There are still a couple weeks left before the official end of winter, but the crocuses here in Luxembourg are already signaling the upcoming equinox. Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let's take you to the picturesque alpine village of Chamonix, France. Jeni and I joined a group of friends for a long weekend of skiing and revelry. Since neither Jeni nor I ski, we simply made the trek for some fun in the snowy French Alps….and of course to help out with the revelry!
Situated below the massive Mont Blanc, the village of Chamonix has a long tradition of welcoming tourists. Back in 1744 two English adventure seekers, Pococke and Windham, wrote of their travels to the Mer de Glace glacier in a British journal, and the rest is history. The first Winter Olympics in 1924 were held there, and Chamonix even makes a cameo in Mary Shelly's Frankenstein!
All I can say for the place is that it is truly stunning, and there was enough to do beyond the ski slopes that Jeni and I kept busy for four days. We traveled up and down the valley and mountains that surround the quaint town by cable car, in a funicular train and on foot. I think our selflies speak volumes, so I'll let them do the talking :) Enjoy...we'll be back soon enough with our next escapade!
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| Actually we just went to the local WalMart and had these taken in front of a fake screen... |
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Getting pulled up the Luge track.
Sorry no pics on the way down…needed two hands to hold on for dear life! |
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| In our handcrafted hats made with love by our dear friend Jenn W back in Virginia! |
Oh…and here are some other shots of the scenery!
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| L'aguille Rouge above the Mer de Glace |
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| Mer de Glace |
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| The Grande Hotel du Montenvers built in 1880... |
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| …is accessed by this fun little FUNicular tram :) |
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| Half way to the summit of L'aguille du Midi |
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| Two cable cars take you from the village at 1035 m to the summit at 3842 m! |
The air is quite thin up there, and I actually suffered from the altitude. We spent the better part of the day up in the high altitudes, so by the end I finally got acclimated. Our day at the summit was stunningly beautiful. The clouds and some snow rolled in the next day therefore many of the cable cars didn't operate for much of the weekend. We certainly got lucky on that day!
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| Off-Piste skiers queueing for the chance to glide down the glacier! |
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| The village of Chamonix. The mountains behind are where the traditional ski slopes begin. |
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| And, don't ask me how the Inuits fit in here, but hey just go with it! |
No, seriously, we just hosted an Ultimate Frisbee tournament here in the Grand Duchy. It was the first time Luxembourg ever held such an event. It was the fifth and final installment of the Saar-Rhein-Mosel Regional WinterLiga. In fact, Ultimate deLux placed second overall out of fifteen teams in this series of indoor tourneys. Second place is pretty impressive considering just last year we ranked sixth among eleven teams.
I say, "we," because as some of you may recall I joined the local Frisbee team shortly after we arrived here. I've been practicing quite a bit and playing in tournaments when I can. Ultimate has truly been a fantastic discovery. It's a wonderful sport played by people that are friendly, quite athletic and a whole lot of fun. I know it sounds silly, but this sport really takes all sorts of skills and a lot of endurance. Aside from the fact that I can be hyper-competative, Ultimate really appeals to me because of the strict adherence to the "Spirit of The Game". This is a principal of FairPlay in a sport where there are no referees of judges. If there is a foul or an infraction, the matter is sorted out between the players involved right there and then. This Spirit carries through after the match when the two competing teams gather to congratulate each other, to encourage each other and to compliment or advise on the recent plays.
In a nutshell, Ultimate is a amalgamation of many popular American sports…we just play with a 175 gram disc of plastic. The object is to pass the disc to your teammate in an end-zone like American football while the opposing team tries to stop them by defending the pass. There is limited physical contact as any contact is prohibited just like in basketball. Once the disc is caught the player must stop and pivot on one foot just as in basketball. If the disc is dropped or thrown out of bounds then there is a turnover. Its actually quite a simple game, but as with most games the devil is in the details. Add in some trick shots and a healthy dose of deception, and this game becomes quite interesting, indeed. Needless to say I have become addicted.
