Follow Matthew's travels around the world…
I had to wait all week, but in the end I got my Peking duck. And it was worth the wait.
Plenty of opportunities to practice using my chopsticks
Barbequed spare ribs
Glazed chicken with nuts
The Peking duck makes its entrance
Carving the duck
Peking duck
Some bizarre combination of peas and mint. I'm not 100% certain, but the 'shot' that came with it tasted suspiciously like Scope mouthwash.
Hurray! Some sun at last!
Hurray! Some sun at last!
Day four of skiing took us through the Mont Blanc Tunnel and onto Courmayeur, on the Italian side of the border. The weather conditions were much better, and for most of the morning we had sunshine and temperatures just above freezing. We skied a few runs on the front of the mountain, then headed over to the back of the mountain to seek out some more interesting stuff.
Matthew in Courmayeur. With some big mountains in the background.
Aude in Courmayeur
A number of people had recommended that we try Courmayeur, and suggested that it was the best of the mountains in Chamonix. We came away feeling a little disappointed. The runs are much shorter than the other areas of Chamonix, and nearly the entire mountain is groomed pistes – which means that there isn’t much variety to the slopes. The lift system isn’t well thought out, so you always have to ski across to one set of lifts or another. Throw in the Italian ineptitude for queuing and you end up with a frustrating skiing experience.
Like Eve with her apple, Aude seduces Matthew onto the expert runs...
At some point in every man's life, there comes a time when he must venture off the bunny slopes...
The Italians also seem to grade on a curve. The red slopes on the Italian side were like the blue slopes on the French side, and even the black slopes weren’t overly-challenging. There were lots of slopes, I guess, but the lack of variety meant that after a day skiing Courmayeur, I was done.
Tucking into some good food in the Italian Alps
Tucking into some good food in the Italian Alps
One thing did live up to its promise, though: the food. The dining options on the Italian mountain were much better than on the French side. Aude had homemade polenta with mushrooms, I had a veal steak with ham and cheese, and we shared an incredible charcuterie.
If only we could match the Italian cooking with the French slopes, I’d be in heaven.
A well-deserved glass of vin chaud at the end of the day.
Heavy snow outside our window didn't bode well for skiing today
More snow... Chamonix Mont-Blanc train station
Clouds hanging over the Chamonix train station Aude bundled up against the cold. Even though we're not skiing, she's still smiling. C'est les vacances!
Low-hanging clouds over the centre of Chamonix
Day three of skiing was not quite the success we’d hoped it would be. Woke up this morning to grey, cloudy skies and a mix of rain and snow. Determined to ski regardless, we headed back to Brévent-Flégère to ski some of the mountain we didn’t get a chance to ski yesterday.
After a long gondola ride up the mountain from the (now-open) Flégère lift, we arrived to find 15cm of new powder, but heavy snow and dense fog meant visibility was near zero. We managed two runs before giving up – the pleasure of skiing in fresh powder was outweighed by the fact that we were freezing and couldn’t see anything. We headed back down the mountain at lunchtime.
Resigned to spending the afternoon in town, we turned our attention to more important matters: lunch.
The restaurant was...rustic
The restaurant was also a little...kitsch
Not a great choice for the lactose-intolerant...
Salad with local sausages and cheese
Wild boar terrine
Veal escalope with ham, cheese and cream. A nice, light lunch.
Braised beef cheek
Waffles with chocolate and caramel
Red fruits sorbet with berry coulis
We finished the day by buying our tickets for the Mont Blanc tunnel – we’re crossing our fingers for better weather as we ski Courmayeur in Italy tomorrow. We’ve been told that it’s the best skiing in the area, so we’re really looking forward to it.
Friday lunchtime drinks were just the warm-up. Here’s the same pub at 5pm.
Went out to explore the local area, which is in the heart of the business district. Delighted to see that all of the pubs are overflowing with people, enjoying the warm sunshine and a mid-summer pint on a Friday afternoon.
The tradition of a lunchtime pint on a sunny Friday is dying out in the UK (and doesn’t exist at all in Switzerland or France), so it’s a pleasure to see it alive-and-well here.
When in Rome…
…and Matt found them first, serving them with a sauce échalotte, garlic mashed potatoes, and mixed veggies (for Naomi, my vegetarian friend).
Everyone goes on and on about Scottish Lamb, Welsh Lamb, New Zealand Lamb. But I’ve never had lamb as good as we get here in Switzerland, and (comparatively speaking), it’s not too expensive. I love a good piece of roast lamb, but the lamb steaks here are more flavourful and tender than what I’ve found anywhere else in the world. They really are superb.
So I bought a beautiful lamb nierstuck (which, if I understand correctly, is a fatless steak off the back of the shoulder) that was so tender it cut with a fork. I guess they must butcher the lamb differently here, because it’s a cut I don’t know from the US, the UK, or France. But it’s tender, full of flavour, and delicious. Sautéed the lamb, served with garlic-infused mashed potatoes and fresh winter vegetables and a sauce échalotte with red wine. Aude has given the meal her endorsement and approval.
Heaven on a plate. And just the thing to piss off my vegetarian friends on the heels of eating Bambi.
(Don’t worry – this isn’t going to become a foodie blog any more than I’m a foodie – I just like to remind my vegetarian friends from time to time that there’s a whole world of deliciousness that they’re missing!)
