We have hardly had a moment to stop and especially to update our blog. However the deck now looks amazing and the hot tub is a real asset. The summer evenings are mild and we can eat out there most nights. With a mad final rush to get the interior ready, thanks to various family members, we were finally able to take our first guests on the 29th June. This was in the form of a friends stag do and thankfully they generally behaved themselves and left the Lodge in a reasonable state. Following on directly from this we had our first real cycling guests who were here for the gruelling Marmotte race. Our impressions were that it went very successfully partly thanks to all the group finishing the race. Alex and I had a fun afternoon up on the Col de Galibier with cousin Guy and Helyn (www.kingofhtemountains.co.uk) cheering on all the competitors and giving out food and drink to our guests. More recently we have had a group with a young child who despite the garden not being completely finished were very happy about the child friendliness of the Lodge and surrounding area. Summer has been slow coming this year, but seems to be well and truly here now. Alex and I even took the plunge in the local glacial stream. Not particularly advisable, even on a stinking hot day.

We have had another very productive couple of weeks. A builder friend of ours Dave popped down from Chamonix with one of his carpenters. Amazingly in the first week they managed to completely build a massive deck off the back of the Lodge. Not a simple feat since the outside edge of the decking is about five meters above the ground and also has to be built strong enough to hold the hot tub (which incidentally arrives tomorrow) and potentially a deck full of people. Inside Dave busied himself with much of the tricky finishing bits that I have no idea about. So baring a little sanding and finishing off the kitchen, we are basically at the decorating stage which is fortunate since we have our first guests in three weeks.
Alex and I had decided to take the weekend off since we have been working such long hours. Unfortunately yesterday was taken up in sweaty Grenoble chasing garden furniture, beds and mattresses and today will be taken up clearing up the site and attacking the garden. Still the weather is perfect and it will be nice to be outside.

Well we are really making progress now. A couple of weeks ago we finally official signed on the place, so at last we own it. Just in the nick of time since we couldn’t put off our builders any longer and had already started to pour serious money into the project. Amazingly we managed to persuade a plumber, electrician and a carpenter to come down from Chamonix and for a couple of weeks to work for us. They weren’t cheap, but worked from 7am until 9pm everyday for the 14 days and got some serious work done. We now have the three extra ensuite bathrooms installed in the upstairs bedrooms. The bedroom on the top floor has been transformed from a complete shell to a beautiful ensuite bed room complete with French window onto what will be its private balcony. As a bonus they fitted in a fantastic mezzanine, space for two more beds, in an awkward space above the bathroom. Alex and I have been hard at work tiling, filling, sanding and painting to get these room finished. We hope to have them completely finished by the end of this week, so we can turn our attention to our apartment in the cave. Hopefully the carpenter is going to come back in the next couple of weeks to work on the decking in time for the imminent delivery of the hot tub.

We have finally found a moment to work on our web site. It is still very much in its infancy and needs a few more pictures of the building as renovations are completed. So at least now we can push for a few more summer bookings which would be handy thanks to the rate we are haemorrhaging money on the project.

Check it out on http://www.ecrinslodge.com/

Time for another instalment to our Blog. Unfortunately we still don’t officially own the chalet. The latest delay has been due to the owner wanting to keep a small portion of the land which has a bit of storage on it. It has taken until this week for the relevant authorities to write up the necessary paperwork. Theoretically we now have everything in place to sign the final paperwork next week.

Although frustrating we have at least been in the chalet for about a month now and have not had to pay any rent. Despite being unable to start any major works we have been able to speak to various tradesmen and organise quotes and times for the renovations to be done. We are currently in negotiations with a local plumber who is going to install a modern environmental fuel boiler which will replace our ancient wood burning system. The plumber has assured us that it will supply enough hot water to keep all guests happy in the four new bathrooms even at the heaviest of usage times.

