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Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

One of England’s most senior judges is leaving his role as president of the UK’s influential Competition Appeal Tribunal, two months after he was reprimanded for sending an ‘inappropriate’ letter to a junior member of staff.

Sir Marcus Smith is stepping down as president of the CAT, the venue for class action lawsuits against some of the world’s largest companies including Apple, Google and Mastercard, at the end of his three-year term, which is not being renewed.

His predecessor, Sir Peter Roth, who held the position for about eight years, is to reassume the position on a temporary basis while a permanent replacement is found. Roth’s predecessor, Sir Gerald Barling, was in the role for about six years.

Smith’s departure comes after the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office (Jico), which deals with complaints against judges, said in August that he had been reprimanded for serious misconduct after his communications with a staff member left her feeling “distressed” and “angry”.

An investigation found that he passed her a handwritten letter “expressing his love for her and that he wanted to take things further”, and also that he had “abused his position”.

The reprimand, issued by the Lady Chief Justice, Baroness Carr, and approved by Shabana Mahmood, the Lord Chancellor and justice secretary, was the most serious sanction short of removal from office, the Jico said.

In his response to the complaint, Smith acknowledged that the letter was “plainly inappropriate” and had caused significant emotional distress, according to the Jico.

He had “been ignoring warning signs about his workload and health” and said the letter was a “poorly framed attempt to reach out for support and to discuss his problem”, the office said at the time. He gave an assurance that there would be no repeat of such behaviour.

Smith, who remains a High Court judge, declined through the Judicial Office to comment on his departure from the CAT.

In a brief statement this week, the CAT said the president’s term of office would end on November 4. A spokesperson confirmed that it could be renewed, with the appointment handled by the Judicial Appointments Commission.

The CAT, established in 2003, has since become one of the UK’s most important venues for disputes. They include a wave of class action claims filed on behalf of consumers who complain companies have abused dominant positions.

When your splendid article “Making scents of Myanmar” (HTSI, September 28) was published last Saturday I was coincidentally fundraising for the flooded area of Myanmar where people have lost their homes and crops. So it was good to read that Kathleen Baird-Murray, alongside her commercial activities making a memorable Burmese perfume, is supporting socially beneficial charities in such a poor country.

My money is going to an unimpeachable team helping to relieve the emergency in the flood-stricken areas.

Hopefully your article will stimulate more readers to donate to the poor people of Myanmar.

Mala Tu
Calne, Wiltshire, UK

Regarding Edwin Heathcote’s Weekend Essay on Stevenage and England’s postwar policy of building new towns (“My kind of towns”, Life & Arts, September 28), I grew up in Hitchin, around seven or so miles from Stevenage, and in 1999 was sent to the local state Catholic school in Stevenage, John Henry Newman.

During my secondary school years there, Stevenage was derided as (and was it true?) the teen pregnancy capital of Europe and the “armpit” of the UK. Its sometimes brutalist 1960s architecture and former estuary-inflected cockney inhabitants lent itself handily to this downbeat view. As a teenager from a different, better-off, town (now yet another homogenous grey-door faux-country desirable commuterville) I was encouraged to believe in this and, crucially, to avoid picking up the accent. Sadly, I was not clever enough then to dissent from this view, despite attending school with many from families who had benefited greatly from the idea and reality of Stevenage.

Now, looking back, I see Stevenage new town for what it was — a great deal of quality housing for people in need of homes, and probably the most extraordinary pedestrian and cycling infrastructure in the UK. We should all be so lucky.

Felicity Hawksley
York, North Yorkshire, UK

As someone who has been interested in fashion since the 1970s, and aware of the sadly dull level of fashion journalism, I was enormously cheered by Kati Chitrakorn’s crystal-clear, expertly opinionated and informative piece on Paris fashion (Life & Arts, October 5). I almost felt as though I had been there with her. I also loved her wry comment about her realistic seating position “at the far back, while clients attending with unique, limited-edition Hermès bag styles enjoyed a clearer view of the show, thanks to their raked seating — let’s not kid ourselves, we know who the priority is here”! Chapeau!

Peter Tear
Saint-Omer, Pas-de-Calais, France

THEY are cute at any time of year but French mountain towns peak the two weeks before Christmas when streets are lined with decorated trees, covered in real snow.

In the third week of December last year, my family and I squeezed in some skiing at La Rosiere, a child-friendly resort 1,850m up in the Savoie region of the French Alps.

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Skiing in December can be a gamble weatherwise, but La Rosiere is very high up and better for snow than most, so the white stuff was at least a foot deep everywhere.

La Rosiere is particularly great for festive feels, as it’s a traditional town with plenty of old chalets and little cafes.

There is also very little traffic and scores of festive activities, including a Christmas market and a visit from Santa.

We were staying with package holiday company Ski Beat in one of its shared chalets right in the middle of the action — a blessing given that we were travelling with my five-year-old son.

The resort’s learner slopes were perfect for a first week.

On the first day with the Evolution 2 ski school, he learnt on a tiny hill of snow and by the second day, he was ready for the simplest of slopes.

Buoyed by his success we celebrated with tea and cake back at the chalet.

By the fourth day, he was taking the drag lifts halfway up the mountain and riding the kid-friendly green slopes, lined with little tunnels to whizz through and bells to ding on the way down.

On the fifth day, he was fine to try out one of the easiest blue runs.

There was plenty of ground for my boyfriend and I to cover while our son was in lessons, too.

La Rosiere is relatively small, but with 83 runs of varying difficulty, it kept us very happy for a whole week.

And on one afternoon, my partner skied into Italy to try out their slopes . . .  and pasta.

That’s not to say there wasn’t delicious grub back at our chalet.

Ski Beat is very reasonably priced for the quality of the catering and chalet staff.

The young couple who ran our property were lovely and doted on our son, even when he fired questions at them pre-7am as they made everyone’s hot breakfast.

We had some of our favourite evening meals there, including an excellent tartiflette washed down by far too much red wine.

Delicious grub

The chalet was very comfortable and cosy with a modern look.

Our triple room had plenty of storage and a spacious en-suite bathroom, with a pared-back, natural palette.

Thanks to our location, it was easy to venture out for meals, too.

The Hotel Relais Du Petit Saint Bernard at the bottom of the main ski lifts was the perfect pit stop for a long lunch after the morning’s lessons.

After our dishes of steak hache and raclette, my partner and I sipped beer in the afternoon sunshine while our son dug holes in the snow with a gang of French children.

Meanwhile, the Caffe Latte tea room along the high street was a great place for a midafternoon hot chocolate and cookies, when my son and I bunked off skiing one afternoon to browse the souvenir shops for alpine-themed Christmas presents.

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But the absolute highlight of our meals-out was at L’Ancolie.

The log cabin-style restaurant, tucked away at the bottom of a ski slope, was weighed down under a foot of snow, with rustic wooden walls, open fires and red checked curtains.

We ordered fondue, of course, the delicious house special featuring wild mushrooms the chef-owner picked locally before the snow fell.

As a lifelong fondue fan, I thought that would be the highlight of the meal, but a pudding with meringue, chocolate sauce and ice cream was so delicious it still makes its way into family discussions.

Possibly the best part of the evening was the journey, though.

The restaurant is reached from the town by a 1km path through the forest, which was lined with multicoloured lights.

Away from the roads, it was the perfect festive evening walk as well as an opportunity for a drawn-out snowball fight.

When it was time to head home on December 23, it felt like we were preparing for Christmas round two, such was the extent of the eating, drinking and general fun-having we’d already enjoyed.