It's back!!!

What's back? Dancing with the Stars, silly. Yep, that's right. The first episode was last night. Don't tell me about it, I haven't watched it yet. I love DWTS. I don't know why, I just do! Maybe I secretly wish I could get all glamed up in sequence and monstrous eyeshadow. hee, hee, hee...that would be funny.
Well that's all I have to say for now. I've got to actually get myself up and motivated today. I have a stack of books with Theatre games for kids I need to start plowing through!

some photos

Espace Diamant
(before we got high up into the mountains)

I don't have too much to say. We went skiing again this past Saturday - probably our last ski trip for the year. And it was finally a nice day and I had my camera so I took some nice pictures of the Alps. It really was a gorgeous day to be skiing and despite the fact that I now have a bright red face I had a great time (I even wore sunblock too!).

So, hope you like the pictures and for those of you getting bored hearing about skiing have faith, the winter can't last forever! I'm about all done in with skiing myself. It takes up your entire Saturday and then we're so exhausted Sunday we don't get anything accomplished. We went to a resort called Espace Diamant. It was the first time the CERN skiing club had been there so even our guide/instructor didn't know exactly where to go. It was fun exploring with a group.

A nice view from the top of the mountain

Our group relaxing and enjoying lunch. That's Mont Blanc in the background!
It was such a beautiful day we were able to eat outside.

Me in front of the parapente (parachute) sign, oh yeah, and the Alps

For those who don't know you can ski with a parachute. It looks totally crazy. I would think it would be pretty difficult to control the parachute and keep your balance on you skis and all that. We didn't see anyone doing this on Saturday but I'd seen many people doing it at different resorts during out lessons. Unfortunately, I don't have any photos of it. Also, sadly, I have no picture of the hot air balloons that were gliding around on Saturday. It was very pretty - the sky filled with colorful balloons flying through the Alps - now that has got to be an awesome ride!

That's all I got for today. I'm reading a great WWI series by Anne Perry and I have a feeling I'm going to get sucked right in and not get much done this week! I'll try to put the book down and do something useful or at least interesting every now and again...but I can't make any promises.

chez coiffeuse

chez coiffeuse = the hairdressers or hair salon. And, yes, I finally dragged myself to the salon to get a haircut. As you can see in the photos I was in desperate need of some les cheveux help (hair). I popped into the salon in Saint-Genis on Tuesday to faire une rendez-vous (make an appointment) I find it's much easier for me to do things in person when I'm trying to speak French rather than over the phone. It's so difficult to understand people on the phone when their speaking French. Facial expressions and gestures are key to my French speaking abilities. So, after answering "Non" to the question of when would I like to make the appointment -for some reason I thought she was asking if I had been there before. Oops. I don't know why I have such difficulties with questions, but they are a pitfall in my French understanding. Once it was established that she was asking WHEN, I managed to make the appointment for Wednesday morning. I had been talking for weeks, months even about getting my haircut but it just seemed so expensive and such a hassle. But, really...look at those photos! I hadn't had my hair cut in almost a year. I know, it's embarrassing to think I let it get so scraggly...but when it's longer and you pull it up most of the time you don't really notice. But I've been wanting a change. Nothing too dramatic but something different than this ragged mass of hair I've been sporting for months. Besides, we're going back to the U.S. in May for my sisters wedding and I thought that was good motivation to get spiffed up. They say you should never change your hairstyle before a major event so I wanted to get it done now so I could get used to it or get it fixed if I totally hated it. Cut my hair...or else.

With only minor trepidation I had my DH drop me at chez coiffeuse (or maybe it's supposed to coiffeur I used the feminine form since I had a female stylist, but I have no idea if this is correct French or not). Why should I have any trepidation at all? Well, if you've read any of my posts you know I'm a freak and nearly pee my pants with fear every time I venture out and have to use French. I was prepared though. I had looked up key phrase in hair cutting. Thank you Rick Steves! We have a great little phrase book with French, Italian, & German and it is hugely helpful. I recommend it to anyone traveling. Heck, anyone moving to another country and need assistance with the language. It doesn't have everything you will ever need but does include some extremely helpful phrases and a menu decoder (this has even helped me at the grocery store on occasion). So, enough of that. I was armed with phrases such as: Je voudrais une coupe (or j'aimerais) = I would like a haircut. Coupez ca a peu pres. = Cut about this much off. and La frange = bangs. With these key phrases and the requisite hand gestures and facial expression (if you know me you know I'm never at a loss for a good facial expression!) I felt sure I could accomplish this monumental task of getting my hair cut.

