First week in Morzine

Sat 2 Jan

We hit the road at 9am, bang on schedule, for the long drive to the Alps. We are in Adam’s Dad’s Vito (looks like a posh van, just don’t call it a van, ok?). The 5 of us each have our own seat and there is plenty of room in the back for all our snowboards, skis, luggage and bags of groceries.



It is Saturday 2 Jan and the roads are empty – everyone must still be suffering from New Year’s Eve excesses – so we make record time to Folkestone and manage to get on an earlier train to France. The EuroTunnel is weird as you stay in your car, or hop out to go to the toilet, but aside from that there is nowhere to go. You can’t even see the fishes. I think the tunnel should be made from reinforced glass and be like the shark tunnel you get at the SeaLife centres so you can see all the sea creatures while you zoom across (or is the tunnel actually under the seabed? Must look into that).

We then take the speedy toll roads towards the Alps and barely stop for diesel and refreshments. I’m surprised that my co-passengers, four grown men, have not brought any snacks for the journey. I have packed nuts, tangerines, dates, figs and beetroot crisps. And they are quite rude about my beetroot crisps! Adam describes them as ‘beetroot flavoured cardboard’. I think they may be dehydrated beetroot as they are not baked or fried – they certainly taste very healthy.

We arrive in Morzine at night but can immediately see that the resort is quite large, with a lot of amenities. Our chalet is fabulous. It is a semi-detached chalet over four floors and includes a ski equipment & utility room on the ground. The views from the living room are tremendous as they look across the valley to the Morzine ski slopes. And we are a few minutes walk from the ski bus stop which can either whisk us up the gondola to Avoriaz or down to Pleney to ski Morzine and Les Gets.

First meal when we arrive on Saturday night is made from the groceries I brought - Parsnip and Pancetta Taglietelle (A Jamie Oliver recipe). I try not to tell the boys what I am cooking as I can imagine that some don’t like parsnips. Adam spots me cutting them up and admits he doesn’t like them, however I explained that they taste different when sliced thinly and fried. He later on says that he liked it (more so than some of my later dishes!).