Yesterday, we drove over to our old home Les Gets, France for the opening of their summer season. The lifts were opening for the weekend and I wanted to try riding a downhill bike at their bike park.

I managed to hire a brand new Scott Voltage FR30 and helmet from a very nice man at Ski Fun, as well as borrowing Mr R’s knee pads. The major first hurdle was to buy a lift ticket – as usual the French chaos was evident – no queues, wrongly labelled tills and people just standing around everywhere. I eventually bought 2 day passes for 15€ which was not bad value.

We queued to get the lift up, with Mr R giving me instructions on how to load my bike on the lift which I did all wrong and the liftie had to help me – oh the shame! At the top, we picked up the green (easy) trail and I found out for the first time what a downhill bike felt like. I felt like I was watching a downhill run from someone’s helmet camera. The bike felt smooth and quiet, in fact all I could hear was the Schwalbe tires in the trail and my breathing. I was grinning from ear to ear when we reached the bottom – what fun. A second run of the green trail was even better as the new brakes had bedded in and were grabby and strong.

We broke for lunch in the shade with a chance to air my sweating legs (yuk) from under the knee pads. Luckily we brought lunch with us because unless you wanted a sit down pizza or omelette there was nothing else on offer. Whilst I love a pizza, I don’t particularly want to sit in a restaurant with mud on my clothes and smelling like a dog!

After lunch we got the lift back up and tried the blue routes. They were steep, muddy, rooty and twisty. But again, much to my surprise I loved it. The bike felt totally different to my Orange Diva and although I could have ridden the Diva on these trails – it wouldn’t have been as much fun. We did 2 runs on the blue routes and then one final run on the green to get back down. It wasn’t until we did the green run again that I realised that I’d improved quite a bit from when I’d first started out that day. I felt faster, a bit smoother and very, very happy.

I want to go back next week but for now I’ll rest. Just about every muscle in my body aches today, from my thighs to my hands and everything in between! I’ve just treated myself to my own POC full face helmet and knee pads too so next week should be even better

There’s a lady that walks past our apartment in Chamonix several times a day. She is always looking at her feet, looking thoroughly miserable and never says ‘Bonjour’ or even smiles. She’s in Chamonix – missing all the mountains, not smiling at the bird song nor feeling the sun on her face. Boy, she’s missing a lot.

I’m a bit of a fan of Red Bull energy drinks and their Simply Cola drink. This may come as a surprise from someone who advocates good nutrition but they really can have their place in a healthy diets.

Let’s start with Red Bull cola. This is a totally natural drink which doesn’t contain any preservatives or any artificial flavourings or colourings. It does contain quite a lot of sugar (31g in the 355ml can) although not as much as a can of Coca Cola (39g in the same size can). I share a can of Red Bull cola on a Saturday when we let our hair down and eat ‘lap tea’ (ie, not at the table). It’s delicious and although you can recognise it as a cola drink it’s nothing like a can of Coca Cola. You can taste the ingredients and it compliments rather than over powers food. So, my advice is to drink it sparingly as a treat and drop any other cola drinks you may have been consuming.

Red Bull energy drinks are everywhere – you cannot have failed to notice them. They have recently added 3 flavours to the standard drink – lemon, cranberry and blueberry. The smaller size 250ml can has 80mg of caffeine which is roughly the same as a strong cup of coffee (a Starbucks tall latte has 75mg). I can’t drink that much caffeine too often so I limit my intake of Red Bull energy drinks to when I need them. I’ll have one before a race or an exam to give me a physical and mental edge. I wouldn’t be able to drink it daily for the same reason I don’t drink coffee daily – see my previous article on what caffeine does to me! The new flavours are great if you don’t particularly like the original flavour or fancy something different, I especially like the cranberry flavour as it gives some sharpness to the drink. Red Bull energy drinks (like their cola drink) do contain a lot of sugar though (27g in the 250ml can) which is another reason not to drink them daily.

So both these drinks are fine in moderation. Don’t super size up to the next can size as you just don’t need to. Bear in mind the sugar and caffeine in the drinks and avoid drinking them when your daily consumption of either is already high. Enjoy them as a treat!

