As 2016 recedes, it is with gratitude and a smile that I wave it goodbye. 2016 for us was a year of planning & anticipation. And the year I started The Family Freestylers blog. A lot can happen in a year, 365 days. Decisions made that change your lives. Today we finally realised a dream of our own. Walking through the snow with our children to their first day at school in France.
Thank you so much to everyone that’s shown so much support for The Family Freestylers blog and our dream of heading to the snow. Here’s a round up of our best bits of 2016 and where we’ll be heading in 2017.
So on our first trip in 2016 we returned briefly to Chamonix to visit the Montessori school in Argentiere for the girls to have a half day taster. This post had over a 1000 hits so thank you for your support. Now that the girls have started in the Montessori school for the season, I will be continuing posts on the Montessori education and how we are finding it.
We also spent a lot of 2016 discovering amazing spots in the UK. We drove down to Cornwall in May visiting beautiful Gwithian to review the Vango Idris II campervan awning (click here to read). Gwithian is a wonderful tiny village perched on the North end of St Ives Bay. With the vast expanses of empty beach and dramatic coastline, we loved it. Long beach sessions at sunset, flying kites and sizzling sausages on a beach bbq – perfect!
A New Year is absolutely the best time to start planning your year. What dreams do your family have? What is on your family bucket list? We would love to know and hear of the adventures you’re on or the explorations you’re planning.
And to those who need a nudge, remember Mark Twain’s words, “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.”
Think it, book it, do it! Bonne Anneè
8 comments
That’s one epic, fun-filled year! I’m looking forward to reading about your adventures this year.
Thanks Bridgee, I appreciate your support. We’re really looking forward to 2017 and all that it brings. Keep on travelling!
Your photos are so stunning, Mags. I love them! What a fantastic, adventure-filled year you’ve had. I really liked Sark too but we didn’t stay on the island. We used to sail around the Channel Islands when we were kids and my father just returned from Christmas in Alderney – he was raving about how beautiful and crowd-free it was. I feel quite inspired to revisit. Looking forward to reading your 2017 posts. Clare x
Thank you so much for your kind comments Clare. Oh you must go and stay overnight in Sark! The island takes on a whole new character from frantic day tripper vibe to a laid back, suspended in time quality, plus cycling home from a restaurant in the dark along quiet country lanes is so exciting for the kids – we even visited the observatory when we were there as the island’s got dark sky status. I’m going to be writing a UK island series – I’m so excited to try some new islands after Jersey and Sark this Summer. Thanks again.
Hi,
Great to read your blogs about Chamonix. We were there over XMas and New Year. A bit disappointing as you write with no snow and also the air pollution… But the kids had a fantastic 2 weeks of ski school, so not all bad.
I have been in Chamonix several times since the 80s. And we were actually starting to plan for a year in Chamonix, maybe 2018. This XMas and New Year we got second thoughts though.
Maybe reading about your experience this season can get us back on track 🙂
cheers,
Martin Bergljung
Wokingham, UK
Hi Martin – thanks for reading our blog and for your comment. I agree completely – Christmas and NY were very disappointing. The seasons have definitely shifted now with generally one early snowfall in November and then then nothing until early Jan (4 years in a row now) but with snow still falling into May. We were really hoping for a white Christmas and it looked so promising…
The pollution has been very bad. The high that spanned across Europe for 6 weeks before Christmas (preventing the snow) trapped the bad air in the valley which is unfortunately common now during these weather systems. We live up in Argentière at 1252m & so thankfully we are too high to be affected but we do see it lying down in the valley and it’s a real concern. Now that the pollution issue has hit the media, the authorities are now having to tackle the problem but it will be some years before the levels reduce. There’s a good article here https://www.blackmail.ski/en/perspectives-en/interview-with-anne-lassman-trappier-president-of-environnmontblanc/ that explains the situation really well. I would definitely move higher up the valley to either Argentiere, Montroc, Le Tour or Vallorcine if you do plan to return in 2018.
Even with the late snow arrival and the issue of pollution, I still believe that our time as a family will be invaluable here. The girls are beginning to speak french and ski 3 times a week. There are countless outdoor activities for them to get involved – x-country skiing, ice skating, swimming, skiing/snowboarding, hiking & climbing. And we love the fact that Chamonix is a real town, as oppose to just a ski resort.
I’m so pleased your kids had a great time in ski school. I have written a post Kids Ski Lessons – Are they Worth the Money which will go live Friday. I’d love to know which ski school you went with so we can pass on the details to other readers.
Hi,
Thanks for the response. Valuable info.
My twin boys (6 years old) went to the ESF Piou – Piou club. I will tell you a little bit about it as I was confused about all the alternatives when ordering ski school from England. So this is the official French ski school as I understand it. With very seasoned instructors, you will not find any 14 year old instructors with no kids experience here…, they are all pro.
The Piou Piou club we used were based in Les Houches, just after the Prarion lift station and parking. And it offers morning or afternoon sessions. The morning sessions start at 9:15 and ends at 11:30 with a break in the middle. So quite tough but all kids seemed to manage. This ski school club require NO lift pass, you just park in the Prarion lift parking and walk over to the ski school. So quite important to know. You need Helmet, Ski, Boots, but no ski poles. And a snack for the break.
It is possible to also sign the kids up for the Lunch club, which starts just after the ski school ends. They get lunch served and stay until 2pm. So you can get quite a bit of your own skiing in this way.
The Piou-Piou club runs from Sunday to Friday (6 days) and a child should be able to learn quite a bit in those 6 days. Our boys had never done any skiing before and they progressed quickly. The second week they were moved up the the Croc Ski school, which require lift pass and they will go up to the prarion top station and continue ski school there. Learning to use chair lift and take on bigger slopes. You can do lunch club after Croc ski too. Ski poles still not necessary.
I was really impressed by the ESF ski school.
Hi Martin. Great to hear you had a good experience with ESF Piou Piou, as we didn’t some years back at Les Grands Montets. I did mention our negative experience in my post today – Kids Ski Lessons, Are they worth the Money, so it would be very valuable for other readers if you wouldn’t mind posting your comment on that post (sorry I can’t do it my end). I’m so pleased that Les Houches Piou Piou stepped up and you were impressed. It’s great to know and pass on that information as getting it right the first time with ski schools often pays dividends with little ones starting out. Thanks again for your comments & feel free to contact me anytime if you want to ask about our experience here with a view to your (hopeful) trip in 2018.