Tuesday 7th January, 2014 - Meribel, France

Last night Richard was keen to go somewhere that Jack would enjoy so we all met up sometime after five at the bowling alley which is about a five minute walk from the hotel.
Jack and Dan were already in fierce competition when we go there but eventually Dan won and Jack had to be content with second place just ahead of Flick.
Then they moved on to the pool tables for a while, with Jack and Dan proving to be an unbeatable partnership.
Eventually we went down to the same little Pizzeria we had been to the night before from which there was an excellent view of the night skiing up above. Particularly impressive was the final run with all the flares snaking their way down the mountainside.
A little while later there was a spectacular fireworks display up the mountainside right in front of our window, so we were pretty lucky getting such a great evening's entertainment so unexpectedly.
We later learnt that it was Russian Christmas (and Meribel is full of Russians) so that is what it was all in aid of.
After dinner we retired to the hotel and the others went off bowling again. Flick and Dan then made a real night of it, going on to a bar afterwards.
So there were some tired looking people when we all met up for lunch today!
Once again it was a beautiful day - warm and sunny. We did a bit of skiing before lunch then all went up to have a final ski with Jack. I started well, but soon got overtaken by the little fella who went hurtling down the mountain closely followed by his grandfather who was determined Jack would not be able to claim he could out-ski him! Luckily it was a dead heat, so Grandad Gruff's honour was maintained.
Once Jack was safely in his lesson we all enjoyed a hot chocolate in the sun at one of the mountain top restaurants before making our way down.
It appears another night of bowling might be on the cards, though Flick and Dan have already retired to the safety of their apartment in Brides Les Bains.

Just a few points needed to beat Aunty Flick

The losing team!

Strategy is important

Of course he's reading the menu in French

Dan, Jack, Flick, Geoff, Rhoswyn and (behind all the facial hair), Richard.

Monday, 6th January, 2014 - Meribel, France

Not much to report today. We wasted a little time trying to access bank accounts on the tablet but were unsuccessful.
Flick had met up earlyish with Richard and Jack to ski with them so we eventually dragged ourselves into our ski gear and boots again and took ourselves off for a couple of runs in much the same area as yesterday, which we enjoyed. Confidence was a bit better today, which also helped and the weather was good to the point of being too warm.
After lunch Richard deposited Jack with his ski teacher for the afternoon then joined the rest of us to ski. We went up on the Saulire gondola which sounded good when the idea was first mooted. However it went up a lot further than I had realised meaning a long way to ski down. We told Richard and Flick to leave us and ski at their own pace while we came down slowly to accommodate creaking limbs! In the end we jumped on the gondola halfway to avoid the slush and ice on the lower slopes.
Flick and Dan are staying up the hill for dinner tonight so maybe able to get some photos for tomorrow's entry. No photos today as I only take the camera skiing and can't upload those to the tablet.

Sunday, 5th January, 2014 - Meribel, France

We woke to one of those magic days you often only dream about in the mountains. Yesterday's rain had turned to snow and there had been about 15cm overnight, so everything was covered in white and by morning the clouds had given way to sunshine and clear blue skies.
It felt very odd getting into all the ski gear again after six years, but once suitably attired we walked across the road to the ski storage shop for the ghastly job of putting on ski boots. Richard had very thoughtfully taken our skis to the bottom of the lifts so we only had our poles to carry. Flick arrived by gondola to join us at 10 (Dan is unable to ski because of problems with his leg) and we all followed Richard on to the Rhodos gondola. It seemed to me to be going very high.
It is an awful feeling when you lose your confidence, but that is certainly how I felt. Combined with screaming objections from my legs, the morning was hard going!
Eventually we sent Richard and Flick off to ski on their own as I was holding them up too much.
Dan came up and joined us for lunch as did Jack, once he had finished his lesson, then after lunch we all piled onto the gondola again to have a run with Jack. Or to be more accurate, to stand and watch while Jack shot off down the hill. Once again we suggested the others went off on their own while we went at a slower pace, though with somewhat more confidence than this morning.
Somehow we managed to get quite lost and ended up in Meribel Village, quite a distance from the Chaudanne area where were meant to be. Luckily a little navette trundled up eventually and gave us a lift back home.
This year for the first time I have worn a helmet skiing (Richard and Jack also wear helmets.) It is not as restricting as I thought it might be but it is very, very hot.
Hopefully with all that exercise and fresh air we'll sleep well tonight.

Fresh snow early in the morning.
(Not sure how the photos ended up the way the did!)