Lo and behold, for once, I was right. I succeeded quite well. OK, at first there was a bit of confusion because I had no idea what the stylist, Vanessa, wanted from me as she tried to put that smock on me. You know how they cover you all up so you don't get masses of cut hair all over you? Well, every place I've ever been to in the U.S. they just place it over you and velcro or snap it shut behind your neck. But at this salon you actually had to put your arms through - there were sleeves. It took a few perplexing minutes for me to see these. Poor Vanessa must have been thinking "Quelle connard." What a jerk. OK, she probably wasn't thinking that, but she was getting a little irritated with me as she kept repeating her instructions and I just sat there staring at the smock like an idiot. Oh well, I eventually figured it out and we carried on. I explained in my lovely broken French that I wanted my hair cut a mes epaules (to my shoulders). She said Ok and we proceeded to the washing and then on to the cutting. I just love having someone wash my hair. Don't you? It's so luxurious. You just lean back and let someone else do all the work and it feels so good, like a scalp massage!
I was very pleased with the end result and I even tried to make a little conversation with Vanessa. Asking if she thought I should have bangs? La franges!? She looked at me aghast. Even if I couldn't understand everything she said she definitely was against my having bangs - that much was apparent by the look of utter disgust plastered all over her face. Well, I'll just have to trust the stylist that my face is not destined for bangs any time soon. So, in closing. I will post some pictures of my haircut. All in all it was a good experience and I'll probably go back to Vanessa when I need a trim. I was a little disappointed that my 50 Euro haircut didn't seem to include much styling. She just blew it dry. Perhaps that's because when she asked me if I wanted it nature I said "oui". I wasn't exactly sure why she was asking me what I assumed to me, "Do you want your hair natural?" What other way is there? Also, I thought she was talking about cutting it, not styling. Oh well, better luck next time.

So, other than I look sort of stone out or something in my photo - my darling husband kept making me laugh - what do you think? I don't think it's such a huge change, but it's nice. It at least doesn't look so ragged and bushy. I'm really happy with it. C'est bien!!

The great lamb/dog controversy

Oh my gosh, I'm ridiculous about our dog! I just think she is adorable. C'mon admit it, you do too. You wish she was yours....er....well...I wouldn't go that far. Ally snores all the time when she's sleeping and it makes me laugh EVERY time I hear it. I can't help it, it is just so funny coming from her. These grunts and groans and snores. Do other dogs snore as much as ours does? Maybe she just wears herself out more than other dogs by stealing goodies from the counter and gorging herself (you all know her alter-ego Ally Babba the thief).

Now, enough about our snoring doggy. The raging debate currently going on within our household is what sort of animal Ally's latest stuffed toy or peluche is. I have taken photos so that all might form an opinion and give victory to one of us. To be fair I will not tell you who believes what...as that might influence your judgement. I mean, let's face it how often am I wrong? That was a rhetorical question no need to answer. So here it is it this a lamb or a dog? or in French Est-ce que c'est par un agneau ou un chien? Or something like that. I will say no more, but let the pictures speak for themselves.

Front view of lamb/dog.
perhaps it is a genetically engineered hybrid!

Side view of lamb/dog

What are Ally's thoughts on this compelling and perplexing problem? You might query. She doesn't give a shit. As long as she can rip the poor beasts guts out she doesn't give a damn. Huh, that's a dog for ya! You can tell how much she really cares about this important question of identity in the following photos. An action shot of Ally and the lamb/dog.

No post would be complete without an innocent looking Ally lying amongst the carnage and destruction she had just wrought. In closing I will leave you with a family photo. You see, despite our vehement disagreements about stuffed animals at the end of the day we are just one big happy family!

Ally's face quite clearly says, "Get me the hell out of here! And give me back my lamb/dog, you bastards."

