Pictures from the Alps

Just a few more pictures from our trip to the Alps. It was an amazing experience for us and we can't thank Romain and his family enough for their kindness and amazing hospitality.

We sure did enjoy our trip to the Alps.

The staircase in the chalet. We stayed in the loft at the top.

The huts discovered by Mindy and Anne-Julie after a two hour climb with snowshoes. No hot chocolate was served.

During our trip, Romain arranged for us to tour a farm where they made Thome cheese. Above is the cheese as it ages.

Mindy and David at the top of Annecy outside the chateau.

Flying in the Alps

Mindy and Anne-Julie are strapped in and ready for take-off!

In the Happy New Year post, I added a picture with Mindy and I beside a Cesna plane. Well that plane wasn't just for posing beside. It actually belonged to two of Romain's friends from Paris who instead of making the six hour drive like everyone else, decided to fly down from Paris for a quick little visit. Farred and Kef make quite the duo and you have already seen them other pictures as they joined our group and partook in meals and skiing with the rest of us.

Being quite kind and generous, they offered to take all of up on a couple of sight seeing flights over Lac d'Annecy and the surrounding mountains. It was an incredible opportunity and of course we were all for it. And so Mindy and Anne-Julie jumped into the back of the little four-seater and away they went.

The flight was incredible as they had the chance to see the Alps from a new perspective and take some amazing aerial pictures. The pilots of course took the opportunity to joke around about running out of fuel and other inside jokes that don't seem that funny to the passengers, but the girls played along and had fun anyway.

When they returned, the guys decided that lunch was in order before they took Andronik and I up for a flight. Unfortunately when we returned and loaded up the plane, our pilots discovered that the radio was malfunctioning and as a result the plane had to be grounded. And so the girls were the only ones to truly enjoy the experience of flying above the Alps.

Watch out for that mountain ahead.

Overlooking Lac d'Annecy.

After a stomach churning flight, Mindy is glad to touchdown safely!

Eating in the Alps

Romain prepares the Raclette for our opening meal in the Alps.

French food is widely considered to be some of the best in the world and during our recent trip to the Alps, we were prepared to take one for the team and really find out how good it can be. We were warned by Romain that we would be consuming several great meals consisting of regional specialties with names like Raclette, Tartiflette, and Fondue. We came prepared and of course, the food was amazing.

Upon our arrival in the Alps on the evening of the 27th, Romain quickly informed us that we had about 15 minutes to unpack our bags before we had to leave for his uncle's house for the first of many great meals. We arrived to find that the evenings speciality would be Raclette, which consists of a meal of French cheese melted over potatoes. Sounds pretty simply, and it was, but the quality of the cheese really defines the Raclette. I believe we had Thome that evening which is a cheese native to the Haute-Savoie region of France. Of course we also had meats, other cheeses, breads, wine, and dessert (like any proper French meal), but the Raclette was what really hit the spot.

The table is set for Raclette.

The Raclette was only the appetizer of our fabulous tour of food in the Alps as I am convinced Romain planned it that way to acclimatize our Canadian stomachs for the culinary delights that would follow. Next on the menu was Tartiflette and for this specialty, we would be making it ourselves as Romain was going to put on a cooking demonstration for us. With Romain leading the way, Mindy and I followed him around the grocery store as he selected only the finest ingredients for the cooking workshop that was to follow.

The Tartiflette is now ready to bake.

Tartiflette is a dish made with potatoes, bacon, cream, onions, and of course, a specialty cheese native to the region called Reblochon. Once again it is a fairly simply dish, however the taste of all the ingredients baked together simply overwhelm the taste buds. Mindy took careful notes and is planning on importing this dish to Canada upon our return.

The group is ready to dig into some Tartiflette.

New Year's Eve in France is celebrated in style with of course, a fantastic meal. We were invited once again to the house of Romain's uncle where the Sauvage family warmly welcomed us and made us a part of the family for the evening as we sat down with a group of 21 people for a fabulous home cooked gourmet meal. We started the evening off with some meats, light cheeses, and bread to warm up the taste buds before proceeding to the second course of oysters on the half shell.

