Adventures in France January 15

After a million loads of laundry on friday, we managed to pack and left on saturday afternoon. Verbi was introduced to his personal trainer at Camp Kennelwood in the morning and we headed to the airport. Flew on Northwest from St Louis to Detroit (thanks mom)....and planned on sleeping from Detroit to Amsterdam so we could adjust to the time change. Jim popped a melatonin before boarding the plane and I popped one in after we got settled into our seats on the plane. About 30 minutes later, after the melatonin kicked in, an announcement was made that our plane was having mechanical difficulties (something about no back up battery power), and we were forced off of the plane. We sat in the airport in our drugged state for quite some time...just long enough for the melatonin to wear off by the time we reboarded the plane. The plane was packed and somehow we were fortunate enough to get seats by a chatty space-invading statistics professor who seemed to constantly want out of his window seat. Announcements were made about how Northwest was aware that almost everyone on the 747 had missed their connections in Amsterdam, but they would have people working on our flight arrangements and have everything done at the gate when we got off. Yeah right. Eventually got to Amsterdam. No one had worked on the missed flight arrangements. Big surprise. Got into a long line and caught the next flight to Geneva. Flew KLM. What a nice change from an american airline. Got to Geneva. Lost 1 out of 2 checked bags. The Swiss guy who helped us said they would find it and deliver it to Chamonix. Hmmm. Yea right. I'll believe it when I see it. At least we've got our ski gear.

Jim in front of our b&b in Chamonix with our Opel wagon

So, we hop into our peppy rented Opel station wagon and zip on the Autoroute Blanche with Jim driving like Mario Andretti and me riding shotgun as mapgirl. An hour later, we cruise into Chamonix. Hmmm. The mountains are socked in. Can't see a thing, but I don't really care. We're starving. Airplane food just didn't really do it for me. We park our car at the b&b and walk into town in search of food. Found a nice little bistro with a big people watching window and the yummiest food. I love France already. So while we're lingering over our food and watching people pass on the street, Jim and I start to notice that about 1 out of every 10 people is hobbling around either with crutches, canes, knee braces, etc. Very disconcerting especially since the mountains are socked in and we can't see them. What have we gotten ourselves into?!?!

We get checked into the b&b. Quite pleasant. Excellent location (just downhill from the Brevant tram and uphill from the center of Chamonix and my favorite pastery shop). Extremely good value. I'll put up a review later on my b&b site. The next morning, we awaken to find that our missing luggage has arrived sometime in the evening. Hip hip hooray. Clean underwear and socks. That put a smile on my face.

The mountains are still socked in, but we're assured by our b&b host that when you take the tram you'll break the clouds into sunshine. I'm skeptical, but at least lift tickets are cheap. Under $30. Whoa. Be still my beating heart. We take the tram up and what do you know? Pure glorious sunshine (with a bit of wind....did I mention we froze our patoots off in France?) The mountain views are absolutely breathtaking. (Actually at breakfast we met an Aussie who thought this was one of the most beautiful places he's ever skied....I don't think he's too far off base). The skiing was fast, hard, and icy. Sure, they could use more snow, but there was plenty of hair-raising stuff for this girl...and I've got the bruises to prove it.

We skied Brevant in the morning and then took a tram over to Flegere for the afternoon. Ate lunch at Flegere. Unimpressive and expensive. It was your typical on-mountain cafeteria food. Major bummer. Skied until my legs turned into spaghetti and so we try to head back to Brevant. Ski up to the tram. Hmmm. Why is there a rope across where we need to get on? In my pathetic French I ask the guy how we're supposed to get back to Brevant. He says "impossible." That's a universal word you don't want to hear. Strong winds have closed our way back home.

So, we meader down to Flegere. Following a crowd, we hop on a bus and pray that it will take us back close to where we need to be. When something begins to seem recognizable to Jim, we hop off and lug our skis through the streets of Chamonix. Jim's trailblazing. I'm bringing up the rear, peering in shop windows, scheming to find a place to eat dinner. With Jim's keen sense of direction, we find our way home. Time to get cleaned up and find some grub. By the time we take our showers and get dressed it's about 6 PM. I'm starved. We walk into town hoping to get an authentic Savoyarde meal. Hmmm. Strange. There's not a single restaurant that seems to be serving dinner. People are in there drinking, but no one eats. Apparently, I missed something in my French class. Here's a big lesson. You can't get a real dinner at 6PM in Chamonix. Gotta wait until about 7:30-8:00PM. Should have paid more attention to the French culture section of my French class in high school. By 6:30, I'm in my crabby "I need food now" state and we wander into McDonalds. Gasp. We're doing all the things I vowed we'd never do. Lesson #2 in France. Ketchup is hard to come by. One puny packet cost 2 ffr! We make do with salt. On the bright side, we do stop by a patisserie and pick up dessert.

