A flavour of a week in a life of a ski chalet

Well the winter season has well and truly begun! All the highs and lows that punctuate our lives as chalet owners have taken place this week…..

High
Lovely French guests arrived to get our season started. Charming, patient with our French, and ready to help with theirs when we got stuck (see ‘lows’!)
Low
Just as we need to get the minibus going for our first large group, the clutch goes, and then the wiper motor goes on our French guests car!
High
The French guests managed to find a dry day to get home, and the minibus was fixed an hour before the group arrived at the airport!
Low
A very big bill for the minibus!

High
Lovely English guests arrive to celebrate Christmas with us. The Dads arrive ahead of the rest, with a car loaded to the roof with presents, which were duly hidden in the garage away from prying eyes. The children were told they would have to wait until they got home for their presents, so they had a big surprise!
High
The sound of children at 4am Christmas day morning, when they discovered Santa had been after all!
High
Skiing on Christmas day – and then back for a feast!
Low
Waking up Boxing Day to find the oven had decided that enough was enough, and packed in!
Low
We are still waiting for the repair man to arrive.
High
A surprisingly tolerant chef. Long may it last!

Low
The jacuzzi goes temperamental. (what is about equipment when you need it?!)
High
The jacuzzi repair people saying they would work through the night if necessary

Highs
- All the snow that fell in the week before Christmas, and then the sun shining all over Christmas! What a glorious present for us all!
- Having a wonderful team in the chalet turning out stunning meals, and always with a smile for the guests.
- Having time to look after guests and to ski, and to spend time with friends! (shush – don’t tell anyone!)

Autumnal Forest delights

With the evenings becoming cooler and the dusk closing in earlier as each week passes, we can't help but rave about how atmospheric the autumn is in Samoëns.  Yes, it can be rainy and miserable at times, but with the dampness come the "fruits of the forest", as the locals call them.  Mushrooms.  Millions of mushrooms.

They're plentiful yet it takes work to find them in the forests around here, because every man and his dog is after them!  Good mushrooming sites are closely guarded secrets amongst the locals and even between family members.  Once you know where to find the goods, you tell no one, because a good harvest of fresh mushrooms is like finding gold.  This autumn our neighbours tell us that the French locals are outraged by the number of Swiss who're crossing the border to forage for French mushrooms!  It's an indication of just how highly prized wild mushrooms are in France.  Mushrooming is a very popular past time for the French, who love nothing more than spending a day wandering the great outdoors in search of (free) organic goodies that they can take home to cook a delicious meal with.  It's an activity perfectly aligned with the French culture - bringing together hand collected, seasonal, wild produce for traditional home cooking.

The fruits of our guests' labours

This week we had a delightful couple come to try their hands at mushroom foraging as an anniversay weekend getaway.  They were awestruck by the fiery display of autumn foliage that greeted them as they arrived in Samoëns, and chose a spectacular weekend to spend wandering deep into alpine forests on the hunt for edible mushrooms. Our lovely guide Aga followed her nose - and local tips - and they were rewarded with a healthy basketload of mushrooms at the end of the day!  Amongst the mushrooms collected are cèpes; meaty, flavoursome fungi that cannot be cultivated and only grow wild.  They're highly prized by the French, who eat them in creamy sauces, or simply fried in butter.  

All in all, autumn is a wonderful time of year for a cosy weekend in the mountains.  With no tourists around, it's a wonderful time to experience the area stripped of all artifice, as a simple farming village.  Here are a few more photos .. because we feel the need to share them!!

Kids' Ski Hats

Our Christmas guests have told their children they're only getting a few presents, but Dad is actually secretly driving the family car across from the UK laden with gifts to put under our 12ft Christmas tree.  The kids are in for a huge surprise and we can't wait to see them light up with the Christmassy-ness of it all.  The anticipation has got us thinking about fun ski-related gifts for kids, and we've always loved the inventive headwear that comes out with each new season.

www.littleterra.co.uk

 Zaney headwear has become increasingly popular on the slopes for the last few years, and whilst we all know adults in crazy headwear is a no-go zone, an official child sanction means kids are allowed to go all out.

