Let It Snow

When the gloom of winter seems never ending, a sublime week skiing is the perfect pick-me-up.  So we discussed skiing over Christmas with Alun and Gemma.  Booking our first family Christmas away from home, felt fraught with risks.  Would there be snow?  How would we find room for presents?  Would Christmas with a chalet full of strangers be a bit weird?  Would Christmas crowds result in stressful lift queues?  And, most importantly, as far as Emmie was concerned,  "How will Father Christmas know we are skiing?".

There's no denying that booking a Christmas holiday in a ski resort is a risk, but we did all we could to reduce it.  First up, we looked for somewhere snow sure.  Courchevel which is part of Les 3 vallees, one of the world's biggest ski areas fitted the bill.  We chose to stay at relatively risky La Tania (at just 1,400m because of its prettier, family-orientated feel).  Yet, with plenty of easily-accessed higher terrain, peaking at 3,000 m.  We figured that even if our chalet was surrounded by green grass, there would surely be snow somewhere.

Finally, there was the festive side of things to clear up.  We plumped for a catered chalet a stone's throw from the La Tania Telecabine.

For our week of energising Alpine air we were staying at Chalet Juliette run by Ski Dazzle in the small but perfectly formed village of La Tania, nestled on the edge of the awesome Three Valleys.  Sitting below its rather brassy and impossibly expensive neighbour Courcheval, La Tania is a cosy little village with plenty of Alpine charm.

We were greeted at our gorgeous chalet by the most cheerful hosts you could wish for.  Hayley's arrival diktat:  "The coffee maker's here....The ski slopes are down that path......Oh, and help yourself to wine or beer whenever you want."  Hayley and George are true experts in looking after their guests,  George is a wonderful chef and we soon realised we would need every inch of the huge ski area to work off the delicious calories on offer.  A week in foodie heaven.

Our first day dawned bright and sunny - a perfect bluebird day - not a single person waited for the telecabine ahead of us.  "Why is it so quiet?" asked our puzzled granddaughter, Emmie, 8."  "It'll be busy up top," I answered sagely.  But as we emerged our bafflement only grew.  Instead of the packed pistes we'd been braced for, we were greeted with utterly deserted slopes.  I grinned at the family and we all shot off whooping with disbelief and delight.

Yes, if you get as lucky with the conditions as we did, Christmas can be the perfect week to take the family to the slopes.  Aside from the resorts showing off at their glittering festive best, heading to the mountains during Christmas week meant avoiding taking Emmie out of school during term time and opting for a catered chalet meant someone else to take care of Christmas dinner.  Now, it seemed, we could add quiet slopes to this enticing list.

T'was the Sunday before Christmas and Father Christmas delivered a present early, a metre of fresh snow.

Each morning Gemma, Emmie and I hit the slopes with ski school.  Having been braced for busy slopes, we were overjoyed to have our assumptions about Christmas holidays smashed. The delicious, tree-lined, cruisy reds and blues above La Tania are just made for building confidence and reviving rusty skills.  It was all very friendly.  My instructor was ESFs Andre and not only did he have our group performing critical techniques to improve our carving but he also pushed me at the perfect pace to implement my skills.  His English was very good.  He even took us slightly off piste in the deep powder which is something I would never have done on my own!!!!

After collecting Emmie from her ski lesson each day (enjoyed all the more for being in New Generation's small, English-speaking group) we lunched in mountain restaurants.  Bouc Blanc at the top of La Tania telecabine was a great place for a skiing pit stop and to meet Daddy and Grandad and eat a huge bowl of fries. Prices not too bad for Courchevel either.   In the afternoons we hit the slopes en famille.

Christmas Day.  The presents have been unwrapped, George is looking after the turkey, the champagne is chilling in the fridge and we are off for a Christmas day ski and the sun shone for a beautiful bluebird powder day.  Skiing on Christmas Day is a great experience as everyone is in a jolly mood and you may even spot Father Christmas and his elves on the piste.  Even in peak Christmas Day queues there were only ever two or three chairlifts of skiers ahead of us.

