The flight in to Elba Airport was done unsighted. You can do a pass over just to check it out but Denis decided to swing it in and go for it. Fantastic, the hill tops seemed inches from the wing top as he cranked it over and executed a perfect landing. We got a hire car and set off to our pre-booked hotel. YIKES. We were in the docks ..... not the pretty little fishing port type but the huge great big cruise liner and commercial type ......... this is the problem when you booked last minute in holiday season – you take what you can get! Well, it was a bit scruffy round the edges but no matter, the staff had big welcoming smiles waiting for us and couldn’t have been more helpful, proving yet again that it’s the people that make the difference. The staff at the Hotel Massimo pulled out all the stops to make us feel welcome and were full of information and helpful hints. They booked us in for lunch and evening meals at the most interesting eateries, places where the sun sets into the sea, the views are stunning, the fish is fresh and the staff happy to welcome you. So we were looking forward to their first recommendation as we headed off into town - we weren’t disappointed!
We were staying in Portoferraio, one of the island's most ancient towns and main port centre, its origins date back from the Ligurians, the Etruscans and the Greeks, before becoming a Roman colony and then in 1814, the city gave refuge to the exiled Napoleon Bonaparte (how’s that for a potted history!). So the fortified hilltop town is very atmospheric providing the perfect setting overlooking the harbour for our meal. This part of the port looks over a pretty little fishing village type harbour but instead of fishing boats the luxury liners were all lined
up and were a sightseeing attraction in themselves. The restaurant was a cranky, rustic place in a narrow cobbled street where food was the most important thing and the restaurant seemed almost thrown together with bits and bobs on the walls and the tables and chairs not matching and yet it really worked - someone with a clever eye or a delightful accident of interior design? Here we found yet more smiling people. We just had one of the best meals, simple and delicious. We could see into the kitchen and watching them work was really interesting, what they don’t know about preparing fish isn’t worth knowing! They realised we were all very enthusiastic about our food and they in turn became enthusiastic about what we were choosing and made a big effort to inform us what was going on, what was the best to eat and which wine should go with it. When our desserts arrived and we all started making yummy noises they just plonked the
biscuit box on the table and let us get stuck in – marvellous - it certainly help absorb the local digestif! To add to the welcoming atmosphere about half way through the meal the receptionist from the hotel turned up to make sure we were enjoying ourselves, how sweet was that! She needn’t have worried; with fresh fish, cold white and the biscuit box ...... we were all in seventh heaven!
Action stations the next day. We jumped in the car and off round for some snorkelling in a sandy bay with rocky outcrops. Yep, there were lots of people but we got our sunbeds without having to put any towels out at dawn, and as most people were sunbathing and not swimming we had plenty of room round the rocks to check out the fish and have a good swim...... before lunch. Lunch took 3hrs30. It was good. The view was fantastic, really everything was fantastic. This is obviously not going to make the Holidays from Hell program and I’m thinking we should make Holidays from Heaven we could share all the good places to go! More swimming got us prepared for the evening meal. ...... you’ve probably picked up on the fact that we all like our food! This again was booked by the hotel on a recommendation from one of the staff who’d taken someone “special” there and apparently it worked - I didn’t ask!
Anyway, they were right, it was fantastic. Really good quality food and prepared in a really delicate and interesting way. 
I won’t give you the full run down you but if you go to Elba – go to the Tahiti. Right on the beach edge....... absolutely wonderful and a really special way to end our stay on Elba.
The next day we flew back into the air strip at Courchevel 1850, in order to land here you have to have a standard mountain rating and in addition for Courchevel you must land there at a minimum every 6 months or retake the test – it’s a tad tricky and many a experienced pilot has had problems here! We passed close to the glaciers and mountains that we ski each winter taking loads of photos to study. 
Then, dealing with a lot of mountain turbulence, we came safely into land. A round of applause for the Denis and it was all over. SOB. I love the mountains and I wouldn’t swap them but I was very sorry to wave goodbye to the sea, the fish restaurants and not to be doing any more swimming for a while! This was the only way to travel as well, we are so fortunate to have been able to have a holiday in this way. Every part of the trip was exciting, no customs, no misery in the airports just fantastic fun which in turn meant we arrived fresh and happy and this made every other part of the trip even better.
Fancy flying into Courchevel and staying in your own chalet or apartment? Here are a couple of properties for sale in Courchevel for you to look at.
5 bedroom chalet for sale Courchevel 1650
Rental property for sale 3 studios and one apartment in Courchevel 1300, la Praz.
Really nice, 2 bedroom apartment in La Praz, Courchevel.
When we got back it was straight back to work; clients every day for the rest of the week which was excellent. The next morning we were looking at barns to renovate, in particular the large barn with potential for 400m2 of habitable space. As we stood looking at the various properties I could almost hear the sound of the sea and decided the only thing for it was to have fish for supper!
Sigh.
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