Just went to pick up Toby’s dog, Laika, and got confronted by a herd of cows heading down a side street.

The reason? Well, today’s the day the cows a taken down from the high pasture – the alpage – and to celebrate, the cows are trotted through town, and this afternoon the raclette festival starts, to help celebrate.

The more cynical amongst you migh see this as a tenuous excuse to drink Fendant and eat cheese. And you’d be absolutely right.

Just because Kate will complain, I just wanted to let you know that it’s blue skies with little fluffy clouds at the tops of the mountains. The sun is shining and it still feels warm, although there’s the slightest hint of a cool breeze.

Temperature is in the high twenties in the sunshine, altough the air temperature is substantially lower.

(Kate is probably getting quite annoyed by now.)

Oh, and if you find yourself in Courchevel, specifically in 1650, nip in and see her at La Boulotte, which is probably the nicest bar in the Three Valleys. And the food’s great. But the dog’s bonkers.

Another stunning day in resort.I know you don’t really want to hear this, but if it’s any slim consolation, I spent most of it in an office working.

I didn’t however, spend it wandering around on the roofs of high buildings sweeping off the moss – with not a trace of concern or any vague sense of self-preservation  This chap did. In England your boss would get sacked for this… Still, he had a nice view (the eves alone are four stories up).

It’s 32° in the sunshine. In England this is called mid-summer. It’s supposed to be the Autumn Equinox today.

Well, it’s pretty safe to say we’re not going to get snowed-in any time soon, but it’s a pretty cool mixture of weather all round us – sunny up at Atalas, dramatic over towards Chamonix, and a bit ominous looking towards the Rogneux…

Looking up at the Funispace:

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Looking towards Chamonix:

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Looking over at the Rogneux: