Our Trip to France Day 6 - Skiing Day 3

Today I woke up very sore in my calves and my traps. My traps from pushing on the show with my poles, and my calves, I have no idea why. I would have thought that my thighs would be the sore part of my legs, but my calves are absolutely painful this morning. Amanda and I did not sleep well last night as it got rather warm in our room last night. It seems to be very insulated both inside and out. I opened the door and got it about 5 degrees Celcius cooler in the room, which felt very comfortable. After getting some sleep, when my alarm went off, it was back up to the temperature it was before we opened the door. After I got up and eat a pan de chocolat for breakfast, I went back into the room, and it had cooled by 2 degrees. It must be our breath that is heating up the room. I would sleep with the door open all night, but I don't want my bronchitis to show up AGAIN, as it is getting better all the time. I still can't laugh yet, but it is getting a little easier to almost laugh, but I still cough while laughing.

Today was the day we hit the green slopes. After taking the red bubble up to Le Chevanne, we hit the bunny slopes for a couple of times getting used to turning, and off we went up to the green run. We got on the chairlift. For someone like me who is scared of heights, I was not afraid on the lift at all. It was rather cool and peaceful on the thing to watch the other skiers hauling ass down hill, especially the 5-7 year olds who just go with reckless abandun. Getting on the lift was east, you just sit down and let ti catch you, then you put the safety bar down. Getting off is a bit harder. As you approach the exit, you lift up the safety bar, and lift you skies and place then on the exit ramp. You push off the lift and then you fall about 5 feet downhill, but it is rather steep and you hope you stop before you topple anyone over. Luckily, I was able to stop in time.

We headed toward the green run and down we went. We took a little time getting used to the grade of the slope, which is to me a LOT steeper than the bunny hill. We did some turns and down we went. What a rush. I got the turns going rather well, but for some reason today, the snow plow method of stopping was not quite working. I was having to turn rather sharply to stop today. We had to cross across a blue run and THEN cross across a cable life WITHOUT hitting anyone or getting hit. Made is across and continued down the green run. We made it back to the chair lift, took the one next to it and back up we went. We headed down another green run, but still had to cross that same blue run/cable lift and went down the run again. Sylvan was trying to get us to turn with our skis parallel, but kept talking in French and I could not figure out how he was telling us to do it. I think that you have to lean the other way when you turn parallel, and that is the goal for tomorrow's lesson.

Got back to the chalet, took a shower while the other adults went to get a reservation for New Years Eve, killed a large ass spider in Megan and Tori's bathroom, watched the CSI about the Miniature Killer and then went to bed to get ready for my last ski lesson tomorrow.

Our Trip to France Day 5 - Skiing Day 2

Well, after a rocky start yesterday, today went GREAT. Stephan remembered me and told me to stick with him today with about 3 others from yesterday and about 8 new students. We headed up to Le Chavanne on the red bubble and headed directly to the bunny slope. We were going up the hill on the rope when some little French kid falls down from the rope with his skis going across where everyone has to go and the British guy in front of me goes down and I have no choice but to follow suit or else I would have run over him and the French kid. Man are the French kids WINERS!!!! Whenever one falls , they cry until someone comes over and helps them up. Sounds like me yesterday, but at least I did not cry. One little Frenchy laid there for about 15 minutes until my instructor helped him up. After taking off my skis and getting up and putting my skis back on, I made it up to the top and down I went. After snow plowing down the hill a couple of times, we learned how to turn while in the snowplow. We tried to follow each other down as close as we could, and we actually did quite well. We did this a could of times and then Stephan showed us how to turn with your skis parallel, and that I did not quite get. We tried that a couple more times, and then he announces that tomorrow we come back to the debutante hill, warm up and then go on the ski lift to a beginner run. SWEET. My instructor actually told me I did a lot better than yesterday. I made my way down on the bubble and mt Tori at the ski school, and home we went.

After everyone showered, we headed into town to get some supper. We ate at a place called Le Tyrol. It had a very English feel to it, except the waitresses so French. After Amanda and I split some very good onion soup, do you still call it French onion soup when you are in France, I had a great flat bread pizza with tomato, cheese and chorizo. It is not the chorizo we in Texas are used to, I think that it what French people call pepperoni, because that is what it tastes like. Amanda had a tartiflette, which is a baked dish with bacon, cheese and potatos which was VERY GOOD. The only part of the meal that was not fun was when we got the bill. €167 for supper. JESUS!!! The food as good, but not that good. After paying the bill, we headed home to relax and get ready for another day of skiing and shopping.

Until next time......

