Ricoshay's Ramblings

Coronavirus Lockdown, part One

We are back in the UK. A season cut drastically short, a rushed close down of our chalet, various panicky calls from managers advising that we might get locked down in France, and we were on our way.

The closedown this year was quite surreal. Our guests arrived on Saturday, and by that evening we had the announcement that all bars, restaurants, shops etc would close at midnight. The resort closure was inevitable, but didn’t come til later that evening. We partied hard on our final ‘Moo Bar Saturday’. It was a night of drinking, consoling and speculating. How long would we stay for? Could we get home? Would we rather do isolation in the mountains? What would we be paid?

We spent the next couple of days helping guests make plans, and cleaning down the chalet. Our instructions were to do the best close down we could in the circumstances; find someone to take the food away that wouldn’t keep; make travel plans to leave asap. Our guests all got sorted, and we got on with it.

The food all went to ESF. We felt that given that they had all lost their income, and that lockdown was imminent, they would benefit and also be able to distribute to the most needy in the area. There was so much! But at least it went to a good cause.

We took a panicked call from our manager Monday around 6pm. Could we get all our stuff, and our colleagues and their stuff, into the van and get to Calais in the next hour or so? The borders might be shutting. What an absolute whirlwind for the next two hours, trying to get packed, deeply concerned about how overloaded we would be, trying to get the chalet into a good enough place to lock it up. A second call around 7pm – it was fine, they had reassurance from the border police that we’d get through. Stand down. Panic over. Two hours I do not need to re-live!

We left Wednesday morning. A long, strangely quiet drag back up through France, boring (and expensive) autoroutes all the way, terminating in an aire about 45 minutes from Calais ready to cross the Tunnel Thursday morning. We felt so sad – sad for our guests, who’d travelled all that way, just to go home again. Sad for all the lovely people in La Ros, who would now lose their jobs and income. Sad that we couldn’t finish the season and wind down, making our farewells, in the usual fashion. Sad that once again we couldn’t fulfil our traveling plans. Sad for all those that were ill, or dying, in hospitals just over the border in Italy. And scared – what was coming for us, for our family and friends, next.

We stayed with a friend Thursday night – a former seasonnaire herself, with her 2 kids who had also been in the Alps and had their season curtailed. Over a delicious dinner and a bottle of wine, we compared notes on how the closure had come about, and how we had been treated in terms of information, welfare and so on. We had been told on Saturday when news first started disseminating to keep quiet, let the guests find out for themselves. We were at odds with this and told them everything we knew so they could plan. In other companies, it had been handled differently, with the hosts asked to support the guests with information at the outset. Our friends didn’t know what they were to be paid. We received an email the day we got into the UK telling us we wouldn’t get our notice pay, but they’d had no communication at this point. The whole ski industry had been tipped upside down, but it felt like the only people who’d seen it coming were hosts – the companies simply didn’t seem to have contingency planning in place, in spite of the fact that it was inevitable. In fact, our bosses were on a ski holiday, posting pictures of the area and telling all their guests how wonderful it was as the news of closure was made – so inappropriate!

Anyways…

We are very fortunate. As we found last year, our friends are absolute diamonds in a crisis. Knowing that we needed to self isolate, having come from a pretty high risk area, we felt our best course of action would be to book on to a campsite for a week or so. We have friends that we housesit for, we will refer to them as SI, who welcomed us onto their site to facilitate this.

The UK govt then announced sites must close. No, you can stay, said SI. Happily the govt subsequently allowed people who had nowhere to go to stay on site, but this took a few days. Of course, we hadn’t expected to be back in the UK. We expected to complete our season, and then head off traveling. We were due back late summer, and had house sits lined up for then. So with no house to go to, tenants in our property, we were a little stuck! But the site was a beautiful location, so for a short term, it would be great. And from an isolation point of view, it was perfect – we didn’t see anyone at all! However, we knew it couldn’t be a long term solution, so we started to think about what would come next….

Coronavirus Rantings

It started out as a little news item that we didn’t pay much attention to. Well, that escalated quickly! Now, it seems, every spare moment is punctuated by a check in on social or the news to find out what is happening.

We’re on the French Italian border. Guests are predominantly from the UK, and most look forward to skiing over in Italy where arguably there is a bit more choice of terrain, and without a doubt, food and drink is a bit cheaper. So as CV developed, and as it became apparent that Italy was being particularly hard hit, guests became increasingly concerned. Every time the liaison across the border closed (as it often does when there is heavy snow, so they can make it safe), rumours abounded that it was due to CV. And then, inevitably, it was.

