Schussing Tignes

Wednesday, January 31- We woke up to another crystal clear, chilly day today! After breakfast, we grabbed our skis and went right to the slopes where we bought our all inclusive tickets for Val d'Isere/Tignes.

We started out on the Bellevarde gondola which takes you up toward Rocher de Bellevarde, one of the Val d'Isere's main peaks, easily seen from the village. This was the site of the 1992 Winter Olympics men's downhill race. However, it was not until after we'd skied down the steep descent, which Nick found particularly challenging, and were on our second ride up, that we learned this. Hooray, Nick!

Next trip down we took the traverse to Tignes. Here, we found lots of great skiing and had fun exploring the different mountains. Sadly, one of our destinations, the famous Grande Motte, was closed for the second day in a row, so while we, and many others, could look at it in awe, we never got to ski it. Happily though, there were many other choices both on and off-piste...

We loved watching this guy fly around in what looked like a snow mobile with wings!

After another delicious lunch in a mountain side chalet, we decided to go back to Val d'Isere to ski the Glacier de Pissaillas a few more times. It's a pretty steep chairlift that gets you back up over those mountains! The first time, I felt like we were at the top of a Ferris wheel...and I don't like Ferris wheels even from the bottom! Nick just kept saying "Don't look down, don't look down!"

We enjoyed taking in the vistas, the snow the enormity of it all one more time.... It was a "pinch yourself" kind of experience which we will never forget. Here are the two contented, weary skiers getting ready for their last run....

After your final decent, the approach to the village is a long traverse, not without a bit of huffing, puffing and a little walking, but what a view!!

Au revoir, Val d'Isere. We truly hope to be back someday!!

Riviera Rendezvous Continued...

January 4, 2007

This morning we all got up, some of us more well rested than others, depending on whether or not you went to the Casino last night! Eventually, we were packed up and back in the car headed to explore a few more towns along the Riviera on our way back to Aix. We had a nice drive out of Nice, all along the Promenades des Anglais. Here is the famous Hotel Negresco, just a few blocks from our hotel. Soon, we joined up with the Autoroute and drove to Cannes. Here, we exited and drove north to Grasse, the day's first destination.


Grasse, a 20-minute drive from Cannes, is the most fragrant town on the Riviera, though it looks tacky modern. The drive up to the hill top village is really enough to make you want to turn around. The road is super twisty and the buildings, setting, etc nothing to write home about. Nonetheless, it has been the capital of the perfume industry since the days of the Renaissance. It was once a famous resort, attracting such royalty as Queen Victoria and Princess Pauline Borghese, Napoleon's promiscuous sister. Today some three-quarters of the world's essences are produced here from foliage that includes violets, daffodils, wild lavender, and jasmine. now, we all thought, that's worth a look-see!

When we arrived in the centre ville, no one wanted to smell a thing until we'd first smelled some coffee and croissants! Fortunately, after a bit of searching, we found an outdoor cafe, L'Ariel, where they would serve us their delicious coffee and agreed to run down the street to buy us fresh croissants to go with it. Talk about service!

Would you like a little fruit with your petite dejeuner? No problem, this little open market right next to the cafe had plenty of fresh produce so we added some juicy clementines to our table. Now we had a complete breakfast!

After our petite dejeuner, we were ready to go take a tour of one of the local perfumeries, our whole reason for coming to Grasse. As far back as the Middle Ages, Grasse was an important economic center. It was well known throughout Europe for the fine skins the local tanneries produced. During the 16th c. Catherine of Medici introduced the fashion of perfumed gloves. The cultivation of the aromatic plants which supplied the tanners with the raw materials to perfume the leather contributed to the birth of the perfume industry. Slowly the perfumers and glove makers grew apart and the perfumers gained an independent status. There are several large perfumeries in Grasse who offer free tours of their factories; we chose Fragonard based on a local merchant's suggestion. The Fragonard Parfumerie, named as such after WWI as a tribute to the famous Fragonard family from Grasse. Early in the 18th century, Francois Fragonard was a perfume-glove-maker and he was the father of the world famous painter, Jean-Honore Fragonard who was born in Grasse in 1732. The perfumery is still owned and run by the same family today. The Fragonard factory itself was built in 1782 and it has clearly been added to and updated since then. Here are some photos from our tour.

This apparatus is in the museum....

Here, similar ones being used in production today...

Containers of many of the essential oils...

The room where the essences are poured through paper filters to purify them....Lindsey trying to identify a scent?




So many fragrances--- it's hard to choose....

Busy show room...

