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squiz
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Member#: 6644 Location: Registered: 27-05-2007 Diary Entries: 3070
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9th March 2014
Skiing: Menthieres Wind Direction: Wind Stength: Surf / Sea State: Air Temperature: Sea Temperature: Weather: sunny Max Speed: Distance Covered:
Sunday 9th March ***** skiing – sunny and warm
We woke to yet another glorious day and all the wind from last night had
disappeared! After lots of deliberation over our exercises and breakfast
we finally decided our legs didn’t ache after our cross country skiing
yesterday and we made up our minds to ski here. The weather is far too
nice to waste travelling! We went and bought our very cheap lift passes
(36 euros for two with insurance - £30) and as the lady didn’t speak any
English at all we were pleased that the man who had just bought his pass
was able to translate for us. That’s one of the most attractive things
about the resort – no hooray henry, out of control English people and no
pushing and shoving lift queues:) Just a lovely small, friendly family
resort. The first thing we had to encounter was a moving conveyor belt up
a very small slope which was being used by everyone from serious skiers to
kids with sledges! Amazing how difficult it was to get on and off
something which is essentially for kids!!! We went up a small button lift
first and decided to get our legs adjusted by going down a green run –
well that backfired because it was seriously icy and hard and we felt like
complete novices! Went back up the same lift and went down the red run
which had been in the sun for a while and it was lovely so back to normal!
Moved over to the chair lift and went up to find a surprising amount of
runs. There was another couple of drag lifts up there, one ‘difficile’
leading up to a much higher level. The view when you had negotiated the
bendy bit hanging onto the lift pole was stunning – Mont Blanc and many
other peaks in all their glory with a beautiful blue sky:) After several
runs we made for the very top for our lunch. There was a cross up above
the end of the lift and after a bit of a scramble we made it up there and
sat on some dry grass and ate our rolls. We took our books too and were
also entertained by several paragliders flying over and the odd plane
landing at Geneva airport. The valley was quite hazy so couldn’t make
out the city but knew it was there somewhere! Carried on skiing until 4.30
when we decided to give our legs a rest and head back to the van for a
cuppa and a rest. We are staying here again tonight.
Monday 10th March – relax + little travel + walk **** Sunny
We spent the whole morning relaxing in Menthieres. The weather is glorious
again – t shirt weather! We had breakfast and lunch sitting outside and
stayed there reading our books and enjoying the view:) We had a good sort
out and filled the water bottles up before setting out about 2 o’clock.
We stopped to do a small shop in Bellegarde Sur Valserine and carried on to
Lac Annecy. It is a big city so not really our cup of tea but the old town
along the river and the lake side are really nice. We managed to find a
good parking space which was quite amazing as there are so many people
about today including children who would normally be at school so we think
it might be a bank holiday. Had to buy an ice cream to get change for the
car park – vanilla and pecan – yum! Spent a lovely couple of hours
walking by the lake – it is very beautiful and surrounded by mountains.
We came here 20 years ago and they still have the small horse and trap toys
to ride on the park that our boys had a go on all those years ago! Enjoyed
watching local life – lots of people on bikes and roller blades but
mainly on their phones!! There were a lot of coots, ducks and swans. The
best were the gooseanders:). Back to the van to drive up above the lake
towards the Col de la Forclaz (where they paraglide from and where I nearly
had a tandem ride when we were here before – the fact that I didn’t get
to do it was the start of me learning to paraglide myself). We found the
perfect place to stop in a set back layby just above Talloires overlooking
the lake and just before a tunnel where we saw a deer running down the
road!
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