Week 5
Day 29: Sunday 12 April 2020
More in hope than expectation, I wondered whether anyone might have hid a chocolate easter egg for me in my Sainte Foy garden. Sadly not. The Easter bunny didn’t manage to find my garden before he’d used up his daily hour of bunny hopping, and chocolate egg hiding exercise time!
Day 30: Monday 13 April 2020
Today should have been the last day of the ski season. We should have raced off on our two person, tandem skis for the hallowed prize of winning the Polet Cup, (or in my case staying alive). And of course, it should’ve been party time at Plan Bois, followed by party time in the resort’s bars and restaurants. It should’ve been, but it wasn’t.
The last couple of weeks of the season are a fabulous time for those who enjoy a more relaxed winter holiday. There’s no need to race out of the chalet to catch the first lift. The snow needs to soften up in the morning sunshine, and there’s a leisurely breakfast to be enjoyed first. There’s some fabulous skiing to be had on the spring snow, and your hot chocolate, beer or vin chaud on a restaurant terrace in the spring sunshine, is a pleasure to be savoured. The pace is just so much more relaxed.
Day 31: Tuesday 14 April 2020
This morning I drove down to Bourg Saint Maurice to pick up some fresh milk and some fresh vegetables from the supermarket. Being born and brought up on a dairy farm where I was able to chose the cow from which my milk came from to go on my cornflakes each morning, UHT milk just doesn’t make the grade for me.
This afternoon I baked my first sourdough loaf. MattyG has come up trumps with his online videos and I am very pleased with what would get my Welsh friends singing ‘Bread of Heaven’. It’s crusty, cooked right through and there’s no soggy bottom! It is quite heavy in a crumpetty way, and the air bubbles could be a bit bigger, so there’s still room for improvement. But overall I am very pleased with my efforts.
Day 32: Wednesday 15 April 2020
Three PGHM gendarmes (pelotons de gendarmerie de haute montagne), the high mountain police platoon, were seen hiking up the mountain today. The PGHM is a specially trained unit for helping victims in perilous environments such as the mountains. They engage in rescue missions and police duties, and today we think that they are checking for anyone breaching the lockdown the rules.
‘Gendarmes’ derives from ‘gens d’armes’ meaning armed people, and they are part of the military, but having police duties. Generally speaking, they are not to be messed with. (I chose not to ask them for a photo).
Day 33: Thursday 16 April 2020
Work began on clearing the roads up to Plan Bois and further up to the top of the Arpettaz lift today. This snow clearing work usually happens at the end of the season to provide access up the mountain, so that any forestry work can be carried out. They also clear the road up to and above Le Monal so that the EDF workers can access their site at the barrage. This year though, the word on the street is that they are also clearing the road so that work can begin on replacing the second lift!
A friend took some photos for me higher up the mountain and the depth of snow is really quite impressive. The ‘dameuses’, piste bashers, have done a great job in looking after the pistes this last season and the pistes still boast a mighty covering of snow, 75cm at the bottom of the Marquise piste and well over a metre at the top of the Arpettaz piste.
Day 34: Friday 17 April 2020
Now if there’s one thing which always strikes me about the national psychology of the French, it is their strong socialist mentality. Ever since the revolution they have lived and breathed ‘liberté, égalité, fraternité’. So it should not come as a surprise to me, or you, that some of them are not very happy that President Macron and the French Interior Ministry are buying four million euros worth of drones for surveillance purposes. The timing may be coincidental, but we are assured that they aren’t being purchased in order to chase down lockdown law breakers. It’s all causing quite a stir.
Day 35: Saturday 18 April 2020
Many of you have been pinging me with messages of good wishes. These are much appreciated, often making me smile or chuckle, thank you! I am particularly tickled by how effective a well chosen emoji can be. Strip away the emojis and you strip away the emotional impact of the message. How can three lines, a circle and two dots create so much feeling? It’s genius!
