'Oh no its going to be sunny tomorrow, we'll have to go
skiing!'
Believe it or not that was a real utterance from one of
Meribel's finest chalet girls (or was she a nanny?) one
night last week as she stumbled out of Dick's Tea Bar to
see a beautifully starlit sky. Whether she would go to bed
the following afternoon after her morning duties or get
out on the slopes only time and good dose of Nurofen would
tell.
Whether it be the lack of snow or
that the seasonnaires this year are a particular boozy lot
is not clear one thing is certain however is that all the
bars in Meribel are boasting record takings so far.
Most barstaff that have been around
for a while will also tell you that it is the seasonnaires
that are the ones making all the difference. As Hazel from
the Taverne at the center of Meribel puts it 'Its completely
barmy this year, there's not one quiet evening in the week.
Even Saturday nights are busy with staff and they all seem
to be loaded with cash, they just keep furiously necking
shooters as fast as I can pour them!'
The queue outside Dick's is a surefire
litmus test for who the late night revelers are and you
don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to discover that the banter
is rife with seasonnaire rhetoric.
'The atmosphere and the vibe is absolutely
top this year the staff come in and are completely charging
for a big night and the resident DJ keeps them up there,'
James from Dick's told us.
And sure enough the correlation between absenteeism and
lateness and bar takings is almost scientifically quantifiable.
Add to that doctors bills and chemists takings (whether
for condoms or flu remedies) and I'm certain you could draw
a graph that Carol Vorderman would be proud of.
