Fish & Pips Blog

While Holly has been in Canada on a heliskiing trip of a lifetime (news and photos to follow from her shortly) I had a lovely week away from the ‘London office’ and back in Meribel.  Although the weather was changable the snow conditions have been fantastic and we had some great skiing in all three valleys.

We spent a lovely morning walking around Lake Tueda in the National Park in Motteret, a lovely thing to do for a non-skier or just for a break from skiiing one morning.  We finished off with a plate of Charcuterie and a bottle of Rose at the little refuge on the lake - I thoroughly recommend it!

Currently at Geneva airport - first leg of my exciting trip to Canada - and I’m DELAYED by 2 hours. Dragging round huge and heavy hand luggage stuffed full with ski boots (don’t want these most precious items to get lost en route), lap top, French books and rather large handbag!  Quite how I was allowed through I’ve no idea.  Managed to secure a chair and table in the food hall (of course) and have just spent a hefty 14 Euros on a small bottle of water, yoghurt and oops a little box of Sushi - that wasted all of 5 minutes.  Twiddling thumbs, scrolling through texts and writing lists is really frustrating when I just want to be back in London having takeaway curry (anyone would think I actually liked Asian food) with my friends tonight before the second leg of my trip tomorrow.  But…just discovered the Geneva airport gives you 1hr free Wifi! Wow something actually free in this world, there is a silver lining after all and marginally makes up for my v expensive canteen grub.  Plenty of work to be done - Philippa will be pleased as can now get those accounts she’s been waiting on!  Speaking of whom, she’s currently in the air and should be landing here Geneva any minute with Jimmy.  Typical, could have just handed her the car keys instead of leaving them on the car wheel, we like to live life on the edge at F&P.  Right, time to make the most of this free internet - going to research the Canon G10 camera online, it’s an essential piece of kit when heli-skiing, I’ll keep telling myself that anyway!

We can confidently say that we have the best bakery in the whole of the 3Vs right here in Meribel Village. Le Villages de Pains run by the lovely Madalle and Caroline is the hub of the village.  It’s not just any old bakery, on no, the shelves and baskets are not only always full to the brim with delicious array of breads, but all sorts of treats - breads, hams, cheeses, sweet treats, pastries, chutneys, filled pastas even vin chaud and crepes!

Jen our wonderful chef in Chalet Braye lured me into the chalet yesterday afternoon with these delicious mini Victoria sponges.   For someone who doesn’t really even like cakes that much it certainly didn’t show as I scoffed one down in seconds.  Jen really does the best cakes - boys you have a lot to learn!  Well worth skiing home for….

The past two weekends we’ve had bumper snow falls, with at least 50cm of fresh snow last weekend and a further 40cm this weekend, it’s off piste heaven.  I’m very fortunate and off to Canada at the end of the month so need to get my off-piste skiing up to scratch and with this glorious snow now’s the time.  So, I’m taking almost (Philippa don’t worry I am working over here honestly!) every oppotunity to get up there and get ski-fit for this trip of a life time. 

Last Sunday (I decided to give myself a day off) a small group of us headed up to Meribel early to get first lifts and make the most of the 1/2m snow fall the night before and the blue sky.  It’s not often in a season that you get such superb conditions so you have to make the most of it.  So the 5 of us - Badger from Magic  www.magic-meribel.com, Del from Marmalade www.skimarmalade.com, flatmate Jamie, our very own GB Ski Cross champ Emily Sarsfield and me - wrapped up extra warm (as -25C), got our beepers and fat skis on, and off we went! 

Following the Meribel experts, Badger and Del, we did an off-piste circuit starting from the top of the Tougnette and finishing at the bottom of Mt Valon covering well known pitches such as the Spot and Mario Land.  There is so much terrain to be covered in the Meribel valley alone, we’re very lucky with the vast expanse of skiing on offer here.  It was absolutely incredible although I just wish I’d been able to do it justice, but practise makes perfect!   Watching the others ski this and especially Badger doing it all on telemarks was pretty awe inspiring and they make it look so easy damn it.  Huge credit to Jamie who did it all on a snow board - walking out time and time again in such deep snow would have finished most people off.  After 4 hours of skiing in thigh deep powder and trying to keep up with all these professionals (again!) it was certainly time for a lunch stop.  Pizzeria de Mottaret filled the hole and we just about managed to thaw out in time for GS training that afternoon!

to have such lovely guests, and not only that but to have them return to our chalets year after year.  The week of the 2nd of January saw the arrival of the Bunces, the Pooleys and the Routledges all of whom have stayed with us up to 5 times before.  To us they have become really good friends so much so that we often meet up in London for lunch and perhaps the odd glass of wine - of course sharing the same love for food!  They are now such an important part of F&P and a winter wouldn’t be quite the same without them and some of their silly antics…..

The Pooleys have stayed with us ever since we worked for Will the year before we started Fish&Pips, so 5 winters ago now!  They have become dear friends and we’re thrilled they’re coming back for the second time this winter - it means we can make our annual trip to the Fermes de Reberty in Les Menuires and also partake in a spot of apres in The Lodge du Village with them all and our fantastic Bring Your Sisters.  A huge thank you Jane for my wonderful handcream and cuticle oil - my hands have never looked quite this human during a winter before!