In a communication-poor episode, there was an announcement made by the regional council in Aosta. This was circulated and made it’s way to Facebook, which is where we heard the news mid Sunday afternoon. Nothing was confirmed on Aosta tourist pages, or by anyone ‘in the know’ in La Ros, until around 8pm when La Ros put it out on their FB page. We had no other communication so we could only advise our guests on what we had read and researched. The news was expected and therefore received relatively well.

The next round of speculation of course is for France itself. I have had friends holidaying in Austria who knew nothing of their resort’s closure until I saw it on FB and asked them how they were planning to get home. I expect that we are going to have the same experience as seasonnaires. The rumour is that there is a meeting tonight to discuss the future of resorts in France. We are not aware of any contingency planning, and we have no information other than what we are seeing on FB and various linked sites.

Our view? This is serious. For those in the UK saying ‘it’s just the flu’ ‘it’s just media hype’ – I really think you are wrong. There are many reports coming out of Italy about over stretched resources and lots of sick children, clearly this isn’t just an issue for the elderly. As things stand, if we are shut down, we think we might be safest staying here as it could well be a ghost town. But with no advice forthcoming, its hard to make any plans at all. I guess we just sit and wait and hope for the best!

Food, glorious food

So, yeah, mostly cake, but heh! Just being a bit self indulgent…

Bringing in 2020 in (chalet) style

Wow, what a New Year! This year we really got to see and enjoy the events in resort and La Rosiere did a cracking job.

At teatime there was a torchlit descent of the mountain, with around 250 participants and around 50 children, it was really pretty watching them all come down with their red illuminated batons. Then ESF put on a brilliant display of ski techniques and snowboarding, with some cool stunts to entertain the crowds too.

After the show, vin chaud and hot choc were on offer to all so we grabbed a drink and headed back along the Narnia walk to Les Eucherts, it’s always such a pretty walk back through the trees.

Once we’d finished dinner service we headed over to a local hostelry for a pint before venturing out into the cold in Les Eucherts. There was a DJ playing outside and throngs of people waiting with anticipation for the fireworks, and they weren’t disappointed. A clear night and a stunning mountain backdrop made for a spectacular welcome for 2020!

NYE festivities and a stunning sunset over the chalet

We stayed out for another beer, but many revelled way into the morning, which made for lovely quiet slopes the next day and we have had the best of new year’s days, skiing over to La Thuile, devouring a mega hot chocolate slope side and a late lunch of pizza – what else! – in one of the many mountain restaurants.

It really has been a NYE to remember and will hopefully be the start of a better year for us than 2019 ended up being.

A glorious start to the new year in La Thuile

Musings of a chalet Christmas

I was always a bit obsessed over Christmas. I loved the food – mince pies, Christmas pud – I loved the twinkly lights, the carols and hearing the Sally Army band on the High Street, I loved everyone getting together, and I loved watching people open their gifts. I saved all my pressies up to the end and opened them all in one go, having been ‘tree fairy’ for the group, ferreting under the tree retrieving everyone’s goodies.

As time went by, though, we thought we’d like to try a different sort of Christmas, so last year was our first as hosts for a chalet, with a family we’d met only days before. It was such good fun! We had a chilled out brekkie of salmon, scrambled eggs and Bucks Fizz, of course, then we all hit the slopes for the day before gorging on the full works for dinner. Our guests invited us to play games with them for the night and we were so caught up in the atmosphere that we didn’t even open our gifts to one another until around 1am!

This year we were hosting again, but with several different groups in the chalet, which felt a little odd but worked far better than we’d imagined. We didn’t see much gift sharing, I think that all happened in bedrooms, which was a shame, but there was a lovely atmosphere at dinner. Again, it was late before we exchanged our own gifts, which, as is starting to become a tradition, have to be bought within an hour, using a fixed budget, in resort, at the same time. Much needed boarding impact shorts and a Les Tigres Blanc bobble hat for me, and a cool La Ros hoodie for him.

Whilst a bit daunting, bringing Christmas to life for a group you don’t know – and who don’t know each other – is super rewarding, lots of fun and a great way to spend the day. Throw in a day of bluebird skiing and it becomes something really special!

My family are all on various holidays, and Rick’s are all doing their own thing, so we don’t feel we’ve missed out at all. But I will be glad to see the back of the tree this year, its needle-shedding habit is creating far too much work! The twinkles are staying up for as long as possible though, some habits are hard to shed!

