating to within a 10 hour window in order to stick to circadian rhythms.

On the eats front today’s new recipes will be a quinoa and ham hock dish followed by a sweet potato and coconut brownie. A soup to use up the chilli in the fridge will be lentil, bolstered by the left overs of squash and sweet potato from the recipes above.

Have a great start to the month.

The #WeekendCoffeeShare is an informal weekly link-up hosted by Eclectic Alli that serves as weekly heart beat and sort of of a mind-dump.  Helps me reflect on my week, with a list of achievements, thoughts and rambles normally whilst drinking a beverage probably listening to music.