As already mentioned, a bunch of us went to a ski resort in the Alps called La Clusaz in the Haute Savoie region of France close to the Swiss border. From an original eight of us going, seven of us eventually made the flight over with five of the group skiing and myself and David doing the whole skiing not skiing thing. A good time was had by all.
It was the first time I had been abroad, let alone on a plane since all my cancer treatments so I was a little nervous about how my body would react even though I had been assured everything would be fine. Yes I know I can be a bit of a drama queen but visions of my body blowing up to Professor Klump levels like in the 'Nutty Professor' can make a girl nervous you know. As it is, the most exciting thing to happen was the actor Simon Callow being on the same flight as Mat and I. I entertained myself trying to work out why he would be flying to Geneva having bought a white 'Thomas Pink' shirt (stalkerish, much?!) and wished I had the courage to engage him in conversation - he would have been so interesting to talk to. Never mind, next time.
The drive from Geneva aiport to La Clusaz was a little 'bendy' to say the least! We were in the Alps after all and so as we got higher, the roads got a little narrower and more vomity twisty - good job our taxi man knew what he was doing driving in the dark!
We stayed at a place called La Ferme which was a lovely ramshackle chalet that served the most amazing food (best restaurant in town) and as it was on the slopes, you could ski in and out onto the decks quite easily. I loved staying at La Ferme. I really liked the whole informality of it all - the rooms were comfy and it was up to you to make yourself at home - which we all did obviously! Their 'petit salon' had never seen so much business when we were there. The only strange thing about our stay was breakfast where we couldn't have anything egg based (boiled, scrambled, etc) until 9.30am because the 'egg man' didn't come in till then!
The rest of the weekend was just a non-stop hive of activity where the skiers and boarders amongst us did their thing and David and I bimbled along doing our thing and then we met up for food and drink après-ski which was, obviously, the main thing we all did! With lots of laughter. As a non-skier, I won't go into too much detail about conditions etc but being so late in the season snow wasn't great. Apparently. There was a lot of 'brown' visible which made it all abit tough going between slopes and the lack of powder made it all a bit icy going down. Do I sound like I know what I am talking about yet?!
I also got to ride in a 'telecabine' or ski gondola for the first time (didn't like it) and rode on a ski-chair (hated it even more) and when I eventually got off the frikkin ski-chair I cried from the sheer relief of not being on it anymore! How scary are those things?! I don't think skiing is going to be my 'thing' going forward if I don't even like sitting on the things that take you up the mountain to be able to do it but I just saw it as a means to an end. One to see the glorious scenery and two, to meet up with all the others.
As an aside, Mat took to skiing like the proverbial duck to water. He hadn't skied for years and years but you can add skiing to all the other high risk activities he does - climbing, scuba-diving, ju-jitsu, living with me, fish-keeping, living with me and oh yeah, living with me!
Being in the mountains, breathing in all the fresh air and just seeing the pretty villages and stunning scenery made the trip all worthwhile for me. I got to go to Annecy for the afternoon on Sunday and it was absolutely beautiful. The town likes to call itself 'the Venice of the Alps' and not sure if their tourist board got a little over-excited there but it certainly was stunning. I fell in love with the place and I fell in love with France all over again. The food, the people, the culture. If I could, I would be there in a heart beat. I could be living in Annecy now with Mat climbing in the summer and skiing in the winter. And when I woke up from my dream I remembered the bins needed emptying and reality set in. Never mind, one day.
I was just happy to be well enough to go on this trip and to actually enjoy it. Yes, I could have rested a little more so I wasn't so fatiguée in the days afterwards but you know what, it was worth it. Just a few short months ago, I didn't think I would be able to look at a ski-chair let alone be on one but just like with anything, when the opportunity arises, you've just got to go for it.
all photos courtesy of kingborris
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