les alpes!

wow. what an amazing vacation to les alpes :) truely lovely.

Saturday morning we got on the rode bright and early because it was about a 6 hour drive and Isabelle's cousin was having an anniversary party at 4. It was really cool near the end of the roadtrip to see signs like this one----3 cities from 3 different countries! Annecy-France, Geneve-Switzerland, and Milan-Italy. I couldn't believe it haha. Also, when we got to Présilly in the Haute-Savoie region of France for the party, I was able to stand in France and look out at Geneve in Switzerland. It was so cool. I have never been able to be in one country, but looking at other before. Anyway, the party that night had amazing food :) great cheese and dessert. here I am looking extremely French with my cheese, bread, and red wine. All thats missing is a beret and cigarette ;) haha After the party-- at around 1am we drove 40minutes to Isabelle's brother's house. And immediately went to bed. The next morning I woke up to a breakfast of fresh bread and jam and pasteries and a view from the kitchen window of the Alps. It was amazing. Anne, Vincent's wife is so nice and generous! She left us all huge bars of Swiss chocolates under our pillows :) yumm. That day we just kind of relaxed, went on a nice walk around the town and hung around the house. Their youngest daughter, marie, really took a liking to me and read me about a gazillion books in French and loved showing off the English that she knew :) it was so cute. One time she asked me if people would think she was English when she counted to ten. It was good for me to be around her because she spoke slowly to me and I had to make sure I was speaking correct French or else she would say that she didn't understand very well haha. And during the stories after each page she would ask "Tu as compris?" (You understood?). We ate sooo well the entire vacation! i probably gained 50 kilos hah. so worth it though :)

The next day the Lasserres and I spent the day in Annecy. It is such a gorgeous city. There is le lac d'Annecy which is supposedly the cleanest lake in Europe and they also have this really cute water street like in Venice! I want to live in this town someday.

That evening we met up with one of Patrice's friends who lives near Annecy and went to this really really nice restaurant known for its cheese dishes :) I had a tartiflette which is a cheese and potato dish, a glass of white wine, and creme caramel for dessert. I'm living the good life here :) After dinner we walked up to this cathedral on a hill and enjoyed the view of Annecy at night. It was such a great day. Tuesday, We went to Mont Blanc!!! (the highest mountain in Europe.) When we got there we were kind of bummed because it was really foggy and we couldnt see the mountains, but we made the best of it and played in the snow! (playing in snow in october haha) We sledded a bit and then went on a little hike to le lac vert. It was so beautiful! When we got back from the lake, the clouds had lifted and we were able to see Mont Blanc! Wowwww. word can't describe it. Absolutely breath-taking...

We ate lunch at this restaurant looking out on the mountain. I was completely in the moment- eating my croque monsieur, looking out at Mont Blanc in France. I am so lucky.
That night, we had a fondue party! It was sooo delicious :) Cheese fondue and then for dessert, chocolate fondue. And I got to blow out the two candles on the table because it was my official 2nd month living in France! Its still very surreal to me. But wow what a great present for my second month- a day at mont blanc and a night of fondue.

And the vacation isn't over! I'm back in Vaires, but I still have a week left of vacation :) I hope to spend a lot of time in Paris sight-seeing and such because my carte imaginaire is free during the vacation for visiting Paris :) yay!

Well, there you have it! Grosses bisous!----em