December 2007 Update

Hi there to all our friends & family,

I thought I had better sit down and give you all a brief synopsis of what has been going on with Steve and I in Bagneres over the last year.

We wish you all

A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS
and
A HAPPY NEW YEAR

We are really excited as 'Le Tour'comes to Bagneres next year with a stage finish on the 13 th. July and a second visit on the 14th. The week before, the 'etap' also comes through town on 6th. July, the spectacle of close to 10,000 cyclists hammering past our front door should not be missed. SueFrazer is riding the etap and is staying with her and a friend for a few days. Clive Ely and Paul Howard are coming for both the etap and 'Le Tour' followed closely by Adrian Radenbury and Jerry Mc'Gill arriving on the 11th. July. We are looking forward to seeing them all.
As I write this on 10th. December the snow has at last been falling at the ski resort, I have repaired and edged our skis and given them a coat of wax (amusingly fart in French) so we are ready to go as soon as they open the lifts hopefully on Wednesday 12th.
Steve has got to practice his slalom skills as he has entered a ski/golf competition which is run over two days with a downhill and slalom on the Saturday and a round of golf on the Sunday, bizarre!!
Our son Andrew and a group of friends are coming over for snowboarding in February and we are looking forward to seeing them as well.
DECEMBER
We are patiently waiting for news that the ski slopes are opening and hope it will be at the week end. Steve has been busy edging and waxing the skis in preparation and he is like a little boy checking the snow report about 10 times a day, hoping that the weather is turning cold so there will be more chance of snow up at LaMongie.

We aren't expecting either Gary or Andrew for Christmas this year, so it looks like we will be skiing Christmas day and having Steve's parents over for Christmas dinner in the evening and the same on Boxing day. We have guests staying but as we are only B&B that isn't a problem, we have given them a telephone number of a restaurant inBagneres for them to book up for their Christmas dinner and we will put the wood burning fire on in the games room for the evening and make in nice andcosy.


NOVEMBER
Steve went over to the UK for a week to put a new kitchen and ceiling in Gary & Eli's flat. They had a flood from the flat above in October last year. It took till the end of October 2007 for the insurance companies to pay out. Once again Steve couldn't get back to Bagneres fast enough, he was hoping to come back to the ski slopes being opened but no such luck.

I am still enjoying riding my Gary Fisher Tessa Jara and Steve and I have only just started to wear our leggings.

OCTOBER
I flew back to the UK for my niece Tara's wedding to Gary in the north east of England on the 6th Oct. The day went very well, Tara looked lovely and the weather was hot and sunny. I went prepared with all my winter clothes in preparation for the cold weather but they didn't leave my suit case for the whole trip, I couldn't believe it. Weddings are great for catching up with all the family you don't manage to seen very often.

We organized our season ski passes and can't wait for the pistes to open.

I started French lessons, 3 hrs a day Mon/Tue & Wed mornings. I need structure and routine and although I am finding it hard going. I have my French books to hand and pick them up whenever I have the time and I definitely know more now than when I first started the lessons. I didn't learn French at school so don't have any foundations to work from. I have to keep going over and over everything and hope that it will sink in. The Teacher doesn't speak any English which makes it hard, luckily Kim (a friend) is in the same class and her French is better than mine so she helps me out.

SEPTEMBER
Fiona from Galashields came again for her 2 weeks of rest and relaxation. We went camping for 4 days over on the Atlantic coast at Hendaye, just south of St Jean de Luz. We walked the cliff path into St Jean de Luz and back. Went belly boarding in the sea and explored the area. Hendaye is only 5 mins from the Spanish boarder, so drove into St. Sebastian for the day. We also by chance arrived at the 'prettiest village' in France for their Fete which included a cattle and sheep show. I think the sheep had all had a shampoo and blow dry.



I had Fiona riding a bike round the local villages, horse riding and walking in the mountains. Perhaps next year I will organize a parachute jump for us, I have never been parachuting before.

AUGUST
Steve's sister Shirely and brother in-law Pete from Australia, along with Pete's mother from Wales stayed with Steve's mum and dad for a week. We drove toAinsa in Spain as Pete had never been to Spain before. It was great seeing them again as it had been at least 5 years since we last saw them.

Andrew and his girlfriend Joy flew out for a 6 days break. Andrew had been working all summer since he left Uni and wanted a break before the start his first teaching job in Biggleswade where he went for his first teachers practice last September. Joy was very nice and fitted in well with the family.

