After the excesses of the pre-Christmas week, things have settled down and we have had a few quiet weeks. My sister, Lucy, and her family – Wilton, Alice and James, spent the Christmas week in a chalet in Saint Martin de Belleville – a satellite village at the foot of the Three Valleys ski resort, …
https://youtu.be/Nc7EIWYtPnM Fantastic early snowfalls and good weather bode well; rising Covid cases and border restrictions bode less well… Thankfully, the traditional pre-Christmas trip went ahead, and was a top week! We met friends in Val d’Isère, staying there for a week at YSE’s chalet Chardons, and enjoying beautiful piste conditions, plus the inevitable excess of …
Just like the old days! In April earlier this year we were skinning up the slopes of La Rosière to enjoy empty powder fields on the descent, and today we went back, ahead of the official opening of the season, to do the same. Plenty of snow has fallen over the last week, so we …
In the nick of time… snow hits the Alps, starting on Friday, just a day before the official opening of the season in Val d-Isère on the 27th of November. The snow has transformed the resort, and indeed, the whole area. Where we had been enjoying Autumn walks, now snow is everywhere, and winter has …
Time seems to fly here in Sardinia: another week and a half gone, and only a short while before our sailing season ends and we return to the UK. Fortunately, Sardinia continues to delight us. Leaving Cagliari, we have been travelling anti-clockwise around Sardinia, heading for the archipelago of La Maddalena on the northeastern corner. …
This last week we have been getting a taste of Menorcan life: a touch more laid-back and relaxed after the cosmopolitan life in Mallorca, and certainly less wild than the party atmosphere in Ibiza! Arriving in Menorca after a straightforward passage across from Mallorca, our plans were turned topsy-turvy when we got a call from …
Relaxing on the boat at the Real Club Nautica de Palma, the 11 days we spent in Ibiza seem a million miles away. Our memories of Ibiza include beautiful anchorages, crystal clear waters for swimming, fine food, and some great, if challenging sailing. But also crowds, uncomfortable nights, party music blaring, and sky-high costs in …
https://youtu.be/TUlH9-KylnE A crew change, a passage to Ibiza, and Merryn gets filmed by a drone… Quite a week! After Cate returned to the UK to visit family and friends, I was joined by my brother Richard and nephew Christopher for a week’s sailing holiday. They flew into Alicante on the 31st of July, and we …
As I write this, we are relaxing in Cartagena, a major port for tourists, commercial shipping and the Navy. It is also a lovely town, full of history with extensive Roman foundations, much of which have been excavated and are on display. Plenty of street life, too, and we have already enjoyed a couple of …
A week on from our arrival in Portugal, and we have worked our way down to Cascais, a popular tourist spot just a short distance from Lisbon. Unfortunately, the weather has turned rainy (it seems we can escape England, but not the English climate!), so we are waiting it out for a few days, and …