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Quick link to Winter 2005/6 report: [1]
[2] [3]
[4]
End December
SNOW AND CHALET REPORTS
Chamonix (report by Julene)
Exactly when Christmas started in our
house is a bit hazy. It definitely wasn't when we got
our tree: that's been around so long it's now noticeably
wizened and swooning. It might have been when the oil
slick of presents that Jack and Lisa created under the
tree oozed out into the sitting room; or it might have
been when James cavorted around house in his dressing
gown, riding an imaginary red-nosed reindeer, and hollering
'It's Christmas' to the tunes of Slade. Whatever, by
11pm on the 24th it was clear that the rampaging beast
had been unleashed as rent-a-mob Jack, Lisa, Gill, James,
and honorary members Jimmy and Dora, gave an adrenalin
shot to the Rusticana, rousing at least two-thirds of
the bar to dance with them on chairs and wave and howl
along to festive tunes. It was touch and go whether
they'd get barred or booked for another performance
at New Year. With dawn fast approaching they sloped
home perhaps just in time to convince number 62's youngest
resident (two-and-a-half year old Hanna downstairs)
that Santa had brought her so many presents that he
needed a small army of reindeer to make the delivery.
Christmas afternoon eventually limped around. With
presents unwrapped (thanks very much to Jack and Lisa
for the Hobnobs - an inspired present for a temporary
ex-pat if ever there was one!), bucks fizz (and the
first of many beers of the day) drunk, and last night's
Fernet still coursing through the veins, dinner preparations
began. After a critical vocabulary failure in the supermarket,
we had bought capons not turkeys. This was all good
for our culinary horizons (which, frankly, could do
with some expansion) but once we'd worked out what they
were, the same cannot be said for the quality of jokes
(think: "ooh, I lurve to eat cock at Christmas"
and you'll have the general idea). So began an epic
Christmas Day that saw more singing, dancing, drinking
(games) and eating than the human constitution can reasonably
be expected to take.
And now it's Boxing Day. All but the most broken have
gone up the mountain, leaving the rest of us to work
out exactly what you can do with leftover sprouts and
capon carcasses…
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