We’re off on our family holiday to Morzine. We have 2 children aged 9 and 6. The main reasons for driving are that we are fed up with airport delays, airport queues, lifting a multitude of bags on and off trolleys and can take more toys for the kids in the boot of the car. This is a log of our journey, from my perspective – the mum and passenger.
Got up at 3.30am at our home in Suffolk so I could prepare food for the journey. Really did wonder if this was a good idea after all.
Car looked liked a NASA station when we set off at 5am with DVD’s, ipods, DS’s etc. Stopped at garage to fill the car and buy 2 cans of redbull for the driver. I’d made 2 travel mugs of decaf – husband not impressed.
45mins into our journey I started to feel chilled, kids were happy watching DVDs and asking for breakfast already. Going to be difficult spacing out a day’s worth of food! Thinking driving actually might just be the right decision after all as I sit here with plenty of leg room, travel mugs and other creature comforts. Just not sure about the Homer Simpson voice over the sat nav.
Arrived at the Eurotunnel Folkestone terminal at 7am – ahead of schedule – and they put us on an earlier train than booked – part of the wonderful Eurotunnel FlexiPlus experience! Managed to delay the kids breakfast until the train. Looking forward to getting to France and listening to my audio book all in one go. How often do you get the chance to do that!
Husband not quite so fortunate but he does like being in control of his travel.
The kids are REALLY excited at this novel concept of driving onto a train. It’s even inspired them to pause the DVD’s.
Arrived in France and disembarked at 9.30am (local time). Sat Nav estimates arrival at destination 5.20pm
Motorway proves to be easy and SO quiet. Husband now very happy and relaxed at the prospect of empty, straight roads with no pot holes or road works.

The end is in sight!

We are all amazed at the frequency of toilet stops – which we take full advantage of at least hourly. Since they are all picnic spots they are quite pleasant places to have a stretch. Unfortunately sight of picnic benches are making the children think of food. Only down side – NO toilet paper in any of them. Take your own!
Had a lazy picnic lunch – sat nav now predicting arrival at 6.30pm since we’ve stopped SO many times. Children sleep for a couple of hours after lunch. I doze on and off and husband drinks the red bull.
After that back to hourly stops.
Finally arrive in Morzine 6.45pm. Ended the journey feeling quite relaxed and refreshed considering how long we have been travelling. We chose to make the journey a relaxing one rather than driving straight and this was most definitely the right one. Despite the time it took to get here my vote is still to drive since it has been stress free, the kids vote to drive and the driver? Well he still votes to drive since it has been really easy.
Door-to-door, it took us around 11 hours, including time on the Eurotunnel.
And the cost? Train 63, tolls 67.70E, diesel 109E

Our end destination! The lovely Aiglon de Morzine

Summer in the Alps is glorious. Why don’t more Brits come here on holiday to Zermatt?  My flight with Swiss was seamless and then I enjoyed stunning views of Lac Leman as the train hugged the shore line.  In the morning I woke up in the best hotel in Zermatt to spectacular views of the Matterhorn and we were then treated to a helicopter ride circling the iconic mountain. 

our ride is here...

Our heroic helicopter pilot Daniel had recently taken part in the highest known helicopter rescue in Nepal so we knew we were in safe hands as he flew us seemingly within touching distance of the North Face. We were so close we could see the early climbers as they made their back down and we hoped that our intrusion did not hinder their concentration. Upon landing on the glacier we were transported to the highest ice palace in Europe by either piste basher or snow mobile. There were plenty of people enjoying summer skiing. After visiting the palace, we made our way to the viewing platform at 3883m above sea level where the panoroma is simply breathtaking. You can see 9 peaks over 4000m and numerous glaciers all glinting with hidden menace and with their own sadly shrinking story to tell.

With Clare on the sunny glacier!

After a brief refuelling stop we headed down to the mountain restaurant Blatten for a late BBQ lunch. Following a trusty guide we ducked off the visible path and soon it was time for our next treat which was a zip wire crossing over a vast gorge gushing with glacial melt water. It was a great experience to be dangling in a harness over the void that the whole group enjoyed.  We then gorged oursleves on a salad of pfifferlingers (chanterelle mushrooms but i loved the sound of the Swiss German name) before the main course of deliciously rare beef, lamb and chicken arrived. We were just thinking it would be impossible to consume more when the restaurant owner offered seconds. Pudding was strawberries with home-made rhubarb ice cream from rhubarb grown in their back garden. We waddled back to Zermatt to enjoy the spa facilities of our respective hotels, I was staying in the fabulously romantic 5* Hotel Zermatterhof.  Our evening hosts at the Monte Rosa, the oldest hotel in town, had seen our programme and had thankfully decided we would be grateful of some lighter fare for our evening meal. The chef had therefore painstakingly prepared for us a seemingly endless array of little treats ranging from chilled melon soup to mini churros via sliced duck on minted cous cous and tiger prawns.
 

