Friday
Collect le frère ainé from the airport. Quiet evening in, simple English fare for dinner, wine consumption restrained, a single bottle.
Saturday
Provisions shopping - fromages & saucisses de Toulouse. Le frère et moi go to the pub to watch the mighty cannoniers comfortably put a dampener on KK's second Tyneside coming, gallantly leaving la bienheureuse to attend complicated rendezvous at the airport - transfer of viticultural supplies to the minibus crew (story of optimum use of transport space), and collection of the two boys, JonE & DenE from the airport. Quiet evening in, roast lamb for dinner, wine consumption rising...
Sunday
Manage with some difficulty to squeeze 5 adults, 3 pairs of skis, 4 pairs of ski boots, and a week's worth of winter luggage into one compact car & roof box. Our overloaded petite voiture heroically labours up the mountain to reach Meribel village in time for an afternoon's skiing. The Tourterelle dix are reunited on the slopes and become onze in the evening. The week's feasting gets off to an excellent start with a delicious lamb casserole by le grand chef JW, and the week's wining gets off to an ominous start with a 9 bottle binge.
Monday
Hangover forced into the background as we set off for the first full day's skiing in stunningly sunny & warm weather. Les 3 filles set off for morning lessons with Super Suzy, while the rest of us attack Meribel's western slopes and discover the joys and lovely snow of the princely Pramint red towards St Martin. The hardcore finish the day with a rendezvous atop Saulire for vin chaud and the long dusk run home on gloriously empty pistes. Le chef excels again at dinner with palate-tickling pork in milk & lemon. Wine consumption moderates slightly.
Tuesday
All 10 skiers set off ensemble in the morning before scattering to all 4 corners of the 3 vallées, girls to lessons, JW & H le rouge et vert to la Masse, and the BJ 5 (JeB & the DeB honorary BJs for the week) exploring the Les Menuires itinéraire du soleil in glorious springlike sunshine. A remix provides another 6 person rendezvous for the final Saulire run of the day, and culinary standards are maintained in the evening by S, la reine sereine, with a mouth-watering chicken tajine. Wine quality & quantity remains high.Wednesday
The sun disappears but the lessons continue in the morning again for the technique-thirsty threesome, while the rest of us spurn the pedagogic for pure pleasure-seeking, splintering into smaller groups. La bienheureuse, JeB & le frère finish early, leaving the DeB & me to join JW et les filles for lunch and an afternoon attack on La Face. JeB joins the ranks of the master chefs in the evening with a richly tasty cassoulet. Wine consumption controlled, evening rounded off with a weakest link special, with surprise quizmaster Ms Robinson.
Thursday
The sun reappears for the group outing to the 4th valley. We wend our way across Meribel, Les Menuires and Val Thorens to reach Oribel by early afternoon. After the ski down from le sommet des pistes, JW, la petite Beaucoup & H return home to start dinner preparations while the rest of us have lunch and meander homeward at a more leisurely pace, stopping off for refuelling at le Rond Point. Alcohol affects already suspect skiing technique, almost take out la petite skieuse while attempting to video the run back into Meribel, which is accompanied by running, self-chastising commentary by la prime J. A banquet of venison and wine awaits, and a marathon trivial pursuit question & answer session follows. Eventually even H's eyelids grow heavy.
Friday
La bienheureuse decides to rest her unblessed genou blessé for the day while the super Suzy trio have their all day lesson, leaving the remaining male members to play with themselves. In the evening the French residents, ably assisted by JeB, produce the traditional local dish, followed by colonels all round. The lemon sorbet & vodka dessert is designed to cleanse & cut through the stodge of the tartiflette. Works very well, but dangerously leaves a full bottle of iced vodka on the table. The evening rapidly degenerates as a bizarre game evolves, involving assigning character traits to teams of two with much shrieking and laughing. The double J team continues downing double Vs late into the night and incoherence becomes their defining characteristic. The team of vieux hommes eventually wins the marathon game near 2am, shortly after the snow begins to fall outside.
Saturday
More than 10cm of fresh snow awaits but after the previous night's revelries La Tourterelle is slow to rise. First out is the DeB, eager to get his teeth into all that powder. The BJs follow, then le chef and his harem. H injures himself before getting his skis on but soldiers on through most of the day. The soft snow wins the battle of the wounded knee and la bienheureuse only does one run before retiring to accompany la sereine on the gentler pursuit of a walk around Lac de Tueda. JeB conquers his hangover long enough to venture out for a single run too. The survivors enjoy the soft snow pistes and occasional foray into the hors-piste powder, vice versa in the case of the DeB, before les gooners take a break to watch their heroes in the 2nd half of the stroll in the City of Manchester stadium. Our final evening in Meribel village is a more restrained affair, polishing off venison, tartiflette and wine leftovers. Never have leftovers tasted so good.Sunday
The minibus six are up before the crack of dawn, packing for the 9 hour drive back to Calais. The Lyon five have a day's skiing left and, after goodbyes are waved, venture towards Courchevel, surprisingly sans super keen, super skier DeB who has a sore back. Must have been all those bumps. The sun has returned but brought with it a violent east wind, which howls over the ridges and summits and drives us back to the shelter of the Meribel valley. We finally sardine back into the car and head for home. A great week overall. We will be back next year...