We left Grasse and headed south to the hill town of Mougins, situated between Grasse and Cannes. Our main reason for going to Mougins was to visit our friends, Michele and Pierre. We met them 15 years ago in San Francisco at a Bates' family wedding. They had come to stay with us in Aix in the Fall, where they met Sarah for the first time, but now we were going to visit them. We thought we were just stopping by to see their home and have a short visit....however we were invited to stay for a delicious, relaxing French lunch which Michele had prepared. It was a wonderful time.... They hadn't seen Nicholas and Lindsey since they were just little kids dancing at a wedding reception so they enjoyed getting to know them better. We certainly never thought back then that we'd be reunited years later...living in France. Here are a few photos of their lovely home...

As you can see, they have a marvelous view of the country side below...

Unfortunately, we were all having such a good time visiting, we forgot to taking any group shots, oh, well...la prochaine fois!

For more information on the history of perfume or Fragonard http://www.fragonard.com/

Thought for the Day...

"What would it look like if Jesus had your life to live?"
--a comment made by our pastor at church yesterday.


It's an interesting question to ponder.....

Winter Barbecue in Provence

January 28, 2007
Last weekend we had our Spanish friends for dinner. During the evening, Nick remarked that he felt the restaurants here don't know how to cook a steak properly. He also lamented that if we had a grill at our house, he'd have cooked them all a great steak that night. Next thing we knew, our friend, Asunta, said "We have a big grill and if you'll do the cooking, we'll have a barbecue at out house next Saturday". Nick was thrilled, his mouth already watering in anticipation of a juicy, grilled steak. Asunta invited me to join her that Thursday morning at the local boucherie to chose the proper meat. No nonsense about this meat! All along, Nick and I had assumed this was an evening dinner party and fortunately we found out, at the last minute, that it was a family lunch party!! Would have hated to have shown up at 7:30 and only gotten desert! Now we wondered, would this be like the 10 hour Spanish lunch we'd gone to in the Fall at the Bencomo's house? On vera!!

Saturday was a sunny, but cold day, and we arrived at the appointed hour of 1PM with the "Chef of the Day" in tow. Asunta's husband, Louis, had their outdoor, built-in BBQ already started. Nick was a bit surprised there was only wood for the fire, no charcoal whatsoever, but when in Rome.....or France.... The wood was already going and as he added more and more wood it would only be a matter of time(maybe hours?!?) before he'd have a nice bed of coals. They had all sorts of food ready to be cooked for the kids. Chicken, cherry tomato and onion kebabs and hot dogs(they call them "knacks" here) also skewered lengthwise with sticks.


Jeanne(Holland), Sarah and Adrianna(Spain)

Asunta had made a delicious dip with Roquefort cheese, milk and cooked egg...it was the smoothest , creamiest dip served with endive spears. Also, another appetizer, which was Nick's favorite...they'd taken a large piece of provolone cheese and put it in an aluminum pie plate which then sat on the grill until the cheese was melted and bubbly. You ate it by dipping torn pieces of french bread into the melted cheese. Delicious! I expect it to become one of Nick's new standard bbq hors d'oeurves at home. As you can see from these photos, Nick didn't have to be glued to the grill, there were many other "Chefs of the Day".





We all enjoyed time together outside, eating hors d'oeurves, drinking some vin chaud(hot mulled red wine) and "normal"( not heated) red wine.

Hanneke and Gert(from Holland) and Paco and Danci(from Spain)

Next, the "chefs" grilled eggplant and zucchini slices and then the much anticipated steaks. We gathered these, and the rest of the meal from the kitchen, and the adults retired to the dining room. One of the guests, Jerome, brought a Jeroboam of wine for the occasion! Here Louis is getting ready to decant it.

Here we are, all enjoying, Nick most of all, our steaks and the delicious lunch Asunta had prepared. She served the steaks with a sweet, garlicky, sauteed red peppers and the best sauteed mushrooms ever! A green salad, sweet cooked carrots and bread rounded out the feast.

After lunch, we were having a traditional cake for desert. In France, at the time and in honor of Epiphany, and on into late January, they have a special desert called La Galette des Rois or "Cake of the Kings". The 'kings' of course, being the Wise Men who arrived bearing gifts for Jesus, on Epiphany or Twelfth Night. This cake can be one of two varieties that I'm aware of. A brioche type of cake, in the shape of a large doughnut(representing a crown) with pieces of red and green candied fruit on top. The other one is round, flat and filled with frangipane, an almond-flavoured paste. For our desert today, we had the first kind. What is really special about these cakes, no matter which one you choose, is that inside each one is a nut and also a little Santon(the carved figurines popular in Provence as well as Spain) are hidden. When the cake is sliced into pieces, everyone waits with anticipation to see who will get the Santon and who will get the nut,the booby prize. Whoever gets the Santon also gets to wear the crown that comes with each cake. Whoever gets the nut must buy the Galette des Rois next year. Depending on how nice a bakery you go to, this can be a costly obligation. No matter what, the whole event is lots of fun! If you are interested in this age old tradition, see the link at the bottom of this blog. This time around, Gert got the nut, and his wife, Hanneke got the Santon and crown!

