(January 3, 2010)
To commence our European adventures, we have spent the last 5 days in the lovely mountain city of Grenoble. It is situated in south-western France in the valley of 3 mountains in the Southern Alps. We rang in the New Year with some great friends - the Denoux Family. While we were in the region, we took a gondola ride up to an old fort which overlooked the city, went for a hike in the mountains, visited some local markets, ate raclette (a delicious French social meal involving potatoes, many different kinds of grilled meats and melted cheese), spent a day skiing, admired paintings in a well-known art museum, tried our first French cafés, and purchased pain-au-chocolats (special croissants filled with chocolate) in a bakery. Skiing in the Alps was a fantastic experience! Everything about it was so different than in Ontario; the chair lifts took about 10 minutes to ascend because they were so long and went up so high, the snow was very thick and the level of skiing was much more difficult. Once we got to the top of the mountain, (which would often require more than one lift) it took about 45 minutes to get back to the base. In the morning it was so foggy, as we rode the chair lift up we could see ourselves going straight into the clouds. Overall, we had a wonderful day... the muscle cramps will remind me of it for a few days, but the memories will be with us for much longer.
Now we are back in the ever so popular French mode of transportation - the train. It is a very comfortable way to travel but not the easiest of ventures when accompanied by 4 giant, very heavy suitcases. We are headed to Lyon for the next two evenings, before our departure for Rome! :)
To commence our European adventures, we have spent the last 5 days in the lovely mountain city of Grenoble. It is situated in south-western France in the valley of 3 mountains in the Southern Alps. We rang in the New Year with some great friends - the Denoux Family. While we were in the region, we took a gondola ride up to an old fort which overlooked the city, went for a hike in the mountains, visited some local markets, ate raclette (a delicious French social meal involving potatoes, many different kinds of grilled meats and melted cheese), spent a day skiing, admired paintings in a well-known art museum, tried our first French cafés, and purchased pain-au-chocolats (special croissants filled with chocolate) in a bakery. Skiing in the Alps was a fantastic experience! Everything about it was so different than in Ontario; the chair lifts took about 10 minutes to ascend because they were so long and went up so high, the snow was very thick and the level of skiing was much more difficult. Once we got to the top of the mountain, (which would often require more than one lift) it took about 45 minutes to get back to the base. In the morning it was so foggy, as we rode the chair lift up we could see ourselves going straight into the clouds. Overall, we had a wonderful day... the muscle cramps will remind me of it for a few days, but the memories will be with us for much longer.
Now we are back in the ever so popular French mode of transportation - the train. It is a very comfortable way to travel but not the easiest of ventures when accompanied by 4 giant, very heavy suitcases. We are headed to Lyon for the next two evenings, before our departure for Rome! :)
1 comment:
sounds like you guys are having a fantastic time!
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