*** p.s. please feel free to take part in the poll in the upper right. I feel vindication coming on***

Skiing in Crozet

Yesterday, Saturday we finally made it to Crozet, the ski station about 10 minutes down the road from us. When we first got our apartment here we thought, "Oh this is great we can get a season pass and go skiing all the time!" Obviously that didn't happen. I know, I know we thought we would have gone many times by now but the Jura Mountains don't get as much snow as we thought they would. At our house it snowed once - in November. In case you didn't know the Jura's are not like the Alps...they are more like the Appalachains. The highest peak in the Jura's is about 1,720 meters (5,643 feet) as compared to the highest peak in the Alps, Mont Blanc, about 4,808 meters (the highest peak in all of Europe I believe). So, you can see why the CERN skiing club has been driving to the Alps each week for skiing.
Here is the view when you reach the parking lot and you think...hmmm there doesn't seem to be any snow anywhere! As you ride up in the telecabine you start to see a little snow here and there. Thank goodness they make snow there or there would be nothing to ski on. Regardless, we enjoyed our half day at Crozet-that was another great thing we bought the half day ticket. We felt no obligation to spend the entire day there since home was just 10 minutes away. We didn't have to get up at the ass-crack of dawn, it was a quick drive, we were on the slopes by 9:30 am and it was pretty empty for the first couple of hours. It was great. OK, well the snow wasn't too great. But it was nice to have a nice relaxed morning.

First you take the telecabine up, then you jump on a ski lift - at least there was some snow at this point.

Smile pretty for the camera.Let's see. We couldn't find a map of all the pistes (slopes) so we decided to wing it. Not all the pistes were open so we just jumped on a lift and went wherever it took us. First thing in the morning there were very few people about so "following the crowd" our normal strategy didn't work. We just had to look for signs pointing out open pistes and what color (didn't colors for different levels just like in the States) and go for it. The snow sucked, but we had a good time. Most of the slopes were empty so we could take our time and practice without feeling like we were going to get run over. There were also some great views from the top. I can't wait to go back in the spring/summer and hike around the mountains. On a clear day it's got to be amazing. Hell, it was amazing yesterday. At times we could see the Alps and Mont Blanc, Lac Leman (lake Geneva) and the Jet d'eau (jet of water). It's not a great picture but here's one of DH skiing. He got some better pictures of me, although I had illusions of looking much cooler as a skier...the photos prove otherwise. But, at least I have fun.
I have a great little video of DH doing his little trick (he practiced it all day). I'm ashamed to say that I could not master this trick - a 360 degree turn while skiing down the hill.

I hope that the video works. It's just fun. I loved that the slopes were empty enough that we could do this without getting in anyones way. We would just wait for a group to go by and then we had the slopes all to ourselves.
Since the slopes were a bit icy and the man made snow is never as good as fresh snow we were glad that we had opted for the half day pass. By one o'clock we were ready to call it quits. And a good thing we did since we had to hit up the grocery store and it's closed on Sundays. We discovered that this is one major reason the ski resorts are busier on Sundays than Saturdays. So, a few more pictures for you and I'll be done.

Porte du Soleil photos

These are not the best photos, but then again, we didn't really have the best day skiing did we?

The telecabine up to the top of the mountains. Once you've taken the telecabine you are finally at the ski lifts and ski slopes!
The camera was so fogged up when we ate lunch. But imagine your vision being blurry like this all day! Now imagine skiing down a mountain with fogged up vision - then you have an idea what our day was like. Then again, the fog is better than the icy rain, which feels like needles are being driven into your face as you ski. Obviously, that was not my favorite part of the day.

AAHHH, what a relief to get your feet out of thos ski boots!

Thumbs up from the drowned rat.
Finally, by the end of the day things had cleared up a bit and you could actually see some of the mountains. A little late, don't you think?

Porte du Soleil

"the Door of the Sun" is where we went skiing this Saturday with the CERN skiing club. La Porte du Soleil is a group of ski resorts (or stations, as they are called in French) which cross the French/Swiss border. You can take lifts or telecabines from one resort to the next, it's very cool. Ski Club planned a fabulous outing where guides would take us on a circuit through all of the resorts and following a path which would give us the most spectacular views. Views of Lake Geneva, of Mont Blanc, etc. We were psyched for this trip! Unfortunately, it was more like La Porte du Brouillard (the door of the fog- brouillard pronounced brew-yard sort of). It was a miserable, rainy day.
There were no views, at times you could barely see 3 feet in front of you, much less the majestic vistas of the Alps! And when we got there we discovered that due to the bad snow and poor visibility most of the pistes (pee-sts), meaning slopes, were closed. Basically, one resort had some slopes open that was Avoriaz, the resort we went to one of our first weeks skiing. So, we tried to make the best out of it. We skied with a group and with an instructor who took us over jumps and fun stuff like that. *A warning for Dr.'s Mom: there is a possibility that you will not wish to read any further as it might cause heart failure* But if you do continue, remember you went sky-diving which seems much crazier than anything we've ever done.

