Once again a big-thankyou too all....

Another year done and some could say that they are pleased the 'mo' has moved over for the more favourable bearded look. All good fun though for a fantastic cause. And this year more than other years more seemed to be on it. Its still not too late though to donate...

http://uk.movember.com/mospace/1290966

This years memory for me will be the sight when on early mornings runs along a certain South Gloucestershire cycle track. Where increasingly as the November days went by I was faced with more and more keen commuters hurtling towards me with the 'mo' standing proud on the face of so many riders. Just sat there resisting the early morning dew, warming the upper brow with little or no effort at all.

Let the dog see the rabbit. Finally....Chalet Claire

This morning whilst the chefs had a meeting to discuss all things 'food' the rest of the other hosts attempted to work through further mountain training, that of fitting snow chains.  The intense, immense training rains!  All easier said than done, that goes for the food orders and the snow chains!  Took a good half an hour and that was without the added problem of the car being stuck in a couple of foot of snow. Good to know how though, another life skill for the cv.

At last after 3 days of intense training we were cut loose and left the hotel to move into our chalets. We are the proud hosts of Chalet Claire. Nestled nicely within La Legettaz. Chalet Claire is on the 2nd floor of a huge 4 storey customary alpine appearance building which holds 4 separate chalets.  She sleeps 12 in 6 bedrooms.  Nathan and Samantha, from Oz, are our immediate neighbours. Olly and Josh, from NZ, are below on the first floor and Graham (UK) and Andrew (OZ) are on the ground floor. Graham, Nathan and Olly have done seasons before so are fountains of knowledge in all things chalet (the fanning of cornichons or folding of towels are not a problemo).

Our bedroom is en suite but rather compact and bijou! Don't suppose it matters as on listening to Graham we will either be cooking, cleaning, skiing or out drinking ! Not a bad life we guess.

Todate we are still waiting for the white stuff! 

One hell of a brain overload

Woo, what a nights sleep, apprehensive, but real deep. Up early and out onto the balcony we were faced with a huge towering backdrop, a vast rock face forming the mass that is the Réserve Naturelle de la Bailletaz. At this moment we both felt we had arrived at the mountains.  We both didn't expect the first few weeks to be a total walk in the park, specially as we hadn't really worked for nearly 18 months, but our first day in the mountains was training, training, training and more, full on training! 

All the typical stuff mainly all being explained by death by power point. But what a complete total brain-dump. We did get chance to have a wander round the village in an attempt to get some bearings but this was still all part of the ever on going 'training'.  The resort was quiet although a few tourists had managed to find some snow way up the mountain. But most activity seemed to be shops, bars, hotels and restaurants getting ready to open up.  This whole village shuts down for the summer period when the population drops to around 500. Then come the winter comes the population grows to a squashy 30,000 plus. Hard to believe we know. All these lovely buildings just mothballed for some 6-7 months a year. Must be pretty crazy to be a Val d'iserian and to actually live through this upscale and downturn year in year out.

It's difficult to explain how hard to feels to go from 12 odd months of complete and utter freedom to rules and regs! We were certainly at the base of a very steep re-education. An education which was going to launch us back, hopefully, into work mode.

We have met some great characters. A massive mix of personalities, nationalities and ages. An older couple from NZ who have rented out their house and are enjoying their 3rd year of continually touring Europe in their camper, stopping to work as and when funds run low.  There is also a mixed group of younger couples and singles who just love to spend there time within the mountains at this time of the year.  Some people seem to be making a career out of split seasonal work. Ski work half the year and then either heading off to find more snow for the other half in Oz or NZ or stripping off and seeking heat with work on campsites in Spain and Italy, school camps in the States and Canada or sailing holidays in the Med.  It does seems that when you have made the shift the options are endless.  If you want to avoid life's norm of either endless nappies or the 9-5 grind you can!

On the road-again on the road-again

To our next rendezvous. Collection from the airport at 6pm by our seasonal employer, who as part of our deal whisk us off into the mountains. A mere 3 odd hour journey up high into the French Alps. It was a weird feeling stood within an airport as gradually complete strangers came up and introduced themselves, fellow seasonaire staff turning up on flights from various hub airports spanning a variety of countries. With some having, like us, spent time seeing what Geneva had to offer instead of flying in directly from an another airport this exact day.

For various reasons we didn't start our journey until 9pm, 3 hours off our original plan. It was dark, foggy and pretty cold as we filtered out of the arrivals lounge for the second time within a week. The common feel being everyone was pretty tired but never the less pretty excited of what was to come.

The journey up was pretty non-eventful, black as your hat, so no real view, whilst within the van the notion was to grab some sleep.