Our Trip to France Day 4 - Skiing Day 1

Well, there are some things that a 40 year old opera singer should start, and after today, I am starting to believe that skiing is not one of them. To see little 3-6 year olds HAULING ASS down the slopes is very disconcerting, but I am willing to give it the old college try. After putting on my ski gear and walking in the boots, I go and find the place for the adults that have never, ever skied before, and sure enough I found it and it was full of younger, and hipper people form all over the world. England, Denmark, Finland, French and the couple of Americans. We learn how to put on the skis and how to walk in them, which I found very strange and difficult, especially uphill. I could not for the life of me, get going uphill, until they showed me how to out the skis perpendicular to the slope and take little baby steps upward.

Then came the snow plow, which I kind of got, except my skis started going forward before I was ready and I could not lean forward fast enough and back I went and then down I went. I was the only one that fell doing that. It had to be someone, why not me. After getting helped up....more on this later....I finally slow plowed and thought that I was doing great.

Then came the part of going up the hill. In the beginner classes, you don't get to ride on a ski lift, you get on a magic carpet. You stand on a moving conveyer belt and you are taken up the hill. That was the easy part, then you head downhill. It was not until later, that I learned I had to be more spread for the snow plow, and I got going faster and felt that I could not stop, so in order to not hit anyone, I took a dive that would make Sonny Liston proud. Then came the part of getting up. I have never been one to get off the floor like the pro athletes who just sit on their haunches and up they go. I can get on my haunches, but that is it. So here comes the instructor again.....more later....and off we go. Snow plow here I come.

Next we go to a little bit steeper bit if the beginner hill. This time we are pulled up by a rope that you have to grab onto by hand. But first, you have to walk uphill to the rope. Not a chance for me to do that. Here comes the instructor to give me a hand and I grab the rope, and I turn into Sonny Liston again. He helps me up.....more later.....and make it about halfway up the hill with the rest of the class. We start to snow plow down the hill and I get going really fast and can't slow down, so in order not to get injured, down I go. Now, the instructors are up the hill helping the younger students, so I ask someone to have the instructor come down at his leisure to help me up. Then I go to get back to the rope, and I can't get near the damn thing. I start trying and I end up 15 yards farther down the hill than when I started and get help again from the instructor about 10 minutes later.

As the younger students start at the top of the hill learning how to do turns, I proceed to gradually get the hang of the snow plow, and I find a relatively flat piece of snow to get to the rope, and have about 4 successful runs of going up and down the hill. After the others finish turning, we all meet up to see how we have been doing, and I tell the instructor that I'll be back tomorrow to do this all over again.

After spotting Amanda at the bottom of the big hill after taking the tram down, we head back to the chalet, go get pizza at Pizzalino's, take a shower, write this, watch Crocodile Dundy 3, then get ready to do it all again tomorrow.

Until then......

Out Paris Trip Day 3

Today is the day we drive to our chalet. After eating a great breakfast at the hotel that was included in the price of our room, not a cold Continental breakfast like in the States, it was a warm buffet with eggs, sausage, bacon, little petit pancakes, little mini chocolate donuts, petit cinnamon balls, fresh bread and other goodies. We have a “great” set of directions from Google Earth, and with Amanda acting as navigator, aat we go. It looked a lot easier on Google Earth Animated directions, as we got off the wrong exit off of the first round-a-bout. Whomever exported the round-a-bout should be drawn and quartered then ridden out on a rail. After going back round the round-a-bout, we headed the right direction. Thank God in France they drive on the correct side of the road. We only had to pay 2 tolls that added up to €3.70. We were doing great until the town of Clusses, where the directions and the nubmer of round-a bouts got confusing. We were going to stop and wait for our friends Nick, Tina, Tori, Megan and Lillia (our Goddaughter) at the McDonalds, but the parking lot was a madhouse, so we stopped in the parking lot of Ed's Store, a little town grocery store. After meeting up with them, we were on our way again.

I don't think that we could have gotten there with out following Nick the rest of the way, as the directions were just a little confusing. Then when we go to the chalet, the only icy road that we encountered was the one leading up to the chalet, and we discovered that the Prius is not good on ice at all, if you have to stop for anything, you lose the grip on the road. After sliding downhill for about 10 feet, Nick found a non-icy patch to get some traction and made it up the hill to the chalet.

The Chalet is INCREDIBLE. It has four bedrooms, two with en-suite baths. Go here for a look at the chalet. Amanda and I got the room off of the living room with an en-suite bath. Tori and Megan got the other room with the en-suite bath and Tina and Nick got the room with the three beds. After getting everything situated, the girls, Nick and myself headed into town to get our ski stuff. We all got our ski boots, polls, and since I am a beginner skier, that went and got me a special pair of skis. And since we were staying at a chalet that they normally do business with, we did not have to even out down a deposit. SWEET. We get back to the car and then Nick goes and gets his lift pass. After that, we headed back to the chalet to get ready to go to dinner.

