Hello hello. How is everyone? This week has started off a bit rough for me - work is stressful. I've just started a new project, and I have a big fear of the unknown! The way I'm feeling now actually reminds me a lot of how I felt at work when I first moved to Singapore. You'd think that I would have some ideas on how to deal with the stress, but so far, I've just been eating cookies.
Anyway - one thing that always helps relieve stress is fun times with friends!! Mike and Stephanie came and visited me this past weekend. We spent Friday night in Geneva, but then early Saturday morning, we picked up our rental car and headed out to France to hit the slopes!!
I knew from our time together in Colorado that Mike and Stephanie were much better skiers than me, so I was a little bit nervous about the weekend. I was perfectly prepared to ski by myself both days - better safe than sorry! - but we actually spent all of Saturday skiing together! We were in La Clusaz, which is the closest ski area to Geneva, about an hour by car. Our first ride up the lift, we ended up on a run that was pretty steep up top (at least for me)! It took me a while to get down it. I had to go slow, and I still fell a lot! Luckily, Mike and Stephanie were patient coaches and cheered me on as we made our way down.
We spent the rest of the day skiing beginner runs together. The visibility was pretty terrible, and from time to time it snowed. Since La Clusaz is pretty low in elevation, it isn't that cold. While that is a good thing for keeping your body temperature comfortable, I guess that means that the snow isn't always so great for skiing, especially towards the bottom of the mountain. (I'm such a beginner that I don't really know the difference, but that is what Mike and Stephanie both said!)
After a rough start to the morning for me, I was doing really well skiing with the two of them! I feel like I'm getting better at skiing, but it definitely takes some time for me to shake off the cobwebs and get back in the groove. Mike and Stephanie were great at helping me navigate some of the runs, and they also helped challenge me more than I would have done on my own!
Unfortunately, on the last run of the day, I fell pretty hard about one minute from the end of the run. I took a pretty solid bounce, and after that, I was just totally exhausted. Time to apres-ski!
One thing we learned was that, if you are going to a French ski town, you need reservations and most restaurants don't serve dinner before 7pm! We were turned away from several places for either coming without reservations or for coming too early, but we managed to find a delicious and affordable meal in the center of town!
Because we booked everything a bit last minute, we weren't actually able to stay in La Clusaz, so we spent the night at a hotel in a small town about 15 minutes away. This actually worked out really well because on Sunday, we went to a different ski area - Le Grand Bornand!
Le Grand Bornand is about 15 minutes from La Clusaz, so we were able to get there just as the lifts were opening. The weather on Sunday was so much better. It was beautiful blue skies and sunshine all day long!!
On Sunday, we skied together for a bit and separate for a bit. There were a lot of beginner runs in Le Grand Bornand, and since I was feeling pretty tired (and cautious) from the day before, I was happy to take it pretty easy for the day!
Anyway - one thing that always helps relieve stress is fun times with friends!! Mike and Stephanie came and visited me this past weekend. We spent Friday night in Geneva, but then early Saturday morning, we picked up our rental car and headed out to France to hit the slopes!!
It was a bit cloudy, but little bits of sunshine tried to peek through!
I knew from our time together in Colorado that Mike and Stephanie were much better skiers than me, so I was a little bit nervous about the weekend. I was perfectly prepared to ski by myself both days - better safe than sorry! - but we actually spent all of Saturday skiing together! We were in La Clusaz, which is the closest ski area to Geneva, about an hour by car. Our first ride up the lift, we ended up on a run that was pretty steep up top (at least for me)! It took me a while to get down it. I had to go slow, and I still fell a lot! Luckily, Mike and Stephanie were patient coaches and cheered me on as we made our way down.
The views were still pretty!!
After a rough start to the morning for me, I was doing really well skiing with the two of them! I feel like I'm getting better at skiing, but it definitely takes some time for me to shake off the cobwebs and get back in the groove. Mike and Stephanie were great at helping me navigate some of the runs, and they also helped challenge me more than I would have done on my own!
Unfortunately, on the last run of the day, I fell pretty hard about one minute from the end of the run. I took a pretty solid bounce, and after that, I was just totally exhausted. Time to apres-ski!
Well deserved beer.
Well deserved vin chaud.
Well deserved lasagna.
One thing we learned was that, if you are going to a French ski town, you need reservations and most restaurants don't serve dinner before 7pm! We were turned away from several places for either coming without reservations or for coming too early, but we managed to find a delicious and affordable meal in the center of town!
Because we booked everything a bit last minute, we weren't actually able to stay in La Clusaz, so we spent the night at a hotel in a small town about 15 minutes away. This actually worked out really well because on Sunday, we went to a different ski area - Le Grand Bornand!
Le Grand Bornand is about 15 minutes from La Clusaz, so we were able to get there just as the lifts were opening. The weather on Sunday was so much better. It was beautiful blue skies and sunshine all day long!!
Bluebird special
On Sunday, we skied together for a bit and separate for a bit. There were a lot of beginner runs in Le Grand Bornand, and since I was feeling pretty tired (and cautious) from the day before, I was happy to take it pretty easy for the day!
Whenever I got nervous about how to go down a run, I would follow the ski school children!
Going up the chair lift
Lunch was rabbit in mustard sauce with polenta. Amazing!!!
Vive la France!
We spent the day going through various runs. We all agreed that we liked both La Clusaz and Le Grand Bornand for different reasons! La Clusaz seemed to be more suitable for various levels, whereas Le Grand Bornand had very easy runs and very hard runs, but Mike and Stephanie didn't seem to find much in between. I was really happy that we got to try both places out though, and I would definitely return to either!
I had such a super fun weekend with these two! We are already talking about doing it again next year!!
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