Maison Jaune Blog

March is here…   This means we can look forward to warm days, lots of sun, and BONUS, there is still plenty of snow and skiing left!!!

Unfortunately, I am still recuperating – though I sneaked a cheeky ski in for the first time since December when I went for a ski last week…   .

I managed just a single blue run – and it took me three days to recover!!  Not good.

Anyway, it gave me the chance to play with some video footage… and put this short video together…  enjoy…

It shows the Kandahar ski run – the Chamonix world championship run!

The footage was filmed by Helen and Tim in early February this year of chalet guests, Ian and David, skiing the Kandahar.    The music is “The Road” by the Levellers.

ps. SPOT THE HELEN COMPETITION….
Can you find her in the video?   She appears twice!  albeit, briefly…

Look what arrived in front of me tonight!!

While Helen has me “mostly” banned from the kitchen -  [note: I was allowed up to create a batch of our milk and honey ice cream - and some delicious rosé and raspberry sorbet ]  - I experience the luxury of having my evening meal delivered to me!   Perfect!   It’s like being a guest in your own home! 

Anyway, this is what arrived for dessert tonight…
Looks like Tim and Helen are doing an excellent job!  The lemon tart was…  well… really tart..  and the sweetness of the red berries in raspberry jus complemented it perfectly!!

Sadly, my current medication modifies the taste of the alcohol –  so I had to give the lemoncello a miss…

Still – bonus points for presentation!  [ed. note: guest portions are larger...]

After much webwork – much done whilst I was convalescing in Annecy hospital – the website and eBook for “Skiing without Fear – for beginners, intermediates, and experts ” were completed, tested and launched today…

Skiing without Fear - for beginners, intermediates and experts -

The book is a collection of NLP and visualisation exercises designed to help fearful skiers to overcome their fears, and more advanced skiers to build their confidence – even to be able to produce their peak performances whenever they wish.

Paperback coming soon….
Whilst the eBook launched today and is available for just $9.97 at the moment, the paperback edition will be available hopefully from the end of the month once we have received our ISBN numbers. 

It will also be available to purchase from the “Skiing without Fear” website, and via Amazon.com

For more details on the book, read extracts, purchase the eBook - or join the Skiing without Fear forum, please visit:

http://www.skiing-without-fear.com

It snowed pretty consistently all day yesterday in Chamonix and through part of the night – so we woke up to approximately 30cm of fresh powder at chalet level and clear skies and brilliant sunshine – though by 11am, there were a few high clouds making it slightly overcast…

Fresh snow on our "benchmark"

View looking towards the Aiguilette des Houches

January was an “interesting” month…  I fell ill and ended up actually being hospitalised in Annecy for over two weeks… (hence no blog posts in January).

 Thankfully, I am now out, and prescribed a nice selection of medications, and am slowly coming back to health…  In a month, I lost about 20kg of weight… Now I am out, Helen has me on restricted duty…  Unfortunately, it looks like I will not be fit enough to ski for quite some time yet!!   This is rather disappointing as the snow is currently amazing…..  Tant pis.  C’est la vie!!

Consequently, it has been a very busy month for Helen, keeping the chalet running smoothly…  So, a big thank you to Tim, Helen’s nephew, who is helping us out mornings and evenings, and Nikki who has been a fantastic help with the cleaning…  So, it has basically been service as normal!   We have been lucky to have had fantastic guests who have been very understanding of the situation too… 

Tim’s chosen speciality is canapés and aperos…  and ”apero-boy” as he has been nicknamed is even planning a book…  Good luck with that, Tim!

Anyhow…   January is now over and February has begun…

This means the days are getting longer and warmer…  and the snow is simply perfect at the moment. 

There should be some great skiing for our guests…..

Sunset on the Mont-Blanc massif - 3rd Feb

Helen and Tim enjoying a glass of Champagne in the hot tub with four-time repeat guests, Paul and Lorraine

Firstly – apologies for the lack of blog posts, this month has been a mad, mad rush.   In the weeks coming up to our first guests arriving, we’ve re-painted the lounge ceiling, built a pine headboard for the yellow room which is now looking rather spectacular with its new superking size bed and lush red curtains, re-designed the guest computer room… and then the season began!!