On the wire

During this trip I did manage to visit some of Erna Low’s self-catering accommodation in Zermatt.  I was very impressed with the central location of the newly built or refurbished apartments all of which were close to a ski lift. An apartment in Zermatt would be a very cost effective way for family skiing as the supermarkets are centrally located and you have the flexibility to eat in or out.  Our recommendation would be the apartments in the Zur Matte building as these are apartments with swimming pool and spa facilities, are accessible in the nearby Mont Cervin Hotel.  Please call Erna Low on 0845 863 0525 for further information as I would be happy to recount further details of my trip!

L'Aiglon de Morzine

The teams and their extensive entourages will be arriving in style on Sunday 11th of July as they conclude their 8th stage of the circuit, rest on the 12th and then set off again on Tuesday 13th of July for St Jean de Maurienne. Why not join the fun and book a week at Aiglon to watch all the action?

Tour fans lying in wait

Prices start at £183 per person for 7 nights at the Aiglon de Morzine, self catering basis in a one bedroom apartment for week commencing 10/07 for the Tour de France. Doesn’t include travel. Eurotunnel crossings can be added on request. Call the office now on 0845 863 0525 or email info@ernalow.co.uk. 

Don’t forget your yellow jersey!

The cyclists racing into Bourg St Maurice in summer 09

I was driving on my golf buggy hunched up to my friend Cathy, touring the stunning golf development of the wonderful golf and spa resort of St Endreol in the heart of the Provence.  We stopped to admire a particularly hair-raisingly difficult golf hole that involved whacking your golf ball at least 400 meters up and above a beautiful river below to land on a tiny putting green in the distance.  I was just thinking how absolutely impossible it looked to a non-golfer like me, when I asked Philippe, our host about it.    He said it was not suitable for ‘Ladies, beginners and so-on’ –  so I decided I fell neatly into all three categories of his description, especially the ‘so-on’ one – and gave up any further hope of shining at golf!

Later, we went to visit the state of the art spa of St Endreol which fitted the perfect retreat for a relaxing spa holiday. Particularly attractive to me was the ‘body scrub with Noirmoutier sea salt’ – it sounded like just the treatment to enjoy against the background of the Esterel mountain range in the distance …

Paused for a quick view shot!

After a tiresome 24-hour coach journey filled with anticipation, I eventually arrived in resort for my ski holiday to Tignes with my fellow uni friends at our ski-in, ski-out accommodation right on the piste, Le Borsat IV for our week’s ski adventure. I was very excited but rather nervous as I had bravely hired a snowboard for the week after only having a measly few hours practice in lessons a couple of weeks before the trip but I brought along my ski equipment just so I could backtrack from my not-so-well thought out original plan.

I couldn't abandon the skis for too long!

The first day on the slopes consisted of falling off every chair lift and sticking to blue runs close to our apartment to steady my nerves but by 3pm, one of the many après bars at the base of the resort was the best place for me. I stuck to skiing for the rest of the week.

I arranged my ski trip with Canterbury Christ Church University and opted out of the extended lift pass to the Val d’Isere ski region as you could pretty much ski over to that area without forking out the extra Euros. Independently, Tignes boasts a large ski terrain for all ski types, for example there are several Snow Parks and a Boarder Cross that skiers can experience to get away from the pisted runs. The main benefits for visitors to Tignes are that it is part of the large well-linked ski area of L’Espace Killy and due to its high altitude (Tignes Val Claret is 2100m) the resort is renown with having a reliable snow record. Consequently its popularity has risen as in recent seasons there has been reduced snowfall throughout Europe, attracting holiday-makers to high altitude destinations.

choosing my line...

The many bars in Val Claret meant that every night was spent in a combination of different venues and the resort was very compact so that it wasn’t hard to find each hub! My favourites were Saloon Bar – with a massive party atmosphere, live music for après and a huge cocktail menu and Melting Pot, where you’ll find a good selection of dance music – Drum n Bass, Electro, Hip Hop and fortunately the prices are reasonable – for a club.

One of our numerous nights out...

I happily enjoyed a few blue skies and powder snow days on my trip, which was just ideal and the last day’s skiing was the best end to the trip with great snow and superb weather – without the outrageous goggle tan marks!

Day 1 – Thursday 15th April
I have spent the last couple of days on an educational trip to the Norwegian resort of Trysil, a lovely family resort located a couple of hours from Oslo and am due to fly home today.  Little did I know that this was also the first day of what was to become a team challenge that would make Sir Alan Sugar proud.  It started when I joined my group for breakfast.  I was travelling with representatives from TUI, Ski Dream and Pinnacle Travel, together with our hosts Jenny from SAS Airlines and Robert from Rezidor.  Robert mentioned that he had seen something about a volcano erupting in Iceland and from what he could gather there were no flights operating out of Northern Scandinavian airports.  Luckily (or so we thought) Oslo was still open, so we departed for our dog sledding trip as planned, only to return and find that Oslo had also been closed.  Flights were due to depart on Friday morning, so Robert used the first of many favours to secure us some accommodation for the night in Oslo and we took the 2 hour coach journey back to town.

