French Alps!

About a week ago, we got back from the most amazing trip to the Alps!  (I feel like I say that about every trip we take around France.)

Last year, when we were planning our year abroad, Edy and Will asked if we could go skiing in France.  We said yes and with the help of our friends, Hortence and Yann, found a place to go.

So on February 22, the same day that the Bash family left, we rented a car and drove South.  Our first stop was Annecy for the night.  With Jeff at the wheel, he made sure to stop at two towns (Bourges and Moulins) along the way to see their cathedrals.  (This also meant we could add two more stickers to our map of France.)

Ready for another adventure!

I think it was the prefect time to leave:
02/22/2020 at 11:11 at 11 degrees Celsius.

First stop, Bourges

Saint-Etienne de Bourges

While the Cathedral itself was beautiful, the gardens around it were also fun to explore.
They also had the cleanest bathrooms!

A tiny door on a side street...

Second stop was in Moulins to see two churches.  

The kids were done with seeing churches.

February 22 and flowers all around!

The most beautiful sunset from a gas station on the way to Annecy.

Finally, Annecy, and dinner!

We woke up in Annecy to spectacular weather and incredible alpine views.  Annecy is also at the southern tip of Lake Annecy.  Looking out at the lake, with the French Alps in the background, you get swept up in the majesty of it all.  Annecy's medieval town center envelopes you with its winding streets and cobblestone paths.

The kids woke up excited, thinking it was the first day off of school!  This lasted only a few minutes before we handed them a paper map and told them they had to use it to get us around.  No iPhones were being pulled out to direct us that day - except when we needed to first orient that map!  They were not happy. They are great with the GPS on our phones, but give them a physical map, and they get stuck.  What was funniest of all, though, was Jeff and I trying to teach them the best way to use a map.  Everyone has their own notion of how to use one.  (Anyone else remember Joey from Friends stepping "inside" the map to navigate around London?)

Jeff using his iPhone compass to help the kids orient that paper map.

Now which way?

This looks promising...

Gorgeous!

Hmmm...

A church Jeff couldn't go into because they were holding services.

Lake Annecy!

Another church we couldn't go into because it was locked!

So we had a picnic lunch instead, with these for dessert!

What was particularly special about Annecy, and then Chamonix, which we visited at the end of the trip, is that my parents were here hiking just 6 months ago.  I enjoyed imagining them wandering around the same places we were walking.

After a picnic lunch in a park by the lake, we got in our car for the short drive to the town of La Clusaz, where we would be staying and skiing for the next four days.  When I thought about an ideal place in the Alps to ski, I pictured a quaint little village, bustling with ski shops and restaurants, and tourists galore, exhausted, yet happy after a day on the slopes.  La Clusaz was just that!  (Great job, Hortence and Yann.)

After we dropped our bags off at the hotel, we went to get our rental equipment and ski passes, then wandered around exploring.  I had my first meal of fondu that night, before we retired back to our hotel for the evening.  The kids loved the bunk beds and spaciousness of the room.  I adored the views.

La Clusaz!

Gearing up!

Sibling love!

A little souvenir shopping.

Planning what we would ski the first day.

A map of the resort!

Dinner the first night.

Fondue for dinner.

Hotel Beaulieu

Our room

The best view of all.

The first day of skiing was gloriously warm.  In fact, some might say even too warm.  I think at one point it was 10 degrees Celsius (50 degrees Fahrenheit) on the mountain.  The slower conditions and slushier areas were gentle on our legs.  This first day, we explored the far right side of the resort, an area called Manigod.  Because of the lack of snow the Alps has received this year, parts of the mountain were closed off.  Even so, it was just fun to be with so many French families.

Headed out for the day!

Picking up our equipment.

Hmmm... where is the snow?

Riding up one of four gondolas.  

Here is some snow!

Already shedding layers.

Edy

Will

After lunch, we hit the slopes again.

As I stated before, every six weeks, the schools here in Europe get two weeks' vacation.  For the winter break, many families head to ski resorts for one of those weeks.  We saw numerous families enjoying themselves in La Clusaz on their winter break.

By the end of the first day of skiing, we ate dinner, visited the pool and crashed early.

The next two days were drastically different.  We woke up to sun our second day,  but only for a short period of time.  Luckily, we ascended one of the peaks (Massif de Balme) we were hoping to ski that day for a wonderful view of Mont Blanc in the distance, before the clouds and snow started rolling in.

Looking out at Mont Blanc in the distance.

Love!

Skiing and Perrier?  So classy!

After our second day of skiing, we headed into town for an early dinner.  As we were leaving, we happened upon their Carnival parade, for it was the day before Lent began.  The local businesses and ski resort personal had lots of fun dressing up and performing for us - drummers, musical cows, bubbles, convicts, and Star Wars.  The evening ended with spectacular fire works.  

La Clusaz

In addition to passing out hot chocolate and hot wine, they passed out bites of cheese.

Bubbles. 