Whilst above 2000 metres, there has been an abundance of snow – the abnormally warm temperatures meant that this season was late to produce a decent base of snow below 2000 metres.  They had the snow cannons working for three days solid to help solidify the base once the snow did arrive!…  just in time to open the resort on the 19th December. 

Then, after Christmas, the temperatures rose again.  Whilst anything over 2200 metres was rejoicing in vast snow falls – the Col du Montet has been closed for 3 straight days! - we have been stuck with rain!!   Not pleasant, and not normal for this time of year! 

We woke up this morning though to the welcome sight of snow – with some of the largest snowflakes I’ve ever seen!!  The forecast is set to remain cold with snow showers down to 700 metres for the next week, so hopefully the snow that is forecast in the next few days, can repair some of the damage all this rain has done recently…

Right now, we are busy prepping for a seven-course gourmet New Year’s Dinner which includes pan-fried foie gras, and roast venison!  Yummy!

Have a Happy New Year!

It started snowing at chalet level last night at about 3am…

So, this morning, we woke up to find a good 10-15 cms of snow…
The forecast is for more snow in the coming days!!

Could Les Houches open early?  We hope so.
Last year it opened on the 6th December.

Snow has arrived at the level of the chalet in Chamonix

Wow. 

Thanks to our previous guests voting for us and writing about us - we have been shortlisted as one of the six finalists in the Times Chalet Chef competition…. 

The competition looks seriously tough – chalet companies employing seasoned chefs who’ve worked for Michelin-starred restaurants, and Masterchef finalists… and us.   

Judging the competition is Michelin-starred chef, Tom Aikens, John Benbow who is the owner of the “Food at 52″ cookery school, as well as food and drink editor Nick Wyke, online travel editor Steve Keenan,and skiing editor Mark Frary.

Daunted?  You betcha.
Excited? Absolutely.
Ready?  Not quite…  but we’re working hard on it.

We’ll keep you posted.

You can find details on the Times chalet chef competition here.

Wish us luck!

ps.  the snow is coming!! the snow is coming!!

Fresh snow on the 'pentes' from mid-station level approx 2100 metres!

It is not often we get to meet famous people.

Ok.  So Paul McCartney carried a pail of water for Helen back in 1974.
And Leighton went to infant school with one of the members of Bad Boys inc.

Ever heard of them?

Nope? Nevermind.

When we heard that Japanese cyclist, Keiichi Iwasaki, was passing through Chamonix with his girlfriend, Yuka, we thought we’d offer him a bed for a night or two.

In case you haven’t yet heard about Keiichi, he is a very humble chap who, one day in 2001, decided to quit his air-conditioning repair job in Japan, and start cycling…  He enjoyed it so much that he just sort-of kept on going…  through South Korea, China, India, Nepal…up through Pakistan, Iran…. and onwards into Europe – like a non-fictional Forest Gump.

Keiichi and Yuka with Helen and Leighton at Maison Jaune

What makes it more unusual is that when he started, he had less than two dollars in his pocket to fund his trip.

He does magic tricks on the street to earn enough to eat.

On his journey of 28,000 miles covering 37 countries, he has spent a year in Nepal training and then successfully climbing Mount Everest.  He rowed the Ganges from source to sea.  He singlehandedly rowed across the Caspian Sea – taking him 25 days!

Keiichi and Yuka just leaving Maison Jaune

Keiichi is now on his fifth bicycle.  Two having been stolen.

While he stayed with us, we found out that he hadn’t tried any of the local specialities..
So the following night to rectify that monstrosity, we prepared a huge tartiflette with a large, crisp, green salad.

Keiichi then proceeded to give us a demonstration of his magic skills – managing to make a bottle of Rosé appear from a hankerchief.  This man definitely knows how to impress!

While in Chamonix, he climbed Mont Blanc solo - camping on the Dome du Goûter. 
After leaving us, he was headed to Zermatt – then onwards further south to escape the winter cold… Italy… Africa..

We were delighted to have met Keiichi and Yuka.

Heading out...

Good luck with the rest of your travels, Keiichi!
You can follow Keiichi on his website:  http://feel-the-earth.com/english.html

I love it when the full moon rises over the Aiguilles…

Moon rising over the Aiguilles