Slopes and saucisson....

Hello my friends....I am back from my holiday: I hope you didn't forget me.....

Miss Lola listened very closely to the plans....but did not hear her own name on the team sheet....

...I tried out some of the equipment...but i was not sure if this was the right size.....

Peter Tosh liked his balaclava very much but I was still not sure if this was the right way to wear it....it might be a size issue....

Lola was quite down in the dumps at being sent to the farm....but she felt better when I told her Peter Tosh was also staying behind to guard the house against burglars...

.....some of the luggage was a very odd shape.....

....there were some clues about where we were going....i studied the maps very carefully and noticed that there was some water between the UK and France....

problem solved: we went in a train that went under the water through a tunnel.....

....it was a long way but we stopped at an "Aire" for a rest and to get coffee....

....we set off at 4pm on Friday and arrived at 1pm on Saturday....just three hours sleep on the way down.....so William was due a little nap when we got to the hotel and were too early to check in.....

....bt the wait was worth it....I slipped into my robe and prepared for a reviving shower......

....and found myself somewhere to relax for the evening before going out for a steak dinner...the French do like their food....we checked that the steak was beef....

....we were in Les Arcs in the shadow of the big mountains.....

.....even the roads are covered in snow.....and there are no cars in Arc 1950....which is 1,950 meters up in the air.....

....in the morning I donned my cape and went off to speak French and try to get breakfast for the family....

Did I do ok? ......

....the local snow-terriers did not seem to mind the cold......

...William tried out their technique but he said it was a bit cold after a while...he has only thin fur....

...I did some reporting from the village every evening for the Hotel TV channel......

....er....including restaurant reviews......

...and typist and I whiled away the evenings exercising our brains.....I won.....

er....he's laughing now but he's outside the pizza restaurant.....

....hmmmm, back from the bakery again......it's a daily trip to get fresh croissants and baguettes

....but it's Christmas every day in Les Arcs.....

.....I watched the skiing and enjoyed the sun like a seasoned Piste-eur....

....a lot of the Brits enjoy a nap after a lunch with vin chaud.....

.....I took the lifts to the top of the mountains.....

....and gave William lots of tips before he set off....do you like his new goggles?

....I snoopervised the young children at Ski School.....

.....I even tried out my slippers around the hotel....more funny-sized equipment those skiiers seem to like....

I asked the ice sculptors if they could make me something nice to give to Princess Hellianthus on Valentine's Day.....we sent it out to all our friends....

....and....back to the bakery....this skiing sure gave the typist an appetite....."quatre pain au chocolat sol-vous-plait"....

....but I found time to visit the super-marche to get presents for my terrier friends....

....i was allowed a "little' bowl of hot chocolate every day.....with cream please...

.....I was staying in a manor house.....

....but I still had to make sure I was not run over by the piste-basher on my way to the bakery in the morning...(did I mention the bakery?).....

....it was always busy and we had to keep moooooving at all times....

.....one little pal took time every morning to bark up at the typist on the balcony....the French love their dogs and there were lots around the village and the hotel....

....the snow-terriers came into town in the evening to meet the children and taken them for rides on the sled....

...even Snow Cat remembered typist from last year and came to see him whenever we popped into La Ferme....our favourite cafe at the bottom of the long red run in Villa Roger....

...I treated typist to a special meal on his birthday......

William had a nutritious mid-morning snack every day....brownie and cold custard!!....

....I had to fight my way through the crowds at the boot room every day just to get onto the slopes....we could ski right from our door...

....and in the evening I got to hang out with my pals at the supermarket.....

....all in all it was the perfect week....

....but what is that i hear you say?....."did you do any actual skiing Clapton?".....well......



Did you think I did ok? I am in training for next year already....if i get a helmet I might be able to do jumps and the half pipe....

....a special message waiting for us when we got home....this is Amelia, the doggy we have sponsored through Dogs Trust....

....Lola: back from the farm......happy to have shared a home with three other border terriers all week....

Woof......Clapton.....