February Vacation/Vacances de Février

The end of February brought yet ANOTHER school vacation (French education: more or less 6 weeks of school, 2 weeks off, plus 2 months for summer vacation...I sure would've liked this as a child...). This time, I left with my host mother and the Jorge (10) to do some skiing in the Alps! Not only was I incredibly excited simply to have this opportunity, but our apartment was right next to one of the runs, so we could walk out the door, walk about 15 yards, and put on the skis!! It was a beautiful area, about 15 km from Mont Blanc (the largest mountain in Europe) and the skiing was great. We had 3 beautiful days with the sun shining and mild temperatures and 3 days with variable weather (some clouds, gusts of wind at times, and rain/snow). However, even the weather couldn't dampen my spirits...I went skiing every day for at least 5 hours. It felt GREAT to be outdoors, even if the combination of high altitude and breath-taking scenery made it more difficult to breathe...I soon forgot about all that! I also had the opportunity to try some regional specialties, including Fondue Savoyarde (a mixture of 3 cheeses from the region with white wine and bread to dip, along with an optional side of assorted meats to pair with the cheese). I also rediscovered one of my childhood joys, a hot chocolate at the end of day to warm myself up a bit. The snow was great, just the perfect mix of powder, and I felt great all week until Saturday, when I got a little too ambitious skiing with the little one, which resulted in a lot more air time than I could handle and a sore back. Fortunately, I didn't break anything and my back is doing a lot better today, PLUS it was our last day of skiing, so I can't really complain.
Upon return, the kids still had another week of vacation, which we spent going to see a movie "Oceans," a documentary about (what else?) oceans and their ecosystems, and although it was a good film, I still haven't found anything to rival "Planet Earth." I also was exposed to my FIRST Molière play (a must in France, as Molière is to French playwriting what Shakespeare is to English playwriting), which was a great success and provided another excuse to head into Paris. I took advantage of a little time off to head into Paris a few more times before the end of the week.
March is a calm month here, although I have some friends coming to Paris at the end of the month...other than that I'm just waiting for the arrival of spring...we've had a lot more sun as of late, but the strong winds have kept it feeling cool. An update in April will have my official decision on whether to stay in France for another year or come back to the US...please keep me in your thoughts as I make this important decision! Until next time....