A winter season in the French Alps: January and February

View down to Meribel

After promising myself to do monthly updates from the Alps, the weeks slipped past.

Days were filled with work, snowboard, work. Wednesday’s were typically a full day snowboarding or sleeping off work.

So my photos have piled up and I’m now sat here at my desk back home, back out of the ski season bubble and back into ‘real life’ where my views are roads and street lights and not the mountains, sadly!

But luckily, the photos I took captured little stories like those afternoons of riding in the sunshine with a picnic. So here is are my highlights from January and February.

Chalet Life

Breakfast at The Chalet Company, Meribel

Setting up for breakfast

Chalet Shopping in the French Alps
Chalet Shopping in the French Alps

Heading down to Moutiers for the weekly shop. Egg safety a priority

Afternoon Tea In Meribel

Afternoon Tea vibes

Evening Menu in Meribel Chalet
MiniCroqueMadames Canapes

Mini Croque Madame canapés.

As my kitchen is open plan, I managed to take very few photos of my food, as I’m usually so engrossed with plating it up and getting it out hot – the downside to running a chalet solo…

January 

January began with a whisky in both hands in a Meribel bar with the rest of the team, a happy blur of dancing and Laphroaig, a treat to myself after my Christmas guests left me a €250 tip!!

Thankfully, I didn’t end up staying out too late, but needless to say, the New Year’s Day breakfast was a struggle and I might have had a cheeky lie down on the cold bathroom floor to get through serving dinner! All my pictures from the night are a funny, crazy blur.

The first few weeks dumped it down, and we were treated to bluebird days…

Three Valleys French Alps
Meribel French Alps
Snowboarding in Meribel

With epic sunsets from the chalet whilst I prepared the evening meal…

A trip over the valley to Courchevel

Courchevel

And a much-needed survival package in the post! Chalet work gives you the driest hands you’ll ever get!

Chalet Parcel

February 

February began with packing up baguettes stuffed with brie and bacon and heading over to the La Masse area of Les Menuires, an adjacent valley.

I have such sweet memories of this place, having been sent from Morzine in 2008 where I was doing a season to cover a chef who broke his ankle. It was the place I remember snowboarding really ‘clicked’ for me and I grew in confidence, a place close to my heart.

Les Menuires
Les Menuires

Life above the clouds

A Valentine’s surprise treat from the B (one of our drivers on the team who had become my boyfriend after a night out in January!) to Tsaretta Spice, a gourmet Indian restaurant near my chalet for a little tasting menu, which was amaaazing! Such a treat!

After the meal, we went back down to Les Allues and danced like crazy people to live music in our local bar – one of the most memorable nights!

Tsaretta Spice Meribel
Tsaretta Spice Meribel

I found one of my favourite secret little runs between Mottarett and Meribel, a quiet red run winding through the trees.

Love love love a tree run! Plus I bought new bindings for my board which made riding feel so much smoother!

Whilst the Beast from the East battered the UK, we shivered in -18C temperatures – making chairlift rides a chilly affair!

Meribel Olympic
Meribel 80th Birthday

On the last of February, Meribel celebrated its 80th birthday with an evening of torch lite descents down the Stade run, a freestyle competition and finished with a spectacular fireworks display and a Daft Punk tribute band djing away into the night as the clock ticked over to March.


Check out the first part of the adventure

 A winter season in the French Alps: The first 6 weeks

The final part

A winter season in the French Alps: March and April

And a closer peek at chalet life

A day in the life of a chalet chef

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