The view from the top of the tram station in Les Houches

We had signed up to ski the Vallee Blanche with a Chamonix mountain guide, but the tram is closed due to poor visibility and strong winds. We'll try again tomorrow. We pack up and head to Les Houches which is supposed to be a good place to ski on foggy days because they've got trees to help you with depth perception. Once again, cheap lift ticket. I'm loving this French skiing thing. Took the tram up and busted through the clouds into wonderful sunshine and stunning views. Skied our brains out on hard pack & ice. Jim's schussing down the slopes on his new Mod Xs like he's an east coast ice skier. I'm an Alta girl....not made for ice...more bruises for me. Good thing I've got a helmet.

Stop for lunch at another on mountain cafeteria. More of the same. Expensive, not so great food. Somehow in the midst of lunch, we got ambushed. A big group of ski guys came by and set their stuff on our table (even though there were empty tables nearby....duh) and the next thing you know, my Oakley goggles vanish. Just goes to show thieves can steal your stuff right in front of your eyes. My loving husband lets me use his goggles for the rest of the afternoon and we ski hard to release the aggression I feel for those thugs....all the while I'm hoping that the scratches on the Oakley lenses will be at a bothersome place for the thief.

After a day of hard skiing, we head back, get cleaned up, and go shopping for some new goggles. Soon we realize why my 4 year old $45 Oakley's got stolen. We see the same pair in a shop for about $125 (780ffr). Yikes. Needless to say, I've switched goggle styles. New gold Carrerra bug-eye goggles. They're cool.

Once again, my american tummy is crying out for food before the restaurants are open. We head to a grocery store. Baguette, cheese, meats, and wine. Mmmm. And of course, the requisite stop by the patisserie for dessert.

We're waiting at the bottom of the mountain with our guide to ski the Vallee Blanche (a 24 km run). I'm getting worried. They keep asking if we are good skiers. What does that mean? How good is good? And why does he keep asking me that? I take a big puff of my inhaler. Worrying about this run is giving me asthma. We wait for the clouds to clear out and we get in the tram line. Hey...why are some people strapping into harnesses? I take another puff of inhaler. It's a long ride (actually 2 tram rides) to the top of Aiguille du Midi (a rocky pinnacle at 12500+ft on the legendary Mont Blanc). Unbelieveable views at the top. Unfortunately, we can't stop long to take pictures. The winds are really blowing. Jim wants me to take some pictures. I'm worried that the camera will get blown out of my frozen hands. I'm freezing. More people are strapping into harnesses. I see the descent. I am scared.

We walk into an ice tunnel. Our guide pulls out our harnesses. Gulp. Our group of 7 get strapped in. It makes me nervous that our guide is the only one in our group that has ice crampons on the bottoms of his ski boots. He offers to carry my skis while we make the trecherous climb downhill. Pegged as the turtle already. But I have no pride. Sure, take my skis. We slip and slide our way down the icy path for what seems like eternity, battling strong winds and vertigo. (The photo above shows skiers making their way down the spine of the ridge. Everyone is strapped in together...about 7-8 in a group. Trust me, it seems much steeper in real life than in the picture). While we're slipping and sliding, our guide runs around like a mountain goat...agile and completely fearless...carrying 7 pairs of ski poles, 2 pairs of skis, and a backpack full of gear. Must be the crampons. When we finally make it down to where we can click into our skis, Jim can't feel his hands from gripping his heavy skis in the cold. Sometimes being pegged as the turtle has its advantages.

Jim, post-hike, down the Aiguille du Midi's spine ridge

In this picture, you see Aiguille du Midi behind Jim. On the far right side of the picture, you can see a bridge leading to the ice tunnel. Coming out of the tops of Jim's skis (am I a great photographer or what!), you can see 2 lines of people making their way down the steep ridge.

Once we're on skis, I can breathe a sigh of relief. I'm not really the turtle. There are 2 in our group that ski worse than me. <Grin>. The skiing is relatively easy. We stop frequently, take lots of pictures, and interesting commentary. Our guide points out rock & ice climbers, tells us what peaks we're looking at, and helps us avoid crevasses. One crevasse he pointed out was over 300 m deep. I stick close to the guide and never once look down into a crevasse. Jim, of course, skis to the edge of one and takes a good look down.

