Last night we went down the Yeti to watch Man U play Arsenal. Chris was the only United supporter in the whole pub. It was packed with Arsenal supporters. Ben came in later and had a drink with us and we ended up playing table football. We arranged to spend the day with Ben and Carrie on their next day off. (Guess who had a hangover this morning. And no, it was not me!) We ran into Vincent today who was late back from lunch. I told him he was 'mauvais' and he laughed. He said it was dangerous to be skiing up the slopes at the moment in 'la neige lourde' especially with my dodgy knees and he quoted 33 knee accidents. He said the best time to ski was first thing in the morning. I told him in my best French that we had gone down the pub last night to watch the football and I got up too late this morning. He said my French was coming along really well but I don't mind trying with him, as he is so nice.

New Bird Alert III

We noticed some birds swooping around above our heads whilst in our garden and they turned out to be Crag Martins. We at first thought they were swallows or swifts but they did not have the forked tail. They migrate south in winter so they must be back for breeding, which they do further up the mountains in the rocky parts. And this evening we went again to the cinema to see George Clooney (no, I am not a fan like most women) in Solaris. A very strange film we thought. On the way home, we stopped at an estate agent to look in the window and noticed the lovely view over Briançon. With a large orange tinted moon against the backdrop of the snow peaked mountains and the church in the old town lit up, it looked absolutely beautiful.