When ever we have a large downfall of snow it always brings a smile to my face. Not because of the skiing but for the automotive chaos it causes. Watching all the tourists whose holidays are thrown into turmoil as they suddenly realise that getting up/down the mountain has been given a bit of krypton factor twist.
I believe the quickest way of starting divorce proceedings is to take the family on a skiing holiday just as it starts to snow heavily. After many hours of the 'are we there yet?' chorus from the kids in the back Mr Favre starts the finally leg of his journey as he passes through Moutiers and snakes up the mountain. With the chalet/hotel only a few killometers away the first curve ball is thrown, by those wonderful glorified traffic wardens, in the guise of what is known as the area de chainage or as I call it the area of impatience and irrational behaviour. If only Mr Favre had opted for a gas gusling SUV with locking diffs and off-road pretensions instead of the more frugal estate car he wouldn't be on his hands and knees at this moment trying to decipher the instructions of how to install a pair of snow chains. What the instructions don't take into account is that within minutes the temperature in Mr Favre's fingers will starts to fall to the level and start to resemble the grey icy crud that is filling his wheel arches. After the umpteenth attempt ends in failure Mrs Favre decides to pitch in, this is where Mr Favre's divorce lawyer's phone number on speed dial comes awfully close to being used. But after some restraint from strangling his wife, some luck with the snow chains he continues his journey up the mountain only to encounter the
Courchevel weekend traffic jam.
For a ski resort with only one main road all it takes is a few cars driven by people who believe they can drive on snow & ice better than Sebastian Loeb (and can't) to bring
Courchevel to a virtual standstill.
For those who have survived all the above problems and are finishing their holiday the realisation that where they parked their car at the beginning of the week is now resembling a large pile of snow.
With only a wing mirror in sight and a windscreen scraper at hand the prospect of freeing their vehicle from its icy tomb and getting home before the Monday comes around look more improbable.