We arrived at the restaurant and found out up opens in 15 minutes, so we head down the street to get some breakfast supplies for tomorrow at a little grocery called Shopi. We get meat, cheese, Cokes, and potato chips for starters. Amanda and I love to try potato chips that that have in Europe that we don't get in the States. They have Heinz ketchup flavored chips over here. And Worchester sauce, roasted chicken, salt and vinegar, prawn (YUCK!!!!), and others. I wish we could get the Ketchup and Worchester ones in the states. The ones that we got tonight we barbecue, roasted chicken and chorizo, two little bags each. We got to the restaurant and I have the local sausages with potatoes in a white wine sauce and onions. YUMMY!!!! Amanda gets the local bacon with pasta and cheese. YUMMY, except the pasta came in little squares.

We then took a look around Les Gets at night and it is a bigger version of Banff Canada, with lots of cuts shoppes that Amanda will no doubt be going to during our stay. We got back to the chalet and watched a little TV, then headed to bed, to get rested up for the first day of skiing lessons.

Until next time.......

Sorry for the Delay

Sorry for not updating about the trip but we did not have internet access in the chalet of the town that we were staying in, so in the next couple of days I will post the telling of the events that I have written in my word program.

Thanks for your patience.

Our Trip to France Day 2

Well, we are now at the Moevenpick hotel and casino in Geneva.  After picking up our rental car from Hertz, a Prius mind you.  More on the hotel in a minute.  Our cousins Mark and Lynn have a Prius and they love it, but for someone who has never even test driven one, staring the thing is a different story.  You have no key, just the fob.  You hit the start button once and the menu screen comes on, but you have no idea if the car is on.  You hit the start button again, and you still do not know if the thing is on, and the screen is in French.  You hit the start button  a third time, and I think the car turns off.  After somehow getting the thing started, we make it to the hotel, after changing the language on the screen that tell you if you are using batterie or gas into English.  

Luckily the hotel is just around the corner, and we get there without incident.  All though, putting  the Prius in park makes you think that you need a PhD to operate the thing.  After discovering that the button with the "P" on it means park.....you would never guess that I went to Rice......only to push the button after I hear Amanda yell, "The car is still MOVING!!!!!", while getting the suitcases out of the boot....er trunk.  We checked in and went up to the room.  

The room is very modern and very Euro.  Go here and look up the one in Geneva for pics.  After taking a little siesta, we headed to dinner at the hotel restaurant and we both had the beef ravioli on a napolitain sauce.  It was actually quite tasty.  We then walked over to the casino, but did not go in.  

Stay tuned for our exploits of driving to the chalet on Swiss and French roads, and me finding a place to buy some clothes as I seemed to have left one third (one shirt and pair if pants)  of my planned wardrobe some where other than in my suitcase.  Until then.......

Our trip to France Day 1

Well, our Switzerland and France trip got off to a rough start when I realized that all of my clothes would not fit in my garment bag, so at 10:30 Christmas Eve I start a journey to find a larger suitcase. Well, even the 24 Hour Walmart was closed, so I had to ask my in-laws if I could borrow a large suitcase, and luckily they said yes. On the way to the aforementioned in-laws house for Christmas presents and food on Christmas day, after putting all my clothes in a contractor bag, after getting half way to our destination, I realized that I have forgotten my toiletry bag. After going back to the house to get it, that put us over an hour late for the festivities.

The festivities and the swag received were outstanding and everyone made out like a bandit. We left for the airport only to discover that our favorite parking spot, The Parking Spot, was full so we did the next best thing. We drove to the next one and parked there. After getting into slight disagreement with the guy in the security line, Kharma showed up and the same pushy guy who was telling everyone else to hurry up, forgot to take BOTH of his laptops out of his bag and was there for a good 5 minutes after we had gotten through.

Kharma is now our friend as we get to the gate counter and Amanda used the delayed honeymoon line and no sooner then 15 minutes later, we have our business class seats on our Air France flight. SWEET!!!!!!!!!! As we sit down in our nice, large, comfortable seats, the champagne arrives. EVEN SWEETER!!!!!!! The meals were fantastic, which Amanda will chronicle in her blog later, and the movie selection was great. I ended up watching the Ed Norton version of the Incredible Hulk. Sorry Andrew, I will still watch the DVD you gave me. After that it was bed time, so we took our seats form their upright position to their reclined sleeping position. TRIPLE SWEET!!!!!!!! Our only complaint was the cabin got hot during the 4.5 hours of sleep time that we had. About 2/3 of the way through sleepy time, while coming back from the restroom, which IS larger is business class, I noticed some people had their chairs FULLY RECLINED. After a couple of minutes of button fiddling, I got my chair fully reclined and the REM began. After breakfast, we arrived in Paris and made our way to the gate at which I sit now writing this as we wait for our flight to Geneva.

I will keep all three of my readers apprised of our trip and the adventures of me learning how to and me skiing in the Alps. Until next time......