Genuine smiles!

The third day started off cloudy, and then the snow began to fall and fall.  At one point, we tried to venture to the top of another one of the peaks (Massif de l'Aiguille), only to be met with whiteout conditions.  Luckily, the lower part of the mountain was better.

What a different view this morning.

Luckily Jeff had on his bright red jacket. 

All done for the day!

Will and I ended a bit early for a apres-ski crepe!

Yum!

Same pose as the first day, just lots more snow.

Before I talk about the rest of our trip, here are a few differences we noticed about skiing in the Alps verses the U.S.

1.  We feel that the Americans are actually a bit more polite when waiting in line to ride a chair lift.  Americans are good about alternating when two lines merge.  The French are much more aggressive.  It doesn't matter if it is your turn, if their skis are ahead of yours, they go first.  So it becomes a game of getting your skis ahead of the person beside you.  As a result, there is a lot of bumping and stepping on skis as you wait in line.  Then, and here is the funny part, once skiers get ahead of you, the often pull over to the side to wait for someone that is behind them.  So all that work to push and shove, and then they wait.

2.  Before you get on every lift, you scan your ticket.  The ticket is really a small credit card that sits inside your pocket.  You just turn your body, so it faces the machine, and then you are through.

3.  When it is your turn to get on a lift, instead of skiing up to the line to wait for the chair, a conveyor belt takes you to the place to wait.

4.  They are really serious about making sure you pull the chair lift bar down to keep you safe while riding the chair lift. They yell at you  if you don't start pulling it down immediately upon sitting down.

5.  Everything is so cheap!  It was about 30-40 euros ($35-$45) per person to ski for an entire day.  It was also only 25 euros ($30) to rent equipment for a day.  This is quite different from the United States, where a single day ticket to ski at Vail Colorado is $208!  This also means that almost everyone has access to skiing, due to the cheaper rates.  And boy do a lot of people ski!

6.  We didn't sign a single legal waiver or form at the ski rental office or at the ticket office.

7.  The signs along the slopes are wonderful!  It not only tells you the level of the run by the color, but it also tells you the name and how far along the run you are.  For example here, we are on an orange run called Blaschot.  We have 13 more signs like this before we hit the end of the run.

After three full days of skiing, we were looking forward to relaxing at our next town of Chamonix.  I was so excited because I had booked a remote refuge to stay were you needed to take a train to get to.  There was also a glacier up there we could explore.  Unfortunately, there was so much snow fall the past few days that they had to close the refuge for fear of avalanches.  So we booked a new hotel, just outside of Chamonix, to spend the night.  The roads were so icy that we didn't even risk driving the 2 kilometers into Chamonix to explore.  As a result, we truly had a relaxing day at the hotel playing Five Crowns and Exploding Cats.

The road to Chamonix.

Snowed in.

Not letting up anytime soon.

Game time in the hotel lobby.

Hotel dinner - Ossa Bucs

The next morning we woke up to blue skis and cold temperatures, but we didn't care.  We headed out to explore Chamonix.  Because it was so clear, we were able to see many of the impressive mountains, including the famous Mont Blanc that my parents hiked around in September.

Chamonix!

3842 meters high

Will found the SNCF train station in Chamonix!

More SNOW!

All morning long, I was checking my watch and the weather, because we had a surprise for the kids.  We had booked paragliding for all of us with some Christmas money my parents had sent us.  We had already had to reschedule for Friday, due to the poor weather conditions the day before.

Jeff and I decided it was best not to tell the kids ahead of time so they didn't worry.  So we talked them into going up one of the gondolas for a more impressive view of the mountains.  We told them it would be cold, so we piled on our ski gear.  Once up at the ticket office for the gondola, we met up with Caroline and Lionel from Absolute Chamonix.  We then told the kids that we would be going paragliding.  The look in Edy's face was priceless.  (See below.). She backed away, shaking her head in disbelief.  Will, on the other hand, was stoked to go!  Once Caroline and Lionel's two co-workers joined us, we headed up the gondola to where we would be launching.  Edy was happy to learn that she would not be doing it alone, but would be going with Caroline.

After a quick stop for hot chocolate, the real adventure begins.

Heading up to the surprise!

We just told them.

Waiting in line for the gondola. 

Heading to our launching spot.

The launching area.

They did a remarkable job of preparing us for flight.  They did all the work, strapping us in and setting out the parachutes.  Within minutes, we were off.  Edy went first, followed by Will.  Jeff took off on a different part of the mountain, so I didn't get to see him launch, but I got a picture of him in the air.  But because they all took off around the same time, they got to fly together.  It was so neat to see them in the air.  Since I wanted to video their experience, I took off a bit later.  The wind had actually died down so we had to wait about 10 minutes before I could take off.  This turned out alright because then when Jeff landed he got a few photos of me.  

Are we ready for this?

Edy and Caroline

Gerald strapping Will in to his seat.

Ready!

Now for the parachute.

