The 2nd of January, we headed to Gare de Lyon Train Station to embark in a TGV (fast train) for Sallanches-Combloux-Mégève The journey would take only 3 hours to cover over six hundred kilometres. Paul registered speeds of 240 km/h on his GPS. The kids were laughing their head off as the GPS was keeping on trying to find the nearest road and was utterly confused by the train line!
The good thing about the TGV is that they serve a fabulous breakfast in a tray not unlike in the airplane, except that I don't feel as nauseous as in an airplane - Vive le train !
The landscape along the way was like in the Narnja movie, except with no light. The sun rose up only around 9am, and well, barely did. It is only once you are IN the mountains that you get these beautiful blue skies, and we were lucky that it is exactly what happened. As soon as we arrived in Mégève, we were greeted with a bright blue sky, and pure air.
Mégève is a traditional ski resort built on an actual village, so even if you don't ski, you will still have a great time in the cobbled streets taking a horse carriage wrapped up in thick furry blankets - instead of a taxi, for example. Then if you like skying, you don't need to be 'un As' (I mean an As, as in a card game, for those who may have other ideas), there are very gentle slopes for the beginners, even a 'rolling carpet made of fake grass' for those who think a ski lift would be too risqué.
The conditions were ideal for the kids: we managed to rent our equipment for two days, at the bottom of the gondola carrier (ski lift), and we had an arrangement: we could leave our shoes there in the morning and exchange them again in the late afternoon when we are through with skying. So, this meant not much heavy equipment lifting for the kids. We also found an instructor from ESF (French Official Ski School) who looked after us for 2 hours in the morning, managing to lift off the kids natural fears in the most professional manner. In the afternoon, we continued skying on our own, except for Josie who needed a rest. Oscar could not get enough of it and we moved to harder slopes. As the sun went down, I insisted he should wear the warmest hat that Josie was wearing in the morning, but to no avail, he said that Josie had told him 'she had lice'!
The hotel is a winner: la Grange d'Arly, a wonderful family hotel in the middle of the village, all made of wood, and Oscar reckons it is the best hotel so far. Our bedroom is on two levels, with an interior all made of wood, very cosy indeed. The owners are very friendly and they pay attention to every detail to make their guests' stay an enjoyable one. Breakfasts caters for French, Anglo and German taste, although right now, French children are back at school, so all you can hear is Russian, English and Italian on the slopes. Our ski instructor, this morning, could instruct in English, French and Russian, and she explained that Putin had given 10 days holidays to Russian people at that time of the year. It was strange for me to 'hear Russian' spoken in France, I left in 1991.
It is so nice and relaxing to be able to stay there for 4 nights in a row; we had been travelling quite fast lately.
We have already sampled the red fruits tarts from the local bakery, yum ...!!! On the 2nd, it was Epiphany in France, so we had a Galette des Rois (Almond filled pastry) and Paul got the 'fève' (little figurine to be found randomly inside of the pie) and became the King and got his golden crown. We also filled the pewter flask Sandrine and Evelyne gave Paul for New Year with the Haute Savoie Elixir made by monks with mountain herbs : la Chartreuse ! (55% alcohol) ... to be carried at all times when skying, so no more being cold on the slopes (-12C this morning at 9.00am) and to be administered one drop at a time !
We'll have a late breakfast for sure tomorrow morning.
