Today was a pretty good day too! What happened first... Hm. Well, this morning I woke up at 9.00am which is a record gros matinee (sleep in) for me overseas (pathetic, I know!) I got up had a shower and went downstairs this time to see Benoit, Bastien, Bastiens friend whose french-like name I forget and Fanny getting ready to go skiing! Poor Tim was sick and throwing up (great, he was jumping on my bed yesterday. I hope I dont catch anything :P) so Carole decided to stay home with him while the rest of us went to the mountains.
Of course there were problems. What kind of adventure doesnt have problems?! The first one was that I didnt really have any ski gear. Luckily, they had lots of spare things to whack together for me. Not so luckily, it was completely mismatched and I looked like an absolute... (dare I say it?) tosser. Nonetheless I would be warm and protected from the snow! And as Carole pointed out - I didnt know anyone so who cares?! I was ready. The kids were ready. Benoit was ready. We were on our way. The drive there was good, I am starting to get used to this whole 'driving-on-the-right(wrong)-side-of-the-road' business; it doesnt feel so stupid now. (*note* The cars in Europe are sooooo different anyway so its a constant reminder to not yell out 'WHY ARE WE ON THE RIGHT(wrong) SIDE OF THE ROAD?!') Anyway. The drive was really scenic and pretty as we drove up the mountains (we were on the
'Massif de la Chartruesse' part of the french 'pre-Alps' [opposite the Alp-Alps]) however! If you know me, the drive was also incredibly awful. The road is ridiculously narrow. I asked if it was for one car and Benoit contently replied it was for two... this through me out. Also the road was covered in ice and snow and the car slid slightly. Finally! We were on a bloody mountain. I am petrified of heights at the best of times, but looking out over the (beautiful) scenery while sliding around on a tiny little road freaked me out. I didnt say anything though so I think, they still think I am fearless. Excellent. Haha jokes...
Eventually we arrived safe and sound anyway, parked, got our ski boots on (or snowboard gear for Bastien, his friend and Fanny) and made our way to the snow. Today was my first ever time skiing and Fannys first ever time snowboarding. I felt sorry for Benoit having to teach both of us how to ski/snowboard at the same time because both of us were utterly useless. We started off on the baby hills. That was embarrassing because I was literally amongst 3-5 year olds but falling over more than all of them! So was Fanny though, so thats okay. I got some laughs out of it.
A bit later we moved on to the normal hills. My first round Benoit toured me around by making me hold on to one end of the poles and him, the other. I still managed to fall over... Oh well. The next time I was on my own! For the first few minutes I might as well have rolled down the hills deliberatly but after a while I started to get the hang of it. I began to turn better and fall down less. Boy was I proud when I did the run falling over only 5 times. What an achievement! (I think I ended it up doing the run at best with one fall just at the end where its uber steep.)
After a while, my feet were KILLING me. The boots are very uncomfortable so I decided to sit out for a while and watch. Watching was fun because I got to play in the snow. I love snow. It was pretty bizarre though because I think I sat out for about an hour and in that time it went from being a beautiful clear day to being so foggy I couldnt see 10 meters infront of me. Watching became... not so fun.
Luckily, they all got hungry so we went inside the eating area and had lunch. Lunch was really nice but was topped off by coke. I have learnt and been informed that Europeans dont drink soft drink often at all. Apparently, in restaraunts, Europeans recognise foreigners straight away when they order softdrinks to go with their meals. They just have water or juice. I was so excited when they bought it out (I didnt change my face though, how embarrassing, getting excited over coke... really!) and then it got better! Twix bars. My god. I miss snacks too I think. This family in particular, I dont know if its everywhere, dont really eat much snacks.... Oh well. its more exciting when you can eat them I guess. Lunch was great.
After, I went back to skiing. I took on a harder part of the hill and fell over a bazillion times. The rest all decided to go play on the jump. I watched them in envy as they played on it and did cool little tricks and such while I still fell over going down a normal hill. (Oh! Fanny at this point was skiing rather than snowboarding and was pro again) Oh well, it was my first day and I could practically do everything just fine! Benoit even said that for my first day its very impressive. I hope he was honest because I thought so too! ahaha.
Eventually, we announced that we had 10 minutes to go so Benoit and Fanny wanted to take on the hardest hill on this mountain while Bastien + friend stayed on the tricks and I stayed on the same hill. All went well (except for one major fall where my ski fell off and I couldnt get it back on for bloody ages) until I got to the ski lift (which I forgot to mention earlier. This was my favorite part because I didnt do anything, didnt fall over [usually, dont ask] and the scenery made me feel like I was in Narnia :P it was great.) The ski lift decided to break down. I was half way up and had to sit for about half an hour (I didnt walk because walking in those shoes just kills my shins normally, let alone up a steep as hill and because no one else did...) while they tried to fix it. The whole time I was thinking 'oh no! They're gonna think I fell and broke my leg or worse! Maybe they think I am rude and dont care about schedules! SCHEDULES!' Eventually when the lift did work, Benoit for some reason was at the top of the hill waiting for me. He was relieved I hadnt broken a leg, and understood why I had taken so long. So really, all didnt go well at all.. Oh well. At least everything worked out in the end.
The drive home was much the same as the drive there. Pretty but scary. Upon arriving home I went back to having not a lot to do. I filled in time on my computer talking and going through the snow photos. I cant remember what else I did... not much I can assume... ate? Oh yea! I watched 'Le Club de Grand Gallop' or as us Australians like to call it 'The Saddle Club'. Its the exact show but dubbed in to french. Fannys favorite apparently. I enjoyed watching it because it was in French and I understood nearly all of what was being said. I was so proud. Fanny kept pausing to ask if I understood, I was happy to say: 'oui'. I also told them it was an Australian show and that at this point the girl from Neighbours (the youngest sister... um.. with Harry and whats-her-name Kate?... Ramsay...) was in it. They didnt know neighbours :(
Tea time was next - leftovers night. I had the quische (keesh? Kiescheq? Well someone PLEASE help me) and also a poached egg with toast. It was yum. They also asked me to showcase some of my piano talents. I finally did after nearly a week of putting it off. They loved watching my hands go full pace and were, all in all, impressed. Life is good. Haha
After that, I watched more saddle club and then came and typed this. Quelle Journee!!
Hope all is well
:)
p.s. Yes, its a crap video, but you know... Benoit was skiing... you cant really see how down hill it is either D: Luckily, I didnt fall over. Just over the hill I go up at the end is the harder bit at the end I mentioned earlier. I probably fell over 10 seconds later...
Great Day Doug!!! You are funny when you write..It's quiche...we do eat that here you know!!!
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