Super Flying Anna

Here is, not a video, alas, as I still haven't successfully uploaded one, but at least a sequence of photos that shows Anna ski jumping. For their last class of sports loisirs the kids were allowed to choose their activity, and Anna, not surprisingly, chose ski jumping. And this time she actually made it off the jump about 6 or 7 times! It was a really wet, really cold day (one of the very few we've had so far this autumn) but that didn't deter her. (Indie, on the other hand, opted out of mountain biking and had a cozy afternoon at home instead.)

 Anna, the little figure in green, starting from the top...

 Super Flying Anna

Nailing the landing

Ta da!

If it's Tuesday it must be Italy...

(Pizza in Aosta)

So it's been a whirlwind of activity since the parents arrived. The girls have just loved having their gran and papa captive in the chalet, ready for lots of games, songs and stories, and I've enjoyed playing 'tourist' with them for a week.

After some very nice hikes on the week-end (including one up to the Bosson glacier), we tootled off to Martigny, Switzerland on Monday. We had Anna with us because her teacher was on 'strike' on Monday (more on this amazing aspect of the French school system later - but it seems that teachers can just choose to, unilaterally, go on 'strike' and not come to work, and the parents of that class are asked to keep their kids home. At home we would call it 'not going to work', and I wonder if I could get away with it at John Abbott...). It was lovely, actually, to have her company and we enjoyed the spectacular drive there (up and over two mountain passes and lots of hairpin bends with fantastic views), a lunch out and then a visit to the St Bernard Dog Museum. We wanted to visit the Museum of Earth Sciences which is supposedly a 'not-to-be-missed' museum that explains how the Alps were formed and has a recreated mine that you can work through, with lots of information on the rocks and geology of the region, but sadly that was closed (only open on week-ends now, part of the problem of coming in off-season). So we chose to learn about the dogs instead, and it was a lot of fun, even though we didn't actually get our hands on any of the dogs. You could see them in their kennels, but it was strictly hands-off. Still, we learned more about their history, and also the history of the pilgrims who came over the Alps on their way to Rome (the poor souls the dogs and monks often had to rescue). Now, of course, the mountain rescue dog of choice is the lighter and more agile German Shepherd (easier to fit into a helicopter) so the St Bernards have been 'retired'.

 Anna, getting as close as she could get

Why the long face?

 That's Martigny, nestled in the valley, taken from just below the Col de Forclaz

 Dad, Mum & Anna

 In the old part of town

They grow their bananas big in Martigny

Then on Tuesday we headed off to Italy for the day. I had originally just wanted to go to the closest Italian town, just through the Mont Blanc tunnel, called Courmayeur, another ski resort, but this is 'construction season' in the Alps, as everyone takes advantage of the off-season and lack of snow, so the exit was closed, and the detour too long, so we ended up going further down the valley to the old Roman town of Aosta.

It was the first time any of us had been through the Mont Blanc Tunnel, the full 11km through the mountain. I can't say I enjoyed the experience - knowing there was a whole mountain on top of you - but it was interesting. The rest of the drive was even more tunnels - eleven in total (Dad counted on the way back) so we didn't get any good views, but Aosta was fabulous. It was market day, so parking was a nightmare, but once we actually ditched the car we really enjoyed our walk around the town. The old city is closed to cars, so it was really pleasant strolling around the old streets in the sunshine. But if I thought the French lunch break was bad (everything closes here between 12 and 2pm), it's even worse in Italy! I stupidly didn't do my shopping before we stopped for lunch, thinking I'd purchase all my lovely Italian goodies (fresh pasta, olive oil, foccacia etc. after lunch), but the shops didn't reopen until 3/3.30! So I guess I'll just have to go back, and shop EARLY next time.

 Mum and Dad in the beautiful centre square of Aosta

 The street where we found a nice place for lunch

 Dad about to tuck into his pizza (quattro fromagio, for anyone who's interested)

 Another pizza shot (mine was a Siciliana - yum)

 The view the other way from our sunny terrace

Old town Aosta

Indie the Champion of the World!

