Author: femmedemontagne

When you were my lover, all gunfight and thunder Really, it’s hard to know where to start. What should have been a welcome back, let me tell you all about how I got here, and we-had-a-lovely-time-in-Bordeaux-on-the-way-thanks-for-asking warmup preamble has turned into us sitting in a small bar in Vielha, eating all the tapas and watching… Continue reading When you were my lover, all gunfight and thunder

The keeper of fleeting moment “If you ask me” muttered the slightly grumpy physio at CP2 as he taped my left foot up to stabilise my knee, “this race is too much”. There’s nothing bach about this ultra, for sure. It may be what we disparagingly dismiss as “only” 50kms (32 miles in old money)… Continue reading The Keeper of Fleeting Moment

And after all this, won’t you give me a smile? Spring has sprung in the Alps. The sky is blue, the sun is warm and the scantily dressed lifties are all sunbathing while they keep half an eye on errant snowboarders who might cause a stooshie by falling off lifts and nearly killing their wives… Continue reading And After All This, Won’t You Give Me A Smile?

You’ve got a hubcap diamond star halo I realised, when I was halfway up Mont Caly in a sweaty mess this morning, that this time next week I will be back at my desk in Cardiff. This will inevitably be accompanied by much pissing and moaning as I come to terms with the biannual re-entry… Continue reading You’ve Got A Hubcap Diamond Star Halo

You and I both know where you belong It’s been quite the week, chez nous. It started with an uninvited and most unwelcome dose of norovirus, which spent Sunday night reducing me to a shadow of my former self. I’ve battled womanfully on in my usual stalwart manner, however, and here I am, still standing.… Continue reading You and I both know where you belong

Long may the mountain ring to the sound of her laughter It was our friend’s funeral today. Chloe passed away suddenly and unexpectedly just a few days before we came out to France, leaving a husband and three young children who were the centre of her world. Nick’s friend first, Chloe welcomed me with open… Continue reading Long may the mountain ring to the sound of her laughter

We’ve got nothing but that’s alright I’m sitting downstairs working hard (honest, guv) and I’ve just heard the unbelievably welcome sound of the ironing board being set up. Nick and I have been doing the tacit dance of Who Is Not Going To Do The Ironing for about a week now, and I honestly thought… Continue reading We’ve got nothing but that’s alright

Ah, you think you’re so pretty Sickboy is apparently no longer sick, so calling him that is another avenue of pleasure closed down to me. However, he redeemed himself by casually saying “you were right, by the way” while we were on the Chéry Nord lift yesterday and I am going to put that in… Continue reading Ah, you think you’re so pretty 

Time’s running out the door you’re running in We’ve officially reached the halfway point. I’m not sure where the past 2.5 weeks have gone but I’ll be making very sure that the next 2.5 don’t just disappear. They’re going to be thoroughly lived. It’s very easy to slip into the delusion that we’re living in… Continue reading Time’s Running Out The Door You’re Running In

And everybody saying that music like ours couldn’t die Sickboy is on the mend. He’s moved from mainly horizontal to mainly vertical, along with mainly silent to Really Quite Grumpy. He was recovered enough to make his cheese deprived wife a tartiflette last night. The sort, if it was a ready meal, would be billed… Continue reading And everybody saying that music like ours couldn’t die