The Christmas holiday was the only break the girls were having in common, and we went to France for 10 days of relaxing and skiing. We drove on Christmas Eve (quiet roads) and arrived at the house under a beautiful starry sky. The next 2 days we had our Christmas "celebration" and Dorien's birthday in nice spring weather, with sunshine and temperatures of around 10 degrees. From a distance skiing looked unlikely, the resort of Auris, visible from the valley, was completely green.
On Saturday morning we woke with a thick layer of snow in the garden, we loaded up the car and drove towards Alpe d'Huez. At the end of our road, where we had to turn left to go up to the resort, the road was completely blocked. It was complete chaos, with cars driving down at the end of their holiday, and others driving up at their start. People were skidding all over the road, and movement was not possible. We turned around and went home. A second attempt after lunch had the same result. The day after the road was clear (except for several abandoned cars), and we had a great day of skiing. The next days were characterised by sunny, but very cold weather. Temperatures dropped way below minus 10 degrees, and with some wind we avoided sitting in chairlift and stuck to gondolas.
In the remainder of the week the slopes deteriorated quickly (as this was the first real layer of snow), and we stuck to the higher slopes, together with the rest of the skiers. Unfortunately Mary made a bad fall and hit her head, and had to stay at the house the last few days. New Year's Eve was a quiet affair, and we just managed to reach midnight....
The last day we cleaned the house, and drove back with 3 drivers: Paula added a serious amount kilometers this trip!
At Vieille Morte
Dorien is cross country skiing in the valley
Snowman in our garden, with the village kids
The three ladies on the Sarenne slope
