or my hip or my neck. i was lucky none of these things happened. lucky because i was forced to ski (yes ski - i put the snowboard away and decided to conquer two sticks strapped to my feet) the french and swiss alps for seven days straight. i use the word "forced" loosely. forced because it was required that i ski with the family each day for seven hours. but i mean really...who can say that their job description states, "travel to france, stay in a chalet, eat amazing food, and ski everyday for free..."? it was truly an experience i'll never forget. and i have to toot my horn by saying, by the end of my ski lessons (self-taught) i was bombing the black runs faster than...a four year old. yes, danny is a much better skier than me, but let's be realistic here - he's been training in austria, switzerland, france and canada for the past two years. and while i can't take away from the fine establishments of bogus basin and soldier mountain...they just don't quite compare. granted, i did receive far better instruction in idaho from russell telling me "just go faster and try not to die," to jamon spraying me with snow at the top, middle and bottom of every run. real confidence boosters.
so we skied each day, sometimes in france, sometimes in switzerland, and sometimes we bobbed between both countries. if you look closely at the picture below you can see the tiny flags indicating where the border is. you can also see the enormity of the friendly neighborhood ski hill known as portes du soleil...
if you look closer at the picture, you can see a label that says "mont blanc" and then below that another label that says "les gets" with a french flag next to it. you can't read it, but that's where our chalet was located. in the picture below, you can see mont blanc in the background...this is where i enjoyed a glorious cafe aulait at the highest altitude restaurant in europe. i was able to do this (and finally find refuge) because i faked a knee injury and said i needed to give the ol' leg a rest and head back to the chalet. this was partially truthful, however, i felt it necessary to ski five more runs before i made it back. (i was just trying to loosen up the knee a little...right?)
so, believe it or not, i wasn't the worst skier in the group. i was so much better than christian. plus he had a bad attitude. i always volunteered to stay with him because he made me feel better about pizza-style skiing my way down the hill. i also felt mildly important when he would fall and i was actually able to help by picking him up and getting him going again. here's a good picture of the family...notice christian's scowl (it never went away)...
some excitement did happen while we were away. back in praha the house was broken into. they originally thought the robber broke in through my door. naturally, i immediately felt guilty and was trying to remember who i could have met that was so desperate to meet me again that they felt a need to bash in the door. luckily, when we arrived back home, late saturday night, it was discovered that instead of breaking in through a ground level door, the crook shimmied up the side of the house to a balcony and broke one of those doors instead. nothing was missing. door broken. not a smart thief.
the end.
you can enjoy all the france pictures at: http://picasaweb.google.com/karlib83/FrenchAlps
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