Day 177, 28 December 2012, Tignes - It occurred to me this morning that I forgot to mention something that made us smile on Boxing Day. When we came down to breakfast, at the entrance to the restaurant, there was an elaborately decorated bed, red velvet and white fur, and upon the bed there slept Father Christmas, snoring very gently and very obviously to the delight of the children surrounding the bed. He even had an Elf asleep on the floor alongside the bed.....

Day 176, 27 December 2012, Tignes. At least it used to be Tignes... now it's just a massive mound of village shaped snow. It snowed from first thing this morning and is still at it. Slinging it down. Don't imagine we'll be able to see out the windows by tomorrow morning (and we're on the second floor). Had a lovely ski this morning, but the afternoon runs were diabolique. The wind was howling so hard that half way down one run three of us were at a complete...

Day 175, 26 December 2012, Boxing Day - Tignes. Fresh snow overnight - easily 30 odd cm to add to the great snow already here. We spent the morning together exploring various lifts in the vicinity of the resort - which made it easy to nip back for a mid-morning coffee and a warm up. Cloudy skies with the sun peaking through in fits and starts eventually led to a brilliantly sunny day - though a big storm front is due through in the next day or so. Today's tr...

Day 174, 25 December 2012, Club Med Tignes, France. Thankfully slightly cooler today - the April temperatures have disappeared and far more sensible winter temps have prevailed. Aside from it being a lot colder, there were less skiers stripping off on the slopes. Seriously! I had a lazy day reading, napping, swimming in the pool and hitting the sauna and steam room. James powered on for a half morning of skiing and I met him slopeside just before lunch for gl...

Day 173, 24 December 2012, Tignes, France - Christmas Eve! Oh What a Day.... Late December back in '63.... OK enough of the soundtrack. In Europe, Christmas Eve is the big deal and it doesn't come much bigger than at Club Med Tignes. We arrived at the restaurant for breakfast to the sound of singing Elves - pointy hats, pointy shoes, trousers with fur trim. Definitely elves - freshly squeezed orange juice (pretty darn busy elves too - apparently they'd finishe...