Jeff and Lionel heading to a different part of the mountain to launch.

Caroline preparing Edy.

A perfect day to enjoy the mountains.  Mont Blanc is visible where the clouds are rolling in.

EDY!

WILL!

JEFF!

BETSY!

We finished just as the clouds were starting to roll in.

Everyone was all smiles at the end.  In fact, Edy has decided she wants to move to Colorado after college and teach paragliding!  From there we ate at a place my parents recommended called Moo before hitting the road again for Geneva, Switzerland.

  Soak it up kids, this will be the last snow you see for awhile.

First and last snowman of the year.

Moo for lunch.

Good-bye Chamonix!

Before we headed back to Paris, we decided to spend a day and night in Geneva, Switzerland, so that we could say we visited another country and put another dot on our map.  We stayed at a lovely hotel near Lake Geneva.  We checked-in and walked around for a bit.  We explored the Bains des Paquis, which in the summer is full of swimmers, and in the winter ideal for rock skipping.  We then walked onto the island, in the Rhone River, right where the river and lake meet.   For Will, we made sure we took a tram ride before heading to Edy's second favorite place for dinner - Vapianos.

Much clearer driving conditions to Geneva.

A warning to report any symptoms of coronavirus.  

Lake Geneva 

This boy loves boats.  Walking along Bains de Paquis.

I am always drawn to how they trim their trees over here.

From skiing to skipping rocks.

Heading under the bridge to Ile Rousseau, on the Rhone River.

Jumping on the Geneva tram.

My favorite time of day, snuggling in bed together.

The next day we woke up early to explore a bit more before starting back to Paris.  We walked along Lake Geneva, passed the Brunswick Monument,  towards Old Town.  We then walked through Molard Tower before getting to the Saint Pierre's Cathedral, where John Calvin preached.  John Calvin was influential during the Reformation in helping to establish the Presbyterian church.  Saint Pierre's had a triangular stool he used to sit on, near the pulpit as well as a beautiful smaller chapel, called the Maccabee Chapel.  We couldn't leave Geneva before seeing the famous Jet d'Eau, which shoots 500 liters of water, at a speed of 200 kilometers an hour, 140 meters in the sky.  We then crossed Lake Geneva by water taxi before heading back to our hotel to pick up our car.

Brunswick Monument:  A mausoleum for the Duke of Brunswick.

Geneva with the Alps in the background.

Molard Tower in Old Town. 

This is where the Red Cross began.

Saint Pierre's Cathedral

View from one of Saint Pierre's Towers.  

Inside Saint Pierre's Cathedral.  John Calvin's chair is  to the left of the pulpit.

The Maccabee Chapel

The Flower Clock in the Jardin Anglais. 

Jet d'Eau

Edy and Will got as close as they could go.

We were content to stay behind, in case the wind changed directions.

Taking the water taxi across Lake Geneva.  

Before we said good-bye to Switzerland entirely, Jeff took us through one more town.  He is a huge fan of T.S. Eliot, even doing his senior project on The Wasteland.  Eliot spent a great deal of time in the town of Lausanne, on Lake Geneva, when he was writing The Wasteland.  We swung through the town to have a look and grab lunch.  Believe it or not, we didn't go into any churches or cathedrals here.  But we did learn that across the street from where we had lunch was an old 12th century castle, called Chateau d'Ouchy, where the peace treaty between the Allies, Turkey, and Greece was signed in 1923.  Will was giddy to learn this.

Lake Geneva

Chateau d'Ouchy

We then began the last six hours of driving towards home.  We only made a few stops along the way.  We were not alone in our efforts to get back home.  There was some congestion on the back country roads.  We did quickly pass through Dijon so we could say we saw it.  Jeff was able to sneak into two churches with the kids, while I stood guard over the car, which was parked illegally to make sure we got in before the churches closed.  And no, we did not pick up any mustard in Dijon.  We got home about 10:00 pm, exhausted and grateful for our beds.

I included this picture to show that my three most purchased items from
the Monoprix appeared on my FB feed just hours from home.
They knew my vacation was ending.  

Home!

We sure added a lot more dots!

If you stuck with the blog thus far, and you are not our immediate family, thank you.  I will end with some funny things we learned on this trip.  Every trip we seem to learn something, but this trip provided many learning opportunities, especially when it came to packing and being prepared.

1.  Always double check that you have toothpaste (Betsy) and a toothbrush (Edy).
2.  Don't forget to pack what you plan to sleep in each night because you might have to end up wearing a pair of your dad's boxer shorts (Edy).
3.  It isn't as hard as it seems to get Coke on the ceiling of your hotel room (Edy).
4.  When skiing at high altitude, don't forget the sunscreen (Betsy).
5.  Always put your most beloved possessions (hats) in a safe place.  You never know when they might disappear forever (Will).
6.  "Fanny-fatigue" is a real thing. Especially when you have to drive all 1,400 kilometers yourself, because your wife's driver's license got stolen in London.

Love,
Betsy