The instructor thought it would be fun to go into the little snowpark. This is where there are jumps and rails and all sorts of crazy stuff for skiers and snowboarders to play around on. I usually do not ski here...but I thought, "hell, if the instructors think we can do it, I'll give it a try" We first came to three wooden jumps. I would think that they normally have snow on them, but I'm really not sure. The first jump the instructor said because the snow was so low you'd have to "step up onto from the side" he demonstrated, it looked easy enough. No one could do it. The next jump was easy. Just a nice little ramp et viola, you were flying through the air. OK, flying may be an exaggeration. It was a very small jump. I even landed it...er... practically landed it. Naturally, my athletic hubby had no problem with the jumps. He did two in a row. I skipped the last one because I was still recovering from my spine jarring landing of my first jump. Hey, the snow wasn't exactly soft that day. Then we came upon a "bridge" a large wooden structure about 10 -12 feet high. You ski up the ramp, across the top and down the other side. No one but the instructor attempted this the first time around. Seriously, we thought he was joking when he told us to follow him! We then came upon another set of three small wooden jumps. Easy right? Wrong. this time the snow around the jumps was so low you had to jump up onto all three of the ramps. The first one you had to step up from the side again. I managed to get one ski up and that was it. The next one I was ready for. As I got closer I thought, "JUMP. JUMP NOW!" Only my legs weren't listening to my brain and I didn't jump. I just skied straight into the end of the ramp. Here I drew an illustration for you. You should be able to click on the picture if you need a better view. Seriously, it was like a character in a comic strip. My body just kept going forward and my skis were stuck against the wooden ramp! And guess what? I didn't even lose my skis. Nope, they stayed tight to my feet. I decided to take a pass on the next jump. Naturally, DH managed to get on the ramp and land the jump without much difficulty (read with a slightly bitter, slightly proud mixture in your voice). So, we made it down the slopes all in one piece. Oops, no actually. We lost one of our members. One guy had fallen in the middle of a narrow part of the slope and he got hit by a snowboarder. He ended up having to be taken to the hospital and had a torn ligament in his knee where the boarder had hit him. Ouch! Keep in mind, (hmm,hmm Dr's Mom) his injury had nothing to do with the jumps and things we did - it was just a freak accident.
So, we had survived the first run. We decided to do it again. We made the first jumps, high-fived a huge gorilla statue (wish I had a picture of it) and attempted the "bridge". The instructor showed us again, gave us a few tips and then it was our turn. One by one. DH went before me and did great. It turns out he was going a bit too fast and our instructor nearly had a heart attack watching all of us zooming towards this big wooden structure. I went after my husband. I was nervous, but I was willing to give it a go. As I was approaching the bridge I heard the instructor yelling something, but I couldn't here him. I tried slowing down by doing a snow plow, but as I approached the ramp I realized, "Oh shit! I've got to get my skis back in parallel" The ramp was to narrow for anything else. So at the last minute I'm trying to get my skis in the right position. I make it to the top with a yell of fright and as I'm going across the top I realize I'm going to go off the side. With a scream of pure terror I plunge off the side and nearly land it. I end up sitting on my backside with a huge grin on my face happy to be alive. DH thought my scream was the best thing he had ever heard. He said it was primal and he had never heard anything like that issue from my mouth before. He thought it was a yell of delight and triumph. I had to inform him that it was a scream signifying, "Oh shit, I'm gonna die." He thought this was hysterical. Our instructor thought that we were crazy. After lunch he asked us were we were from. "Ah, the States. That's why you are crazy." I'm still not quite sure what we did that was so crazy, but maybe it was just the fact that we tried everything and were good sports about it. Who knows. Then again, I do have a nephew who calls me "Crazy Aunt Mel" so who knows, there could be some truth behind it.

Well, I'm tired of writing at the moment. I do have a few pictures we took so I will post those later. And, really, don't worry. We were fine. A little stiff and sore on Sunday, but fine. In fact, most of my pain came from a spectacular face plant I did while just skiing normally - not on jumps or anything crazy. yeah, I used my face to scrape the icy snow off the mountainside. Now that was fun (note the sarcasm). Speaking of snow! there is a little snow flurry going on outside! Oh great, the laundry is going to be clothesicles again. Damn!