Twenty-one for dinner on New Year's.

Mindy is ready to try her first oyster!

This was a first for Mindy and although nervous at first, she tried them out and found out that they are actually pretty good! Next came the foie gras and another first for both Mindy and myself. Leading up the Christmas holidays, our students had raved about how good foie gras tasted. Now was our chance to find out and let me tell you, it lived up to its billing.

Foie gras on baked baguette with a little fig jam = Delicious!!!

After the foie gras we then had sausage and small potatoes with a salad for the main course. This was followed by the cheese platter of a variety of regional cheeses especially selected for the occasion. Dessert was another traditional French dish as we had a Buche de Noel, which is a Christmas log cake. It finished off a fantastic meal that only took about three and half hours to consume.

The cheese platter.

For our final meal in the Alps on New Year's Day, Romain reserved a table for the group at a restaurant built on top of a barn. Yes, that's right, a barn. As in the kind that cows live in. Thankfully there was plexiglas between us and the cows although a certain farmyard smell was still evident throughout the meal. It didn't really matter however as we prepared to feast on more Raclette and experience authentic Fondue. I know you can get Fondue in Canada, but I'm telling you it is simply not the same as the quality of cheese used in France is no comparison to the Canadian counterparts. After another five course meal including meats, cheeses, potatoes, more cheeses, and fruits, we were down for the count and ready to close this chapter of our trip to the Alps.

The group had no trouble polishing off the fondue and raclette.

Bon appetite from the Alps!

Travelling in the Alps

Geneva was cold and wet as the rain pounded the tourists.

Although we spent most of our time in the Alps in the Lac d'Annecy valley, we did take a day to do a little roadtrip with Andronik and Anne-Julie to visit some of the more famous towns in the northern Alps. We immediately started north and crossed the Swiss border on our way to Geneva, home of fantastic chocolate and a huge waterjet that pushes water some 100 feet into the air.

Unfortunately for us, the rain came pouring down while we were in the city and provided a very dampered view of the city. We still managed to take in the part of the old town and viewed the rows of banks along the river. After a quick stop into a Swiss chocolate shop we decided to move on with the tour and headed back to France.

Mindy on the steps leading up to the old town.

In the old town. By this time, we were both frozen and drenched.

Our next destination was the fabled mountain town of Chamonix, home to the famous Mont Blanc. Chamonix is a now a resort village very much in the mold of Whistler or Banff however there is one major difference that you immediately notice when you arrive in town. The town is surrounded by mountain faces on three different sides and people are skiing on them. Talk about being right on site!

Mindy says "Welcome to Chamonix. I'm cold!!!"

The ski hill runs right into town.

While we were in Chamonix, there was a little bit of snow falling on the town, giving it a little bit of a Christmas card feel to the whole scene. We both agreed that this was one of the best little spots we had seen in France and were only disappointed by the fact that we had to leave so soon after arriving. It would have been fantastic to stay for a night or two and try out the hills, but sadly we had to return to Duingt for New Year's (which really was not that bad when you see tomorrow's post).

Au revoir from Chamonix!

Skiing in the Alps

Skiing above the clouds at La Sambuy.

Of course, no vacation in the Alps is complete without a couple of days of skiing. And although it wasn't Chamonix/Mont Blanc, the station de ski de la Sambuy provided us with a more then an adequate mountain. Known more for its freeride skiing than groomed runs, Sambuy still offered excellent conditions for us to take a few days and hit the slopes. Conveniently it was also only located about 20 minutes away from our chalets and our host, Romain, had a few contacts the hill.

