Avoriaz

We were awake earlier than planned with the chalet hosts laying the breakfast table and clattering cutlery and dishes - a bit too loudly for our post-convivial heads.

But we got out in good time, picked up our skis and set off to explore the pistes. This is a new resort for us. They had a lot of snow last week, but the weather is so warm that the snow goes sugary very quickly which makes the skiing conditions more trying and less pleasant than our cold January trip to Val d'Isere. I managed to stay on my feet, unlike Mr C who took a couple of tumbles. We blamed it on the poor light.

There is no snow at all down in Morzine, the sister village, so I'm glad we did our usual - stay high. Also, we can ski in, ski out, of our chalet which is a bonus. The host is an 18 year old girl from Selkirk, in the Scottish Borders. She has Harvey, a pleasant lad, to help, and is a good cook and baker.

We are back early, sitting on the balcony as the sun is out.

The blip is Avoriaz from one of the easy blue runs. The resort looks awful when you are in it, but from the distance the buildings look like an extension of the steep rock face you see,