Who would have thought that moving to Paris would mean two consecutive blog posts about skiing. Well you eyes don't deceive you; it did happen.
February and March went by without much fanfare or activity in Paris, save for great visits from Alexandra from the UK, followed by McKay, also from the UK.
Before the onset of spring and summer, we figured why not one more ski trip. Who could argue with that? Especially with a free place to stay on the Easter long weekend, and cheap ski tickets! Our friends Karine and Pierre where spending the winter in Risoul; a small ski town in the southern French Alps and joined at the top of the mountain to Vars. www.risoul1850.com and www.vars-ski.com
We decided to try something new in terms of transport; the night train. Leaving Paris on Wednesday night at 10pm, arriving at Risoul at 8am. Other than a pretty firm bed, and only two-thirds of a full night sleep it was pretty good. At least we didn't have to use up valuable day time to travel to and from.
Arriving in Risoul we caught the bus up to the ski hill, about a 40 minute ride up a nice winding road. Ahhhh, to be in the mountains again. Karine and Pierre were out of town, and not getting in until later that day, so we ditched our stuff in the basement of one of the bars they run, got changed, and hit the slopes after a café for Kim and a shot of ginépy for me.
The first two days were fantastic; pure sunshine and no lift lines.
Fondue: well, of course you can't go skiing in the French Alps without having fondue for dinner. Needless to say this one didn't disappoint. A big pot of melted cheese, potatoes, charcuterie and wine. Another of life's simple pleasures.The evening before our last day it started to snow. Could this really be happening? A few wake ups in the middle of the night to confirm, yes it's still snowing. 8am wake up, yes, it's still snowing. Up and out the door for our last day, still snowing. We managed to ski nearly the entire day with knee and thigh deep powder. It was absolutely fantastic. It had been a while since we had skied in so much snow. The bonus: no lift lines.
Thanks to Karine and Pierre for the apartment and to all their friends in Risoul for such a great time. See you all for the next dump of POW!
More pictures here: http://picasaweb.google.com/DKSPENCE76
