Mathilde and I got up early (ish, my bad for sleeping in) to go to the market Saturday morning. The market is open Tuesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. It's a big deal here, and I can see why.
This has nothing to do with the market. I saw it on the way, and thought of my dad. :)
This is the market. It's inside (dur), and it's huge.
There are vendors that sell fresh fruits and veggies,
Cheese (for which I'm cultivating a HUGE appreciation),
Incredibly fresh meats and seafoods,
And many, many other things. We bought some fantastic yogourt, and oysters! I tried them tonight. They're amazing. Outside the market are a bunch of vendor booths, selling everything from mattresses to underwear (ick), to jeans and jewellery to children's toys. I bought a hand-made wooden bunny magnet and a gorgeous wool scarf. I can't wait to wear it to school tomorrow.
Saturday afternoon I left for my first Scout weekend. The Louveteaux (Cubs, aged 8-11) welcomed me by giving me a scarf to match their group. This picture was taken at the front door of our house, just before we left.
Jason asked me to take some pictures of the supercool stairs in the church that lead down to where our Scout groups meet. We meet in a very old Protestant church.
A plaque on the wall at the top of the stairs.
Our meeting room! So colourful and warm that you almost forget you just walked down some creepy stairs.
But then there are more, on the other side of the meeting room. We have quite a lot of space here.
A locked door that leads to who-knows-were?
This is a huge flag that hangs in the dining room of the Scout chalet that we stayed in this weekend. The village is Jurelles, in the Juras mountains just north of the Alps.
The chalet was very cute. This is another part of the dining room.
The kids had a penchant for finding every inch of ice or snow anywhere and playing with/on it. Here they're sliding down a sheet of ice in a field.
The chalet overlooks a gentle slope, and commands an incredible view. This is a little house in the valley below us.
Another Scout group was already at the chalet when we got there, and had started a campfire to cook banana boats. Yum.
Me. :)
The chalet. The siding is made of overlapping metal tiles.
Again, our incredible view.
Playing "loup-garou" (werewolf) Saturday night. I loved the floor in the dining room.
More games.
Sunday morning! Getting ready to go skiing.
At the ski hill. I had signed up to go cross-country skiing, but there was zero natural snow (as you will soon see). So I gathered all my courage and went downhill skiing for the third time ever.
The "beginner" group learning how to fall.
I'm a natural. Clearly. Look at all the grass in the background! All the snow on the hill was manufactured. They haven't had snow since before Christmas here.
John from Congo on skis for the first time. He fell shortly after this picture was taken.
Our little practice hill.
The view (and my boots). The day was beautiful, and I got an awesome sunburn.
Me trying to explain to John that skiing really isn't that hard. I never thought those words would ever come out of my mouth! I had to represent for Canada.
Making this look easy.
Aw yeah. Didn't fall once. I didn't know it at the time, but I managed to survive a blue run! I got on the wrong T-bar lift and it took me a wee bit longer to reach the bottom, but I never would have guessed it was a blue run. It was incredibly easy. Jason tells me it's a good thing I learned to ski at Castle, as it's one of the most challenging mountains out there. Had I known I was going to do a blue run, I probably would have lost it. Hooray for ignorance!!
The ski school has a ski-doo "bus" that runs the younger students around the hill. Terribly cute.
The view was stunning. Again, though, not a lot of snow here.
Aftermath. The level of disorganization here was astounding.
The lunch that didn't seem as though it would ever end. Water, then sandwiches, then juice, then hard-boiled eggs, then bread and cheese, then apples, then donuts, then candies... it was delicious, but outrageous.
On the way back, we had to drive past the chalet about a block because there was a bus blocking the way down to the chalet. That's when I saw this. The Swiss border crossing. At first, I thought it was a traffic circle. The chalet was meters away from the border.
Just making sure I was on the right side of the border. Yup, France. Sounds right. These are the posted speed limits in the city, outside of the city, and on the highway.
This is me standing on the Swiss border. It's a stone wall that stretches for miles. Very simple, and very cool.
The sign shows that this building belongs to the Éclaireuses/Éclaireurs (Scouts) de France.
I couldn't get enough of the view.
These little fountain/trough things were everywhere in the village. The water runs all the time. This one was just starting to thaw.
Some of the gorgeous scenery on the ride home.
Another Burgundian roof. I can't seem to get enough of them! Which is good, because they're everywhere.
That's my weekend! 2 days, 30 kids, market, skiing, Switzerland, and exhaustion. I'm tired and sore. Off to bed with me now. More adventures this week. I take my placement exam at the University of Burgundy tomorrow, and plan on finding the mysterious mustard store this week some time.
À bientôt!
Looks like you had the time of your life! But really, only one of many more to come.....!
ReplyDeleteThanks for thinking of me visa vis "Jamaican Rum...."
Can't tell you how I enjoy your photos & posts, I look forward to each day.
Dad