1. Pre Christmas: Spent a week in Northampton visiting Kim’s home, old school (Rugby) and family. From there we drove to Kent for a traditional Christmas lunch with Kim’s Uncle Robert, Aunt Jenny and James. Jack, Alan, Betty, Kirsty and Jane. Trained to London where we stayed a couple of nights, one with the Nikolajenko’s the other with Kim’s friend Lucy + Chris. London was chance to catch up with as many friends as possible as well as squeeze in the Winston Churchill Museum, and some last minute shopping. We caught up with Sandra, Stevo, Rob and Jane Phelps.
Interesting bits:
• Drinking Glut Wine and singing Christmas Carols in Kim’s local village of Little Houghton. It was like a scene out of “The Vicar of Dibley”.
• Dinner out with the Stone-Wiggs.
• Experiencing London’s ICP. Missing trains, getting off a tube stop too early and walking in the rain, Going to the wrong Bluu bar! All great fun!
• Watching “the novice” Kim trying to use an Oyster Card.
• Seeing where William Ellis invented the great game that is Rugby.
• Seeing the new Olympic Stadium and massive Westfield Shopping Centre.
• Seeing my old flat, or more accurately the location of my old flat in Ealing Broadway.
2. Christmas: My third Christmas in Lausanne with Mum and Dad, but this time Tom, Megan and Gavin made the trek to the northern hemisphere. Mum’s food like always was amazing, highlights were the Salmon Gravlax and the “Ball Less Chicken”. It was a great Christmas, there were plenty of games, banter and lots of mulled Wine was imbibed. We went on a couple of day trips to Les Paccots and Saint Cergue for Snow Shoeing and boarding /Skiing.
Interesting bits:
• Visiting my favourite sports store “ATHLETICUM”, where I made multiple purchases including Snow Boarding Boots and a board bag.
• Bike ride with Megan along the lake front.
• Tom Lost GB’s GoPro, but Gav managed to pick up the newer improved version.
• Visiting the Collection de l'Art Brut. This singular museum focuses on the genre of fringe or "psychopathological" art, dubbed l'art brut (raw art) in the 1940s by French artist Jean Dubuffet. Some truly amazing pieces from some truly crazy people!
• Midnight mass; Swiss Style.
• Teaming up with Tom and winning 6-man 500.
3. New Year: This holiday was planned about 7 months in advance and it brought together the Ropers’ + Tom and the Stone-Wiggs’. We arrived in Chamonix on the 28th. The accommodation (Grand Cru) was brilliant a chalet for 10 with plenty of space for each family. We were up the slopes everyday bar one, when heavy snow caused road and lift closures. We visited many ski fields in the Chamonix area, including; Brevent, Les Grand Monets, Les Houches, Les Flegere and Le Tour. The weather was mixed, but we did manage a couple of picture perfect days. We had a couple of lessons with local instructor Fredrick, who helped us ‘perfect’ our skiing technique. During the nights we took turns cooking for everyone. Kim, Kirsty and I whipped up a tasty Lasagne & Chocolate biscuit cake for dessert. After dinner there was plenty of games and banter. On the 28th and 31st of December we went out for dinner to French and Italian restaurants respectively. Great nights were had by all. We saw the New Year in at the main square; the snow ball fights and unofficial firework displays were a sight to behold. Kim and I finished up on the 3rd catching a shuttle back to Geneva Airport . Our 9 pm flight was delayed for an hour and half. And we didn’t arrive into Edinburgh till after midnight, this caused an unfortunate knock on of events. Firstly the buses to the ferry toll had finished and we had to catch a taxi, then the car park was locked and we had to sleep in an uncomfortable cold car. We left for Dundee just after 5 a.m. The end of a fantastic holiday!
Interesting bits:
• Relaxing in the Jacuzzi for the minimum duration of two beers after a hard day on the slopes.
• Two full blown snow ball fights. Each fight was situated around the Jacuzzi. Mum & Dad vs the rest and Gavin & Tom vs the rest. On each occasion it was difficult to determine a winning side.
• Playing Mexican trains religiously every night after dinner. Even playing ‘the perfect hand’ I still couldn’t manage to win!
• Gavin’s famous garlic bread which managed to knock everyone’s socks off!
• Jane’s famous polystyrene malteaser dessert!
• Snowboarding in some amazing fresh powder. It was like floating on a cloud!
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