We joined the kids for breakfast. Sunburn had been a problem for them all. Vickys face was getting worse as the days passed. Most of it just peeling, but her cheek and chin had holes in them that were getting bigger by the day. Imagine, if you will, a zombie gradually deteriorating. Chris was getting concerned that if she drank anything it would come out of one of them. At least they should clear up before she goes back to uni in a few weeks time. Kathys was a little more discreet, a bright red band across her forehead that was mostly coveted by hair. Chris's was just the bit underneath his nose between his nostrils. Clearly reflection if the sun off the snow. Vicky was going with them in the morning, and we decided to meet at the same restaurant as yesterday for lunch.
We read for a bit then left the room so Pascal could clean. Pascal appears to do everything in this hotel. He speaks no English at all. Only French, much to kathys delight, as she can converse with him. He is there at breakfast, he serves in the terrace during the day, and in the bar at night. If there is any trouble at night, or you have lost your key, your room, or you are too drunk, you call Pascal.
'Lets go over to the French side' I said. 'Ok, said Ian, 'but I have been already'. The French side is across the slopes from our hotel, so called because just over a little stream is France.
The French side
We wandered across, down an alleyway between restaurants, where Ian had warned me all the dogs do their business, (he was not wrong), to a little bridge. 'Cross over and you are in France' he said. So I did.
Me in France
France
Well that was fun. We tiptoed back through the piles of dog poo into Andorra, and wandered round the town again. Shopping in Pas de la Casa is such fun. I did find the Jimmy Choo perfume I had been looking for though. We then purchased a coffee at a nice portacabin and sat in the sun watching the slopes.
After that we hiked up the windy road to meet the kids at the alloted restaurant. More dog poo to be avoided. They were already awaiting us so we chose a table and ordered. Chris had gone for the 'big man' special. The nice lady at the till explained that if you were buying a full dinner (Chris), a salad (me and Ian), chips (me and Ian), a drink (all), and a cake (ok then!), it would be just 18€. So we got the 'free' cake and the rest and sat to enjoy our meal. 'Seems cheap' said Ian looking at the receipt. '38€ the lot.' We examined it carefully and found she had forgotten the 'big man' meal. We had been overcharged by 0.5€ for additional cheese though. We decided to overlook that. 'Who wants coffee?' I asked the group at large some time later. That turned out to be a schoolgirl error. I joined the queue with half a dozen people in front of me not expecting too long a wait. Unfortunately, all the people in front had some kind of tickets. These tickets all seemed to involve the one guy who was serving having to go into the kitchen, make something from scratch, then return with it. This happened with every person. Luckily, after no more than a fifteen minute wait, and with the queue behind me stretching out of the door and down the mountain, someone from the back spotted a problem and came out to help serve. He took his time putting on his blue rubber gloves before smilingly asking what I would like. 'Five coffees please'. 'Just coffee? Come around here'. Amongst much tutting from the three people still waiting for their specially prepared ticket meals I sailed past. Just another minute or so later he had removed his blue rubber gloves and was ready to go. He just had to wait a few more minutes while the barrel technician changed the barrel on the soft drink machine, which was right behind the coffee machine meaning both couldn't be used at once. 'Five espressos?' Said my man. 'No, cafe au lait.' 'Cafe au lait?' 'Yes, cafe au lait'. And we were off. The machine was going, coffee was pouring. Great. A few minutes later I had a tray in front of me with five espressos on it. I scratched my head. Was it worth it? I pictured the faces of the others when I showed up with espresso. 'Milk please' I asked pleadingly. He looked at me as if I had crawled from under a rock. A few ticket people sidled past me to the till. 'You want milk? In all of them?' Give the man credit, he recovered from my heathen notion quickly and sloshed a bit of milk in each one. Knowing that was all I was going to get I handed over my money. Not twenty five minutes later we were all sitting down to tiny cups of extra strong coffee with a splash of milk.
View from the big man cafe
Ian and I left the skiers to their planned afternoons, Vicky with Julie and the rest black runs, and set off back down the windy road. We had a good laugh watching a man trying to negotiate the kiddy slalom. He kept on spinning round till he was facing backward then falling over. He did keep on trying however. Back at the hotel We bathed and went down to sit on the terrace. We both ordered giant gin and tonics, then I opened my I-pad to follow the Rotherham game. More of that in a rival blog.
Chris, Kathy and Alex arrived a little time later, hot and bothered and in need of a drink.
Gin and tonic on the terrace
Julie had told Vicky that they would be finishing a little early to have a drink and award certificates, so Alex walked up to join them and give her a hand with her skis. Kathy wanted someone to go with her to buy sweets for work, so I ended up on yet another, mercifully short, shopping trip. As we met before tea, Vicky awarded me with my very own certificate. God bless the lovely Julie. After tea we played charades for a while before Vicky and Alex decided to go and look for the Mojito vouchers they had won at the quiz. They hunted high and low for ages but could not find them. Despite that, and because the Mojito bar was just next door, and Mojito Alex's favourite drink, they decided to go anyway. Only to find it closed! Bad luck. After a couple of Pascals giant glasses of spirits it was time for bed. Last day tomorrow.
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