Fourth train of the day

Day 2 – Friday 16th April
Wake up in Oslo to find that the closure of airspace now affects the whole of the UK as well and appears to be getting worse.  Oslo is pretty much full for a huge Expo, so an hour spent on the internet reveals that all trains and car hire out of Oslo are fully booked.  The news suggests that airspace may open later that evening, so call in favour number two and blag city tour passes.  Trysil educational turns into Trysil/Oslo educational.  Spend the day checking out the many museums and places of interest around Oslo, together with a site tour of the Radisson Blu Hotel, which has hosted guests ranging from Annie Lennox to Bill Clinton.  Favour number three sees us being hosted for an evening meal by the lovely people at the Hard Rock Cafe, followed by two stressful hours in the hotel lobby looking at travel options home, without much success.

Day 3 – Saturday 17th April
Meet for breakfast and check the news, which is becoming more and more pessimistic.  Looks like the chances of getting off the ground in the next few days are becoming very slim, so we bite the bullet and decide to get out of Norway by any means necessary.  Conor, one of the group members has heard of a cruise ship departing from Hamburg for Southampton on Sunday night, so a few frantic calls are made and probably the biggest favour so far finds us with six places on the ship, provided that we can get to Hamburg in time.  With all trains, buses and rental cars booked out, we manage to find space on a ferry leaving from Larvik for the north coast of Denmark, so we grab a taxi and make the two hour journey from Oslo to the port.  A four hour ferry journey and an hour’s taxi ride later, we find ourselves in the town of Aalborg and grab a hotel for the night.

Day 4 – Sunday 18th April
Having managed to book a series of four trains with worryingly little time between each departure, we put our faith in the Danish rail system, which thankfully seems to be far superior to our UK system.  Make it to the German border on time and board the third train, which promptly grinds to a halt before even making it out of the station.  Wait around for the train to be fixed, whilst wondering what happened to the famed German efficiency.  Finally get on our way half an hour late and, with only a twelve minute window before the next train, we can see our escape route rapidly disappearing.  Thankfully the German efficiency proves not to be a myth, the train makes up the half hour delay and we make our connection to Hamburg.  Relax in the station with a cold beer before making our way to the port.
We board the brand new Celebrity Eclipse cruise ship, it’s my first time on a cruise liner and I am blown away by the sheer size of this 15 storey, 22,000 tonne monster.  Realise we were very lucky to have found a route home (especially as 800 of the 950 passengers booked to travel were unable to make it for the cruise) and relax for our two day luxury cruise home.

Our lift home

Day 6 – Tuesday 19th April
Finally make port in Southampton, six days later than planned and having used pretty much every means of transport at our disposal.  Having seen the travel chaos first hand, I head home feeling thankful that I work for a company specialising in self drive ski holidays and planning my next trip – a luxury cruise!

Welcome home John!

We decided on a whim to self-drive to france for a meeting in Paris – so very nearly booked flights – and what a relief as it just happened to be the day iceland’s volcano caused complete havoc in the skies!

We didn’t need to think about limiting ourselves with our luggage and chucked everything randomly into the boot of the car – what bliss not having to squash things into suitcases only to be told we were overweight by some arrogant  airline.

Travelling FlexiPlus with Eurotunnel means you  get  directed down an empty lane for the first available crossing and you get to overtake hundreds of cars sitting waiting obediently for their appointed time. FlexiPlus signposts guide you past the bottle necks and you arrive at the wonderfully empty flexi lounge  exclusive to FlexiPlus clients – where you get to stuff your face with a limitless picnic including wine, wide variety of sandwiches and puddings, fruit, chocolate, crisps – and topped off with complimentary newspapers and comfy sofas.  Quick snooze on the train and you are all set for your journey!

Against all odds our (slightly depleted) Erna Low Ski Holidays team were about to set off on what promised to be another legendary ski weekend!  We were beginning to get very excited as the departure date was getting closer.  We’d been checking the snow reports in Avoriaz for days, bags were packed and ski legs ready to squeeze in one last weekend of sunshine, skiing and perhaps the occasional beer (or two!) before the season ended.  And then we heard the news.   Who would have thought that a huge Volcanic cloud of ash would put an end to our great plans!  But unfortunately Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull Volcano is still erupting and shows no sign of stopping!  Our flights have been cancelled and we – like thousands of others across Europe –  won’t be going anywhere this weekend!  Needless to say there are a few disappointed people in the office this afternoon and some sad looking ski bags that will have to be taken home and unpacked without even leaving London!  But Mother Nature has spoken and we will just have to find another way to entertain ourselves this weekend… There is always next year!

all the gear and no where near...

See You Tube footage of the volcano eruption -> this is why we can’t ski this weekend!

The weather in the Alps has been very changeable over the last few weeks with January style temperatures of -20 for a while and then a very warm period last week, with rain up to 2000m.

Thankfully the snow is now back in force with cooler temperatures and more snow due above 1200m over the next couple of days.

In Paradiski even when the spring snow gets slushy in the afternoons there is always something to keep you busy. I recently tried cross country skiing for the first time, and now that my legs have stopped aching, I can look back on it with some satisfaction!

Tim making it cross-country

There is a large network of trails around the la Plagne ski area which are also fun to walk if you don’t fancy the unknown quantity of free heel cross country skis. I took several falls due to trying to manipulate these skis as I would alpine skis and I can tell you it doesn’t work!