No salt in the porridge..

February is 'sportlov' - and half of Sweden it seems takes time off from work to go skiing. After six years the itch finally got to me and this year I joined the crowds bound for the slopes. Not for me though the 600km trip to the Swedish fjälls. I have that last minute place on a bus to the Alps instead. A mere 35 hours rolling down through Sweden, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland...

So by saturday afternoon the great unwashed are rolling into Serre Chevalier, set for a week on the slopes. Somehow it all looks a lot bigger than the slope at Sollentuna!

Villeneuve is quite small - a tourist resort for the ski trade. The UCPA hostel sits at the foot of the slope, a short walk from the nearest ski lift - and with fresh snow and guided skiing all week can you ask for more? Even the food was good - in a 'copious quantities to keep body and soul together' sort of way. (I did hear complaints of no salt in the porridge, but as porridge is a french concession to swedish taste what do you expect?)

Skiing they say is a bit like riding a bike.. and i guess that's true - but if I got on a bike after ten years abstinence and fell off as much as I fell down this week I think I'd throw it under the hedge and walk. But, after surviving the first few days, wearing my legs ragged and practicing improptu aerobatics at every turn I did eventually get back the knack and manage to keep up with the lovely ladies

This album is powered by BubbleShare - Add to my blog
And after skiing it is of course time for Aprés-ski.. which seemed to consist largely of swedish pub bands in the local hotels playing an eclectic mix of easy listening and hard rock - with those lovable swedish favourites thrown in for good measure. And if it's not swedish bands it's English one's pretending to be Swedish... a raucous evening of pseudo-ABBA. Wake me up for breakfast will you?

It's hard to put a week into a few words - so I'll leave it to the pictures instead to tell the story - above a selection of pictures by Lasse Sunden out on the slopes and then below an 'axplock' from my pictures out and around Serre Chevalier. Clicking on the pictures opens the web album... or just enjoy the show!

But now for breakfast! Where did I put the salt?

This album is powered by BubbleShare - Add to my blog