We ski past granite cliffs, on a glacier, on the mer du glace (see photo on the right...it looks like huge "waves" of ice), and through wind crusted snow and on sheets of ice (kind of like ice skating - only without much control). It's an unbelieveable experience. Then we traverse a long long way (partly uphill) to a little on mountain hut for lunch. Food wasn't bad. Nothing to write home about and definitely not worth the labor intensive traverse. We lunch in the sun for about an hour and then it's time for more skiing. Then the guide tells me the bad news. We have a "short" hike where we have to kick off our skis and walk up the mountain. He offers to carry my skis. <How could I refuse?> Thank goodness he did because this asthmatic from sea-level about died of a heart attack trudging up that hill. We ski back to the town (through some pretty rocky terrain) where a van is waiting to take us back. Jim tips our guide well - thankful that he didn't have to carry my skis. We grab a bite to eat and collapse into bed.

I am battered and bruised. Our ibuprofen supply is quickly dwindling. We tackle Les Grand Montets in Argentiere which is supposed to be the baddest mountain in the Chamonix area with endless steep chutes and couloirs. No beginners on this mountain. Everyone skis fast on the hardpack. It takes me until lunchtime to work the kinks out and get my legs working. It's icy, bumpy, and steep, but you'd never know it looking at the smooth ski guys schussing down the slope with perfect turns down the fall line. I'm in awe.

By Ski Day #4, we finally feel like we've learned how to deal with the French dinner time. The key is to grab a snack at the patisserie before you go home to get cleaned up so you can survive until dinner time....and how convenient for us that there is one at the bottom of the hill where we are staying. We grab a snack of a palmier and our favorite, croix de savoie (speaking of which, if anyone as a good recipe for croix de savoie we would be eternally grateful). We eat a wonderful dinner....salad, fondue savoyarde, salmon, frommage blanc, dessert, and wine. I am fat and happy.

Our last ski day in Chamonix. Jim, the energizer bunny, gets up early to take pictures of the town. I can't drag my aching body out of bed. Must have been hit by a truck. Anyway, here are some pics that Jim took early in the morning.

We decide to take an easy ski day at Le Tour which is known for its sunshine and easy slopes. Lots of beginners at this mountain. We do a bit of off piste when we can see the line from the lift. Very fun. Not so easy. Le Tour is actually a very interesting place to ski. Lots of natural half-pipes and a fantastically long bump run on the "cold" side of the mountain. Snow coverage is adequate. Still hard and fast. We see some ski racers training. Wow.

These little buildings in the photo on the right were on the mountain at Le Tour. I'm not sure what they are supposed to be used for, but they certainly were cute. If anyone knows what these building are for, I'd be interested in knowing.

Here's something worth mentioning...these ski lifts in France...what a pain! You can see me getting towed along by a lift in the picture on the right. You have to grab this metal bar with a round disk at the end, stick this bar between your legs and let it drag you up the hill. Ugh. Not a nice feeling. More than once I got bashed on the knee by the disk as I attempted to position myself on this lift (ok, so maybe that's the result of a slight lack of coordination, but lift designers should take that into consideration). The worst part? They had these lifts all over the place at Le Tour. To get to the best terrain, you had to ride one of these lifts. I was not happy. At least I never fell off.

Ang on a most unpleasant ride at Le Tour

Le Tour has the best on-mountain self service lunch place that we found in Chamonix (although guide books say that Grand Montet has the best restaurant....we never stopped long enough to sit down and have a leisurely lunch). Very good food. Reasonably priced for on mountain food. I had a wonderful roasted chicken with a side of mushrooms, onions, and chestnuts in cream to die for.

So, we skied some more and headed back to...you guessed it, the patisserie. I love France. We dined at a wonderful restaurant our last night in Chamonix. Awesome salad, more fondue, and beautiful desserts. And of course, wine. Hey, skiing is a calorie intensive sport...you've got to keep up your energy levels right?

Ahhh. Our legs get a breather. We drive back to Geneva to meet Jim Jr at the airport. Somehow, I, as mapgirl, mistakenly place us in a parking lot that is a long long walk to the airport (on the bright side, we did park for free). Luckily, it takes Jim Jr a while to appear with all of his luggage (and they say women pack a lot).

The drive to Val d'Isere is longer than we had originally thought it would be. The Mont Blanc tunnel is closed (due to the huge fire last year). So, we took the scenic route through Annecy, Bourg St Maurice, to Val d'Isere. As we drive into VDI it's starting to snow - big fat flakes. Jim Jr and some guys on the street help push our car when we got stuck. I sit in the warm car, glad I'm not driving or pushing. I love being a girl.

We arrive at our condo before check in time, but thankfully, they let us check in early. We settle in, grab some dinner with hot wine <yummy>, and do some much needed laundry.

