Snowboarding in France

Just like last year we went snowboarding in La Plagne - a rather biggish ski area in the French Alps, about 1000km from where my parents live. And just like last year we were 12 people - mostly my old friends from uni and we stayed in the same apartments like last year up at 2000m. So in the morning we could ski or snowboard directly from our balconies down to the gondola and up the mountains.

It was again great fun! We stayed in 3 apartments (4 people each). Every morning someone would go and get fresh croissants and baguettes for all of us and we would have breakfast in the dedicated "Frühstückszimmer" (breakfast apartment). We met for lunch up on the slopes and had diner in the dedicated diner apartment. The 3rd apartment would then be the party room where we played games and drank lots of wine, beer, vin chaud (Glühwein), ... :-)

We managed to pack all our luggage including ski / snowboarding gear and food for 12 people for the whole week into 3 cars - and believe me that wasn't at all easy!! :-) On the way to the ski area we climbed up 21 ziczacs and cheered with every degree that the temperature dropped along the way.

The snow conditions were much better than last year. We had much more snow - it actually snowed the first couple of days and we had only one really bad day when it was too warm so the snow mixed with rain and we had to stop at lunch time because our clothes were soaking wet. Thursday was probably my favourite day because it snowed over night and we had sunshine and blue sky the whole day! The view from the top of the glacier up at 3200m was just incredible.

But skiing in France is somehow different from skiing in Austria or Germany. They are well... not that efficient maybe... The lifts open quite late and close rather early. We also waited a whole day for them to prepare the slopes up at the glacier - they never finished. But they make up for that with their food! The hot chocolate in every hut up on the slopes was sooo yummy!! I also had two of my favourite deserts again - crème brulee and mouse au chocolate *yum*.

We also got self-made herbal schnapps for free twice! Ian likes to shuffle snow and volunteered to help the people in the ski huts clear the paths. Which they thanked him with a glass of their favourite schnapps :-)

So all in all we had again a really great time and we are looking forward to go there again next year :-)