le mot "combinaison de ski" - (Annecy)

Just got back from a whirlwind two-week winter break to Annecy, Prague, Budapest and London!  I still can't believe I was able to do it.  Thanks to EasyJet airlines (the "Southwest" of Europe), Student Agency Bus (their website has a lot of exclamation points, and it's kind of hilarious, but it's ALL true!  I took advantage of five movies and five "hot drinks" aboard the bus!), an Eastern European hostel, a good exchange rate and the hospitality of an old friend, it was actually not as expensive as you'd think.  Because it sounds like such an expensive/luxurious trip, I decided to only tell my teachers I was going to Prague, which ended up being a bad idea because I ran into one of my students at the airport on the way home from London, and I'd like to tell a teacher about that, but she doesn't know I was in London....but more on that later! :)

A few weeks ago, Catherine, one of the teachers I work with invited me to her family's house near Annecy, France to go skiing.  She said I just needed to bring sheets and a pillow case, and some money for the ski lift.  So, on Saturday, Feb. 11, she and the Taiwanese high schooler she's hosting this year picked me up at 9:30 a.m., and the vacation officially began!

After about three or so hours, this is where we arrived...

The family house in Saint-Jorioz

Catherine, her parents, and her eight brothers and sisters own this house.  It basically used to be two houses, and then they built a galley that connects the two upper floors and there is outdoor parking beneath it.  Here's a tour of the house...

Stairway up to the room where I stayed.  On the wall is a chain of little books.

The room where I stayed.  I did the math, and there are about 19 rooms that can accommodate 2-3 people each!

One of several bathrooms.  

This is the galley between the houses.  It doesn't have heating, so people don't stay here during the winter, but there are about five bedrooms and a kitchen.  I did a lot of running through this part of the house because it was so cold!  The shutters on the right are open during the summer.

The main kitchen.  Through that door is...

The dining room.  There were at least 18 people at dinner every night.  Every lunch and dinner included a cheese course.  So good!

One night Catherine made a "courge farcie" (stuffed pumpkin).  It was filled with rice, ground meat, and dates.  It was big enough to provide dinner for 18 people and lunch the next day!

Walked around Annecy the first day.  The centre ville where we walked around was really cute and colorful.  I bought a large green scarf, which will be featured in future photos.

I went skiing on Sunday and Monday.  They let me borrow skis, so I just had to rent the ski boots.  They also let me borrow a combinaison de ski, which.... well.... I'll let the picture speak for itself.

Stayed very warm, saved a lot of money, but did not make any friends on the slopes. :)

Parking lot of the ski slope before it got filled with cars.

Taking a break from the slopes.

Tuesday, before I left, we took a walk to Lac d'Annecy, about a five minute walk from their house.  Beautiful!

I mainly hung out with Catherine's 19-year-old daughter, their Taiwanese exchange student and their high school friends.  I was the only one who had a brought a seche-cheveux (hairdryer), so I made friends really fast.

It was really cool how different people would arrive or leave each night.  Every day it was a different group of people and you could tell everyone felt really welcome in their home.  I feel really lucky to have been able to go.  I stayed from Saturday to Tuesday, since I had already made plans to go to Prague, but it sounded like she expected me to stay the whole week!  The whole weekend reminded me of a genre of French movie where 10-12 people from different walks of life arrive for a vacation at a house, resort, etc., and hilarity ensues.  Luckily, hilarity did not ensue, and it was just a fun, board game- and ski-filled weekend!  The French really do know how to vacation.