Finally (thanks to LR Spares in Grantham for selling us a dud), after five months in the garage and a few thousand euro later, we have our Landrover back complete with a brand new engine. The Landrover specialist has assured us that it is now as good as new and to his credit is working perfectly. We are sure that the Landrover is going to complement the whole guest experience of staying at our Lodge.

Other advancements are that our new kitchen is ready and waiting in the cellar to be installed. Our UK satellite is now up and running and our wireless broadband system should be online on the 12th April. The hot tub has been ordered and will be installed and running by the end of April. Another development is that we have arranged for a carpenter friend from Chamonix to pop down in June to build the raised deck. Finally we have brought a table tennis table and I’m working on Alex to get a Nintendo Wii for the guest spare television room.

All in all we are still well on track, despite not yet having our web site up and running, to be ready for what looks set to be a very busy summer.

Well finally some progress. After six months the Mayor’s office finally came back with the Certificate D’Urbanism which unfortunately came back negative on the application for the extension and the permission to run the place as a business. As you can imagine Alex and I were slightly concerned about this and were seriously on the verge of calling it a day. Thankfully the Estate Agent face with the possibility of not getting their 14 grand commission finally started to do some work and organised a meeting with the Mayor. In this meeting he apologised about the delay in the applications and put them down to some serious squabbling between departments, which resulted in the one dealing with out case pretty much turning down every application it received without even looking at them. Very professional. The upshot of it all was that he explained that since we were only catering for four rooms in out Chalet that we didn’t need a business licence and could run it as a private enterprise. It might have been nice for someone to tell us that earlier. As for the extension, it’s not so drastic as we can almost certainly build a garage in its place and convert the stable area on the ground floor to our apartment. Similarly it’s good news on the bank loan since we applied for a private loan. It seems the banks are happier to offer a loan guaranteed solely by Alex’s salary than with one guaranteed by Alex’s salary and the income for the Chalet. Go figure.

The upshot of all this is that we have finally managed to get the keys and move in despite not signing the final papers for a week or so. It seems like most of the bureaucratic nightmares are behind us now and we now face the new challenges of getting the place renovated. On arriving we found that two of the radiators have cracked with the cold, the bathroom sink leaks and the toilet doesn’t flush. Thankfully the current owner is responsible for leaving us with all these problems solved so is fixing and replacing as I write. Hopefully tonight we will be able to crank up the central heating and will be living like Kings.

We have already checked out the local pub and a restaurant. The owners of our local which is in walking distance are Dutch and seem very nice, although are not going to help my chances of improving my French. The local Village of Venosc is about five kilometres away and is much more French, so should help. Basil the dog absolutely loves it here as we can open the back door and he is off into the woods and the river. Hardly any need to walk him unlike our flat in Chamonix.

All in all Alex and I very happy and settling in well. Yesterday I got my first hint of cabin fever, so we may take the lift up to Les Deux Alpes for lunch and to check it out to remind ourselves that we are not far from civilisation.

Well things are still stumbling along with our chalet project. Its seems like the banks are not convinced that our business plan is realistic. Odd really since Alex's monthly salary alone almost covers the amount required for us to get a simple personal loan. More frustrating is that we are now prepared to up the deposit by what ever amount it takes to get this personal loan, but as usual we are getting no response. It looks like another costly trip down to see the banks face to face to make them understand.

The Landrover that we have brought for the business is still in the garage after about three months. The new engine did arrive before Christmas, but they haven't manage to get round to changing it yet as promised. Since we are now officially homeless until further notice we are staying Trefor's sofa until it is fixed. When that is done I am going to head to the west coast to help a friend with the renovations of his apartment to get a little experience for the work hopefully to be done at out chalet. Alex is having to head back to the UK as she is trying to do a full time job during all this turmoil. Fingers crossed we will be in by February.

On a much much lighter note we have started the new year in the right direction as on a recent trip to Zermatt, long over due I asked and Alex agree to marry me. Lets hope 2007 continues as positivly for us.