Fresh powder. Too bad we can't really see it. It is socked-in foggy. We ski blindly for most of the day on the VDI side of the mountain (which turns out to be relatively flat with incredibly long traverses and times where you have to pole your brains out....I didn't realize there would be so much cross-country skiing involved). It's amazing how dense the fog is. Unlike Chamonix, on foggy days, you are not able to bust through the clouds into the sun in VDI...low elevation is kind of a bummer. We try our best to stay on piste and not fall off of cliffs. Skiing is interesting, to say the least, because you can't see the dips, bumps, and drop offs in the terrain until you're right on it.

We rode a lift up next to a bump field. Saw a bunch of really good skiers skiing on it....well, let me rephrase. They looked really good for a while and then all of a sudden....BAM! They'd crash because they couldn't see. Hard to ski when you can't see the 3 ft drop in front of you. So, of course, Jim had to try it. Jim Jr and I skied down the sane way and watched the carnage from below. Jim emerges unscathed. On the runs leading back home I look around and see all sorts of "ski studs" with blood and cuts on their faces.

The sun is out and the skiing ROCKS! Lots of fresh powder tracks (although the groomers got scraped off pretty fast and became hardpacked and icy...which can be dangerous because there are so many beginners on the groomed trails leading to the most popular lifts and then again back home). With the improved visibility, we're finally able to venture off-piste. (No matter what claims you may have heard from Jim Jr, every off piste run we did was safe. We scoped the lines from the lift. No crevasses. No cliffs. Nothing extreme.) I must say that overall, I enjoyed the skiing at Tignes much more than at Val d'Isere. The terrain seemed a bit steeper and had less flat spots. Plus, the powder lines are incredible. We ski and ski until my legs turn into jello... I thought back to the days when we skied Utah and Ben was popping Advil on the lifts....I wished I had the foresight to lunch on Advil instead of frites.

Jim and Jim Jr - taking a break (at my request)

I must admit that our latter ski days kind of run together in my mind. Amazingly enough we tried to ski a different "area" each day and still were not able to cover everything in L'Espace Killy...it would take a lifetime to do that. On the last day we were still seeing new areas and new lines. This place is mind-boggling. The lift system is incredibly efficient and modern....highspeed 6 packs, gondolas, trams, funiculars (ski trains that tunnel through the mountain), you name it...they've got it. They've even got my "favorite" butt-tow lifts <see commentary in the Le Tour section>....I believe Jim Jr ended the trip loving this mode of transportation even more than me....be sure to ask him about his experience on this tow.

The town of Val d'Isere is a bit of a disappointment after Chamonix. It doesn't have the charm or quaintness. (Notice we don't have pictures of the town of VDI.) It's a true resort. Sure, they did some stuff to spruce up the place for the Albertville Olympics, but it's just not the charming French village I had hoped for. Probably would have been better off saving some money and staying in Tignes. We may have avoided our partying neighbors that way....our neighbors would party into the wee hours of the morning. Several mornings I woke up around 4-5AM to hear people screaming and music thumping. One morning Jim Jr woke up to a scream....thinking someone had fallen off of a balcony. Hmmm. Didn't hear an ambulance, so we presumed they were ok. We obviously did not stay at a high-brow kind of place.

On the edge of the marked piste in Val d'Isere

Here's the kicker about VDI. You can stay cheap and ski cheap ($25 lift tickets!!!), but you certainly can't eat cheap. While the quality of food was always very good at VDI, it was shockingly expensive. The prices reminded me of Vail...only the food in VDI was better. Speaking of food (a topic which is near and dear to my heart & tummy), we certainly had some memorable meals.....pizza with an egg on top, crepes (I loved this so much we had it twice), raclette, more fondue, escargot, mussels, and of course....dessert....tart tatin, croix de savoie, chocolate, and more chocolate. And my favorite part of breakfast? Pain au chocolat. Yum. We're fat, happy & poor.

Jim Jr wakes us up a little before 4AM. Ugh. We pack our groggy selves into the wagon and head towards Geneva. Driving through the town we realize that there are still a bunch of people out of the streets. We are seeing a side to VDI that we would have never otherwise have seen. People (obviously younger than us and with far too much energy) are out in the streets...still partying and doing whatever it is people do at 4AM. I am amazed and wish our partying neighbors had spent time in the bars instead of their condo.

Our flights, with the standard delays, went fairly well. We were able to fly KLM on the transatlantic portion of our trip which made the trip much more enjoyable. Back in St Louis <sigh>, we arrive to snow flurries and about 4 inches of snow on the ground.

For now, Verbi is back from boarding school. Was it worth the money? We have yet to determine that. At this point, he seems a little better behaved than pre-boarding school, but maybe it's because he caught a cold. Jim has to survive one month in bone & joint with a grueling call schedule and then we're off on our ski trip to Canada. Will keep you posted.