Some of our favourites in the last few seasons have been the animal-themed helmet covers that come from the US.  A bit more clever than your average long-spikes-zaney-hat, the animal hats come in loads of styles and actually will help you to spot your little darling from a hundred yards away.

http://www.breckenridgehatcompany.com 

http://www.breckenridgehatcompany.com

Yes, they're hideous, but kids love them.  And we love happy kids!  It's always great to have something that they can unwrap and use straight away too.

The best new fad we've come across in the lead up to winter 2011/12, however, has to be the fabulous chunky knitted beanies from Chaos Hats, with huge oversized pompoms that are interchangeable!  The giant pompoms clip on and off and each beanie comes with two different colours, so you can change your hat to suit your mood.  We think they'd be brilliant for teenagers.  Unfortunately we can't seem to find a website that sells them yet - so they'll be something to look out for in ski shops this winter.  Do they do adult versions ...?

"Luxury Essentials" Winter Stockpiling

With our first winter guests due to arrive on Saturday 17th December (that's just 72 days away), we've started stocking up for the long winter ahead.  Like hibernating animals, we buy up big as the Autumn draws to an end, ready to bunker down in the snow for months at a time.  It is, of course, far too early to be buying food in, but there are plenty of far more fun things to purchase in preparation for indulging our lucky guests...

This weekend we placed a range of orders from our usual suppliers.  The first purchase on the pre-winter To Do list was our customised selection of Molton Brown bathroom products.  There's always the temptation to be distracted when browsing through all the goodies that are available for wholesale purchase from Molton Brown, so strong will power was required to avoid over-ordering.  They all look SO good!

Next on today's list was a vital Christmas element that we simply can't get here in France - the turkey!  Here the local butcher can only source small turkeys, but with a full house of guests over Christmas we'll need a whopper!  We order it from a fabulous organic butcher in Somerset and have it delivered to us here in France, so the order needs to be made well in advance.

Also from a secret source are the handmade chocolate favours we dress the beds with as a welcome gift for arriving guests.  A serious selection process was happily endured and we think we've found the best of the best.  When you see them, you'll appreciate their beautiful presentation just as much as their divine flavour.  These are seriously good chocolates!

Next on the shopping list were new staff uniforms.  This year we've redesigned shirts, jackets and aprons for our staff with the chalet's new logo.  We think they're professional and modern - and hopefully the staff will like them too!   We'll post some photos when they're delivered so you can make your own decision.

Slightly less exciting but absolutely necessary were the fine new towels we've purchased - 150 of them!  We like our guests to use quality products that are in top condition, which means re-buying linen and towels regularly.  There's nothing worse than a lovely bathroom with a threadbare towel!  A hot bath on a cold snowy night calls for a seriously big, fluffy towel; and we've now got enough to dry an army on their way to us.


Last on the list were scent diffusers from Perfume ID.  We find that scented candles produce too strong a smell for the shared areas of the chalet and love a scent to compliment the smell of the wood fire in winter.  Christmassy, heavy scents can be overpowering to live in (they're fine for an hour or two, but all day every day they're just nauseating), so we prefer the fine hint of perfume produced from diffuser sticks.  Perfume ID are specialists in 'sensory communication' and we feel their Eco-diffusers convey an elegant, modern message just right for relaxing our guests.

That's enough ordering for the time being, the fun bit will be receiving all these orders in coming weeks.

Aspen Fashion Week 2011

Yes!  Now that the weather's turning chilly in Samoëns, we've begun dusting off our winter gear for the winter ahead.  The wardrobe changeover happening at home and in the shops makes us eager to stock up on chic new snow gear every year - despite the fact that every year's expense is justified by the same phrase: "I'll wear this for years".

So let's look drool over some 2011/12 winter ski trends that emerged from Aspen Fashion Week 2011...

Fur, fur, fur and Aviators everywhere

Sorel snow boots (we noticed the Parisians went mad for them last winter too)

Metallics

Helmets - safety is cool again!

