Sunday 23 February 2014

16

Feb 22/23
(Weekend :)

Yesterday was Saturday. Aline and I went snowshoeing up a mountain to a lake. It was a three hour round trip, with stunning views of the valley below. We also brought Taiga, And she was very happy and kept rolling around in the snow and running around. Unfortunately she enjoys chasing and annoying skiers, so we had to keep her on a leash until we were far-ish away from the main trail. 
Snowshoeing is really fun, because it allows you to be as nimble as you're going to be in the snow. The trail is always atmospheric; a small path of trodden snow winding its way through trees, sometimes steep, sometimes flat, overhung by snow-laden tree branches. 
Said branches can be quite useful when engaged in a snow battle with Aline (she started it). 
Going up the mountain was a piece of work, but absolutely worth it for the views at the top and the fresh snow. Going down was not nearly as much work, and a lot faster because we were running. I can't tell you how satisfying it is to go hurtling down a slope in snowshoes, unable to stop and avoiding various snow clouds put there by the person in front of you. 

Later that evening we went to a small pub above us on the mountain (Freydières) for dinner. They had a small live jazz group that evening, so it was packed. You really get the feeling of a small village when everyone knows everyone else, and they all go to the pub on the same night. It was very comfortable, very cozy, and a nice place to be after trekking about in the snow. It was your classic wood cabin restaurant with the snow outside, packed to the brim with friendly people and the hum of conversation. The food was also really good, but I wouldn't expect anything less from a European pub meal :)
I actually recognized a few of the jazz tunes they were playing from the various jazz groups I've been in. They even played Chameleon, which made me smile because that song is so well known back at school. Dare I say too well known... 
After I'd eaten an amazing meal of ham, cabbage, gratin dauphinoise, and apple pie and ice cream for dessert along with a selection of cheeses, we cleared the table and took out Dutch Blitz. Nadia really loves this game, and who was I to say no to playing cards until midnight with no elbow room? Actually it reminded me of camping, and I really enjoyed it. (I won, by the way)
I was super tired when I got home, but was very happy because I think that was one of the best days I've had here so far. 

Today. 
We went back to Freydières to go skiing/sledding/snowshoeing as a family. Mathilde, Olivier, Aline, and Nadia were on skis (with skins attached to the bottom to be taken off at the top of the hill), Clémentine and I were on snowshoes. We hiked for about an hour, then most of us turned back except for Nadia and Olivier. There was only one big sled, so Clem and I squished ourselves in it, tucked our feet in and let go. The ride down was really fun and really long, with lots of twists and turns and snow drifts, and bumps, and a really steep cliff on one side. We crashed a lot and laughed a lot and went really fast and fell over, and somehow we ended up at the bottom. I think we really scared all the skiers we passed; for one thing we actually passed them, for another we were screaming/laughing the entire time. 
Then while we waited for Nadia and Olivier to come back, Clem and I walked to the other side of the frozen lake (around, not over top) and did a couple of sled runs and built a snowman. It looked kinda dejected, with its crooked smile and tiny eyes and single hair (a leaf) atop its head, blowing in the wind. 
Then we returned home, and had raquelette. That is, we had really yummy melted cheese on potatoes with ham and lettuce. This is apparently another dish native to the region. 
We had to leave promptly after that, because Olivier, Mathilde and I had to get to a (mostly) Mozart concert an hour away. It was a really good concert, with a Mozart, two Mozart piano concertos and one Hayden thrown in for good measure. There was even an encore after the show. It was a fairly small orchestra, and frankly I liked the Victoria symphony more, but I am biased in that opinion. On the way back, Mathilde and I did our best to study SVT (Sciences de la Vie et de la Terre), because there's a test on Tuesday. 




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