February Holidays

The cousins

Goodness, where to begin? You will note that today is a Monday, which means... yes! The girls are back in school after their two-week break and I finally have a chance to draw breath and do an update on our holidays.
The first week is now just a blur of ski camp for the girls (three girls, three different drop-offs and pick-ups, thank you, ski school) and, unfortunately, a sick Zoe at the end of it. Yes, the gastro got her too. But the second week my sister Lindsay and her two girls, Sophie and Romey (sadly, her boys had to stay behind for school and Alan for work) came to visit and we just had the most amazing time. Toby was very brave because he was outnumbered 7 to 1, girls to boy, in the chalet.
And the skiing was FABULOUS. We managed visits to most of the hills in the area - Les Houches, Brevant, Flegere, Courmayeur and Le Tour - and aside from the first day, it was sunshine and blue skies all week. Here's a few of the highlights of the girls enjoying their time with their beloved cousins.

Morning 1 was a mandatory trip into town for coffee and croissants. Romey and Anna had very cute little cups of frothy hot chocolate, and thought the whole experience was so terrific that they expected it to be repeated every morning of the holiday. (Not to be.)

Sisters (can you tell?)

Cheers

Day 1 skiing was at Les Houches, on the only snowy day of the holiday, and there was such thick fog on the top of the mountain that you couldn't see where you were skiing - literally. It was a bit hectic and stressful because of the cloud and the crowds and the icy conditions (the two weeks of holiday in February are probably the busiest time of the year in Chamonix), but we still had some fun.  Partly because a stop in a cute chalet for Orangina, hot chocolate and tarts was on the agenda. 

Sharing a chocolate tart

Anna and Sophie (with the Orangina - a real treat on French holidays)

Lindsay and Romey

Day 2 was skiing at Brevant and Flegere, just behind our chalet. The skies had cleared, the sun was out and the views were amazing. The five older girls skied really well together - clearly Anna and Indie's skiing has really come on during their year here. Zoe was voted 'Most Improved' by the end of the week - wee trouper, she was doing parallel turns and hockey stops by the end, and we managed a lot of skiing all together. Not bad for a 4-year-old!

Sophie, Anna & Indie

Anna

Indie, with a bit of product placement (again, a BIG holiday treat to have a soft drink)

Sophie, doing her own product promotion

Whoo hoo

Views from the very top

 Ready to go

 Lindsay and her girls

We also did a x-country ski with all the girls on the first afternoon, but the real treat was the couple of skis that Lindsay and I fit in on our own. Stopping off for a cheeky coffee at the nice little cafe on the piste just completed the Chamonix experience.

 It was incredibly warm in the sunshine

 It's a hard life

Still to come: our incredible day skiing in Italy in Courmayeur - now officially my favourite place to ski.