Bon Ski!

Since we have been back I have been concentrating on two things. Trying to speak French and trying to ski. Believe it or not, the skiing is working out much better than the French!
I have French class on Monday and Wed from 9am-12pm. It's hard and my accent is terrible. I guess I could be better if I practised and listened to tapes but who in their right mind wants to that??? I am not sure why I am torturing myself (or my classmates) for that matter.

Now, the skiing has been a lot of fun. Even I have surprised myself with how much pain my body can endure! The past two Sundays Lars and I have gone skiing with another couple at Villars and then in Chamonix .

In the beginning of January I started skiing with the ski group at the women's club. Every Tuesday myself and a group of other girls go skiing at Les Contamines, France . This past Tuesday I was able to do an easy Red with only falling down once. I can actually say that even though I am so tired and my entire body hurts, I cannot wait to go again this weekend. Those new fancy ski boots that I purchased have been well worth it. My goal is to be as good as my hubby. Fat chance of that happening though. The man hasn't been on skis in 15 years. He gets on the slopes and you would think that he has been skiing every day of his life. UGH!!

Back in Geneva

I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday and HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Just got back from a fantastic Christmas vacation with the hubby. We went to Pittsburgh to spend time with my family (and got to visit a few friends as well) and then went to the Bahamas to celebrate New Years.

See, I have this thing with celebrating the coming of the New Year with my feet in the ocean. I have almost made it a tradition. When I first started dating my husband, he had this grand idea of going to the Cayman Islands for New Year's. Really? I said.....who actually goes to the Caribbean for New Years? It seemed quite frivolous to me but what the heck - I went along with it. Now he is in deep trouble because my feet need to be in the ocean when the clock strikes 12...every year!! (Last year doesn't count because we got married in January....).

We stayed at a resort near the Atlantis and had full access to their facilities. The place was packed with people and you couldn't get away from all the obnoxious self absorbed tourists in their baseball hats and college t-shirts. The Atlantis in and of itself was addictive. So much to do in one place. We were literally sucked into all of the activities, water slides, spa treatments. Like zombies we were, walking around.......oh.....water slide.......oh......lazy river.......oh casino and slot machines............ We were a bit disappointed in ourselves because we barely explored the island while we were there. We did go to Nassau for the day to look at the shops but it was just dirty. We also did go swim with the dolphins at the blue lagoon (very fun!) and went to another island during the day to swim in the ocean.

We had a great time and we are already thinking about where to go next year!

We got back to Geneva on Saturday morning, suffering from the worst case of jet lag. Sunday we spent recuperating and Monday it was back to the grind (for hubby that is!).

Am I getting old?

Let me show you what I bought in Chartres, France the weekend of my birthday, and then you can answer the question.
I couldn't resist. The tea pot was just too funny to pass up.




All I can say is....... OH SHIT -when did I turn into my mother????

Busy, Busy, Busy!

The past week or so has been absolute craziness. I have been doing a lot - the days just seem to fly by. The holiday season seems to be a bit more relaxed than it is in the States. Not as much commercialism or hype, just a lot of Christmas markets! I have also become addiction to vin chaud (hot spiced wine) which is fabulous.

The weekend of the 9th we went to Paris to celebrate my birthday. We drove to Chartres Friday night. On Saturday we walked around Chartres for a little, did some shopping, and visited the famous cathedral. The photo below was taken from wikipedia on the internet.



Then Saturday afternoon we went to Beville Le Comte to "see about a dog".
We went to a breeder that specializes in Westies.

http://www.moulindemacgregor.com/MMG2_2aNosWesties.html

Now before anyone begins to give us any advice, please don't. We have already researched the dog and have made our decision. We wouldn't just choose a dog without doing the research first. My mother and my sister (no offense if you are reading this) have already put in their two cents. Enough said.
Anyway, we have put a deposit down for the dog and will have a puppy sometime in April.

The rest of Saturday was spent in Paris. The only touristy thing that we did this time was walk the Champs-Élysées and did some shopping. We were there long enough to see the Christmas lights come on which was fantastic! It did rain about 90% of the time, but we were prepared for it! I didn't bring my camera along due to the rain so I am using a picture that I found on whatsonwhen website.



Our hotel was in the Saint Germain area which is an amazing little area with a ton of small restaurants and boutiques. We stayed at The Hotel Esprit Saint Germain. Here is their website: http://www.espritsaintgermain.com/flash/francais/index.html
If you go to Paris and are looking for a great hotel in a quaint area (still close to major "attractions") I would highly recommend it. It was a wonderful birthday and in addition to our fun weekend away I even got a gorgeous pair of earrings from Lars! He is just too good to me!

Waiting for the snow........

The hubby and I picked up our skis and boots this weekend. I also talked him into buying snow shoes for the both of us. I have found a ton of websites for skiing, dog sledding, tobogganing, and snow shoeing. If we are here, well then we are going to enjoy ourselves and make the most out of the winter season. Did I ever tell you that the both of us HATE the cold??


On Sunday we were very "Swiss" and took a 2 1/2 hour walk in Jussy. It was a nice walk, but nothing too exciting. The only thing exciting that happened was that we were almost run over by two horses that escaped from a near by stable. I had my camera, but being the experienced camera person that I am (ha!), I let the moment pass me by. I was too busy trying to stay out of the horses way and my mouth was on the ground because I have never seen run away horses before. I know, I am just a pathetic city girl.....well, that's better than being a girl trampled by horses!!! Here are some pictures of the walk. Fall is now over but there are still glimpses of color to be found. Oh, and I also included a shot of the horses being led back to the stable by their owners.

I also signed up for more French classes in January. It will be Jan - April but only 2 days per week (3 hour sessions). I need to be able to more than grunt and use hand signals while in a store. It is driving me insane not being able to speak the language better or maybe it is that I like torturing myself......

French Lacoste Commercial

Last night Lars and I were sitting on the couch watching French TV (exciting, huh?). Before you get too impressed with my amazing French skills, I must admit that we were watching the French version of "Wheel of Fortune". While I can't solve a puzzle to save my life, I figured it would be a good way to practice/hear letters and vowels. While we were watching, there was a commercial break and on came a Lacoste commercial. Only the French could get away with a commercial like this..........
God bless them!

I can't figure out how to paste the you tube viewing of it on the blog yet but here is the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hw-G5zaRAlQ

You would not believe some of the things that they show here on TV. Fantastic, isn't it? :P

Bern - Onion Festival

Yesterday a group of us went to Bern for their Onion Festival. I never in my wildest dreams thought that you could have a whole entire market made up of onions (and also garlic). Boy, was I wrong! I have never seen onions made into figurines but yesterday was my lucky day. My favorite one was the skier that I put in my previous post.
Here are a few:

Of course, they had "serious" items as well. Such as clusters of onions.

I bought one of these for Lars:

and one of these:
And you people wonder what I do all day...............................