01.06.08
Posted in Skiing, Every day life at 9:52 pm by tesstess
I’m tired. I just survived the first skii day of the season. We’ve been in Isola 2000 and it was probably the best day of the year to be there. Sun, great snow, and not too many people. The first turns this morning were scary, but I came fast into it again and went in red slopes in the afternoon. One time I went off pist, had to do that to find a nice place to eat. The snow was around 40 cm deep and so soft that it would be impossible to hurt oneself. In the end of the day I got cramp in my legs. It hurt. Sophie said it can be because I drank too much. We had blueberry soup with us, warm and sweet. French people don’t drink this, but in sweden it’s a must when you go skiing!
The frog-news is that she ate 4 worms in two days, so now I have not given for two nights, thinking she could be too fat. But tonight I think I will give her some again. This evening she quaked around eight times, around eight in the evening. I can recommend this pet, very funny!
03.26.07
Posted in Hollidays, Skiing at 12:50 pm by tesstess
Between the 9th and the 18th of Mars me and Anthony went for skiing holliday in the south/middle alps.
We left on Friday afternoon from Valbonne, where there was such a wonderful warm weather that we were asking ourselves why at all we were going somewhere else. We wondered even more when we reached Valloir, our first place to stay, and there were no stnow at all. In fact we were really worried! What is a skiing vacation without snow?
Fortunately when we woke up the next morning we saw that even if there were no snow in the village itself it was snow up on the higher mountains. We started our first day in the skii station in Valloir and had a great day.
On the Sunday we went out in the wild for the first time. We rented hiking skiis for me and had asked the man in the shop where to go and about the risks of avalanche.
The beginning of the day was beautiful and we took it slow. Since it was a Sunday we were far from alone on this mountain and Anthony was a little bit dissapointed for this but for me it felt safe to meet other people now and then. We didn’t go very early since we had to rent my skiis in the morning. When doing hiking skiing it is important to start early, because later in the afternoon it can either become cloudy or the sun can melt the snow so it becomes more hard to skii or even dangerous. I was slow this day, not used to this kind of sport and my feet ached.
After some hours clouds were beginning to show up behind some mountains. Anthony decided that we would stop before reaching the summit and have lunch and then turn back home. I was greateful for this decision since I now was aching a lot in my legs. We had a nice lunch sheltered by some rocks and the sun stayed with us since the clouds decided to stay over the other mountains and not come our way at all.
We decided to do another hiking skiing trip the following day, and so we rented the skiis the evening before to be able to start really early. At least at eight.
The weather was perfect and the snow on the mountains looked like mareng.
Not all was perfect on the way up. At one point it was steep and the snow was hard and a bit icy. My skiis started to slide backwards and I fell in the snow, I didn’t manage to get up at first which made me a bit panicked and I was crying for some time before I managed to continue. But after this passage everything felt easier and I was happy to be there out in the wild with Anthony. He is really a safe and good guide 
This time we reached the summit and here we are, at the top! A stunning view and a perfect weather. This was my first summit on hiking skiis.
Here is our summit camp. Anthony digged a hole in the snow so we could sit and have our lunch without the wind. It was so warm in the sun!
From the summit we could see “Les aiguilles d’Arves” which is three very carachteristique mountain tops. The other days we were out and even when we went to Briancon, we could still see those summits which was allways fun.
On the way down we made these traces in the snow. The round and more beautiful ones are of course Anthony’s and the ones going form one side of the picture to the other are mine. Not so used yet to turn in deep snow.
The view from our window in Valloir. The town is beautiful and has much more charm than other skii resorts where the houses usually are bigger and less personal.
Here is the street and the white house on the left side is where we stayed. The room was not very good looking but it was cheep which was important for me now when I don’t have a job.
The old church in the middle of Valloir.
We found this small cheese store where we bought the most delicious cheese. On the first picture you can see Anthony standing inside, waiting to be served.