Black & white

Nordic-Inspired Knitwear + Grunge

Now, it's online shopping time.  Watch out Visa, this is going to hurt.  

Watch this space to see our 2011/12 purchases!!

Avoid a Ski Divorce!

You know how it goes.  You book a ski holiday for you and your other half, imagining the dreamy snapshots you'll post on Facebook upon your return.  Oh look - you'll smile smugly - that's us snuggled up in fur by a roaring fire.  Oh yes, that's us laughing as we throw soft snowballs at each other in a flirty manner.  Yes, here we are skiing gracefully down a pristine slope together .. the perfect romantic getaway, right?  But alas, the mind's eye can wear deceptive rose-tinted lenses ..

Of course, the reality is that you'll argue over which pistes to ski.  You like to plan a route, he likes to 'wing it'.  After bickering until a strained agreement is reached, he'll then completely ignore said agreement and disappear off in a totally different direction, leaving you cursing his tiny figure in the distance.  He'll want to stop for a coffee.  You'll want to try that nice steep black run.  He likes skiing in the trees, you like staying on the pistes.  You're tired and he wants to try that mogul field 'just one more time'.

So you get along brilliantly but drive each other mental on the slopes.  Compatible couples are often incompatible skiers.  Sometimes it's simply because one's a beginner and the other's skied for years.  Sometimes it's because you've been together for years and just don't have the patience for one another that you'd have for anyone else!  With perhaps just one week's skiing each year you both want to get the most out of it possible - but the problem is that you're looking for different things.

We've seen it a million times and have come up with the ideal solution!  A Couples Ski Camp.  The concept is simple: you come on a luxurious ski holiday to spend quality time together in a beautiful, invigorating environment.  We provide expert coaches who'll run a selection of clinics so you can join separate groups and each enjoy your kind of skiing.  Groups meet up each day at lunchtime and for après ski drinks, so you still get to share the ski experience!  Everyone's happy, and you get to enjoy a romantic ski break without the on-piste tension.  Bliss!

Our Couples Ski Camp will run from 15-21 January, 2012.  It includes coaching allowing participants to split up into different groups according to the type of skiing they'd like to do, with options such as off piste, confidence building and technical training.

The Couples Ski Camp package includes :
- 7 nights' accommodation at Ferme du Ciel
- 6 chef-prepared evening meals at the chalet
- 6 days' ski coaching and/or guidance from ZigZag Ski School
- A professional in-house massage
- All transfers
- Camp runs 15-21 January 2012
Price £2980 per couple

Get in touch to book your places!  info@fermeduciel.com

Homemade Jam

With a garden laden with fruit and vegetables, a bit of rainy weather and the urge to be domestic, there was nothing else to do this week but cook jam.

With a bit of help from her good friend Delia Smith, Su gathered her courage (while Andy gathered the fruit) and got down to business.  The kitchen was cleared.  The dogs were kicked outside.  Lulu looked on in fear.

The whole process of making jam is intimidating to the keen amateur, but surprisingly simple in reality, Su discovered.  Just a few straightforward ingredients are needed - in this case; apricots, sugar, lemon and butter.  Cook 'em up and that's about it!  Well, the process isn't quite that simple, but you can find Delia's rather more expert intructions here.

Of course, the joy of living in a hamlet like Mathonex is that before the apricots were even harvested, the neighbours were keen to provide a dash of helpful advice, spliced with a pinch of warning.  "Make sure you use enough sugar" (how much is enough?) .. "Don't let it boil too long" (how long is too long?) ..

Su trusted in Delia and was rewarded for her efforts, with a rich, sticky, sweet apricot jam that any domestic goddess would be proud of.  Of course, a pretty little jar of said jam was dispatched to each of the neighbours the next day, and the general consensus was that it met the high standards of discerning French rural tastebuds.  Success!

So keep an eye out for Su's pretty little pots of homemade apricot preserve the next time you're enjoying breakfast at Ferme du Ciel.  A little spread over a freshly cooked croissant is divine.

