Terri's Big Ski Adventure - Part 2

[Go to Part 1 here]
[Or on to Part 3 here]

Monday Night:
I'm injured!!
I think we all saw that one coming.
Don't worry - it's not serious. Just as I was getting the hang of the whole skiing thing I lost control, my ski's crossed and in a spectacular wipeout that resulted in my right ski coming adrift I twisted my knee. OWWWW!!! So I did what any woman in my position would do - after checking slowly and carefully that I wasn't actually dead, I hobbled up the slope to the restaurant and rested, with a large mug of hot chocolate topped with the most divine chantilly cream you can imagine.

C, who was having about as much luck on her snowboard as I was on ski's, was also there, so after a delicious lunch, eaten at a table outside the restaurant at the edge of the slopes [even though it was only about 5 degrees outside and snow was falling gently but continuously by now], the two of us did the civilised thing while everyone else headed back to the slopes.
We went shopping.

Saint Sorlins d'Arves is not exactly what I would call a shopping mecca, but there are a number of small stores around, housed in quaint wooden buildings, so I was at least able to buy something. Even if it was just postcards and cigarettes.
After meandering down the streets [yes, down - the going uphill was done in navettes (shuttle buses) :-)] we stepped inside a pub and sat drinking yet more hot chocolate and coffee, chatting and watching the snow fall gently on the steep Alpine landscape outside. The barman perked up tremendously when we arrived, and turned the volume down on the TV to serve his only two customers with a friendly smile.
It was pleasant to sit and relax, making a new friend in C... right up until the part where I checked my phone and saw a message had arrived from Hubby.

"We are at the medics. J broke thumb. W broke collarbone."

Bummer! W is C's husband so we downed the remains from our mugs and immediately caught the little navette back to our chalet.

Which is where I am now. Everyone is safe and warm and dry inside, W happily high on painkillers, Hubby and D imitating a cats' choir attempting to sing along to Pink Floyd, A is pigging out on paté, R is looking ready for bed on the sleeper couch in her pink winnie-the-pooh PJ's and J is on the phone trying to sort out the medical bills for her thumb with her insurance company. One big happy family. Except that W keeps pulling strange faces every time he moves, from the pain in his collarbone ... or perhaps he's OD'd on painkillers? Time will tell.
And me? Well I'm happily warming my tummy with Old Brown Sherry, my postcards all written, and I'm keeping an eye on a beef stew bubbling away on the stove.
Occasionally a blast of icy air sweeps into the room when someone steps out onto the balcony to fetch beer - we have 4 cases of the stuff outside. It's bigger and colder than a fridge out there. Snow is still falling steadily in tiny star-shaped flakes. The surrounding peaks are glowing blue in the moonlight and all sound is muffled by the white powder that blankets everything. We are at 1600ft here, the icy air is clean and cold, and a sense of peace has settled on the resort after a day of boisterous activity.

Tuesday:
This place is Paradise! It snowed all night and today all the trees are dusted white. There are clean, soft, powdery snowdrifts all around - perfect for snowball fights ;-)
My knee is not doing great today so I took my camera and accompanied the other injuries into town this morning on the navette, stopping to browse in a few shops before meeting up with the healthy part of our gang for lunch at our favourite outdoor restaurant. It feels strange to be eating outside, surrounded by snow, with flakes still falling, and yet not feel as if I'm freezing my ass off.

I have been having so much fun with my camera! I stood at the bottom of the slope and took pics of our group as they came down on their skis / snowboards. I didn't even feel the cold biting my fingers, or stinging my face - I was having too much fun.





The energetic bunch appear to have had enough of whizzing around in the snow for today, so we're back at the chalet now; "Pimp my Ride" is showing on MTV in the background, with German subtitles. There aren't a lot of channel choices on TV but we paid our €17 for it so dammit, we're going to use it! My coffee is now ready, comforting and warm, I am cosy and relaxed and feeling at last like I am truly on holiday.

A little later that evening...
While everyone was napping this afternoon I went out for a walk / limp by myself. It was awsome! It was still snowing, but not too cold, and I stopped every few metres to take photos because this place is just so picturesque and pretty; I played with a Collie dog who followed me for a while; and before I knew it I'd walked all the way down into town.
It was so peaceful.
Perfece 'Me' time.