And here I am in front of our favourite resturant. It had a genuin charm and every thing they made were homemade as they made it long ago. The first evening in Valloir we wanted to eat there but they were completely full, so we had to go back another day to book a table. We ate fondu there: boiling cheese with wine in where you dip try bread. Very tasty, and a speciallity from the region. Another day when we went there we just took the and I had hot chocolate. Delicious hot chockolate. The best one I EVER tasted! Antony told me it is made from real chockolate, not from powder. I had also sweet whipped cream on top. We had to go back another day to drink it again. That time we also took a creps with chestnut cream and some toasts with homemade bluberry jam. Mjamjam.
The following days we stayed in the station and I became much better at skiing. In the beginning of the week I only did blue slopes but now I did read without to much troubles.
On Wednesday evening we took the car to Briancon, the highest situated city in Europe. Our bed and breakfast was situated in a village not so far from the town.
Here we are, eating bluberry tarte during our lunch in the new skii station.
And here are me and Antony at the highest point of the skii station, where it was a great veiw.
Friday was our last skiing day since we decided to go touristing in Briancon on the Saturday. We went hiking skiing and again, the weather was totally perfect. I can’t believe we were this lucky with the weather all week! If we would have gone the week after it would have been snow storm almost all days.
The first part of the hike was in the forest, first not so steep, and then very very steep. I was wondering how on earth I would manage to get down from there again!
Sun and great veiws, again.
The end was tough and I was tired, but I was surprised I had not hurt myself in the whole week and my feet was hurting, but not too bad. It seemed like my muscles also got used to the skiing after some days and it was not so hard anymore.
But I must confess I was complaining a bit on they way up. Not least here where it was to little snow to bring the skiis and we had to take them off and walk the last half an hour to the summit.
And we reached it! The second summit of my life on hiking skiis!
Anthony making advertisement for sports clothes Isn’t he the most good-looking private mountain guide on earth!?
Did I mention I also took a trip on the moon?
I was getting better and better at skiing and this day I had the highest quality there is on hiking skiis. On the way down we made those beautiful traces, mine is on the left.
Then came the forrest we had to pass to get down to the car… I found it funny to skee among the trees, didn’t seem so steep when going down as it had looked on the way up.
I managed to turn even at some tricky places. But then there was one place, where it was quite a long way to the nearest tree, but it was steep, very steep. I turned, but the skiis didn’t and I fell forward…
I slided on my stomach and saw this small tree on the picture coming closer quite quickly until I hit it, felt my back bend backwards (not very comfortable), and my skiis went in different directions. I lost my breath, and was hurting a bit in my breast and back, but just some minutes later I was in good shape again and could continue. Good to know where my limits are.
Here is the house we were staying at. It was initially built in 1896.
Just imagine to wake up and have this view from the bed!
Our charming room.
We spent Saturday morning on the grass outside the house, playing with Vicky, the dog.
In here is where we ate breakfast each morning. The came down and it was a view up on a mountain. Both of us felt that this glass thing on a house will be a must-have on our future home.
All in all, we really had a lovely week, and we also celebrated our first six months together Bye bye!
01.28.07
Posted in Skiing at 8:05 pm by tesstess
This weekend is a perfect weekend. Saturday we got up early and took the car to Isola, a skee station about two hours from here. The weather was fantastic with no clouds and quite warm in the sun. There was 40 cm of snow at the top.
There were six other friends and friends of friends skeeing wich was fun. I’m really sorry that we forgot the camer at home, otherwise I would have been able to show you the most fantastic pictures 
At first I was a bit nervous about the skeeing since it was six years ago I went, and all in all I’ve only been skeeing for two weeks in my life. In the begining we did only green and blue ones and I only fell once. In the afternoon I also tried some reds and I was surprised that I didn’t find it scary. Just once I went to fast and when trying to stop I ended upp with my legs out like this:
It hurt a bit but a few minutes later I was on it again. I really enjoy skeeing
Today we’ve been taking a long walk in the surroundings here, we found a new path just above where we live where there is lots of land with olive trees. Beautiful, silent and sunny. Then lunch in the sun, some removal of leaves from the grass, now some fixing in the appartment including putting up extra glasses in the shelf in the livingroom, and later tonight we will have a couple of friends over for dinner. As I said, a perfect weekend!