On our first day at Sambuy, the guys skied while the ladies decided to try out the snowshoeing trails around the mountains. Romain negotiated a discount rate for our lift tickets and then the three of us (Romain, Andronik, & I) had a fantastic day as the hill was not overly busy and the temperatures held at around the minus 1 mark. Mindy and Anne-Julie had an equally fun time on their snowshoeing adventure although a two hour climb was a maybe a little bit more then they bargained for.

Mindy and Anne-Julie celebrate the end of the snowshoeing marathon.

Our second day of skiing was actually New Year's Day and what a way to kick off 2009! We were joined by a few friends of Romain's as well as his girlfriend, Iris, and this time everyone skied. Anne-Julie's day was cut a little short as she was experiencing some soreness in her knees, but other then that little hick-up, the day was absolutely beautiful.

Mindy and I skied with the group for the most part as the levels ranged from novice skiers to more advanced skiers. It had snowed the previous day so the snow was fantastic with silky smooth powder on the freeride trails. On the last run of the day, Romain, Andronik, and I had the pleasure of skiing down with a member of the mountain's Ski Patrol who took us an excellent freeride run that we had previously not seen. It capped off a truly magnificent experience.

Mindy is geared up and ready to go.

I should also mention that as Mindy and I left our ski gear in Canada, Romain not only outfitted us, also five others for our New Year's Day ski. And of course, as Romain works for Nike, we were sporting the newest fashions from the Nike ACG line.

Group shot from the New Year's Day ski extravaganza.

Annecy in the Alps

The happy couple take in the old part of Annecy.

As previously mentioned, we spent the last week in the Alps on the shores of Lac d'Annecy as guests of one of my teammates, Romain. Although the chalets we stayed in were actually located in the town of Duingt, the main town of the region is Annecy and it was during our first full day in the Alps where we took a tour of the city. Of course our tour guide was our excellent host, as his family has had property in the region for generations, and as a result Romain was able to answer all of Mindy's questions about the fascinating architecture and history of the town. The tour was an excellent way to ease us into our Alps vacation and certainly was a great appetizer of what was to come.

The princess stands in front of her castle. This castle was located across the bay from our chalets in Duingt.

Like most mountain lakes, Lac d'Annecy is long, narrow, and deep. As a result, it does not freeze in the winter even when the temperature in the valley drops below zero. For the most part during our stay, the temperature hovered between minus 3 and plus 3. It is also one of the cleanest lakes in France as it is glacier fed and the locals take great care not to pollute the water.

Andronik, Romain, and I on the shores of Lac d'Annecy.

After walking the shoreline in the town, we walked to the top of the old section of Annecy where the town castle was located. It was a bit of a hike, but the view from the top was fantastic. It also served a second purpose as this was where the tour of old town started.

Romain and Mindy lead the way to the top of Annecy.

After walking around the town for a few hours, we were starting to feel a little chilled as the temperature was around plus 1. To warm us up, Romain introduced us to one of the traditional drinks of the region, vin chaud (or in english, hot wine). This drink is not just red wine warmed in the microwave however as Romain explained it is red wine flavoured with oranges, lemons, cinnamon, sugar, and cloves. It was absolutely delicious.

A round of vin chaud helped to fortify us after our walk in Annecy.

What next from our trip? I guess we will find out tomorrow!

Happy New Year!

Stay tuned for the full story on our trip to the Alps.

After our trip to Barcelona, Mindy and I continued to vacation like no others as we headed out on the 27th of December to Annecy in the French Alps with our roommates, Andronik and Anne-Julie. We had previously been invited to spend a week exploring the Haute-Savoie region of France by one of our teammates, Romain Sauvage, and needless to say, he made us an offer we could not refuse. Unfortunately there was no internet service where we were staying for I am a little behind in the blog posts. Aside from no internet, the offer was still pretty remarkable.

So on the 27th, we made the 7 hour trip to Annecy from Paris by car. The following week was one for the ages as we experienced the Alps in a variety of unique and interesting ways. Our hosts were incredible, the accommodations spectacular, and the food indescribable. During the next week, I will be posting about all our adventures, so stay tuned and Happy New Year!