The start of the ‘voyage’ this year was a Qatar Air 17 hour direct flight Auckland/Doha. Trouble with a 2 kg excess luggage to resolve in Auckland, but 17 hours non stop passes very easily in a plane with plenty of empty seats so we could spread out. Our day in Doha was spent mostly on a hop on/hop off bus. The Arabic museum was closed and the still being built Doha museum with an incredible roof structure still a year or two away. The new city centre is a collection of futuristic new tower blocks of all sorts of shapes and facades but one wonders how many are full of people, construction is happening everywhere. However for us only the old Arabic ‘Souk’ was of interest for a wander round and lunch.
Chez sister Maureen in Hastings was the next stop to find Stan our van still happily parked on her lawn. Hastings a direct contrast to Doha,but we have come to enjoy the old town more and more with plenty of fresh fish and the pubs very lively with good music and atmosphere on a cold night. Stan didn't get the usual clean before setting off – too cold plus some very strange goings on with the 12V electrics – it was all working fine when we left Stan 6 months before but a gremlin must have entered, never found the original fault but managed to get most things working.
Last day of February across the Channel from Dover which was reasonably stable in spite a very strong winds from a storm in the north – thank goodness for modern stabilisers. Calais another old Stan favorite place, although the parking on the quay now closed – lunch of ‘moules frittes and tongue, with wine of course, and onto the supermarkets and Joanna’s favorite - Lidl. Have to buy all the ‘birds’ to eat starting with quail, guinea fowl, chicken, duck and turkey, not to mention the cheeses and salamis etc. David started what is his habit everywhere in France – fresh baguette bread in the morning – never more than a 10 minute walk away from our parking place.
Made our way quickly down to Bourg St Maurice right in the heart of the French Alps. Close to les Arcs,Val d’Isere, Tignes and the 3 Valleys. Bad weather greeted us, which to our delight, quickly turned to snow and had to buy snow boots and a snow shovel. Stan is very cosy, if a little cramped in bad weather. David managed one day skiing only from there but we enjoyed the wintry conditions. Headed on upwards to a camping aire at la Plagne; one of our favorites. Snow had completely covered all cars and we spent a day shoveling snow to provide parking places, as we found ever better spots. Final position right beside the piste (open the door- skis on and away) all with great views. However our skiing curtailed somewhat as Joana has a ‘crook’ leg and David got a bronchial infection. The local doctor cured David’s infection, with a myriad of drugs and potions as is typical in France, but apart from pain killers Joanna’s leg remains a curse, limiting her walking although managing to ski.
Our skiing these days starts a little late, stops for coffee mid morning and afternoon with lunch sandwiches at one of the many restaurant/snack bars on the ski fields of France. Down the valley we also included a day’s skiing at Valmorel, an old favorite, as you ski on the Col de la Madelaine route which becomes part of the ski field in winter. This was in remembrance of the discovery and lunch inside the warm building a few years ago. This time better weather and more people, so one hour wait for lunch but the entré of grilled goats cheese will no doubt become a signature dish ‘entré de la Madelaine’. Anyway enjoyed the lunch and absorbed the view (note Joanna’s neck warmer to keep the sun off David’s bald spot).
From Valmoral Stan took us on a long bypass (because of road closures) through the Frejus tunnel into Italy and up to the Montgenevre ski field, just over the French border. Several days skiing there with one day including a long traverse into Italy via several valleys either skiing or by lifts where the snow had melted.
All a pleasant way of seeing the country. After Montgenevre we had to take another long detour via Briancon then Gap to link up with the resorts of Alpe d’Huez and Les Deux Alpes. We are lucky to be able to camp up on the ski fields, usually with a ticket office and a ski lift nearby, but the roads up there are quite a challenge for Stan. However David has developed a great technique to negotiate the up to 30 lacets (hairpin bends) - go round as fast as you (Stan) can so as not to lose speed and have to change gear to first. We make it safely, if a little slowly.
It was great rediscovering the 2 ski fields. Our usual ski days interspersed with lots of breaks. Discovered the Folie Douce at Alpe d’Huez, a sort of apres ski, dance place up the slopes a bit, which is really for people years younger than us, but we enjoyed the entertainment – infectious (very loud) music, and no one seemed to mind some oldies hanging around. By contrast we attended an organ recital at the amazing Alpe d’Huez church. Modern, with a famous organ in the shape of a hand. Acoustics were outstanding, but the programme was pretty dour and 1 hour was plenty. Also skied the Sarenne at Alpe d’Huez which is over 20 kms – non-stop. Well we actually stopped quite a lot, but the run keeps going. Started steep and icy, finished almost flat and very slushy. Good fun though.
Les Deux Alpes is great because it goes up to 3600 metres, which is very high for skiing, so the snow remains in good condition. We would start the day (10am!) going all the way up to the glacier to the beautiful snow, a few runs then coffee, ski a little lower and lunch (our own baguette plus a bought beer, more skiing and coffee, ski down to the second leg of the telepherique and descent into the village, maybe another beer and catch the shuttle bus back to Stan. Deux Alpes is also good with a ‘proper’ village atmosphere. Engineer friend from both NZ and France, Francois also drove up from Grenoble to ski a day with us.
Skiing finished it was down into the valley to the Bourg Oisans supermarket car park for the night. The objective was to wash all our ski clothes in an automatic laundry which managed to extract three times the 8 euro required before it would start – but job done. Before leaving NZ we were unsure about our ability to still ski with David and his ‘doubtful’ knees and Joanna and her hip/leg pain. In the end David’s knees are ok for a couple of consecutive ski days but although Joanna can put up with the pain skiing it restricts her walking severely– the unknown origin for the pain needs sorting in NZ.
Now time to socialise and meet up with some of David’s friends and colleagues from his Grenoble days plus a bit of Stan TLC at the ever efficient Grenoble Ford dealers. Plan a couple of weeks around Grenoble and Lyon then meandering north to cross to the UK at the end of the month.
