So after a four year hiatus from the snowy slopes for myself and basically the first time for Jenny, we went to the snowy, sunny, alpine resort that is Courchevel nestled in the extremely scenic Savoie. Getting there is a bit of an adventure with a flight to Zurich, then another one to Geneva, then driving into Switzerland from the french side, back into France, then up the mountains ending in Courchevel 1850. It was a pretty long day getting there, but well worth it when we finally arrived. Here are some pics of the place where we were staying.
My parents have some better pics of the chalet on their blog (link to it can be found on our blog).
So that evening our friend Harry arrived from the UK who stayed with us for the whole week. It was great fun having him come along as it meant I had someone to ski with (not that I don't enjoy skiing with the rest of the family). Jenny also had to sign up for ski school and sort out ski and boot rental that night as she had lessons every morning at 9:30 for 2 hours. Here she is on the magic carpet (a conveyor belt like thing) on one of the first days.
We would then return to our apartment for lunch and everyone would be exhausted, except for Jenny (who I'm sure would not even have returned to lunch if she could have it her way... she really enjoyed the skiing. It got to the point where she had trouble sleeping at night as she could hardly wait to wake up and get back on the slopes).
Here are some pictures from inside the lifts. Probably the best time to take them as our hands weren't freezing cold.
In the afternoons, we would hang out with Jenny on the easier slopes (after tackling the the vertical drops and off piste skiing in the morning). To make it more interesting Harry and I would trade equipment, which gave me time to practice my skiing which I haven't done for years.
Harry also gave Jenny lots of pointers on her skiing, and she much preferred having him tell her what to do compared to me.
Here is vivi practicing her backwards skiing.
There were lots of Russians there to celebrate their Christmas and all the ski instructors skied down from the top of the mountain carrying torches as part of the spectacle of the celebrations. As a result of the russian invasion there were lots of gold lame ski suits and designer clothes, Jen loved it.
We also went out to eat, after first visiting a candy stall in the centre of town (the sweets however not quite up to swedish standards, but still tasty after a days skiing).
The raclette was really tasty, however having two heating elements on the tables is really warm, as depicted by all the red faces.
Then one day I came home to find that Harry and Jenny had stolen croissants. There was a wooden bin in the area where the skis were kept, which turned up to be a delivery box for a local bakery. In harry and jenny's defence they did not know what it was at the time and were just bemused to find bread in it and so took some thinking it was for everyone (or at least that is what they say)
The view at the top.
Towards the end of the day when everyone was tired... except for Jenny.
Everyone just before setting off to the slopes.
The last day I had skis and we stopped off in the afternoon for some hot chocolate, with gorgeous views.
On our last evening we went to a small french restaurant which cooks the food on an open fire. We had a leg of lamb which was truly amazing and incredibly tasty. You can see the fireplace they do the cooking over my mother's shoulder. They cooked the potatoes and tomatoes in the ashes under the fire.
Also I took some videos of Jenny's skiing throughout the week. They can be accessed from youtube. (click the youtube to get taken there)
Oh and one final note! We went tobogganing one evening (a picture can be found on my parents blog) on these plastic sleds. It was probably the most fun I had of the whole week. I have also never been so scared in my life. The run goes through some trees and has a drop off on one edge and in total the vertical descent is over 300 metres. There are lots of turns and we would race each other down at breakneck speeds, bystanders would jump out of the way (literally) as we whizzed by. Then we would spend the lift ride up talking excitedly about how the run had gone and wait for the adrenaline to subside. We also crashed lots and I went off the edge and thought for sure I would break my legs. We went down the run at least 5 times (although Jenny only did it once, as she thought we were crazy to enjoy it). Next time we go back I will take a video of the run.
In the afternoons, we would hang out with Jenny on the easier slopes (after tackling the the vertical drops and off piste skiing in the morning). To make it more interesting Harry and I would trade equipment, which gave me time to practice my skiing which I haven't done for years.
Harry also gave Jenny lots of pointers on her skiing, and she much preferred having him tell her what to do compared to me.
Here is vivi practicing her backwards skiing.
There were lots of Russians there to celebrate their Christmas and all the ski instructors skied down from the top of the mountain carrying torches as part of the spectacle of the celebrations. As a result of the russian invasion there were lots of gold lame ski suits and designer clothes, Jen loved it.
We also went out to eat, after first visiting a candy stall in the centre of town (the sweets however not quite up to swedish standards, but still tasty after a days skiing).
The raclette was really tasty, however having two heating elements on the tables is really warm, as depicted by all the red faces.
Then one day I came home to find that Harry and Jenny had stolen croissants. There was a wooden bin in the area where the skis were kept, which turned up to be a delivery box for a local bakery. In harry and jenny's defence they did not know what it was at the time and were just bemused to find bread in it and so took some thinking it was for everyone (or at least that is what they say)
The view at the top.
Towards the end of the day when everyone was tired... except for Jenny.
Everyone just before setting off to the slopes.
The last day I had skis and we stopped off in the afternoon for some hot chocolate, with gorgeous views.
On our last evening we went to a small french restaurant which cooks the food on an open fire. We had a leg of lamb which was truly amazing and incredibly tasty. You can see the fireplace they do the cooking over my mother's shoulder. They cooked the potatoes and tomatoes in the ashes under the fire.
Also I took some videos of Jenny's skiing throughout the week. They can be accessed from youtube. (click the youtube to get taken there)
Oh and one final note! We went tobogganing one evening (a picture can be found on my parents blog) on these plastic sleds. It was probably the most fun I had of the whole week. I have also never been so scared in my life. The run goes through some trees and has a drop off on one edge and in total the vertical descent is over 300 metres. There are lots of turns and we would race each other down at breakneck speeds, bystanders would jump out of the way (literally) as we whizzed by. Then we would spend the lift ride up talking excitedly about how the run had gone and wait for the adrenaline to subside. We also crashed lots and I went off the edge and thought for sure I would break my legs. We went down the run at least 5 times (although Jenny only did it once, as she thought we were crazy to enjoy it). Next time we go back I will take a video of the run.
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