The end of another working week in the Alps and I barely stopped. As it happened, things tailed off as I was tidying up on the Saturday so it looks like I timed things well. Over the week, I spent a couple of nights based over at Belle Plagne in our “flagship” hotel. I have [...]

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Erm, yeah. It was worse than it looks. Or better. Depends on how you look at it. Heading back from the resorts I’d been working at for a few days, I was maybe 15km away from Chamonix. There’s a short cut that can be taken down the side of one of the hills on the [...]

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Just for a change, I awoke having had virtually no sleep. I tidied my room as best I could and went to hand the key back to Andy. Very kindly, he offered me to help myself to the buffet breakfast so I nabbed a yoghurt and a drink before catching the next train up to [...]

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OK, I lied in the last one. Two things I have to mention. The first is a huge “THANK YOU” to the staff at Bar’Dup – the finest bar in Chamonix – for spiking my tab until I get back in January. The phone line for their credit card machine has died and won’t be [...]

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Well, for a few weeks anyway. I’ve done my last bit of work (almost – but the one remaining one can be done at home once my head’s stopped pounding) and I’m about to walk down to Midnight Express to get a farewell burger. Then to Bar’Dup to collect my credit card which has been [...]

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Apparently not on any forecasts, but it’s been snowing since early this morning and there’s no sign of it stopping. Fresh, crisp, crunchy flakes to cover that awful ice that was forming over the last couple of days. As I don’t have my camera, here are links to two web cams in the town centre: [...]

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Another belated update, but again I have been working my (frequently-laundered) socks off. I’ve also enjoyed the company of the lovely Giuli from Turin once more – her last visit was in February. She popped over last weekend – a long weekend in Italy – to enjoy the freshly-opened Grand Montets slopes. It’s always nice [...]

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Again, apologies for the lack of pictures but the good news (in case I didn’t already mention) is that Olympus have replaced my camera under warranty with the improved new model. And replaced my underwater housing so that this replacement fits. The former has arrived, the latter is somewhere in the postal system. Top marks [...]

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And I regret not bringing a camera with me on this trip. “Yeah, seen it all before”, I thought. I have seen it all before. But that doesn’t stop Chamonix, particularly after snowfall, being one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever visited. I’m sat in the hotel right now looking out over one of [...]

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Midnight Express is, from what I gather, a superb motion picture. Some may argue John Hurt‘s finest hour since a half-ton of animatronic nastiness exploded from his chest and squirted blood and viscera over Sigourney Weaver et al. However, I talk of the burger bar in Chamonix. Oh. My. InsertDeityOfChoice. You know when you have [...]

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