Une Semaine en France

Translated, the title of this blog is "A Week in France". I just returned home yesterday from a week skiing at Val Disere in the French Alps which are located in the southeast corner of the country which is twice the size of Colorado. We left University of Nottingham on Friday December 16th at 9pm in 4 coaches. We traveled to Dover, England on the far southeast corner of the country where we were lucky enough to be the very last vehicle on the ferry we rode to Calais, France which took about 90 minutes. From there, we drove through the night and all the next day across France until we reached Val Disere at around 6:30 pm, 21 hrs after we left the day before.

We had 6 days of lift pass to enjoy the Espace Killy, a ski area that combines that both the ski resorts of Val Disere and Tignes. It snowed about 3 inches the first night we were there but that would be the last natural snow we would see fall all week. The first day I skiied all throughout Val Disere, but that would be the last time i would spend considerable time in the resort alone. Tignes had far better snow in comparison and far more runs open. In Val Disere, because so little of the resort was open and that which was open was so only because of artificial snow creation, most ski runs were short and felt as though you were only skiing from one lift to the next all day long. Tignes was much larger and had much more open and accessible. The runs were longer and, for the most part, had better snow coverage. Sadly though, after a week of skiing, my ski's are nearly destroyed from the enormous amount of rocks that litter the ski runs across both resorts. I think the ski groomer whose job was to add snow to the runs missed the memo and decded to just dump loads of gravel on them instead. In Oregon, i believe i have hit two rocks in all of my skiing there, whereas I met some 200 rocks in a week in France. But, on the plus side, i did increase my ability to ski and manage to conquer some steep runs that my friends and I climbed up to.

There were about 140 students from my Uni and similar groups from a dozen other schools at the mountain during the week so the nightlife often got pretty crazy. We had 3 themed nights to attend which included a White Party, Pirate Party, and of course, a Christmas Party. I never stayed out too late as I was dedicated to skiing rather than partying, but I was well dressed for the White Party. My buddy Ed and I wore the same costume which included white shoes, socks, long johns, t-shirts, and a white bathrobe to top it all off. We also painted our skin and hair white to complete the ensemble. We were legends for the night. The other nights were fair as well, however the clubs that Val Disere maintained could not hold capacity for the number of students that wanted admittance thus the clubs became rammed and movement was all but halted throughout the bars at night. This was usually the time i would leave for bed to ensure i beat all the others to the slopes in the morning.

The week was very fun, but i am very much looking forward to my schedule Austria trip in hopes that there will be proper snow cover so that my repaired ski's will not take nearly the beating that they did in Val Disere. I had a great time with my friends, skiied hard and fast, and skiied some fairly difficult terrain. To top off the week, we rode the bus home from France for 19 hrs. Luckily, on both journeys, keeping with form that most people know and love, i slept more than 75% of both trips.
Merry Christmas everyone. I pray that you are with friends or family or both and enjoying the holiday season. If you get a chance, drop me a line or call at 503-616-4425 and I would love to hear from you. Merry Christmas!

Love, Alan Perry

CHECK OUT THE PHOTO ALBUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://s136.photobucket.com/albums/q195/alanperry/Val%20Disere%202006/

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