<==(The village of Les Estables - beautiful)
A couple of signatures later and we're off. Driving on the wrong side of the road in rain and snow is stressful, but no real problem. A quick stop at St Etienne for lunch, which is a hamburger Savoye at the Christmas market stalls in sleet, then crepes in a cafe for a toilet stop. Stopping at the bank is too easy to withdraw a heap of e-bucks from our local account.
(Gabriella, Marie, Jean Louis, Sylvie and me doing "raquette" - walking with snow shoes)==>
Just as we get up on the mountain at the accomodation place, the snow is falling so much that it's snow-crunchy to turn the wheels of the car. We've really arrived just in time to not need chains. The car is going nowhere for a few days.
Overnight we've had about a foot of snow. The green hills have turned white. The trees, hills, and stone buildings all look like magic.
The accomodation is a 3 storey building of appartments. There is a big cafeteria. We've got half board. Having breakfast and dinner covered makes it too easy - a great way to wind down.
There's a swimming pool and Ollie's off for a swim with Romain.
Day 1 - me, Hugues and Jean Louis hire some snow shoes a la American Indian style and go on a group tour up the mountain. The guy explains how they've planted trees to stop erosion, and help with flooding problems. There are many mountain peaks, all formed by volcanoes. The word puy means peak in general, not just those with volcanic craters. The girls are getting in touch with their zen side at some gym/omm type thing. The kids are in kids club building snowmen, and having snow fights.
Lunch today is bread and cheese. We get the kids out of kids club, and go up the hill a bit for some tobogganing. The snow is a wee bit slushy, so the sliding down is not going great. The view over the village is magic, with old stone homes, and a layer of mist down there.
The kids go to the pool. I'm watching Louis. Turns out you're not supposed to wear shoes into the pool area, so I get told off, then get the oh la la from Jean Louis. The mistake of the day.
<==(Sunshine on the snow.)
Day 2 = the kids are in kids club again today. It goes until 10pm, which is hilarious since we'd always get the kids to sleep at 8.30. Swapping my boots for bigger ones stops the pain, and makes snow shoeing magically comfortable. After walking out, the guy at the desk chases me out the door since I
didn't advise him of the swap, and he assumed I'd kind of pinched them. It results in an annoyed discussion with him and the dude who swapped them. It's my mistake of the day. Everyone snow shoes it up the hill to the auberge for a sensational lunch of roast pork, some kind of bready sausage - like stuffing, and 3 veg, with a desert of creme caramel with chestnut sauce (chartagne?). The guys climb the Croix de Merenc. The view over the snowy peaks, village, trees, and to far off mointain chains is magical, even with a bed of brown air pollution in parts. When the kids get home around 10.15, they're still full of energy and excited, but doesn't take long to get to sleep after arguing about who gets which bunk bed.
(Romain, Leonie, Rubina, Gabriella, Hugues, Jean Louis, Sylvie, Marie, Louis and Ollie enjoy the entree at dinner. Food is v good!)==>
Day 3 - we're up early enough that the kids are playing devices. No worries, we're on holidays.
The boys have all decided that they want to go toboganing. It's easy here, you pick up whatever gear, and put it on your room number. They bill you at the end. We get 2 sleds and a pair of snow proofed boots for me.
Ollie insists on flying down at the maximum speed nearing and nearly smacking into people, the cabin, posts etc. Louis has really gotten the swing of steering with the brake levers. He's walking the toboggan up the hill himself.
<==(The happiest dog in the world, a mountain guide's dog)
Lunch is an incredible array of cheeses, salamis and a couple of lettuce leaves with bread in our room. A quick snooze.
(Hugues, Gabriella, Jean Louis and Marie half way up the hill)==>
The afternoon we go to the local farm of the Pereil(spelling) brothers. It's a 17th century room for the beasts, with a room on the upper level for people to sleep. The ceiling is vaulted stones to guard against fire, as the roof is made of straw from rye. The farmers do these rooves themselves. There's sections of slate, but this must be carted over 15kms of goat track, plus paying the specialist who cuts the slate from the mine, plus the specialist who installs it on the roof. They added other sections on over a 5 year period.
<==(The peak at Mezenc, a short walk, well worth the climb for the view.)
People used to sleep upright for fear of tuberculosis. Inside the rooms there is a wooden box to keep the heat in during the night. Innovations include a steel cage to stop the box of embers setting fire to the bed linen.
(A beautiful map of the nearby peaks, cut into stone)==>
Ollie plays in the wash basin in the shape of a horses drinking trough with ice carrying the ice with his bare hands. Louis plays above this trough while he threw snow into it and the snow turned into... ice!
<==(Ollie, Louis and Romain taking advantage of the great snow on the slope nearby.)
Day 4 - we're rushing to get ready for breakfast. With the times, seems like we're always rushing. After brekky, I'm the first in the shop to hire some boots. We're going to do Nordic walking, which uses ski poles. As you go, you put the poles behind you to help move you forward. Turns out I've got the wrong boots, so they swap me for some go faster shoes. It's my mistake of the day which requires some group discussion with friends and experts. Me Hugues Gabriella and Jean Louis hike it up another hill with another magnificent view, while our guide asks about visiting Australia. There's some discussion along the lines that we're not kangaroos. I think they're saying that hopping is not efficient: not quite sure!
(Toboggan action, a short walk from the rooms, the first few days were great for it.)==>
In the arvo, me Marie, Sylvie, Hugues and Gabriella wander around the village picking up beer, honey lollies, cheeses lentils. The lentils here are famous for some reason, so we've got a small pack to give away. Wandering around is my favourite thing on holidays. I suppose I'm pretty lazy.
<==(The daily feast of saucisse and cheese for the afternoon goute before dinner.)
Day 5 - the kids are in kids club, then Jean Louis and Sylvie have kindly offered to look after them all, while me Marie Hugues and Gabriella have a nice day driving out to see the famous town of Le Puy En Velay. It's a beautiful town build on the side of a hill, with a big cathedral on top, a monastery perched on a narrow vertical chunk of rock. I pick up a man bag, Marie a belt. There's a couple of huge public squares for dumping cars. The kids exchange some Christmas things. I get a tall can of Kronenbourg red beer. We give Jean Louis kanga testicle coin pouch. He seems pleased.
Day 6 - Christmas day, and the kids got some more stuff. We pop into Hugues and Gabriella's room for a simple breakfast. In the arvo, me and Hugues go for a walk to a nearby hill.
(At the local honey products shop with a bee keeping suit)==>
<=(Inside Montelimar is a surprise, it's beautiful, and the opposite of the outer parts of the city, which are modern and dominated by car parking.)