Now & Then - Changing Samoëns

If there's one thing we love about Samoëns, it's the way modernity only lightly touches the centuries of history that make this area so intruiging.  There is a huge collection of old photographs, maps and drawings of the village and surrounding landscapes, and comparing them with the Samoens we see today is always a fascinating exercise. 

Lac de Gers in 1953

... and in 2011


Samoens' medieval village centre has hardly changed since the 1900's...

Samoens mayor's office in 1901

... and in 2011, with a bit more traffic and those controversial corkscrew lighting sculptures !

Same Socks for a Week - Great or Gross?

During the wintertime we get away with wearing ski socks day in, day out for as long as we can before they start getting stinky, and no one seems to think any worse of us.  Drying them over a radiator at night, ready to slip into ski boots the next morning is totally socially acceptable.  So why doesn't this rule apply to non-ski socks?

Su's in the process of training to walk up Mt Blanc, and the question of smelly hiking socks has come up.  Is it ok to hike all day, dry socks overnight and continue in them the next day, for several days?  Applying the ski-sock rule, the answer should be yes.  But some people seem to find the thought utterly abhorrent.

Introduce high-tech fabrics, or low-tech natural fibres like merino wool, however, and the tune changes.  They don't smell.  They're designed for it.  Washing them too frequently is bad for the sock, hikers say. Ah ha.  The question is, how long can you wear said socks without offending your refuge bunkmate?

The question is entirely opinion-based and thus unanswerable.  And yet, during her two-day training hike this week, Su was fairly certain that the fellow a few bunks down (who snored, by the way), should perhaps have carried a fresh pair.  Or two.

It's a High Life

This week one of the local parapent operators asked us if we'd like to trial a free parapent flight, in order that we can better explain the experience to our guests.  Heck, yes!  We snapped up the offer and presented ourselves at the right time and place, eager to be thrown off the nearest mountain top.


Chatting to our parapent pilots as we drove up to the departure point at Samoëns 1600m, we realised we were in exceptionally good hands.  Our two pilots are a father and son team with more experience than any others in the world - literally !  Erwan and his father Michel run Air One Parapente (get it? ... Air-One is Er-wan ... ok, try it with a French accent, it works better!) from Morocco in the wintertime and Samoëns in the summer, and Michel was actually one of the inventors of the sport.

Launching off a slope

As the story goes, back in June 1978, Michel and some parachutist friends were tired of the time and cost required to enjoy parachuting out of planes, so decided to try launching their 'chutes from the hillside behind his house in Mieussy, just a few kilometres down the road from Samoëns.  It worked and, voila - a new sport was born !  
The term para-pente comes from para-chute and pente, which means 'slope' in French.  Sort of seems obvious now, really.  Chute means 'to fall', which refers to the use of a parachute for jumping from aircraft, and now the equipment has been adapted expecially for parapenting, in order to allow maximum control and flight time.

So, back to Michel and Erwan.  Erwan was born into the sport and now represents France as a member of the National Parapenting Team.  We didn't know this team existed, but are suitably impressed nonetheless.  He travels around the world competing in races, technical challenges and freestyle parapenting competitions ...none of which he had any intention of trying out on us, we hoped.

Arriving at the departure point we suited up with windproof jackets, helmets and super-baggy giant backpacks (our harness-seats), looking a little less cool with every addition.  As we suited up, one after another parapentist lifted their 'wing' up beside us with a whoosh, then jogged coolly down the slope until they were no longer running, but flying.  It all looks so easy.

Preparing for take-off 

In flight !

I get clipped onto Michel's front and he says 'start running and don't sit down'.  I'm a total liability and he has to tell me 3 times not to sit down, which with the harness-seat thing pushing into the back of my legs is easier said than done.  And then oh - we're about 30m above the ground, with pine tree-tops just below our feet !

The flight is an undescribable sense of freedom, being thrust upwards by thermal currents of hot air from the ground and moving with every gust of wind but not minding.  This is what it feels like to be a bird, I think, watching a huge eagle soar with us just a few metres away.

