EASTER?

My plans have been thawrted. Yesterday was a lovely spring day, so before going to France for a week of R&R from the mind-numbing mornings starting at 5.30, I decided that it was time for the car to have its twice yearly interior clean. First of all the ski rack came off - no mean feat as although deceptively simple to look at, you need a PhD in engineering to dismantle it. Then all the doors were opened and I set about emptying the contents before getting out the Dyson. Out came the bath mats (brilliant for absorbing melting snow), the rubber mats that hold the melted water and a very smelly old sheet that Angus is meant to use after a wet/muddy/rolling in cow pat walk.

I then set about clearing the litter and this is what I discovered! Six bottles of mineral water in various stages of consumption, three Coke bottles, about 30 sweet wrappers, the tripod for my camera (wondered where that had got to), various scrapers, de-icers etc., Angus's passport, assorted maps, my 'zapper' to fast track through the motorway tolls in France, a load of cables for assorted mobile 'phones and iPods, 2 dog leads, an amazingly awful collection of CDs and I think that it about all!

And then of course, I was waylaid doing something else, so cleaning the car came to a halt for the day. So I had decided to hoover the car this morning and treat the seats which are in leather and desperately need de-Angusing. But of course that has been stopped as yet again it is snowing! The car is now covered in a good 6 inches of snow, and no sign of a let-up at the moment. I know I live high up in the mountains, I know it is only the beginning of April and we shall have snow on and off for another month, but this year I am totally fed up with the snow. One day in T-Shirts, the following day in a ski jacket and if I have to wear my snow boots for much longer, I think I shall scream.

However, when I go off to France on Friday as the car will be junk free, I should save a few drops of petrol.

And of course the rubber mats have disappeared somewhere in the snow...

FRANCO SUISSE ENTENTE

Today I am taking the child and Brother Number 4 (who is staying over the Christmas period) to visit Brother Number 3, who is staying in Meribel with his family - the child will be off testing out the snow (or lack of) on the Meribel pistes, while we struggle to a restaurant to have lunch. My little four-legged friend will probably come too, as left at home for the day, he does tend to think he is on a seek and destroy mission.

The road from Verbier down to Martigny is not my most favourite but from Martigny going up to the frontier and over into Chamonix the scenery is gorgeous - better with loads of snow but often impracticable if it does snow. Verbier to Meribel is only 170km but will probably take two and a half hours plus stops for photos, coffees, a couple of sniffs for Angus - so soon I shall have to courageously wake the sleepers.

I am interested to discover whether Swiss ski resorts are in fact more expensive than those in France - I have my doubts. As far as restaurants are concerned, we have had some pretty grim experiences in French resorts, served by surly, overworked staff and pretty crap food - here in Verbier I can honestly say I have never had a bad meal and even at the end of the season the staff are polite and smiling, but maybe this is because they are paid two or three times more than their French counterparts.

I shall rely on the child for the snow conditions. After the heavy fall of snow about a fortnight ago, we have had no fresh falls - fortunately the temperature at night is between -5 and -8 so the snow cannons are working flat out. But every day is warm and sunny so the snow is melting fast. Pierre's new skis are totally wrecked already as he spends his time skiing over stones so he is now waiting for the 'real' snow to arrive to have them totally overhauled. Accidents on the slopes are rife at the moment as skiing on stones does tend to stop you dead in your tracks! The village is full of people with their knees bound up and hobbling around on crutches. In his 'gang' one chum broke his pelvis the other day and had to be airlifted to hospital, another has pulled the ligaments in his knee so can't ski for the rest of the holidays and a third has whiplash. Apart from messing up his skis, mine has escaped lightly (touch wood) with bashed knees and elbows and a small rip in his ski pants, but with conditions as they are currently I admit to trembling when the 'phone rings, fearing its a call from the helicopter crew telling me to get to the hospital fast...

However, snow is forecast from the 30th December for a whole week, so hopefully my visitors arriving for New Year will have perfect snow conditions.

LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW

Before creating my blog, I would often think of all the things I would write about if I had one; now the basic process is completed, my mind has become a total blank. So when in doubt, talk about the weather. And living in a ski resort, weather is of the utmost importance, especially at this time of the year.

THERE IS NO SNOW! Three weeks to Christmas and apart from a sprinkling on the high slopes, the weather remains obstinently sunny and warm. The first 'piste' opened up a fortnight ago, relying heavily on snow cannons, but that is all. The shops are reopening for the season after their autumn hibernation, but apart from the locals who come to ski on the weekend, the village remains desperately empty.

The chalets and flats that are empty for most of the year, are starting to be opened up by an army of cleaning ladies and maintenance people, and there are signs of the first very expensive and utterly non-PC four wheel drive cars invading the village; here of course a 'Chelsea tractor' is almost obligatory (when we have snow) but when I see an enormous Hummer with Geneva licence plates on it, I wonder whether the owner can actually use it in the city - let alone park it.

One of the joys of winter here is that the building work stops - through the spring and autumn the village bristles with cranes and enormous lorries carrying equipment as the locals sell off their land to people who pay millions of Swiss francs to build a chalet that will only be used a couple of weeks in the year.

An architect friend told me the other week that as constructible land has now more or less run out, there are certain unscrupulous architects that I suppose, with a few back-handers, are now getting permission to build on land that is in an avalanche zone. Apparently these chalets are super-reinforced but nothing stops an avalanche. The climate is changing for whatever reason, and this summer we saw avalanches in the mountains and one down in the valley where enormous boulders suddenly hurtled down the mountain for no apparent reason - the one in the valley put the local railway line out of action for three months.

I live in what is called a 'vieux' chalet - the locals say 'vieux' with a slight snarl in their voice - they are for some reason very proud of the expensive chalets with their hammans, jacuzzis and heated driveways (yes, yes!) but then complain bitterly that the local young people can no longer live here as the housing is too expensive. I just hope that my 'vieux' chalet was built by a local with knowledge of the village and if there is an avalanche it won't be swept away!