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Weekends : Morzine 2003

This is the anecdote of Charismatic Carla and Charming Carine's Birthday Weekend in Morzine

As you can see it was going to be a fun filled weekend with frequent laughs and playful banter. Wasn't long before poor "Predicament" Paul was the subject of hilarious humour too. See e-mail Transcript

So begins the journey to Morzine which is situated right at the heart of the "Portes du Soleil" (the largest skiing area in the world), 650 km of slopes where open spaces and magnificent panoramas compete with excitement and adventure. The trio (Matt, myself and Paul) flew into Geneva (yes Paul was in safe hands now) on Thursday evening and were met by Carla, Andrew, Carine, Brett, Jeremy and Arnold. We loaded the vehicles with all our paraphernalia and before long had crossed the border into France. A slight delay at the border due to suspicious "walkie talkies" and musical laptops but before long we were merrily on our way.

The farmhouse (see website www.thefarmhouse.co.uk) was amazing with many traditional and historical farmhouse artefacts hanging from the walls and the woodwork and antique furniture were striking and unique. It is in fact the oldest building in Morzine, built nearly 250 years ago and is referred to by the locals as "Le Vieux Chateuax" or Mas de la Coutettax. Dorrien and his team were there to meet and greet us and proved to be exceptionally hospitable hosts the entire weekend. Once we had been shown to our rooms we settled down with a drink or two in the bar and enjoyed the warmth and cosiness emanating from the fireplace.

Carla and Carine were the perfect hostesses and had placed on our bedroom pillows an informative sheet of the nearby activities, together with a slab of the finest chocolate (Lindt) from Carla's new homeland. These activities included skiing/snowboarding in Avoriaz which was a 10 minute drive away or venturing further afield to Val Thorens which is the highest ski resort in Europe and is approximately a 2.5 hour drive away and snowshoeing and hiking across unspoilt snow and breathing in the mountainous country air. A couple of day trips were also included. One could explore Chamonix and go up the Aguille de Midi for amazing views of the Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in Europe or take a drive through the Mont Blanc tunnel to visit the Italian village of Courmeyer or visit La Clusaz, a traditional alpine village between Chamonix and Geneva as well as Megeve and Annecy an old French town, ideally situated between the beautiful lake and mountains.

Friday was a clear blue sky and sunny day, with a fantastic picturesque view from our bedroom window of the church of St. Marie-Madeleine and the valley below as well as Avoriaz in the distance. After a hearty and delicious breakfast it was off to the ski hire and then up the Prodains cable car to the slopes of Avoriaz. See website www.avoriaz.com. An unbelievable day of boarding and skiing was enjoyed by all, although the conditions were rather icy. Boarded a blue and red run and some of the snowboarding boys went to the Snowpark to carry out a few jumps etc. There was also a black run open for the more able and adventurous. Hot chocolate break was definitely on the agenda as well as a delicious lunch. The lifts closed at 4:15 so at that time we headed back to the Farmhouse for some tea and scrumptious cake before soaking the tired, aching muscles in a steamy bubble bath. By dinner time all the guests had arrived and we enjoyed a delicious 3 course meal with wine in the dining room which had once been the stables, so made for a remarkable setting. One of the rules of the Farmhouse was not to bring a mobile phone to dinner or be seen to answer a call at the dinner table otherwise the punishment inflicted would be champagne for all. Unfortunately Carla and Colin were caught out and treated the guests to some after dinner champagne in the bar.

The following day was yet another brilliant sunshine day so after breakfast everyone went their separate ways - be it boarding, skiing or exploring the nearby villages. I decided to take some photographs in the morning and board in the afternoon. Lucky for me Brett returned to the farmhouse from the slopes just as I had finished taking my photographs so caught a lift with him to the cable car. He had been unlucky as he had taken my board rather than his - correction Carls had actually taken his board out of her car thinking it was mine so that I could come up with it later. As you can imagine it must have been quite a sight to see six foot plus/size 11 Brett trying to get on my snowboard.

Met up with Ren and Greg who had come up to enjoy the fine scenery and apres ski so sat down with them and enjoyed an appetizing lunch. Before long everyone had come down from the slopes and enjoyed lunch too. It was then time for my boarding so up the chair lift I went with Powderhound Matt but half way down the slope I came a cropper with hat and sunglasses flying to Timbuck Two and back again so that was the end of that. But don't despair I will be back!

The long awaited evening had finally arrived. After some tea and scones back at the Farmhouse we dispersed to our rooms to get ready and change into our "touch of class" attire. Dorrien surprised us with his headmaster outfit and Sue and Tinker dressed up as school girls. Before dinner we were treated to a slide show of all the friends from different weekend trips, events and holidays. Dinner consisted of a 4 course meal and was out of this world. Dorrien and his team certainly played out of their boots. The evening revelry consisted of some serious moving and shaking. See the "Dancing Like No One's Watching" photo album.

On the Sunday those of us who were feeling a bit worse for wear took a drive to Avoriaz and met up with the brave and active ones and enjoyed some crepes before heading back to Geneva. Quite a few of us were only flying back to London on the Monday morning so luckily her brother's place was free otherwise her house would have consisted of one huge slumber party. We ordered pizzas and drank more wine and champagne and enjoyed another entertaining slide show of the weekends activities.

This was a wonderful get together to spend time together. Putting the mad rush of everyday life on hold for a while and sharing some magical moments with friends. This is definitely the way to go.

Merci Carls and Carine!