Here is Rachel Tilley (part of the mad Pooley group) enjoying a meal at The Refuge, a favourite eatery in Meribel centre known for it’s relaxed and bustling atmosphere, good value and of course the Fillet Steak au Poivre a Point!  The girls were often found bouncing around in the Lodge during apres and after numerous gins and toffee vodkas.

Then there’s the Bunces who have stayed with us this same week for the last 4 years in Meribel Village.  We’ve had so many hilarious moments with them - from finding a mop in Steve’s bed to Linda’s love for Comte and cheap fizz to the most memorable of all, sledging in Courchevel!  We introduced this to team Bunce the first time they stayed with us and since then it’s almost become more of a feature of their holiday than the actual skiing itself.  We can honestly say that there’s not much out there for 3.5 Euros that’s more fun than this - hooning down that ‘midly’ dangerous track on plastic sledges in the dark at full speed - it’s laughter all the way down.  The French have little regard for health and safety which adds to the fun.  Well, until Linda and Paul got a little to cocky and decided to not only share a sledge but sit on it back to back, we thought it might end in tears and it did, but that didn’t stop our Linda getting back on her sledge this year!  We’re still yet to beat the champions speedy Steve and Nick with his ‘borrowed’ beast of a sledge, might have to throw in the sledging towel and join P and Gill for a vin chaud in the Jump Bar instead!

And last but not least we have the Routledge’s.  They have stayed with us twice and were so delighted with Vinny’s cooking (even when were forced to sample alien foods!) and that they’re hopefully returning to us next year.  A happy and cheeky Jordie bunch who love skiing sporting crazy attire such as Ernie and Bernie below!

Lucky for me I always manage to time my chalet visits (complete coincidence of course) when canapes and champagne are being served.  Our chefs have quickly learnt that if they know what’s good for them they’ll keep me well fed, and as a result there is always a canape put to one side or on the window sill awaiting my arrival.  Thank you - you certainly know how to keep the greedy boss happy!

Last week I was fortunate enough to sample Vinny’s absolutely delicious combination of pan fried scallops on a bed of cauliflower puree and caramelised sultanas.  Think I might just have to be there same time this week!

Here our chef Kevin from Chalet Aurigny is sporting a rather fetching pair of pink pants, a bright orange wig and some jingly jangly Christmas antlers.  This is not the usual attire for a F&P chef, but our lovely O’Reilley guests obviously persuaded him that is was a good look and it seems he quite likes it worryingly.  Just goes to show nothing is too much trouble for our guests!

So good is this look, that Dave has tried to replicate it below sporting a black wig and what appears to be a lemon drizzle cake!   The O’Reilley party took home with them a vast number of Fish&Pips cookbooks and they’ll be pleased to hear that it can be indentified and in fact has turned out perfectly!  Please do send in anymore cookbook successes…or failures (!) to blog@fishandpips.com  

Whilst the F&P team in Meribel have been enjoying amazing skiing, here in London we have had some powder snow of our own…  Not quite the same when it is on Clapham Common though is it?!

Amazing (but flat) untouched snow in Surrey

Christmas presents

The chalets were full of brilliant guests over Christmas all of whom were in fine Christmas spirit.  The team had gone to a real effort to make the chalets as festive as possible with homemade decorations and wreaths.  I think a good afternoon of training was taken up with arts, crafts, tea and cake!  It’s tough at F&P.  It’s actually a really nice thing to do for guests and the team, and gets everyone remembering that it’s Christmas as often that gets forgotten out here when running round like headless chickens making sure everyone else’s Christmas is as near perfect as possible. 

Christmas table Le Christophe

Unfortunately for our Chalet du Guide guests they never made it out to Meribel because of the problems on the Eurostar, so we hope they managed a wonderful Christmas at home and that they make it back out to Meribel in March.   

Every Christmas we’re very lucky to have the lovely owner of Chalet Le Christophe, Caroline, come to stay in the chalet with her amazing 3 children Harry, Sophie and Jack.  They’ve had 3 Christmas’s at Fish&Pips and it wouldn’t be the same without them now.  They’ve ever so kindly taken me under their wing on Christmas Day when I’ve been a Christmas orphan like many other seasonnaires over this time.  I’ve been spoilt rotten with Nick’s superb cooking (even an Aussie can prepare a traditional English Christmas spread to die for) and Abi’s excellent hosting skills in making sure my glass is always topped up.  Am very jealous of guests that have had a whole week in Le Christophe.  This year, however, my family came out and we had Christmas together for the first time in 6 years which was a real treat and I felt like a big child again with lots of presents and that exciting Christmas feeling again.  I think Caroline was probably quite relieved we ate somewhere else as every year she seems to take in more waifes and strays - we even had to add on an extra table to accommodate the extras!

Christmas Eve was one to remember!  Every year most of our guests go into Meribel centre for the Christmas carols in the square.  However, this year there was a dispute between the musicians and the Tourist Office, and the carols were cancelled.  Typical Meribel politics.  So, Alex from La Tsaretta (our little local pub in Les Allues) took it upon herself to provide Meribel with carols at the last minute.  She whipped up a vat of Vin Chaud (essential), a carol sheet and playlist and even organised some drizzly rain for us.  So, the British contingency of Fish&Pips and Les Allues congregated outside the bar with our damp carol sheets and hot wine and sung our hearts out.  We were missing a verse or 2 and on occassion the music would just cut out as my Dad was belting out a ‘ding dong merilly on high”, but that just added to the charm of it.