The French Alps, July 2000

Juli: What's that white thing out there? Mom: It's the sun...

It was time for our first vacation of the summer and we had yet to make arrangements. Our first choice was central France. With only one week of warning, it turned out this was not an option as all the apartments were taken. Our second choice was somewhere in the mountains, particularly since Juli has wanted to go hiking since spring. The agency found an apartment in Belle Plagne, near the France-Italy border. Take it!

La Plagne is a mountain ski resort with ten different communities providing vacation entertainment. Belle Plagne is one of these.

We arrived late Saturday afternoon after a slow, relaxed start from home. When we left home, it was cloudy and 20C (68F). In Belle Plagne we found 6C (43F) and rainy. We hadn't packed for this and were surprised. A sweatshirt and rain coat may not be quite enough when hiking to higher altitudes.

On Sunday we took our first hike. It was also the first hike for Perri. He was wonderful and enjoyed every minute. Even though he arrived back at the room completely soaked from walking through wet grass taller than him and needing a bath. The rest of us were feeling the altitude and the year since we had last been hiking.

 LaPlagne from a distance

 Alex and Perri climbing a hill together--Perri went up and down this hill three or four times in the time it took Alex to get to the top once. A little white yo-yo

 Ready for hiking

Exploring the fields

 The rolling mountains fields

 Here is what you get when you soak a furry white dog--a damp, unhappy mop

Monday dawned overcast and rainy. Hiking to a local farm to learn how to make cheese did not seem like a very good idea. In the hope that the rain was stuck on our side of the mountains, we headed off to Aosta, Italy for Juli's fifth birthday. The rain decided that it like us and stayed with us all day. The many winding roads were highlighted by all sorts of interesting sites, including a glacier in the middle of the road and several medieval stone fortresses.

By the time we arrived in Aosta, everything was closed for lunch.

After an interesting and tasty trilingual lunch (Italian, French, and English spoken with the staff, as necessary) we left just as the city was opening back up. We visited the local cathedral, built in the first century AD, which had many interesting paintings and stained glass windows. However, the facade was under renovation and we could not see much of the impressive exterior.

We arrived home late (after a quick detour through Switzerland) and finished Juli's birth day with presents and a relaxing dinner at home.

 

 An ice field in a mountain pass

 The church in Aosta--under renovation like most of the rest of Europe

 Opening birthday presents

 Proud of her new skates

 'I will be beautiful in this!'

Tuesday was again cold and overcast. However, this time the rain turned to snow. The children loved it! We went to lunch for fondue: bread and potato chunks dipped in hot melted cheese. There is nothing better on a cold, snowy afternoon. Alex went sledding in the afternoon while the rest of us relaxed and stayed warm.

 

 Does this really look like July? Snow?

 Snow coming down fast and sticky

 Enjoying the snow

 Hot fondue on a cold day--it doesn't get much better than this!

 Chillin'

The rest of the week was more of the same.  Colder than we would have liked and too often wet.  We spent much of the time together in the apartment, learning how to play games together.  Not a bad thing at all, really.

In hindsight, this was one of our more restful vacations and well remembered by us all.

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