After desert, we retired to the living room for coffee, digestifs and more laughter....
Nick, Jerome,Paco, Louis and Gert

Hanneke, Susie, Nathalie, Asunta and Danci

Louis proudly showing the empty Jeroboam!

Our host and hostess enjoying a romantic moment by the fire...or maybe they're just glad that this mere 9 hour lunch seems to be finally winding down!

Informative piece on the Galette des Rois:

http://www.askoxford.com/languages/culturevulture/france/galette/?view=uk

Les Baux de Provence... en famille

December 31, 2006
This morning we all set off to explore Les Baux de Provence, a medival stronghold located about an hour north west of Aix. Les Baux is situated on a steep Apilles bare rock spur. As you approach it by car, driving through vineyards and olive groves, this rocky hill rises dramatically from the valley floor. It is incredible to imagine a whole community living WAY up there. This was not our first visit here. Lindsey and I came alone in August of 2001 and Mom, Dave and I came to the village(lower) part in September 2006.

When you arrive, you park your car and walk up into the village. At this time of year there weren't nearly as many people as before. Even so we thought there was a good crowd for a chilly New Year's Eve Day. We didn't spend much time in the village but walked up through it to the plateau with its castle ruins.

This medieval village is O-L-D....it traces it's roots all the way back to Balthazr, one of the Three Kings. The lords of Baux, who lived here in the 11c., were so proud of this fact that they even placed the Star of Bethlehem on their coat of arms. These same lords were very powerful and ruled much of southern France at the time. However, their support of the Reformation and the fact that fleeing Protestants sought refuge in Les Baux was cause enough for Richelieu, in 1632, to order the castle and it's ramparts to be dismantled. This was the town's "death-blow". What remains today is a quaint village, below the plateau, where the people who fled ,and those that came after them, ultimately settled.

We got audio guides with our entrance fees and spread out to explore the vast area around us. The castle's chapel, hospital and keep are still recognizable.

It's hard to imagine what the medical care was like at this former hospital, but the view would have been spectacular! After we wandered around for a while we stopped and enjoyed a picnic lunch we brought from home.

Afterwards, we drove north to Avignon to drop Nicholas and Lindsey off at a new, French friend's house for a New Year's Eve party!

Happy New Year!

Riviera Rendezvous---Monaco, Eze, Villefranche and Nice

January 3, 2007
Today we set off on our last overnight adventure of Family Christmas Vacation 2006; the French Riviera! This wasn't really a "save the best for last" adventure, but Monaco and Monte Carlo were top on Lindsey's "must see" list and we were running out of days!

Our itinerary for today was to drive from Aix to Monaco/Monte Carlo on the Auto route(about a two hour trip) and work our way back along the coast, making some planned stops along the way until we got to Nice, where we would spend the night.

It was a gorgeous, sunny day and we got an unbelievably punctual, early start! By now, the five of us have gotten the drill....everyone has their 'place' in the car. Nick is the driver, I am the navigator, Nicholas and Sarah watch a movie on the portable DVD and Lindsey listens to her iPod and/or sleeps.

It was a mere two hour's drive when we accidentally drove past Monaco and ended up turning around at Menton, the last French town before you cross the Italian border. from the "Monaco sortie", it was a bit of a chore getting down to Monte Carlo where we stopped to walk around a bit at the Monte Carlo Casino.

There were lovely fountains and gardens in the park leading up to the Casino.

This one right in front of the casino really looked like an ice sculpture!

After a brief look-see, we got back in the car and drove down to the harbor. We couldn't get over all the boats crowded in together but also ALL the apartment buildings on the surrounding hillsides. This place, even in the dead of winter, was too crowded for us!

After driving through the Monte Carlo, we wound our way up a steep road to Monaco's old town on the rock(Rocher de Monaco), where the Palais du Prince, the Royal Family's Palace, is located. We easily found a parking space and then wandered through the narrow little streets.....

...which led us by tourist shops and small restaurants and eventually to the Place du Palais. This picturesque square is ornamented with a bunch of cannons, one of which was presented by Louis XIV. These "dinosaurs"along with one armed guard were protecting the Palace today.

