Paradiski Trip 2016

We changed our original train plans to renting a car.  Yes, it was cheaper and allowed us the possibility of more flexibility concerning time and mid-week use.  But in the end, it was a nightmare. It was snowing quite a lot as we loaded our suitcases into the overstuffed car.  Driving out of the city was slow, as expected, but we thought it would pick up once we hit the autobahns.  And it was, sometimes.  There were moments of sunshine and normal speeds, but mostly there was increasing amounts of heavy rain, sleet, and snow.  The 6.5 hour trip according to google maps, turned into 11 due to weather, accidents due to weather, the necessity to stopping and buying chains, etc.  Please don't ever tell us that our arrival time is being updated to due to slow traffic on D1090.  Argh!

Checking what size chains to buy.  They have gotten SOOO much easier to put on, thank goodness.  It took longer to read the instructions than to install each one.

So we obviously were not going to get there by the 8pm check-in time.  I called our place (took a few tries to get through) and got instructions in very broken English about where to get a key to our apartment and how to get into the garage.  This is the note I took on the phone.  It took a lot of attempts to understand the "*" button for the code.  

The lobby closes at 8, period, no exceptions.  By week's end, it was obvious that this is the same drill they go through every Saturday night.  We arrived well after 10.  When I say arrived, I mean we found a big sign that said Les Arcs 1600 and a big parking lot with cars buried in snow.  After consulting Google maps, we determined which was our building, but couldn't figure out how to get to it.  (I still have no idea except going through the underground parking which most people did not do, so there must be a way.)  There were occasional people walking by, the first few were not helpful.  Then we found one who at least knew where the parking garage was.  He was a Brit and also currently lost, but he gave us the first big clue we needed.  We would not have found it without him.  And the garage code worked.  Getting up the driveway inside the covered parking required Matt and Isaac pushing while the chains sparked and smoked and we prayed for them not to catch anything on fire.  After we found parking, the next step was finding the reception and locating the box outside...... Too avoid all the crazy details, let me summarize:  Getting to our room was like Hint Hunt.  Find garage.  Go to outside reception.  Open safe.  Find key and more clues. Find another elevator.  Use code.  Go to floor 5.  Walk.  Find another elevator.  Go to 6.  Walk.  Find room.  It's now almost midnight and we walk in to find it was more self-service than I had been led to believe online.  There were piles of bedding laid out for us to make our own, there was one trash bag and roll of TP, nothing left in the kitchenette like salt/sugar.....  We would need more than just basic groceries.  

So it was a rough start.  But then we had glorious ski weather and had a marvelous week.  I'm now going to do a photo dump to help me tell the story and jog my memory.  

We could pre-order fresh bread from the lobby each night.  You had to catch them between 5-7, or tough luck.  Fresh and amazing and actually cheaper than the nearest bakery a few hundred meters away.  You have to put on a coat and boots for either one.  You need coats and boots to take out the trash or check the laundry..... 

After the long slow drive, we had planned to use our first day to shop for food (and necessities), arrange ski rentals and tickets and get a feel for the area.  But then we learned that the best ticket price would be to get a 6 day family pass, and we can't shop because the grocery stores aren't open on Sunday.  We also learned that you cannot rent ski pants in France (unlike Switzerland).  The girls and I had brought our own thanks to a great deal we found at Tchibo.  So we tried an afternoon of skiing with Matt and Isaac doing their best with long johns under their pants.  After one run, Matt was freezing in his jeans, but Isaac's lined hiking pants were doing a good job.  I stayed out for a couple more runs, till Jess's toes were freezing.  I took her back to Matt and then rejoined Isaac and Makenna.  We skied till about 5 and got to know one run really well.  Each run took about 30 minutes round trip from the lift next door, Mont Blanc.  We quit when it started to snow again. 

Before her toes froze.

Cool icicle chain.

Isaac is on another fold out bed. 

Views from our windows with different weather.  Freezer space was not a problem.

Makenna

Jess

The funicular is like a slow motion rollercoaster.   I took a time lapse of it on the way down for dinner 

Monday morning we started early in order to catch the funicular down the mountain to buy snow pants for the men folk, super socks to keep Jessica's toes warm, and lots of groceries. We all brought empty backpacks to load the food.  We had very heavy backpacks on the walk back to the funicular. 

After lunch we skied all afternoon and literally closed down the slopes with the ski patrol escorting at the back.  We went up several more lifts to almost the top of the mountain.  It takes a long time to get back down!  The kids tried skiing through the trees a bit just to the side of a new favorite run.  

It doesn't look real, does it?  It was so beautiful.  But cold.  Made you feel really alive.  