We also had Jerry, Georgie & Archie staying at the same time. Archie (18mths) was sooo cute and was very good. Georgie and I went on a 3hr hack up from La Mongie, it was more like a nature ride and it would be a really good way for people who are quite happy to sit on a horse but can't walk very far to get up into the mountains. We had the option of a gallop at the end of the ride which of course we took up.

July
We were still busy over the ETAP and Tour de Fance weeks even though the Tour didn't take in either the Tourmalet or Col d'Aspin this year. On Bastile day Steve and I sat outside the Casino in Bagneres with drinks in comfort and watched the firework display which were fantastic.

JUNE
Steve and I started playing golf. Steve had only played golf about a dozen times in total about 20years ago and I had never played before. Our friend Kirsty, who I help with her horses was just starting to play and Steve suggested that as I had always wanted to play golf it would be a good time to start.Kirsty and I enrolled at Bagneres-de-Bigorre golf course with Academie de golf with our Pro Philippe Jeanclaude . The course ran over a 3 month period which included use of the golf course. I can now hit a golf ball, generally straight but the distance is sometimes better than others and my putting isn't bad. The views are to die for and I always keep a camera handy, the mountains are spectacular. I don't think that I will every be very good at golf as I am always getting distracted by the views and the birds and of course I like getting out on my bike as well as helping with the horses to say nothing about having to look after ourChambres d'hotes & guests.

Steve on the other hand is doing really well, his handicap is getting lower all the time and he has won a few prizes in the competitions. I don't think that people believe that he didn't play golf in the UK.

Steve's Father is playing golf with Steve once a week and is enjoying it and is doing well especially when you think that he is 83.

May
Steve's parents went to the UK for 11 days to visit family near Grantham in Lincolnshire. They enjoyed catching up with family but found the roads very busy, the weather wasn't good and I think they were quite happy to get back toBagneres.

APRIL
At the end of the Easter holidays our mountain biking friends from Owlsmoor, back in the UK, Jane,Jon & Oli Lucas came out for a weeks holiday and managed to get in a last bit of skiing before the end of the season. It was great to see them and I think they felt well rested after their visit.

At the end of March we hosted a very successful 'Curry Evening'.
I met a couple, Aishe & Paul while shopping in Lannemazon.They were running a business cooking Indian food and hosting dinners in your own home. It is very difficult to get a good curry around here so we thought we would see if we could get enough people interested and give them a try. At 17 euros per head, which includedpopodoms & pickles, a starter, main course with nan bread, desert and wine, we thought it was good value for money. We rang round all our friends who might be missing a good curry to see who would be interested. The response was excellent.

We set the games room up with tables to seat 26 people with Indian background music, Aishe & Paul wore Indian dress and colorful saris to put over the white table clothes. It was very effective. Along with the pre-prepared food which they heated up just before serving, they also bring their own crockery and cutlery.Aishe and Paul served the food, cleared away after the meal and did all the washing up at the end of the evening. Great! that is the worst bit about having a party.

Everyone had a great time and had the opportunity to meet people they hadn't met before.

March
At the end of March my niece Amanda, her husband Ed and their daughter Molly who was only two and a half years old. We all went skiing, they were all beginners at skiing and did very well. Ed probably progressed the most but 10 out of 10 for effort for Amanda and Molly was unbelievable, we thought that being so young she would get bored after a very short time, but that didn't happen we spent all day on the slopes, even having a picnic lunch on a blanket on the snow. I think if Molly lived here she would become a great skier, her balance was great, and she was quite happy to ski down a slope for some distance from Ed to Steve and then go up on the button lift with Steve and come down between his skies. Molly would do some skiing then have a rest and take in her surroundings then wanted uncle Steve to take her skiing again. She has no fear. We went sledging at Payolle, she was going down quite long steep slopes by herself on the sledge and loving it. They enjoyed their stay and the opportunity to ski and I am sure they will be back again.

February
The second week in Feb Andrew and his old school friend Hennie came over for a weeks snowboarding. The snow was good enough for them to get some off piste snowboarding in and the weather was great. They both bought helmets which I was very pleased about.

Unfortunately the last week of the month our Mitsubishi Pejeros engine died. It was cost effective for Steve to go back to the UK and bring back an engine than buy one in France. Needless to say things in the UK didn't go smoothly and Steve was happy when after 4 days away he arrived back in Bagneres again.

Kasia & Steve