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...