Anyway, for a while there it was looking a little worrying with talk of a snow crisis in the Alps. The good news is that over the last few days there has been significant snowfall putting to rest immediate concerns. I went up boarding before Christmas for one day but did some damage to my board through little stones creeping through the thin snow cover - yesterday however was a whole other story with plentiful snow on and off piste. A little more is forecast in Les Arcs tomorrow morning.

Bourg itself is a pretty small traditional town; the shops close for long lunches and Sundays are pretty dead. There are a couple of bars which can be fun, a cinema (in French of course) and not a lot else! Though even going for coffee and trying to read the newspaper is fun in its own way. Life here is slow, but slow is pretty good so far.

A view from yesterday looking across the valley from Les Arcs

I haven't much to say that goes much beyond two activity clusters; beer and snowboarding. I put some pictures up: beer and snowboarding.

I'll share my tip of the week - for free wireless internet in Val d'Isere visit "Warm Up" on the main street. Their beers are pricey, but le grande cafe noir is good and they have big comfy leather armchairs.

I finally overcame the inertia and returned to Edinburgh on Friday. I spent the whole time since about the 20th of December in Elgin. Optimistically I took my snowboard north with me but, alas, snow was not particularly forthcoming. I did however get out mountain biking on boxing day at Moy (south of Inverness) which was okay. It was fun to be out and about, doing something other than eating and drinking.

Christmas was nice, family at home, pretty chilled, nice times. New Year I cooked a meal for a few friends; Prawns wrapped in smoked salmon with lime beurre blanc sauce followed by finest Moray pork roasted with winter vegetables, garlic mash and cider sauce. Jude (big sister) did Cranachan for pudding which is always a winner. Jude the Pude.

Anyway, there has been so much happening yet none of it is very interesting; Ariel Sharon, Charlie Kennedy, David Cameron and of course Google's latest play for the desktop, Google Pack. I don't have much interesting to say about any of it really. Perhaps after I start back at Uni (tomorrow) then I'll be driven to blog more.

So yeah, 2006. Who'd believe that? Remember when Pulp brought out that 'let's all meet up in the year 2000' song; that must've been years ago. It seems fashionable to blog Resolutions and Predictions for the year ahead. I shan't be doing that though, hostages to fortune. It's going to be a great year though, I can feel it. Excitement and opportunities abound.

The wedding was amazing, lovely people, great place, happy times. G&C are now off on their honeymoon to New Zealand and the Cook Islands. Boonville is a quirky little town a couple of hours north of here. A century or so ago the locals invented a local language, Boontling, to keep outsiders feeling very much like outsiders! Globalisation I guess has taken its toll in the Anderson Valley as it has elsewhere as all the locals we met could not have been nicer or more accommodating. Wine tasting at Roederer Estate and Husch Vineyards was neat. Never done that before.

A highlight of the trip south was the Monterey Bay Aquarium. The dude in tourist information told us it would take 3 or 4 hours and I was pretty sceptical, not much can hold my attention for that long. But it did, it was pretty darn cool. Especially the 1 Million Gallon Tank with sharks and giant tuna fish. And a whole section with cool fluorescent jelly fish. I had been to Monterey before but only remembered a pizza place, a book shop and a camera store. This time it was nice to have a wander along Cannery Row and the wharf. We also stopped just north of Half Moon Bay to see if we could see "Mavericks." We couldn't. The ocean was pretty calm. We did however have a nice lunch at the Half Moon Bay Brewing Company where we sampled some of their ales.

So back, I think, on Sunday morning to cold and rainy Edinburgh. Bring it on...

In brief, here's some highlights

• Amazing hospitality - thanks GLL!
• Day 1 of Rock Werchter featuring amongst others New Order, Thievery Corporation, Snoop Dogg, Kraftwerk and The Chemical Brothers.
• Jason Byrne Comedy Gig at Theatre 140.
• European Commission Press Conference. It actually was interesting.
• Lunch at the European Parliament
- very nice Steak & Chips.
• Sitting in a cafe (L'Ultime Atome I think..) reading a book and drinking coffee
• Le museé d'art moderne
• Lots of good bars, especially Le Goupil le Fol for its bric-a-brac decor, fine music and entertaining fellow customers.
• French lessons after I wrongly translated "cheveux en bataille" as "horses in battle" rather than "bed head". An easy mistake, non?

On Monday I went to hear a talk by a minister of the Dutch Reformed Church in Sri Lanka, Rev. Charles Jansz, talking about the tsunami and its aftermath. It was interesting to hear him talking about some of the practical issues still to be addressed and how bureaucracy and corruption hamper relief efforts. On a positive note he commented that in adversity the religious tension which existed before had given way to co-operation.

Tuesday I had an opticians appointment after which I met Bryan for Coffee at Jollies Coffee Shop where other-Paul was working. Hung out there for a few hours then popped in to visit a friend in his office where they make 'massively multi-user role playing games'. I can't get my head round the fact that people will pay real money for role play potions. Maybe I'm just mean. Went out to Hopeman with my bro, one of his friends and my little sis to the skatepark. In the evening played Golf with dad.

And back to the 'burgh today. Fun little trip.

nva presents THE STORR at Trotternish, Isle of Skye from August 8th - September 17th 2005 with pick up points at Portree and Staffin, tickets £25 (concessions apply).

Every night at midnight, nva, Scotland's acclaimed environmental arts company and creators of The Path the legendary millennium event in Glen Lyon, will be taking an audience of around 200 on an extraordinary journey through the wild northern landforms of the Isle of Skye, to walk up to the iconic Old Man of Storr and the high cliffs above Coire Faion.

Enigmatic installations will illuminate the massed pinnacles and buttresses, tracing the longest single landslip in the UK, while powerful soundscapes drift down from the ridges above.

Equipped with headlamps, guides and walking sticks, the audience takes a three and half kilometre, at times strenuous, walk which will take up to two hours to complete. They will witness one of Europe's most dramatic and inspiring landscapes at night, whilst nva create an immense landscape work, lowing among the unique geological features. A specially developed new 'Hansel and Gretel' reflective light network will create a path through the beautifully lit rock formations. Contemporary sounds from the Norwegian composer Geir Jenssen, based in Tromso, and the voice of Skye's legendary poet, Sorley MacLean, along with live song will drift down from the mountainside, creating an intense and personal experience for each walker.

Squaw was good fun too, tho' it's a kind of eerie 1970's eastern bloc ski resort for rich russians in purple all-in-one's. Huge area, some fun runs.

Truckee itself is a quaint wee place, great Taco restaurant and the Bar of America does a great steak with garlic mashed potatoes.

Last night Matt & Maya were having a bohemian gathering which provided the opportunity to sample Matt's vodka infusions. I tried black peppercorn, jalapeno, coffee bean, pineapple and maybe one or two others. I can't rightly remember. Met nice people, Josh, Amy, Colin, Miranda, Nigel. Rose flavoured tobacco embers glowed on the Hookah, music was chilled. Nice time.

Today we're heading up to Lake Tahoe, for some snow action. It's gonna be fun. It's been rainy the last couple of days but warm enough and rain here seems to equate to snow at Lake Tahoe so it's all good.