We stopped and bought some drinks and sandwiches which we enjoyed on sitting a long bench--basking in the warm, January sunshine! From Monaco, we got on the coastal road, known as the Corniche Inferierure(means 'lower road'), a twisty, windy road that allows you to enjoy the water and the coastal communities along the way. Our next destination was the medieval, hillside village of Eze. One guide book describes it this way: "Of all the perched villages along the Riviera, Eze Village, a quaint medieval enclave with cobble stoned streets overlooking the sea, remains a favorite." How could we drive by this one?!? We parked the car below the village and walked up to explore it on foot. As you can see, we are now high above the sea, but with a wonderful view of it!

It was a constant uphill climb into the village, with the streets practically going right through restaurants....

As we walked under the low archways and saw all the tiny doors, it wasn't hard to imagine the height of those that lived here hundreds of years ago...

The town was still decorated for the holidays.

Sarah loves these little Provencale dresses...we see them all over the outdoor markets in France...this yellow one, in particular, looked very fetching in this window!

We also liked this yellow dress as well!

The next stop on our route was Villefranche, a little port town just east of Nice. This was to be an especially significant stop for me as my father was stationed here in the Navy, on the USS Salem, for two years in the early '50's. Even though we'd been in France for 4 months, this was my first time coming here, as we'd been saving this trip until Nicholas and Lindsey arrived. As we drove down the hill, I was filled with anticipation and got all teary eyed thinking not only of how happy Dad would be to know I was coming here, but how special it was that I was doing it with three of his grandchildren as well. Oh, dear, now I've just gotten teary-eyed again! On with the story....

When we first arrived in Villefranche, we ended up at a quaint little harbor full of mostly fishing, and a few sail boats.

We really enjoyed watching this old guy getting his boat ready. we couldn't decide if he was going out fishing or maybe just for an afternoon sail.

From here we drove up and over a big hill and found the main harbor and the 'centre ville'. Here, we had no trouble finding Dad(and Mom's) favorite restaurant, La Mere Germaine, as well as Hotel Welcome, the hotel where they stayed. Evidently, Dad knew Mere Germaine(the German mother) when he was stationed here. When he and Mom came back together years later, they found her daughter. We didn't eat at the restaurant as it was mid afternoon, but Nick and I plan to return here sometime soon. The menu looked wonderful!

From the harbor we walked up through the town toward and old fort.

I couldn't help but wonder if this old woman was La Mere! Isn't she adorable?

Nick and Lindsey approaching the fort with view of Villefranche harbor below...
Nicholas welcoming us to the fort...

We didn't do too much to learn about this place, but it was fascinating. there were many components to the interior and it was obviously being used for a myriad of activities from museum, to event venue, to police headquarters!
Here we are wandering through an area of lovely gardens...

Nick looking out a the little fishing harbor we'd visited earlier....

and here is a view of the larger harbor. Seeing the large buoy, we wondered if the USS Salem tied up right there?!? Talk about a water view!

The afternoon was waning and it was time to push on toward Nice. We arrived at Le Meridian just in time for Nick, Nicholas and Sarah to go for a swim in the rooftop pool just as the sun was setting over the Mediterranean.

After our exhausting day, we all took a rest before going out for the evening. Unbeknown to Nicholas, we would be celebrating his 21st birthday (which was on October 25th)at dinner.

We left the hotel and walked a little ways along the Promenade des Anglais. We entered La Vielle Ville and wandered through the Cours Saleyna. During the day there is a large flower and fish market. At night, there was still a liveliness about the place. There were lots people out going to the many bars and restaurants. All the aromas were fantastic! As we were a bit early for our reservation, we stopped at Caffe dell'Arte(6, cours Saleyna, 04 93 62 30 37) for an aperitif. This place was quite cosy and interesting as it was cafe, salon de the, bars a vins AND galerie d'art, sculpture et peintre! what a combo! Next stop was Le Safari(1 cours Saleya, 04-93-80-18-44 ) a restaurant recommended by our maitre d'hotel when we asked him for somewhere fun, within walking distance of the hotel and a with variety of local cuisine. This lively spot was perfect for us. We had a fun evening and delicious dinner-fried, ricotta stuffed zucchini blossoms, fresh gnocci, fruits de mer on spaghetti and grilled salmon.

Nicholas was completely at a loss for words when the waiters who were singing Happy Birthday came to our table and placed the cake in front of him!!
We finally could really wish him a happy 21st!

The happy Birthday Boy!

After walking back to The Meridien, Nick Nicholas and Lindsey went to the casino next door for some late night partying....Sarah and I hit the hay!