Shades Of Bad spin off in the snow
sends DORIS to visit COURCHEVEL
in the THREE VALLEYS, FRANCE
We have stressed before that our experience on the major Broadcast Soaps shows the importance of compilations and spin offs to build the characters. Although web series and soaps are still considered the smaller brother, the future is nearer by the day and a wealth of product is important to have ready. Doris Shades still builds as our main character and last week we took her to the snow.
To be honest our ambition exceeds time and it looks like the February Dubai trip is now cancelled as our drama series schedule has again had to change. Working with am in demand star like Derek Redmond means he is pulled everywhere and his diary is full and fills more. We still have six episodes to shoot with him and they will fall into February now.
So...... the SKI film will introduce a new market to Shades OF Bad, we hope. If not, we had a dam good time for nothing. Our next trip is another Caribbean Cruise in March, that is unlikely to change, then a Denmark and Russia cruise in June.
Skiing, wine tasting, eating out and .....
In the winter Courchevel is a ski resort, and in order to ski it has to snow. Whilst we would all like to ski in blazing sun, soft fluffy snow underfoot, and that does often happen, this was not the week. So, in the words of many a song we were often chasing the sun and breaks in cloud, moving from above the cloud to below the cloud. With a number of valleys that is easily possible if the lifts stay open. Courchevel is sold as part of the Three Valleys but there is a fourth Valley and more than four levels and villages all with their own style.
Once again the alps had had sparse snow up to and over Christmas and when we headed out (party of 29) it was week two of 2016. Whilst real skiers will watch snow reports and flock when the snow has dumped, we are amongst actors and we go when the business is still in shut down.
Our week was just one week earlier than we skied St. Anton in Austria last year, then gifted blazing sun and good snow. Yes this was the week it had to snow, which meant skiing in cloud and snow. Flat light means not seeing the undulations and it is harder work.
1650 has less shops, more bars and is where we hired our skis.
Despite tough weather my Ski Tracks app showed 30km two of my 6 days and 0ver 18km other days so it was not all bad. But whilst mentioning apps, Courchevel ski map is an active app showing where you are on the mountain which is very useful. The other thing about Courchevel is that there are signs generally pointing the way to head to get to certain areas rather than lift maps at the tops of lifts which you may be used to.
Wine tasting ....
This was not an evening to drink a lot, nor was it an evening to sell you wine. I guess they know most have full baggage allowance and free wine with meals in the chalets. It was a basic class on how to taste wine. First we tasted salt water, sugar water and water with lemon before smelling various numbered bottles that were as wild and difficult as burnt smell, green pepper as well as more understandable smells. The idea was to understand your receptors and where they are and which ones react to what. Then we learnt to smell the wine, taste and then why they spit; to send the smell and effect in the reverse directions and hitting different receptors first. Apparently we have 252 receptors in our nose. Three whites were tasted, three reds, then we finished with a glass of pink champagne. The two hour course ended up being three hours and dinner was delayed.....
Eating out. As we were in two separate chalets we were fed very well in the evening by Megan, a seasonaire on her gap year having got all A's and A stars at A level. But all seasonaires get a night off and we booked a restaurant in La Praz which is a low village in the group just ten minutes away but with the hugely expensive taxis in Courchevel is was a 40 euro trip each way.
However recommended in the Daily Telegraph Ski Magazine as one of the 40 best restaurants in the alps we were intrigued. LE BISTROT is run by Antoine Bouchard in the Rue de La chapelle which you can ski down to and is not far from the tele siege de la forêt.
The design and the service are both quite special and worth the visit and for meat eaters it is a treat. Two of our party shared a beef dish which they finished despite its size, washed down by a very nice red wine. Another had the duck and one the pasta sprinkled with truffles which was voted special.
Courchevel 1850 has few bars but some interesting coffee shops with great cakes and some nice hotels. 1650 has many quick and reasonably priced restaurants and many bars that serve food. Some
On the way down to Meribel, from the people mover at the top is la Folie Douce which has both a very well serviced table restaurant as well as an attractive bar with a very well stocked adjacent self service. Here is where the après ski starts, and they either have a DJ or a singer or two backed by a guitarist. The music is a little younger than the places with live bands and punching the air is encouraged by a number of choreographed dancers in matching interestingly styled jackets that help keep the cold at bay.
A ten minute ski down gets you to le Rond Point where they do have veggie food, simple chicken or red meat burgers as well as the live band to take the après ski through to 1900. The band when we visited were great and many people ended up dancing on the tables. A real fun atmosphere.
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