You know on a transfer when you're getting near your resort because the road tunnels get shorter, the hairpin bends get tighter and the mountain based bars become busier. We eventually make our digs just after midnight, and after a swift beef bourguignon, a few cheeky 33 Exports and a moment to get to know our new fellow colleagues we roll into bed at 1.15am. Ski transfers. Never easy-going.

Car less to Carouge

We jumped on the tram to a small suburb within Geneva only 10 minutes from downtown. It is deemed less polished than sleek central Geneva. It's thought Geneva’s bohemian streak strikes out in Carouge, a place where there is definitely a lack of any real sights which pleases the Carouge types as they have all the coffee shops and fashionable bars mainly to themselves. The place felt very Amsterdam like, with small charming alleyways and neat little shops and bars.  These bars and cafes have now certainly taken over most of the 18th-century houses that overlooked courtyard gardens which give Carouge part of the charm.
As with many other places around the world we have visited places like Carouge are great for just wondering around taking it all in whilst stopping off for the odd long-black along the way.

Carouge was a great little spot for when the watches and super-cars of downtown Geneva are getting the better of you. And the tram is free as part of your downtown visitors transport travel card. Well why wouldn't ya...

Glorious Geneva

After a cruisey, ever so smooth, 1 1/2 hour flight we landed in Switzerland. Struggling with luggage that is bound for the mountains, deciphering signs and righting upside down maps we left the airport and boarded a very plush train to central Geneva. 

Our hostel wass lovely and we settled in quickly.  Its amazing how the body familiarises itself in ever changing environments. Although the unknown has been a familiar feeling for us for quite some time now.

Geneva is a lovely city, although one that we have only ever, like most, crashed in and out of on route to the mountains.  We would hazard a guess that nobody is ever late here as there are watch/clock shops at every turn of the head. We should also be completely fine for chocolate and army knives during our stay as these are the only other two outlets that rival the watche and clock outlets. 

As we left the station via Rue du Mont Blanc it gave us the first sighting of one of the reasons why to chose this as our next mission, the mountains.  The temperature in Geneva was starting to dip, but these lot have seen and felt it all before. There is something nice about being in a country that accepts the cold. Geneva seems to embrace the chill and everyone looks as stylish as the next.  Wrapping up warm but never compromising style.

We seem to be becoming very accustom to new cities and their coffee shops. As we have said before, having the opportunity to take time out to have a coffee and watch the world go by is priceless.  Often thinking we could continue with this lifestyle for ever!

As we ambled avenues we hit around a butchers 'Epicerie fine du molard' Geneve.

http://www.boucheriemolard.ch/historique.html

This Boucherie may even give Murray's Deli a run out! The guys here on the counter had the smartest of ties on. It was fantastic to watch master butchers in action working with such pride and belief of the products they were selling. Just fantastic. Snout to trotter and everything in between. Yeah, just a fantastic sight.

You then turn another corner to be faced with a baby shop with a equally driven approach. A place where the choice of fabric was only cashmere and cashmere only. Booties to bobble hats this place was equally a sight to witness. The latter though we chose not to look around in such detail....

So to the Jet d'Eau. Oh why is this iconic jet not jetting? Why, for the cause of maintenance. Would you ever hey. Not an engineer in sight though. But the walk of the causeway did give rise to some great views of the city and surrounding lake without the soaking of about 7,000 litres (1849 gallons) of water which is present each moment when the fountain is running.

Why such a fountain. Some brief history on Jet d'Eau........
It is the main tourist pull for this city. A fountain though is an understatement. The water jet from this mere concrete island shoots up with incredible force (200km/h, 1360HP), to create a 140m-high plume. At any one time there are seven tonnes of water in the air, and much of it falls on spectators who venture out on the causeway pier.

The first Jet d'Eau was installed in 1886 at the Usine de la Coulouvrenière, a little bit further downstream from its present location. It was used as a safety valve for a hydraulic power network and could reach a height of about 30 metres (98 feet). In 1891, its aesthetic value was recognised and it was moved to its present location to celebrate the Federal Gymnastics Festival and the 600th anniversary of the Swiss Confederation, on which occasion it was operated for the first time. Its maximum height was about 90 metres (295 feet). The present Jet d'Eau was installed in 1951 in a partially submerged pumping station to pump lake water instead of city water.

So to read that she wasn't running caused really no problems given that it was a cool 2 degrees. Ahh yes, we will keep our full fountain getting drenched experience for a more milder month.

One man went to mow

Are you on-board ? Mow sista's and brvla's unite for a great cause....

http://uk.movember.com/mospace/1290966