FEBRUARY 4TH, 2015 - ARGENTIERE, FRANCE - 170
The looming pressure of traveling halfway across the world is starting to become real. We only have a few ore days before we go and it seems like there is a lot that needs to get done. It has been almost 5 weeks since we have had a flight / trip, which seems like an eternity. In addition we have our ski gear here and need to ship it home, which is no small task from France. So we spent the morning doing some trip planning for Southeast Asia and trying to figure out some of the logistics of travel. At the same as we are feeling the pressure to leave, we are feeling the pressure to get in as much skiing as possible. So once the kids got up we made a plan to for the day. Peter Stacie and I were going to go to Grand Montets for the morning and then Lea (who is thankfully feeling much better) would meet us in the afternoon.
The three of us suited up for about the 30th time and headed over to GM to hunt for any leftover powder we could find. Since Stacie had not yet been to the summit, and there was no line for the cable car that takes you there, we decided to head up top first.
When we arrived at the summit - which is almost 11,000 feet, we took a little time to look around before starting to ski down.
Stacie and Peter checking out the cable we just rode up
Here is what they were looking at. You can see the town way down at the bottom 7000 feet away
We then climbed the 100 or so stairs up to the viewing platform to get a better view.
Taking in the view north
The view North was great, but the view to the west where Mount Blanc is was covered in clouds. We did find this really cool marker up there on the view platform that Peter and I had missed the last time we were up there.
We skied down and then made a couple more runs, trying to find great snow. The snow was OK, but mostly skied off, so we decided to take a break and have lunch. After lunch we headed back down to town and picked up Lea. We headed up to La Tour for some turns and had a GREAT time skiing as a family. There is something very different about the four of us skiing together, we have so much FUN! I guess having the kids egging each other on is the key, but I just love it.
After a few runs the resort was closing so we jumped on a bus an headed home. Stacie and I both agreed, we will not miss the bus rides. They are very convenient, but always tend to be full and we are constantly getting jostled around and bumped into. On todays ride I had a 6'2" guy with a huge backpack on that apparently did not have any sensitivity to his surroundings because he kept trying to knock me over with his pack. Thankfully our ride is only about 6 minutes to this apartment.
We made it home quickly and then Stacie and I ran out for a couple of errands - including my favorite - the grocery store. The kids had pizza for dinner and Stacie and I ran downstairs for a quick salad and some soup, which was delicious.
A great day all around. I think we are going to miss Argentiere, and Chamonix, it has been a wonderful 5 weeks.