You wouldn’t think that the French and the English could be very different, after all we’re only separated by 21 miles of water but we are. Chalk and cheese or cats and dogs, the French are nothing like the English…

Here’s why,

• Staring: The French were never taught as children that it’s rude to stare. They are openly curious about you – what you are eating, what you are doing, what you are wearing and they won’t look away until they’ve figured you out. We’re in a ground floor apartment and some days it feels like open season at the zoo.
• Queueing: Bit of an obvious one this but it’s true, the French do not like to queue. In cars, in shops for anything really. The art of not queueing is a mystery to me but they seem to manage it – I think it’s chaotic but then I’m English.
• Pushing: The French do not understand or appreciate the body buffer zone – the space around you that is yours. They see nothing wrong with joining you on a park bench or even half sitting on you and your belongings so that they and their friends can sit where you’re sitting.
• Out in front: They love to stay in front of you – even when they don’t know where they’re going – on foot and in the car, I think it must be seen as a personal insult if you get past them. Frequently when we’re wandering around Chamonix we’ll see tourists trying to stay in front of you without any idea where they’re going.
• Speaking: They don’t like you to talk to them in English but they’ll talk to the Italians,Germans and Japanese in English – it’s the international emergency language.

This makes the French seem like a rude bunch but really they’re not. The look that I take for disdain when I try to speak French to them is the look of them trying to understand me. Every time they see you eating they wish you ‘Bon Appetit’. They are a proud nation, where flying the flag is reserved for Government buildings and has nothing to do with football. Chavs do not exist, they do not litter (except for cigarette ends). They drive French cars fast – we got overtaken by a Twingo up an alpine pass last week!

I love their way of life. Shutting shops at lunch time for 2-3 hours so they have a decent lunch break. You hardly ever see a French person eating on the go. Cheap, plastic sandwiches are replaced with fresh baguettes made while you wait. You can get a croque monsieur just about anywhere at lunchtime in France – even up a mountain. The French do not do ‘going to the pub to get plastered’, instead they go out for a meal and drink wine. Consequently the high streets are not littered with pubs but rather bars and restaurants where you can eat in peace, bring your children and not have to wrap your handbag strap around an immovable object! They do great coffee – believe me the Nescafe we have in England is nothing like the stuff they have here. They have tonnes of bank holidays and the whole of August off. It’s a great work/life balance.

I love visiting Annecy. It’s an ancient French town roughly 35k south of Geneva. It’s quite touristy and gets very busy but if you can, go out of season when it’s not too hot and enjoy the sites. I thoroughly recommend buying a panini from one of the take away shops and taking it to the lake to consume in the cool breeze. With its stunning architecture, great ice cream, quaint shops and busy marketplace coupled with the serene lake it has something for everyone.

A story in pictures. Just to put them into context Mer de Glace in Chamonix is the largest glacier in France covering 40km and 7km long. It can be accessed by the Montenvers train which is a rack railway finished in 1909. The line is 5k long and climbs 871m with inclines between 11 & 22%. The pictures are all from this afternoon – we had every weather going!

If you fancy a healthy, homemade and tasty chicken curry tonight then look no further. I think I’ve perfected this yummy curry recipe which is full of vitamin A & K and a good source of selenium. Serve with 65g of whole grain rice and half a naan each if you’re super hungry!

The Apple iPad camera connection kit is an invaluable accessory to anyone owning a camera and an iPad.

It is actually 2 adapters, one for your SD card and one for your camera’s USB cable so you can choose which method to use. When you connect via either method, all the photos on your camera or SD card show as thumbnails on your iPad and you choose which ones to import.

I download the photos from my digital camera onto my iPad and then use iPhoto to tweak them if needed – it’s a winning combination. The kit costs £25 from Apple. iPhoto is available on the App Store for £2.99 for the iPad2 and new iPad.

Bee on a dandelion on a hot, sunny spring day in Chamonix.

Just got buzzed by Pascal in his Chamonix Mont Blanc helicopter. I love watching this crazy dude whip around the mountains – he must have balls of steel!