If you look at a map of Europe, it is not hard to understand why there are so many great skiers from here.  Everywhere you turn, there are snow covered mountains within a day's drive.  Combine the proximity with well organized ski schools and the ever-present expectation that everyone does sport and you have a land of skiers.

It seemed a shame to have the kids miss this opportunity and so in February of 2002 we took our first ski vacation.

The Kids Go Skiing

Most folks from the Paris area head to the Alps as they are only three hours away--if you don't have traffic.  With traffic, it's a stressful all day trip.  So we headed south, to the Pyrenees and the city of Font Romeu.

Located on the Spanish border between Andorra and the Mediterranean, Font Romeu is a full-time ski resort with many easier ski hills and only one or two monster "killer" runs.  This is makes it well suited for first time skiers.  And they know it.  The French National Ski school has a local office and run week long classes for all skill levels.

With a bit of digging around, Lori found that they were also set up for parents, such as us, that do not want (or can not) spend all day with the kids.  They run all day ski camps, lunch included.  For six day, the bus picks up the kids and their ski equipment in the morning and brings them back, snowy and exhausted at dinner time.  Since neither Lori nor I were blessed with joints that can take the stress of skiing, this is a great compromise.  The kids go skiing and we go exploring.

The classes start with the most basic of skills--standing--and quickly move up in complexity.  By the end of the week, both Juli and Alex were skiing around obstacles and through slalom courses.  Juli was in the beginner class and snowplows wonderfully, passing the skills test at the end of the week.  Alex started in the beginner class and was moved up to the first level class after one day.  By the end of his week, Alex was successfully parallel skiing down the beginner hills.  He too passed the skills test at the end of the week and is ready to learn more.

 

Exploring the Pyrenees

So, the kids were skiing all week, what about Mom and Dad?  Well, we went exploring. 

Fortresses and Walled Cities

The Pyrenees are a natural boundary.  Today, they are the boundary between Spain and France.  Although these two countries are at peace today, this was not always the case.  The frontier has moved back and forth through these ranges over the centuries.  This movement has left behind a stone fortresses on the top of what seems like every peak.  The three of us went and explored several.

 

Thermal Baths

Although they are not new mountains, their roots still run deep and hot.  This heat occasionally bubbles out forming hot pools of mineral water.  Where better to spend some time on a cold day than in hot water?  It is incredibly refreshing, and a bit bizarre, to be comfortably sitting in an open air pool when it is only 35F outside.  Yes, the dash to the changing room is stunning, but the warm heat of the pool is worth it.

 

Winding Mountain Roads

One of the things that Lori and I love to do is to drive along and explore narrow, winding roads.  The smaller and tighter, the better.  And we found some tight ones this time!  Small one track roads connecting small, isolated farming villages where you never knew what would be beyond the next corner.  Another vehicle?  An new village?  A one lane bridge?  How about a herd of sheep?  Yep, a herd of sheep complete with shepherd and working dogs.

Andorra

In addition to being the frontier between Spain and France, the Pyrenees also house the small, independent country of Andorra.  This is the largest of the 'small country collection' and one we needed to collect.

Well, we collected it.

Like most of the small countries, Andorra has a low taxes and draws business through low prices and (hopefully) lax border guards.  There also seems to be some advantages associated with half-completed construction.  Every road was lined with fields of rusted rebar standing up like some sort of new growth.   Some of the sites even had trees growing up through the foundations showing how quickly construction advances in this country.  I'd like to say the capital was a beautiful and scenic joy to visit, but I'd be lying.

 What beauty there is in Andorra is on the road to the north of the capital city where there are several impressive ski resorts.  The natural beauty was as stunning as the city was not.  This is the part of Andorra I like to remember.

 

Anything Else?

Not every minute was spent in the car or exploring.  We also spent time just enjoying the pleasure of time.  Beautiful scenery from our room, reading a book, playing cards, taking naps.  Just resting.  The way a vacation should be.