It's official - we're in the Mediterranean!

The skiing heat wave continues unabated. Thermals have been ditched and the black market trade in factor 50 sun cream is thriving. The standard of skiing has been excellent again and I have really enjoyed spending time with the beginners' group today watching them get better and better. They worked hard this morning, skiing over 8.5km followed by a further 7km this afternoon! I have no idea where they get their energy from - or maybe that's testament to both the quality and quantity of food provided by the hotel. Mr Barker show-cased his first trailer for the movie he is producing of the trip. Although it is still not up to his own ridiculously high standards, the rest of us teachers were very impressed and I know you will be as well. Hopefully we will be able to give you a 'sneak peek' on this blog before we return to England. The teachers have all been asked to choose their favourite track to be included in the soundtrack, so we spent a considerable amount of time reminiscing and comparing playlists; Mr Barker & Mr Robertson were in a different league compared to the rest of us! This evening's entertainment was the 'Mystery Auction'. 6 teams were formed and given a virtual £20,000 by our in-house banker Mr Barker or BOB (Bank of Barker) to bid for items ranging from a piece of string, sticky tape and piece of cardboard to a plastic bottle and a napkin. Bidding was fast & furious with several of the younger boys getting particularly excited. At the end of the auction, each group was given their task - to create a safe package for an egg using only the materials they had won in the auction. I take my at off to the ingenuity of some of the groups, unfortunately none were successful at actually keeping the egg intact! The winning group was therefore decided by who had spent the least amount of money. With the hot weather set to continue, I'm looking forward to getting back to Felsted with my 'Umpire's Tan' already in place for the cricket season!

Day 1 on the slopes

Smiling faces, tired bodies! Four hours of ski lessons has certainly taken its toll but everybody has come back to the hotel really pleased with their performance. There has been talk of jumps, parallels, blue slopes, red slopes and snowballs. However the biggest topic of conversation has been who has had the best 'stack' and eaten the most snow; leading contenders at the moment seem to be Beau & Jackson.

Lunchtime saw us all back in the hotel not only for our lunch, but also to cool down after skiing and remove a layer of insulation before heading back out. Although the afternoon started hot, I'm pleased to say that as we got back to the hotel, we had the first flakes of snow; hopefully this is the start of a big fall that will give us some nice fresh powder tomorrow morning.

With the day's skiing over, year 7 & 8 seem to be leading a major economic revival of Risoul - every single one of them has signed out to hit the shops having raided the 'bank of Barker' previously! The year 6 boys' gang was hot on their heels, although I'm not sure exactly what they were aiming to buy with their €5 each.

Hotel Le Morgan

We're here safe and sound and our worries about the possible lack of snow have been assuaged by the hotel staff who have assured is that the snow on the slopes is good all day at the moment. Having driven through 15 degree heat for most of the day, we were preparing ourselves for a beach holiday instead! The unseasonal weather meant that at least the lunch break was enjoyable, as those of you who are following us on Twitter will know. We were able to enjoy our sandwiches, crisps & Capri Sun in glorious sunshine. The minor glitch with the coach's air conditioning meant that we had to endure a couple of hours of discomfort, however Mrs Robertson's ability to be prepared for anything meant we had sufficient water supplies to see us through. The kids were brilliant throughout the journey and continued to be great ambassadors for the school when we arrived in Risoul. The year 7 & 8 boys deserve a special mention as they were put to work moving bags, drinks & general supplies from the coach into the hotel, although they still didn't mind to find the missing jam sandwiches!

The hotel itself is great - the rooms are all well sized, although some of the boys need to have some lessons in how to unpack and organise their rooms properly! Fortunately Mrs Bury is going to be on the case and will whip them into shape in no time. They all ate really well this evening as the hotel gave us a much needed three-course meal and the ski/boot fitting was done very efficiently. They're now all asleep and getting some much needed rest before we wake them up @ 8.00am tomorrow morning ready to hit the slopes!

Sleepy Jean!

Off the ferry and the bus is silent as everyone has fallen asleep within minutes of starting our journey. Good night and I'll post some breakfast news in the morning.

And we're off!

We're now sitting on the coach in the queue for the ferry at Dover, watching one of Heath Ledger's finest performances in 'A Knight's Tale'. Kids have been great although they're all looking forward to getting some sleep on the other side.

For those of you looking for reports, pictures and videos live from the slopes later this week, follow us on twitter @FelstedPE