Saturday 4th January, 2014 - Meribel, France

As usual when you have to be somewhere early in the morning we kept waking all night to check the time.
The taxi turned up promptly at 7 (it was Switzerland after all) and we were at the airport in plenty of time to find some breakfast before looking for the Inghams reps we were supposed to meet for the bus ride to Meribel. 20 minutes after the designated time and still with no sign of anyone, we started getting worried. Eventually found an Inghams desk in the airport and even more eventually someone turned up behind it. It turns out they had omitted a word on our instructions. Instead of being at the Geneva arrival hall we should have been at the Geneva charter arrivals hall in its own terminal.

Meribel

But the bus hadn't left and we had a pleasant two and a half hour drive which took in a lot of Lake Annecy which some of you should remember. A very pretty place.
Checked in in time to catch up with Richard and Jack whose skiing lesson finished at 1.15. Apparently he tackled a blue run in Courcheval today!
After lunch they went off to ski and we tackled the gruelling process of organising skis and boots.
Flick and Dan should arrive a little later this evening.
It is snowing intermittently but hopefully will be nice tomorrow.

Friday 3rd January, 2014 - Geneva, Switzerland

With not much planned for today other than a little product specific shopping, we got off to a slow start. Waking to our first day of intermittent rain didn't really evoke any enthusiasm for sight seeing either so it was quite latish (ie around 8.45) when we ventured down for breakfast. Breakfast was included in our pre-paid room rate and we had been told to pick up a voucher each for use in the attached restaurant. That was last night's staff - this morning's staff at reception looked at us blankly, told us the restaurant was still closed until next week and suggested we walk to the Migros supermarket down the road to get what we needed. There didn't seem to be much in the way of other options and after unsuccessfully trying to find a cafe that was serving breakfast, we went to the supermarket and came back to the apartment and boiled some eggs. Very exciting.
Late in the morning the weather cleared so we ventured out onto the trams that stop outside the door and headed off to the shops near the station where we did at least find what we were looking for. Then we got another tram to an area where, we had been assured, we would find lots of restaurants but they were obviously in hiding so we went back to the station and managed to track down the one inviting looking place we had passed while on the tram.
We have decided the Genevois don't have quite the same approach to life as the Parisians.
At least when we went to reception to order a taxi for tomorrow they apologised for the lack of breakfast and promised a refund would be forthcoming!

Someone, who shall remain nameless, commented that he hadn't realised Geneva had also been under communist control. I gather he finds the buildings around us lacking in charm.

Somewhere in the far distance Mont Blanc was momentarily visible.

Now we are gearing up for an early start tomorrow in order to catch the transfer from the airport to Meribel.

Thursday 2 January, 2014 - Geneva, Switzerland

Another day spent travelling. We had to check out of rooms by 8.30 but our transfer to Budapest airport wasn't till one so we sat up in the lounge and read all morning. By 11.30 there were only about 10 people left on the boat and we were quite surprised when they brought us out lunch.
The flight was not too bad. Easyjet direct to Geneva so we arrived at six and have just checked in.
Tomorrow we shall make good use of the free Geneva transport passes the hotels here give you.

Wednesday, 1 January 2014 - Budapest, Hungary

Last night the buses were waiting at 6.15pm so it promised to be a long evening. Some people were dressed to the nines (mainly Americans) in tuxedos while some of the younger ones made a real effort and put a jacket on over their t-shirts. There are all sorts but it was probably more a tuxedo than t- shirt type of evening.
We were taken to the Ethnographic Museum in the heart of Pest, a very grand Renaissance building with sweeping marble staircases and frescoed ceilings. The main hall was set as if for an upmarket wedding but first we were led up red-carpeted marble staircases for cocktails and canapes. There were obligatory photos with the captain (why??) and then drinks for about an hour while we shouted over the noise of the vastly amplified string quartet which played somewhat incongruous selections such as Memory from Cats.
Finally everyone was sent down to the tables where each place was set with at least five different lots of cutlery and about seven different wine glasses.
There were eight different courses each accompanied by matching wines, most, to our taste fairly sweet and the food somewhat esoteric (though maybe just Hungarian gourmet).
We decided to front up for the 11pm bus home and apparently missed a really good show, but we really didn't want to have to wait until 1pm for the later buses.
Even though we left early it was a very interesting evening.
We arrived back at the ship to find a mini party in progress in the lounge where what fireworks there were were visible and just before midnight everyone wnt up onto the (freezing) sundeck to watch the fireworks.
So we had a pleasant but relatively quiet New Year's Eve. Apparently quite a few of the passengers had watched the Sydney fireworks on TV in the afternoon.
We decided to have a quiet day today and instead of going on the tour to some artists' village walked instead over the Liberty bridge to Buds and wandered around there for a while.
Once again there seems to be a problem uploading photos, so probably none tonight - but I don't really have much of interest anyway.