Bonjour!

Well, look at that. We have jumped from Day 2 in Tasmania to Day something or other in Samoens, France. We got in just fine. Had a whole row to ourselves on our Continental flight. After a 2-hour delay as they sorted out the radar problems in Boston, we were finally on our way. (Thank you, Michelle, for the books as they kept me fully entertained during our 2-hour delay. Now I need book 2 to find out what happens in Dallas!)

Willy/Neil was there to pick us up in Geneva and drove us the hour to Samoens. We checked out the downtown and had a cafe au lait with a delicious big piece of quiche. Then up to Katherine's (his friend's place) where we have settled in. Willy took us for a drive up the Joux de Plain (sp?), the steep steep ride that Lance Armstrong said was the worst 37 minutes of his life. Katherine and I had a hot chocolate and Mark and Willy had sodas while we enjoyed the view. The weather is so so warm. It's like spring. Crazy!

That night we headed over to Tony and Debby's (British friends of Willy's) for dinner. A delicious curry soup with grapes and cheese and then chocolate for dessert. Yummy.

The place where we are staying has such a spectacular view of Le Grand Massif (a ski resort that totally lives up to its name its grand and very massive). Beautiful.

The next day we went into town for some croissants and pain de chocolat (essentially, chocolate bread) and rented some skis. We met Katherine, Duncan, Saskia, and Tony at the lift and headed up for a day of skiing. The resort is more like a combination of 3 massive resorts. Once you get up to the top you can connect to at least three other resorts. I was way out of my league but only fell down once and went down some really steep stuff. Luckily it wasn't too too icy. Mark had some great off-piste boarding with Willy and Katherine. I watched from the sidelines. Again, it was so warm, it was like spring skiing. So very warm. After a beer mid-mountain, we caught the gondola down and had a delicious chicken chili dinner (Susan, you were missed) at Duncan and Saskia's, which is just a walk down the hill from Katherine's.

The next day Mark went to a town near Chamonix with Willy, Duncan, and Katherine while I stayed in bed, loaded up on drugs and water. Mark shopped and bought me some Snoopy slippers to keep me warm. When everyone came home, we cooked up some of mom's spaghetti sauce (modified) for Duncan and Willy while we watched Blades of Glory. is Will Ferrell the new Jerry Lewis?

Today we woke up early and I was feeling 1000% better. We had some more pain de chocolat and cereal and then loaded up our backpacks with warm weather gear and snacks. We parked just past Sauvagny after a treacherous slide backward in the ice and headed up the mountain. After a couple hours, Willy and Duncan and some others did an ice climb, and Mark and I took a little break and then hiked further up. We almost made it to the next valley. If we'd had snow shoes we would have made it much further.


We slid most of the way down and walked all the way into the town of Sixt before catching the ski bus back to Samoens. Mark and I found our way to Le Bar Savoie while we waited for the rest to catch up with us. It took me two Stella Artois and Mark an espresso and a vin chaud (hot mulled wine) and both of us a sandwich jambon et fromage avec frites Neil and Duncan to catch up to us. Now we are back at Katherine's, having tea while we wait for everyone to show up for dinner.

Such is life in Samoens France.

:)
T & M