Lounging in Lanzarote

Sometimes you just want a bit of a change. After a summer of medical appointments and agency working, we were ready for a bit of late sunshine before we head off to the snow and mountains for the season. With reasonable flight times, a good selection of AirBnB options and a warm climate, Lanzarote seemed like a good bet, so we booked and on a cold Tuesday morning in November, wearing as many clothes as possible to get round our teeny tiny luggage allowance, we headed off from Stansted.

Now Ryanair are a divider of opinion, it has to be said, so I’ll keep it brief. The flights were cheap. The luggage policy changes weekly, it seems, so buyer beware. The planes are pretty grubby inside. But the team are more helpful than they used to be (imo). And the flights are cheap. And if you want a giggle, watch Fascinating Aida’s cheap flights song and you’ll get the idea!

We’d rented a little studio in Playa Blanca, which is well located for beaches, bars and restaurants and was also big enough to have decent medical support if Rick needed it, so that gave us a little peace of mind. It’s being developed heavily, so there’s a lot of building work going on, and we were in an estate that was growing. It was a short walk to the Marina Rubicon, lots of (rather English) bars and restaurants and some stunning boats to drool over whilst enjoying your morning cafe con leche.

PB is also a good spot to explore from. You can do the north of the island in a day – Jameos del Agua (not fully open, but still charging full price…) Cueva do los Verdes, Mirador del Rio. We skipped the cactus garden, and if we’d had more time we probably would have taken a trip to La Graciosa, which sits atop Lanzarote tempting you over the water. But you are from one end of the island to the other in an hour, so it’s very explorable by car.

The big draw is, of course, the volcano! Best approached in the morning before the queues build, you take a ride on the coach with an audio guide, and then watch the team create steam explosions that shoot up from the ground heat, and if you’re hungry, eat food cooked over an open pit, again using the heat from the ground – impressive stuff! Being on the volcano is like being on the moon, the landscape is truly extraordinary. Multi coloured lava flows, frozen and held in place through the passage of time, create a rugged and harsh terrain where you see little vegetation, yet there are animals and plants that have remarkably made it their home.

Sunday is market day on Lanza, and the crowds flock to Teguise to mooch around the many, many stalls. You can buy clothes, fabrics, toys, jewellery, food and wine, and all sorts other items. The atmosphere is relaxed, often the stall holders will banter and barter, it’s busy and noisy and bustling. We found some super cute little hooded cardigans for our niece and nephew, and some cool leather jewellery. Quite a few stalls are run by Brits which some will find reassuring, and others, frustrating. There are plenty of opportunities to stop for coffee, beer, pancakes, etc on the way round too.

We had a great time in Lanza. If we visited again, we’d probably staying El Golfo, it looked very pretty and there were lots of shore side restaurants offering fresh catch of the day, which is a favourite of mine. But PB is busier and has more going on, as well as a proper beach. We chilled, caught up on some rest, ate good food, and enjoyed the sun – ticking all the boxes for a ‘winter sun’ break for us. Downsides would be the wind – boy, it was gusty – and the level of Anglicisation – we much prefer a more authentic experience, but it wouldn’t put us off going back.

What we did:

Tues 5th – arrived late afternoon, did a bit of grocery shopping and ate in, pretty whacked out!

Wed 6th – stayed local, spent some time on the local beach, saw some cool stacked stones, took a drive to Papagayo. We ate Aphrodite Italian, PB, serenaded by a saxophonist, food was pretty good but a little pricier than other places, £51 including drinks

Thurs 7th – the North, visiting Haria, Mirador del Rio, Cueva de los Verdes, Jameos del Agua. Evening meal at La Taberna, somewhat inauthentic tapas but great marina location and friendly team £28 with drinks

Fri 8th – El Golfo, Charco de los Clicos, la Geria, a beer at Quemada, then ate in due to being struck with a heavy cold and fever

Sat 9 Volcano, a little drive exploring bays and beached, a trip to the doctors and pharmacy for Rick, and a meal at Pizza Rustica, which was busy but good, the service was cheerful and the food tasty £18

Sun 10 – Teguise market, then on to Playa Honda for a beer and a nice stroll along the prom, before a treat at Casa Carlos where I had a superb local fish in champagne reduction. £56

Top tip

You’ll want a car. We found AutoRiesen to be exceptional value and the service was superb. No hard sell, good quality cars Citroen C3 rather than Reno Twingo!), easy collection at the airport. Its not the cheapest, and if you want that, Goldcar will provide – but from experience, they then refuse to hand over the keys until you’ve taken additional insurance, and if you want lots more horror stories, check out the Goldscam twitter feed.

The Marquis of Granby, Hessle

Sometimes you are really pleasantly surprised by a place.

