Million Hotel Albertville

... in terms of getting free wine in the chalet so far so got pretty drunk - went out to a bar which had opened up specially for us lot and got pretty hammered. it closed at 12 so went back to the chalet and finished off the rest of the wine.

did our food hygiene level 2 today, sitting in a bar now having a few beers, still snowing a little bit. got cleaning training tomorrow...... hmmm....

anyway, enough for now - will try and update towards the end ...

... from a safe distance I
reinforced the thought that paragliding would be one thing left on my
bucket list as I leave this earth. A sheer drop after the end of the
ramp and then out into space, not for me........

I made my way back down the mountain,
headed around the rest of the lake and then found my way back to the
parking spot, hoping the Mercedes would make it into its home
unscathed.

I headed back into the old town, had a
beer ...

... out from lack of oxygen I was able to gather myself and enjoy some really amazing views along with a packed lunch. After the mountain trek we went into the small ski town and enjoyed some of our "favorite brewage and enjoyed the surroundings" (per request of prof. Delmar).

Heading to Rome and Barcelona next week, another post should follow shortly after.

We're approaching the final week of this "bi-mester." The work load is getting steadily heavier and I combat it by ...

... pour Moulis-en-médoc. On l'a manqué! C'est a cause que doum a perdu son billet 10 minutes avant de rentrer et comme des caves on a courru partout pour en pogner un autre au lieu d'aller direct dans le train et de l'acheter au controlleur. Donc apres plusieur tentative de se rendre par un autre moyen, on est aller pogner un Hotel juste en face qui s'appel le Québec(sa la aucunement influencé notre choix ce nom la, bien sur... ;) ). Le lendemain on arrive a moulis vers 1h30 ...

Thursday



Thursday was a beautiful day
and I decided to head up into the mountains to check a few famous ski
resorts. I got in the car and worked my way down the valley on my
way to the ski resort of Megeve, according to the GPS, about an hour
drive away. I took the highway to the bottom of the valley and
found the road to Megeve. The map showed a thick yellow line meaning
a good road, I thought. I found a narrow two lane road in the trees,
winding ...

... The inspiration for this
trip was twofold. I have been a Northwest Airlines Platinum Elite
for the past 7 or 8 years. This means that I fly over 75,000 miles
during the calendar year, which affords me many perks when flying,
including upgrades to first class on domestic flights, double miles,
boarding first and other things that become enjoyable when flying a
lot. I needed about 13,000 miles to get to Platinum this year and
this will get me close, although ...

We sadly left Chamonix and vowed to return there in the winter, and drove to Annecy. Annecy was kind of a repeat of Prague, beautiful old city, on the water, with canals... we were kind of sick of that scene by then. They are applying to have the 2018 Olympics there, with the ski events at Mont Blanc. It would be a nice venue for sure.

From there we drove from Switzerland to Chamonix, France. For all you skiers out there, this would be a wicked ski vacation. It’s a true little French ski town and the mountains looks insanely steep. The food is melted cheese, potatoes and bacon. Yes, heart attack in a casserole dish. Yummy. We also had a fun encounter with the Chamonix Gendarmerie... Jon drove up a one way street by mistake. There was construction and it was ...

... the 10 stuffed toy of marmottes at the Marmotte chairlift don't count) I saw the footprints of rabbits, but I never see their little faces.   In this house, sometimes there is no roof, sometimes its covered with clouds and one is sheltered from the sun. The house is illuminated by changing roof light, at times it is a beautiful blue, at times a greyish white or at times I see a rainbow. Sometimes a window appears out of the ...

... and were already in the next valley. She gracefully accepted being demoted into the next group down, led by Bernard. Luckily it was a great group and they shot off (albeit somewhat slower) to conquer off-piste and reds and blacks - a great start to a great week. Tuesday, Lesson 2 and a tearful, humbled Jeanelle bids farewell with relief to her class 3 instructor, the Scot Jason and heads down the hill to class ...