Chalet Hotel Les Blancs Pra Loup

My parents love the mountains and have always gone to the Alps for their summer vacation since we were born. As a kid and a teenager I always joined them with my brother and sister. But I haven't had the opportunity to do so (except for in 2005) since I moved to the US.
So this year being devoted to traveling and time with friends and family, I joined them for two weeks and a half in Orcieres, a town in the ...

... beetje vaart achter. De zon komt tevoorschijn en met de sneeuw, zou dat wel eens kunnen zorgen voor heel wat extra water bij het afdalen.
Op het einde blijkt dat we de canyon in iets meer als 2 uurtjes afgehaspeld hebben, terwijl er 3,5 uur in de topo beschreven staat. Goed gewerkt dus!

Deze canyon was toch wel echt de moeite en zal zeker niet snel vergeten worden!

... 10 o'clock. The day was beautiful as you can see from the pictures and there were very few people on the mountain because it was a Friday. The snow was perfect and I mostly followed around my friends who were skiing and picked up their poles for them when they fell. I didn't really have snow clothes but I was fine in a cashmere sweater, a 7 euro fleece jacket and my north face on top with tights, leggings and dance warm-ups on the bottom. I also bought snow gloves for 10 euros ...

... so spirited driving wasn't really possible. Until we left Verdon and rejoined Napoleon, then it livened up considerably! Stayed at a charming chalet type place in Baratier with sauna, jacuzzi and a pool (great for unwinding after 6+ hours of full-on driving ...

More information on this campsite can be found here. Beautifully located campsite with quite good facitlities at about 1500m altitude and one of the best views on the Lac Serre Poncon. Located very near the small Lac St.Apollinaire. Start of some great hikes right at the entrance of the campsite. The hikes are rather steep at the start.

Eh eh ! Back on the snow! As unforgettable time with Sophie...Isola 200, here we come ! Early morning wake up..direction Isola 2000, what a best way to spend the last day of 2007 than go for some skying! Early arrival and got to say that this was probably the best day to go for some skying! nearly no one, fresh snow and an amazing blue sky! Looking forward to more skying!

... a carefully conducted survey, where n=me. This survey is like the "Most Likely To..." **** in everyone's high school yearbook anywhere: arbitrary, pointless, and designed to put people (or cities, in this case) in their place. Enjoy! (N.B. The award for "Best Currency Exchange Rate" will be published when I get my bank statement.) Best city for Smurfs ...

... pays more. (Spoiler alert: more on this after the following paragraph.) I also finally managed to start my "English Language and American Culture" club and had a decent turnout for the first meeting, when we discussed what the kids would like to do. As for the subsequent meetings, I'll have to get a little more creative, but it's good to know that I have some enthusiastic students who I know will show up and make it worthwhile. In ...

... as a French person would experience it, and b) the reason you go out with someone is to get to know him--and Pierre seemed like the kind of guy I'd like to get to know better. But I didn't get to know him at all when we went out. I felt like the chatty American, constantly talking about myself--I'd ask him questions about himself and he'd answer with really short responses. ("'Do you have any brothers or sisters?' 'I have a brother.' 'Oh. Are you close?' 'Yeah, I suppose ...

... Holly and I were talking the other night about how we want to meet some more people (other than assistants) while we're here, but how we don't want to get hit on by sleazy drageurs. So looking cute isn't really necessary, because the point isn't to attract people in that way. Plus, I never owned any cute and comfortable clothes to begin with, so I can't really complain about not having them here, now can I? f. Teaching materials that, in ...