Having spent most of my career in the pub trade, it generally takes a lot to impress me, but this place certainly did. Having looked for somewhere to park up for a night in Hull, the Marquis of Granby popped up on a couple of websites. I dropped them a line and they confirmed that we’d be welcome to park overnight in their carpark. From the tone of the first email to the payment of our bill, every team member we encountered was friendly and cheerful. Nothing seemed too much trouble to any of them.

On Friday night we enjoyed a good pub meal (fish n chips for me, sausage and mash for him), a fantastically well kept pint of real ale, and then poddled off to our event. The next day we watched the rugby over breakfast. Even though they were really busy, the food and service were consistent – unlike our rugby performance! We were both impressed by the standards throughout the business – clean, well marketed, great service, good food – and would happily recommend it to anyone.

Value – excellent! There are various meal price options but we had 2 meals for £9.49, what a bargain!

Casa Carlos, Playa Blanca, Lanzarote

We visited this restaurant based on the great TA reviews and we weren’t disappointed. It was a bit of a last night treat; plus, I’d been looking forward to ocean fresh fish all the way on the run up to the holiday, and then was struck down by a cold that rather spoiled my appetite. This was going to make up for it!

On arrival, the service was flawless and friendly. I ordered the recommended fish of the day, my Rick had beef stroganoff. The champagne reduction with my fish was excellent and the fish cooked beautifully. It really was worth the hype and I was so happy. Rick – well, not so much! His food was delicious, but his mouth is still a bit sore from the RT and there was a bit of spice in his dish that he found a bit challenging.

Both dishes were a really good portion size, but not so over filling that we would have to pass on desserts! I had the Chocolate volcano (of course!) and Rick had a puff pastry/ chocolate/cream ensemble. The meal was rounded off with complimentary digestifs, a nice touch.

Well priced and definitely worth a visit

The damage – 2 main courses, 2 desserts, 2 small beers, a glass of wine and 2 coffees £58.

Cancer in a Camper – Part Three

Cancer treatment sucks. It’s really, really tough. But you hang on to the magic words the consultant uttered at the start, that this treatment is curative, and armed with that as battering ram, you wade into the battle.

Rick’s treatment was part of a trial, and was to consist of 5 weeks of chemo once a week, and radiotherapy 5 days a week. We did our research and soon learnt that apart from the side effects you hear of with chemo, he was going to experience some pretty nasty stuff – serious burns, difficulty chewing and swallowing, possible ulcers and infections in his mouth. A tube was recommended for feeding and before he even started, he might need dental work.

In order to make sure the RT was directed accurately, you have a special mask made that holds you still and in place on the bed. It involves having warm plastic moulded over your head and shoulders; I know some people hate having it done, but I have to say, we found it quite funny – with Rick pinned down there was a laser beam hovering over him to keep him central, and it really did look like something out of James Bond!

Fitting the mask…with a laser beam directed onto your middle! It’s so snug that if they place it on whilst your eyes are open, you can’t blink.

The tooth extraction that was recommended was rather more brutal. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen him looking quite so white, but apparently it really didn’t want to come out. The work is done ahead of any treatment because the jaws don’t like RT very much and as I understand it your bones and gums are weaker afterwards, so more prone to infection and complications if you need dental work at a later date.

A couple of weeks later, and as the swelling and bruising in his face was finally subsiding, he had his RIG fitted, a tube that goes straight into the stomach so that you can squirt liquid nutrition into you. I think this was the first time I cried, as I drove home from the hospital leaving Rick overnight, clearly feeling very uncomfortable with this alien item dangling out his tummy. It was all so real, and so sad, that someone with such a joie de vivre could look so harrowed and pained, and I couldn’t stay over with him to comfort him through the night.

Our 5 times a week trips to the NNU began mid July. The first chemo took hold 2 days after treatment, no vomiting but a lot of nausea. The RT built and built leaving the most horrible, sore burns on the outside of his neck, but what was happening inside what worse. Quickly he went from eating only soft food, to milkshakes, to only feeding via the tube. The team at Norwich and Norfolk were brilliant, keeping him comfortable with anti sickness meds, pain relief, nutritional supplements. But between us we were having little battles over whether Rick was taking on enough nutrition and fluids. It was hard for him to take on more because he felt nauseous, but he needed more to sustain himself and to help the body heal. With support from the dietician, and the lovely people at the Big C centre, we arrested his weight loss and he started to feel a little better.

The last chemo session had to be abandoned due to Rick’s blood count being too low, but apparently this is pretty common. I think we were both relieved, it was taking it’s toll and every Monday would start with a horrible half hour of various nurses trying in vain to find a vein to get a cannula into. When Friday came it was so uplifting to see him ring the bell and signify the end of treatment. But the end of treatment is also the start of another process and now Rick was on a journey to get as well as possible, as soon as possible, with another winter ski season beckoning.

