The view of the Mont Blanc from the back porch of our flat just
outside of Chamonix in the Alps.
You know you're in a good place when you can buy spatzle in the market
and cook it up right at home!
An American-style dessert courtesy of friends back in NYC--
proof that the Frenchie is beginning to understand the American love
of peanut butter!
Signs at the beginning of the trail along the river that we take
to walk to Chamonix. The walk is about 20 mins. Or only 15 if you
use the "New Yorker on the sidewalk" fast walk because you're late
to French class.
5 minute walk from here. I am taking an "intensive" class of 4 hours
per day plus homework. Quite a bit of homework! Two-thirds of the class
are late teens/early 20s (and all British or Swedish). The rest of us "older"
folks are Spanish, Italian, Chilean, Australian et moi, l'Amèricaine.
The youngsters roll in hungover each day without their homework and are always
discussing chambre 9 (room 9). We old ones sit in the front row, of course, ready
to turn in our finished homework and asking all the questions. I kept wondering why
the 75% were talking about chambre 9 all the time. During the first week, Chambre 9
even appeared on a quiz and mentioned "un danse bizarre" (a weird dance). I had
begun to imagine a red-curtained room out of Twin Peaks when last week I finally
found out that Chambre 9 is the name of the cool bar in town--not at all a strange room
where the cool kids live, which likely would have been a lot more interesting...
!Alarm bells!
!Immediate googling of school name!
"Insted language school was founded by a Swedish woman..."
Wha?!? A Swedish French school with a Swiss bank account?!?
Now each day, as I sit writing out verb conjugations, I am aware of just how very real the school is...and how real the teachers are...and all the verbs...and all the adjectives that need to agree...
or cross of Savoy. C'est délicieux!
Another spécialité de Savoie: FONDUE.
to the centre ville... ;-)]
SKI TIME, FUN TIME: Well, this is Uwe "walking" up the side of the mountain using his skis as "walking sticks." This video does not show just how steep this slope is. N took the video.
Backstory: I had already bailed on skiing for the day and was cozily riding in the gondola going back down to the base for aprés ski beverages, when I noticed others in the gondola pointing and commenting on the two men who were scaling the side of the off trail (hors-piste) area below us. I looked out the window and blurted out: "mon petit ami!" (my boyfriend) Laughter in the gondola...
The boys had decided to go off trail but with all the snow it was too dangerous so they got the workout of a lifetime hiking back up what would be a double black run (if it actually were a run!) covered in 4 feet of snow.
Mirza, as in this Mirza:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwCDEQY97rw
was waaaay better than I thought I'd do!)
Then we went here...
...where this little slice o' heaven gets placed onto your table by a smiling Frenchman because he knows what's about to happen...
...you look happy like this because...
...you are eating the raclette traditionelle. The heating element you see just above the slice of heaven melts the top layer of cheese and then you slide the cheese right onto your plate of potatoes and meat. This is the 90 West Street raclette x 100!
And finally, N and his mom!
...you look happy like this because...
...you are eating the raclette traditionelle. The heating element you see just above the slice of heaven melts the top layer of cheese and then you slide the cheese right onto your plate of potatoes and meat. This is the 90 West Street raclette x 100!
ecouter, repetez, apprendre!
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