Author: femmedemontagne

Two Down, Three To Go From the depths of my cheese coma, I realised this morning that we’ve been here for two weeks already. Not quite half way and I feel like we’re just warming up. Our raclette experience was every bit as good as it always is here. We sat outside for our glass… Continue reading Two Down, Three To Go

Ropes, Ridges and Barbecues Well the scientific tart-loading worked. I think. However, one raspberry tart does not a trial make, so I think I might need to carry out a bit more long term research, possibly involving a spreadsheet and some statistical geekery. I had a wonderful day out, conquering (in my head) mountains and… Continue reading Ropes, Ridges and Barbecues

You Treat This Place Like a Hotel Years ago, somebody told me you don’t get hangovers in the mountains. They lied. We went to visit some friends a couple of days ago. They own the very lovely Chalet Maison Jaune in Les Houches, where we stayed for a week way back in 2010. Helen and… Continue reading You Treat This Place Like a Hotel

That’s No Ordinary Oiseau, That’s a Golden Eagle We’re into our second week here already – as predicted, the time is sliding away. The last couple of days have been pretty self-indulgent, really – and it’s been lovely. Our necessary supermarket run yesterday morning was painless (chapeau to Carrefour for providing paper bags instead of… Continue reading That’s No Ordinary Oiseau, That’s a Golden Eagle

A Small Amount Of Work and a Magnificent Tart Next Door had a gentleman caller late last night. On a motorbike, if you please. Yes, it’s a slow news day today chez nous. After a lazy day yesterday, where our biggest achievement was walking down the hill to the village to buy some binbags, I… Continue reading A Small Amount of Work and a Magnificent Tart

Goats and New Neighbours It’s not every day I get a goat being up close and personal with my inner thighs, but at the ripe old age of 50½ the time has finally come. Today we’d planned to walk to a lovely restaurant across on Mont Caly. My legs are a bit tired after yesterday’s… Continue reading Goats and New Neighbours

Mont Blanc, Cheese and a New Bar Before we get into the glory of La Dame Blanche, or the mystery of the exact location of Chéry-Nord, let’s deal with the important issue of the day: We have found a new bar. Our favourite, the Alpine Bar, closed permanently in April. Whilst we’re glad that the… Continue reading Mont Blanc, Cheese and a New Bar

The First Run Is The Sweetest I sat down to write this and my surface told me it couldn’t recognise me because it’s too sunny. Yes that’s right – too sunny. Are you listening, Blighty? Anyway, after that piece of shameless gloating – the first run. There are countless things I look forward to when… Continue reading The First Run Is The Sweetest

Nous sommes arrivés I’m sitting on our balcony, drinking a Kir Royale, watching the paragliders over Mont Chery and feeling incredibly thankful that we’re here at all. When we left last August, we fondly believed we’d be back for a month in March and until we passed the Les Gets village sign I was still… Continue reading Nous sommes arrivés

Racing in the time of Covid – or the one that actually happened The technical stuff: Shoes: Hoka Mafate Socks: Injinji & Inov8 speed Race Vest: Inov8 2 in 1 Poles: Leki Micro Trail Fuel: Sausage rolls, marzipan, sausages, red grapes, banana, minstrels, hula hoops, mini Battenberg, Eccles cake, flapjack, coke Weather: Hot. Obv. Also,… Continue reading Pennine Barrier