We put all our calendars together to see if we could squeeze a ski trip into our busy schedules this year. There were a few wild cards: Dorien had to pass an exam (she failed, which took away a day from the start). Mary had to go to her horse riding course (which took away 3 days on the other side of the week). Paula had a rowing training camp in Bruges, but for a number of reasons that fell through. Dorien had already asked a Paula-substitute: Berend, from her survival club. So in the end Dorien passed her exam at the second attempt, Paula joined at the last moment, and we drove off (actually Dorien drove off to clock some hours on her new driving license) with 5 people, a snowboard, Paula's ski's and limited other luggage.
We arrived at the house in the middle of the night, and had a first day to relax. There was a little bit of snow in the valley, but it was grey weather. This was the theme of the week. The next day we drove up to Alpe d'Huez for a few days of skiing. It was snowing and visibility was very limited. The 'kids' went off like normal, but Piet and Mary took a more careful approach. The next day was slightly better, and we were rewarded with a few hours of sunshine in the afternoon (this was the only time!). The third day was overcast again, and it started snowing and raining during the day. Luckily, due to the snowfall the conditions were great and, as we know the slopes very well, skiing was still pretty good.
In the evening we had dinner at La Romanche, caught up with owner Jan, and the girls laid the foundation for some weeks of working in the summer. The last day the kids drove up Alpe d'Huez themselves, whilst Piet and Mary had a day of rest and did some cleaning. The next morning we locked up and drove home; Mary had to pick up Beau the following day for her horse riding course.
In the evening we had dinner at La Romanche, caught up with owner Jan, and the girls laid the foundation for some weeks of working in the summer. The last day the kids drove up Alpe d'Huez themselves, whilst Piet and Mary had a day of rest and did some cleaning. The next morning we locked up and drove home; Mary had to pick up Beau the following day for her horse riding course.
