Val d'Isère

Last week we were lucky enough to get invited to the alps for a few days of skiing with Thibaut's sister and brother-in-law.  They rented an apartment in Val d'Isère, in the French alps near Italy.  I hadn't been skiing in the Alps since 2 winters ago, so I doubled up on the lunges and squats at the gym to prepare my weak legs!  Wow, I am really glad that I did.  I forgot how long it takes to ski down just one slope, some of them take more than 20 minutes to get down. Talk about a leg workout.  I was pretty proud of myself, I made it through three full days of skiing thanks to the help of tylenol and frequent hot chocolate breaks!  It was nice to take a break now and then anyway, to give us a chance to take in the beautiful scenery.

We unfortunately picked the coldest week of winter thus far to go (down to -4F) but ended up being extremely lucky and seeing a lot of sunshine to keep our spirits up and to help us pretend like we weren't frozen.  We tried to get off the slopes by 4 everyday, since that seemed to be the time that everything got foggy and the snow started coming down.  In any case, we were lucky to have a good balance of fresh snow and lots of sunshine!

At night we usually just hung out in the apartment until we got the energy to venture out into the town, or until we fell asleep at 9pm.  My favorite night was FONDUE night, we had the most delicious cheese fondue I have ever tasted.  I know I exaggerate a lot, but this time I mean it!  A few nights we just stayed in, had dinner, and played games, including Black Stories, which is my new obsession. 

In other news, we also stopped by the "nightclub in the sky" called la Folie Douce, which we also visited back in 2010, only at a different location. Well not much changed, still a DJ, saxophonist, and singer, in the snow and fog of the alps, in the middle of the day.  And of course still the awkward people dancing to techno music in their ski boots.

Overall a great trip, good company, good skiing, and nice to get some sunshine and fresh air!  

looking good in the funiculaire

blue skies everywhere

night out to dinner at the American diner, my surprise from the Frenchies

la Folie Douce.  I'm still trying to figure out how all these people got back down the mtn?

fondue. YUM.

leaving on the warmest, sunniest day we had!