The burns had done a lot of damage, and the inside of his mouth and throat were horribly sore. Every time he tried to eat, the roof of his mouth broke out in blisters. To compound the misery, he was dealing with recurring thrush which made it even more painful. It often felt like for every two steps forward he took, there was one step back as the blisters and thrush made life miserable. Rick was determined to get the RIG out though, and persevered with eggs and spaghetti hoops, custard and rice pudding, in order to show he could maintain his weight orally. With nutritional shakes to top up the calories, he was finally given the green light and just a few weeks after ringing the bell, the RIG came out, a real physical and mental milestone.

Buoyed by the lack of dangling tubes, the following week we were all thrilled to see Rick back at Sheringham Park for a steady Parkrun. It was just brilliant to see him go round, and I think it’s fair to say he was pretty exhilarated by the experience too, even if he was shattered afterwards.

The road to recovery is still being walked now, but the difference is incredible. Although Rick still has a limited diet – even Heinz tomato soup is too spicy – he is enjoying a range of textures and flavours, washed down with the occasional John Smith’s Smooth. Red wine sadly is still off limits, it burns too much, but every day is better than the one before, we are now always moving forward. He has gained weight and his hair is growing back. The skin which was so horribly burned is now soft and smooth – great for a snuggle! Energy levels are improving, sleep patterns are better, ParkRun is getting easier.

A huge moment for us both – a night out and Rick’s first half pint, post treatment. I took a while to drink but it was just great to be out together.

For anyone who is facing this battle, I’m sorry but I can’t tell you it’s going to be easy. But there can be no doubt that Rick’s recovery was aided by a positive attitude and a sheer determination to get better, and I’m so proud of how he’s dealt with it. Watching him get stronger and return, bit by bit, to the man he was six months ago, makes me so happy and I know we’ll soon be back on the white fluffy stuff, enjoying life in the mountains, together, once again.

Cancer in a Camper Part Two

The problem with cancer is it really messes up your plans. You have this great idea to travel across Europe, stopping wherever the mood takes you, enjoying stunning vistas, delicious food, foreign voices and making magical memories. But instead you end up navigating the NHS, the benefits system, and making a completely new, temporary life.

Our first decision was where to base ourselves. We felt that being surrounded by a wide network of friends, in a beautiful coastal area, and with a hospital that people near and dear to us trusted, would give us the optimum opportunity for recovery, and so we headed back Norfolk. The kindness of people has been truly remarkable. A few conversations and we were offered rooms, storage places, meals, driveways, lifts to medical appointments and so much more. But as it became evident that treatment would be pretty intensive, we realised we needed to be closer to the hospital, which is an hour’s drive from the coast.

Over the years we have done a bit of house sitting. Our experience put us in good stead for the summer, and we applied for and secured back to back house sits within 10 minutes of the hospital for all of Rick’s treatment. In the main I looked after the various pets, especially as the side effects took hold, but the practicality of being so near to the hospital for his daily visits cannot be over estimated. Plus it meant Rick had more comfort that the van affords during a time of nausea and pain.

In every case we had explained to the owners – as we made introductions and scoped one another out – the unusual situation we found ourselves in. One owner declined us, all the others were incredible, offering extra days if we needed them, and doing all they could to ensure Rick was as comfortable as possible in their homes – so touching. We house sat for an oncologist, a psychotherapist, two GPs, a priest and a bishop, no less!

The summer has not been as planned, but we have been so fortunate in many ways. We have been privileged to live in some stunning homes around Norwich, and meet some warm, accommodating and genuine people that we might never have otherwise met. We’ve had some cracking pets – immaculately trained gun dogs, a super lazy Staffy, a crazy pup, a bonkers lab cross that would happily spend its entire life chasing a ball. And some sheep. And a couple of cats and rats too.

We have based the Colonel at a friend’s house on the coast and before we started the sits, and for the last month, we have been living on her driveway, with views of the sea. Before treatment, and when Rick feels well enough now (more and more often), he does all manner of jobs in the house and garden to help out. Another friend lives down the road – she has been incredible, offering support, a shoulder to cry on, meals, an address for meds and NHS post, and so so much more, the list is endless.

So although its not all vistas and experiences, it has been a summer rich in love and support, and with occasional trips out with friends and family to brighten the horizon. We couldn’t be more grateful to those around us, and we know we are very fortunate to have been able to weather the storm in this way despite our unconventional lifestyle.