More snow again.  It kept burying the bread crumbs I brushed off the cutting board into the snow. 

Watching the sun set. 

Family pasta dinner.

Amazing omelette Makenna made. 

Evening game of hearts. 

Putting on our gear.  We have a ski locker outside our door. 

The walk to our lift. 

We left Makenna behind.  

We mostly kept all skin covered for the first couple days.  

Paper maps still have a place. 

So. Beautiful.

See the snowflake stamped in the snow in the valley?  

Dig out a doorway. 

Snowball tracks.

Matt and I looked at the menu for this place the afternoon we went down to town and saw they had onion soup.  It was also just across the street from the funicular bridge.  It opened at 6:45.  The problem was the last train was at 8.  So we did a bit of a rushed dinner, luckily the owners were very kind and accommodating.  We loved it so much that Isaac wanted to come back for his birthday too.  

Happy Birthday baby!

Jim Bean was their sweet dog.  He carries around a loved blankie and would visit under our table.  

Matt has funicular skills.  

More snow art. 

Lunch break

Snow fort building on my balcony.  

Makenna and Matt went to a Micheline Star restaurant for lunch. 

Lunch in Villandry on the other side of the resort. 

Isaac's first black run.  He loved it so much, we did it again. 

How do these people get home?  Snow mobiles?

Wrong turn and needed a rope tow. 

There was this amazing mist that doesn't show up in the picture.

Jim Bean on Isaac's birthday.

Duck is delicious. 

Jess trying 

Boots on hands and feet.

Good-bye, tunnel.

Tuesday: breakfast, ski morning. First red runs. Careful, nailed them. Jess is a different skier compared to last year. Matt said, "Let's try this ravine." DEEP snow when you go off course. Parachutes with skis. Late lunch at home. Kids go back out. Have a blast. Mom and dad go to town. Few groceries, identify onion soup spot.  Laundry(8th floor, snow, tough getting coins) dinner is omelettes or tortellini. Temperature is a battle of extremes. Keep warm outside because it is FREEZING, but during the night our flat gets almost too hot though most of the radiators are turned off. We are guessing it's radiating from below? 

Wednesday: Matt birthday. Make do breakfast because we were too late ordering last night.  Skiing. Late lunch around 2:30. Kids made sandwiches. Ate them by lift then went back out. Matt and I went for soup. No onion, but warm tasty veg. Plus hot tasty blueberry cider. When we got back found all kids. They had done a run and the wind picked up, clouds moved in and they froze. Crazy LOTR fan yelling quotes while waiting. We timed a quick dinner between restaurant opening and last funicular. Amazing onion soup and very good steaks with pepper and mushroom sauces. French French fries are so good. Friendly dog. Played paper rock scissors loser stands outside while we wait for train to start. 

Thursday: Makenna felt bad waking up. She and Matt went down the mountain to town for a fancy lunch at a Michelin restaurant. Isaac, Jess and mom went farther, all the way to Villandry, almost the far right side (on a map, left in real life) of the resort. We made it back late, but luckily saw Matt and Makenna riding in the lift up. We waited at the bottom and ate our late sandwiches. We went up together for a few runs. On the first one Matt got tackled by stupid snowboarder, though she did help give me his skis back. His collar bone may be broken? Despite that, when the girls and I headed in around 4, Isaac and Matt stayed out, went to the top and back down and closed the run. 

Friday: Isaac is now 17. Whole family went to the far side. Ate lunch. Came back. That alone took a few hours. Girls and Matt went in, Isaac and I stayed out, tried new reds and a black. Came in around 5 to return skis. Cold feet running in wet socks. So many stairs! Dinner down mountain. He had duck and onion soup. Stuffed silly. Check out in the morning.

Saturday:  We check out and start the drive.  EVERYONE on the mountain checks out and drives away Saturday morning.  It's a single lane down the mountain.  The first 60km took 2 hours.  BLAH!  We arrive at the Paris hotel late, but early enough that the girls hit the pool while Matt and I returned the car.  Isaac tried the gym.  

Makenna loved the shoe shiners at the end of the halls.  We all loved the place, just wished we had more time.  Early breakfast, then shuttle to the airport.  

We got back to Dubai at midnight and found water had leaked from our balcony, through our bedroom, down the hall and stairs and soaked downstairs and Isaac's room.  It STUNK!  We took out the rugs and started mopping and mopping and mopping some more.  We lost 3 sleeping bags, a few pairs of shoes, the shoe bins from IKEA, a box of paper, a stack of books, a foam pad, and all the rugs will be gone for a week while hopefully getting cleaned.  After 2-3 hours of cleaning, we got to bed, just to wake up and continue a lot more the next day.