(Indie the champion)

So this is what happens when you fail to blog for a few days (can it already be a week?) - lots of news to catch up on. If I'd posted a few days ago I could have exclaimed, 'the grandparents are coming! The grandparents are coming!' but they've already been here since Thursday. And how lovely it is, too. My mum and dad are still planning a trip over in the spring, but we decided to surprise them with a trip now, so they could see where we're living, and also hopefully take advantage of the fall beauty and weather of Chamonix in October. So we've got them here for 10 days, and the weather hasn't disappointed. It's been absolutely gloriously sunny and clear since they arrived. So Friday brought us a coffee and croissant in town (my dad says he wants to eat as many croissants and baguettes as he can while he's here, and who am I to dissuade him?) and a beautiful hike up to the Petit Balcon, and today was the market in the morning (Toby and Dad watched the France v Wales rugby game) and some climbing down at the Gaillands (the kids, not mum and dad) followed by another beautiful hike. Good on Mum and Dad - they're game.

The other thing we're celebrating is Indie's triumph at the regional cross-country tournament! 7 schools, 640 excited kids and a really really big field, and Indie came in first girl in her age group. She won! She got a trophy and everything. I'm embarrassed to admit I didn't even realize she'd won - I was a volunteer and had been assigned to the hot chocolate distribution, and so managed to see the start but missed the finish (sometimes I'm a little too responsibility-minded). The start was a disaster - mass start, one little boy tripped and fell almost immediately and brought about 20 of the kids down with him, including Indie. But it was obviously a real Chariots of Fire moment (cue the music), and she caught up the other kids and had a terrific sprint finish. But I missed it! So I had no idea that she'd done so well. So I wasn't even there for the medals, and Toby had to run to find Indie to get her trophy presented, and just had time to get one picture before she was whisked off again. Still - you should have seen the smile on her face for the rest of the day. What a moment! We're still riding high, to be honest. Of course, we haven't missed the opportunity to turn this into a 'parenting moment', and there have been lots of observations about 'see what happens when you try and don't give up' etc. etc. I don't think Indie's even listening though, she's too busy polishing her trophy.

 Anna, going to the start of her race

 Indie, at the start (getting in the 'zone')

 Indie's massed start (before the fall)

Anna finishing

 Indie on the podium

Proud winner

Hike to Plan d'Aguille

Finally, Toby and I did a hike together today. He's planning on a three-day trip 'up some mountain' (mountain yet to be decided) with Pete in a few weeks' time, so he was anxious to get in some training with a large sack on his back, and I was just keen for a hike. So we hiked up to Plan d'Aguille, at 2300 m, and then took the cable car down. The weather is supposed to turn tonight, with rain forecast for the week-end, so it was glorious to get out in the sunshine and the cloudless blue sky, with the fall colours on the mountain. I, of course, was carrying a tiny little bag so I was able to keep up without too much trouble. I MUST be getting fitter - I don't think I would have been so casual six weeks ago. I had a bowl of soup with bread and cheese at the refuge at the top, sitting in the sunshine enjoying the view, while Toby hared it back to the office. He muttered something about wanting to 'get something done today', but I clearly had no such concerns. What's this year off about, anyway??

 Toby, on the way up

 Hiking down (staged for the camera)

 Fall colours

Me, my coffee and (can you just see it reflected in my glasses?) my slice of tarte aux pommes at the top. Bliss.

We also treated the girls out to a meal in town the other night, mainly because it was such a beautiful, warm evening it seemed a shame not to sit out on a terrace while we still have the chance and enjoy the sights of the town going by. Sadly, I was yet again disappointed in the food - we did have to go by what was open at 6pm (I can tell you, not a lot) so I think we ended up, again, with a great location and pretty poor food. I think we're still eating like tourists. I'm particularly appalled by the 'kids' menus' here - they each had a dried-up fish finger and luke-warm fries with nary a fruit or vegetable in sight, and some very cheap and nasty ice cream for pud. Where's the French pride in feeding their kids well? Toby did observe that for the price of the girls' meals we could afford to hire a babysitter for a few hours, so next time they're definitely staying at home and we're going to eat somewhere nice. Still, it was fun to be out and about in the evening - something we haven't done too much of so far.