Landing

The flight lasts 30 minutes and I've spotted Ferme du Ciel, the village square, other nearby villages and even visually explored the unrecognisable ski slopes we know so well in the wintertime.  It seems to all make sense from up here.  I watch Erwan do a few loops as he descends towards the landing point and quickly warn Michel that he probably shouldn't do the same, as the heat is starting to make me feel queasy as we approach the ground.  Apparently I was perfectly dressed for the cool heights we reached at 2100m, but upon descending back to summery Samoëns at 700m I overheated and - ahem - was unwell upon landing beside the swimming pool.  Note to self - wear less next time !

Despite my queasy final 2 minutes, I'd highly recommend a parapent flight with Erwan and Michel over Samoëns !  Flights cost 70 euros per adult or 60 euros per child, for a 15-30 minute flight (depending on the conditions).  Get in touch with Ferme du Ciel and we'll make a booking on your behalf.

Another FdC Wedding

The stunning Bride!

Chef Suzanna at work

June has been a month of both rain and shine in Samoëns, and we were relieved that the weather put on a good show last weekend for 60 wedding guests who partied for 3 days at Ferme du Ciel.  With a huge marquée on the front lawn, the wedding party lodged with us and showed real endurance for partying!  

The bride and groom chose to enjoy a casual hog roast dinner the evening before their wedding day, and Andy was only too pleased to show off his carving skills.  With a stunning array of salads, breads and cheeses, the roast pork went down a treat and we finished the whole hog without any trouble.  

Casual Hog Roast

The wedding celebrations began with a mountaintop civil ceremony on the Joux Plane, followed by champagne and canapes as the sun set.  Everyone then descended upon Ferme du Ciel, where they enjoyed a 4 course meal and speeches.  The charming French-Australian couple met in Peru, so at midnight a salsa teacher arrived to get the party started with salsa lessons!

Morning-after Mimosas!

Bread oven delights

On the morning after the wedding, we prepared a full day, rolling brunch with a huge buffet selection of hot and cold breakfast délices.  Andy fired up our ancient wood burning bread oven to cook a gourmet selection of quiches, tartes and delicious pissaladières (French pizzas), which went down a treat.  On the drinks table, the French learned the joys of 'hair of the dog', indulging in morning-after mimosas (champagne cocktails) with a sense of naughty delight!  

All the planning and preparation meant that the event was a roaring success and we wish the bride and groom much, much happiness for their future together.  Time for us now to get back to organising details of the next Ferme du Ciel wedding!

Summer Days

Summer has arrived in the Alps, and boy is it hot.  This week we enjoyed temperatures of up to 30 degrees Celsius and were even happy to see a few clouds on the horizon today !

In a few weeks the "Les Pépites" festival will begin, with at least one free concert each week in Samoëns.  The festival kicks off on 16 July and runs until the 25 August, providing great free entertainment to fill the long balmy evenings.

Samoëns' local pool is also now open and thriving in the heat.  The temperature is beautiful, unlike the frigid waters of lake Morillon...  The lake is a great place to relax and sunbathe, but as we found this week, its not quite warm enough yet to swim in comfortably.  That said, many brave souls have been taking the plunge in an effort to cool down...

Tour de Samoëns !

Summer has arrived and it's raining men in Samoëns this week as we've hosted a group of ten cyclists, or "MAMILs" (Middle Aged Men In Lycra), as they call themselves.

With the goal of tackling as many 'cols' (mountain passes) as humanly possible, our cyclists arrived from Manchester with their own equipment and an appetite for energy supplements and protein bars.  Yes, the guys have eaten us out of house and home and we've never had guests more appreciative of the chef's efforts !  

Impressing us immensely, throughout the weekend our charming MAMILs have climbed the Col de Colombiere, Col des Aravis, Col de la Ramaz and Col de Joux Plane.  They're looking forward to heading back to the little hills of the Lake District, which will now seem like a walk in the park after their alpine conquests...