Heart of Glass

Corr... it only took a toddlers age to get up there, but my birthday treat lead me to London, the lovely Pizarro's for dinner, drinks followed by an awesome little trip up the Shard.

Lost in the Dream

Chamonix, France

My first ski trip!

After nearly 15years of snowboarding, I decided to join some friends, new to skiing, on a short trip to Chamonix. After making the flights to Geneva, we arrived in the town amid a LOT of fresh falling snow. It was magical, it always is, you just can't beat the crunch underfoot, nor the silence you get while walking out doors in freshly fallen snow.

Marc, Joe, Tim and I cracked things off on Friday at Les Houches, the only area open due the sheer volume of snow, and all began finding our feet, after previously only skiing lessons at Hemel's snowdome. It took me about 70% of the day to really get comfortable, but finally clicked after lunch. I cracked a red run at the end of the day, a gruelling 30min wind back down to the town.

Day 2 we took a walk to Brevant, and enjoyed bluebird conditions until lunchtime, when the clouds rolled in and the falling snow returned. A big night out at some of the towns bars, (Moo - who make a great Old Fashioned) meant a late night, and a dizzy head for the final day. We took a bus to Balme / Le Tour... conditions were less than ideal as we gingerly ventured into the whiteness... luckily after lunch, we discovered a low down red run, that went thru the trees and added a lot of viz... then we spent our last hour or two gliding thru the fresh powder covering the lower slopes, perfecting some lovely winding turns... before jumping back in the car to Geneva airport... I always had my reservations, but skiing is seriously awesome, and I'm probably going to stay torn between it, and my first snowy love of snowboarding for some time!

Another one bites the dust

Barcelona, Spain

What goes on on stag, stays on stag, therefore I'll keep this one nice and quick.

Barcelona, stretched Hummer, beach games inclusive of full contact bombat frisbee, an ocean bed that chews feet off for breakfast (multiple lacerations)  .A night on the tapas and lots of beers. Day 1 done. 

Sunrise; boat cruise/party... amazing, this is what it is to be alive. Sunshine, food, drinks, friends, pretty ladies, yes. An evening in the clurb and a forgetful evening of losing personal property.

Final day and more tapas, and cruisy drinking and eating in town squares. the food here is simply amazing. Roll photos:

Oh La La La La

Nord Pas Du Calais, France

I'd always fancied driving my own car into Europe from England. So this was my chance. Ferry booked, hotels booked, some research into what could be done within a not too long drive of Calais, and Arras was the first destination. Some gorgeous self cooked meats on a cool table BBQ kicked off the fun before driving out to Boulogne Sur Mer. 

Moules for lunch; lovely, wines, beers, walking talking and exploring a slightly odd town, before a walk out to the tide. 

Michelin starred dinner, was exquisite, the atmosphere at XXX a little quiet perhaps, but none the less, a great evening of gastronomy.

Glorious

V2014 - Hylands Park

One of my first posts back in 2005, was the last English V festival I went to. My brother Tim was there too so it's befitting I take a minute to mention a fun day in good old Chelmsford. The festival site has changed over the years, the old main stage area has now become the secondary stage area, and the main stage now sits in front of Hylands House; quite cool.
After flogging a few spare tickets, we got ourselves in, loaded up with beer tokens and went about seeing as many acts as we could. Tom Odell kicked it off, Kaiser Chiefs got the crowd partying, while Bastille had a picture of the middle of a road as their backdrop - bit of a clue as to what would come there.


We wandered off and saw a little bit of Pixie Lot who was covering lots of other people songs, but a good choice that had everyone singing along. Highlight of the day next, from the 80's legends, The Human League; Giorgio Moroders Electric Dreams followed by Don't You Want Me Baby - just pure class.
Example showed how to F-bomb a lot, but he got everyone going never the less. We then came across Foxes, doing an acoustic set in the Carling tent, it was really decent! Always adds something when you can really see the artist you're watching in a smaller environment. After that, a bit of the talented Ed Sheeran, then a bit of the also talented Birdy before Justin Timberlake brought his pop tunes to close the festival... who's up for going next year?!

Rather Be

Meribel, Three Valleys, France

Jubsy in the UK, we decided to book a trip to the Alps. Nick, my old travel and snowboard buddy also keen for it, we booked into a cool all inc chalet for a week of snow.

There's so many possible factors of what makes a snow trip great, and having been to the snow for countless weeks in the last 15years, this one will go down as one of the most memorable. The sun shone all day, every day. I was riding with no gloves some days, my face and arms recieved a tanning, just perfect, even without new snow, the pistes were zippy and fun. With technology comes the "Ski Trax" app that logs your fastest funs of the day, which became a pure form of entertainment... 

The other guests in the chalet were also great value, with drinking games galore, and plenty of good chatter about the days gone by.

Happy happy days. 

La Folie Douche, Eddies poor Cat and that damn town square bear.

Sunflower

Paul Weller at Kew Gardens

A slightly unusual gig this one, like a festival, but for older folks. Picnic blankets, wine and no shoving, puking in corners or stinky, leaky urinals... well mostly. Weller started the set with Sunflower, then went on a journey of new stuff, for most of the crowd, a little disingaged, but finally he dropped in a few of the classics before moving to That's Entertainment, Start, Wishing on a Star, Changing Man, Peacock Suit etc etc...

An amazing backdrop and a gorgeous place to watch a gig, though next year I'd try and get there earlier to get a better patch of grass... Bottom line, Weller was awesome.