I enjoyed my wine at least

 Climbing the statue before dinner

Indie & Toby

Lac de Passy Oct 2nd

It was hard to believe it's actually October as we sunbathed and swam in one of the lakes down in Passy on Sunday. The water was definitely fresh, but we had a fabulous time on the beach with some friends who also have three kids. We didn't realize that there was a massive VTT (mountain biking) race around the lake that day, so it was not quite the oasis of calm we'd been seeking, and was absolutely jam-packed with kids, bikes and their parents, but it was still a great day out. The French definitely LOVE their cycling, and again it was amazing to see even the small kids completely kitted out with sponsored cycling tops and shorts, fancy gloves and shoes, expensive bikes etc. Still, what a great way to spend a Sunday. You can't help but notice that there don't seem to be very many over-weight kids here...

Our friends' kids are at the same school as Anna and Indra, along with our neighbours Peter and Lesley's boys, so I think that combined they make quite the little gang in the schoolyard. I think that has really helped our girls feel comfortable at school. And Zoe even seems to have made some friends at school now! At the moment it seems to be just another little English girl, but Zoe seems to be happier. And it's fun to see some more French creeping into her speech - the other day she said, 'Where's my pomme?' and yesterday she very proudly announced, 'Excuse moi' when she needed to get by. She's certainly churning out the artwork - there's at least four pictures to take home every day - and her teachers say she's happy to come to school, so I think, I hope, we're over the hump.

Tomorrow is another Wednesday of activities, and Zoe has tennis in the morning while the girls are climbing, and then it's hiking for Anna, mountain biking for Indie and more tennis for Zoe in the afternoon. I have to say that the French approach to kids activities is definitely less ... coddling of the kids. When I left Indie for her mountain biking on the first session, I watched a little bit from afar, and the very casual instructor, with about 12 little 6-year-olds in his charge, just set off and Indie, who hadn't really been paying attention, had to scramble at the very back to catch up. The instructor didn't even look back to see if he had everyone. One part of me was thinking, 'my god, have I just entrusted my child up a mountain on a bike for two hours to this man?' and another, tough love, part of me was thinking, 'probably good for the kids, to learn to look after themselves a bit.' She came back alright, and I bet that tomorrow afternoon she's not going to be the last in the line and is going to jump when the instructor says 'cycle', so maybe it is good for them. At least, I'll keep telling myself that.

 More beach shots - October!!

 Indie and Zoe (frequently mistaken for twins, despite the age difference. I wonder why?)

The beach, from another angle

Climbing at Les Gaillands

(Indie, ready to go)

As Saturday was yet another beautifully sunny day (we are having the most amazing stretch of beautiful weather here, although rumour has it it's going to break next week), after tennis and the market in the morning we decided to walk down to a local climbing spot called Les Gaillands to try some outdoor climbing with the girls. Although they've climbed on indoor walls, they had never actually tried climbing on real rock before.
And they loved it.
Funnily enough, with kids, the challenge is not getting them to climb up, it's like they don't even notice the height, the real challenge is to get them come down correctly. Thankfully, Toby made them practice very low down on the rock before letting them go any higher. It's very counter-intuitive to lean back on the rope, and if they don't get their bum below their feet and keep their legs straight and their feet apart, it's very easy to swing back into the rough rock. Indie got the idea immediately, but Toby had to climb up a few times to help Anna. Zoe was very keen at the start, but got a little freaked out coming down, and so didn't do too much. Indie was the real natural, she practically ran up the rock to the top and came down like a pro. Once again, after a listless performance in tennis (barely even trying to hit the ball for fear of not being able to hit the ball) she surprised us in the climbing. Maybe we've found the sport for her...

 Indie, starting off

 Half-way up

 Getting higher.

 Snack time.

Zoe and Indie, just hanging out.

Anna discovered these amazing creation on our doorstep earlier in the day. And the creators even left a note - if you can't make it out, it says 'Made by squirrels'. It seems even French squirrels write in cursive.