Christmas Lunch at Bouc Blanc sitting on the piste in glorious sunshine, stunning mountain scenery and clear blue skies.

Off the mountain, choosing a family friendly, traditional-feeling resort such as La Tania paid off.  On Christmas Day, after apres ski cake and tea in the chalet, we walked down to the centre of the village to watch the exciting torchlit descent by the ski instructors down the Folyeres piste followed by a wonderful Christmas firework display as we sipped warming mulled wine and hot chocolate.  Back at the chalet  Emmie played happily with the other guests' children and their new toys whilst we enjoyed canapes and champagne.

George's Christmas Dinner was excellent.

Boxing Day was another beautiful day and, as it was the Chalet Hosts day off, we treated ourselves after a fabulous morning of skiing to a rather special lunch in the mountains.  A carnivore's delight.
La Soucoupe is a mountain top restaurant on the Col de la Lose in Courcheval 1850.  It is everything a mountain restaurant should be.  Warm, atmospheric, friendly and most important of all, the food is delicious.  The restaurant has a main focus on meats of all sorts which are cooked on an open barbeque operated in front of a unique open front burning stove.  We had the cote du boeuf with gratin dauphinoise and we were not disappointed, along with some chilled champagne and excellent red wine.  What a treat on Boxing Day.

More snow arrived on the 27th refreshing the pistes for an awesome last day's powder skiing.

Thank you Sally-Ann at Ski Dazzle for helping us to organise such a wonderful Christmas.  We wish all of you in La Tania a Very Happy and Prosperous New Year.  And yes, there was snow.  We did find room for the presents.  The chalet was full of friendly guests and such well behaved children who became Emmie's new best friends.  The pistes were quiet and most importantly Father Christmas did call.

Enjoying snow sports as a family is always precious time, bonding over shared experiences.  But at Christmas it feels even more special.  Some Christmas traditions come and go year on year.  This is one I'd love to try and keep.

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas.

If you are looking for a garden centre glitzy experience full of songs by Slade and Shakin' Stevens and the usual types of Christmas lights, then this is not for you.  If, however, you have seen enough of all that and want something natural and truly unique, then Christmas at Kew is your venue!

Emmie was full of "oohs" and "aahs" throughout the visit.  There wasn't a single display she wasn't interested in.  She loved the beauty and spookiness of trees lit by coloured lights.

And we all loved the choir of singing Holly Bushes, the twinkling Tunnel of Light, the flickering Fire Garden, the fabulous Waterfall of Lights cascading from the towering 18m high treetop walkway in Kew's arboretum.  And the Palm House Pond Finale was just AMAZING!

After Emmie and Alun had enjoyed the Helter Skelter ride we gathered around the fire-pit to toast marshmallows.

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It was then on to the Bournemouth Gardens splendid Christmas lights.  Last year was terrific, this year was even better!  A colourful, musical, spectacular array of sculptured lighting.  Trees, teddy bears, the conical tunnel - all beautiful.  Jamie and Chloe loved the "flowing" lights in the rockery.  Such an enjoyable stroll from the Pier to the Square and back again.

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On our way home we stopped at Byron Road, Barton on Sea - It's Christmas!  And it's nice to see that once again Bryon Road is going the extra mile to make sure that there's plenty of goodwill this festive season.  Every year they raise a huge sum of money for charity.

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Santa's Steam Train at Exbury Gardens was delightful.  We took Jamie, who loves trains, and Chloe and they loved the characters dressed as Santa's reindeer and the Elves who rode the train and played spot the antics of the naughty reindeer!

Afterwards, a very pleasant stroll through the grounds completing the reindeer quiz.

And finally fun at the adventure playground.

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On to the National Trust at Kingston Lacy.

Initially,  we were a little disappointed to find only four rooms open in the house this year. The decorations were beautiful, the efforts that the volunteers had put into making the house festive were first class but we really missed the ginger cake and sherry on departure.

Post 4 pm the main feature at this time of year is the illuminated garden.  Very pretty.

And the highlight...…. Father Christmas.

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The Finale - we called at my brothers to drop off some presents.

Every inch of their home is richly decorated for Christmas.

FAB - U - LOUS.