Day Off 2: Boxing Day!

OK - Here we have it. Day Off 2. Boxing Day. The second official day off in this blog and my winter in France. I've woken up nice and early, plans are in place, I draw the curtains and... it's a white-out. 

The valley and surrounding area is covered in a thick layer of cloud... 

As with last week, any plans I seem to make are a wasted effort as the weather at this time of year is unpredictable (on the plus side though, the clouds mean there's lots of snow on the way!). 

The view from my window

So with the possibility of not being able to see anything ruining the day but having made a point of doing something each day off (and stitching myself up by promising to upload it every week), I decided to go for a walk with Fabienne from the office. Now, I know what your thinking - not too exciting. However, a hike would be more accurate - well I couldn't just stay in bed all day! 

There are loads of hiking trials dotted around the Isère Valley above Bourg Saint Maurice that lead to great views and some hidden places - some of these being pre WW1 forts. The aim of today being to hike above the clouds and find one of them!

Start of the hike

The hike started at the foot of the valley where a sign gave suggestions for various different routes and treks. The photo above gives a hint of how the weather was going to pan out! The trail varied from nice muddy paths to rocks and stone steps until about 30 minutes in where it levelled off into a small village. 

Closed chapel

Upon entering the village the first thing we stumbled across was a pretty tired looking chapel. It looked like no one had been in there for years which was a shame as it was only Christmas the day before.

The quietest part of the hike 

After an hour and a half of walking through villages, farms, fields, down eerily quiet roads and across a river, we finally came to the last set of trail markers pointing us in the direction of the fort. 

At this point the snowfall had increased which made it a little difficult to navigate through the cloud (still not above it yet) and also find the trails. Eventually, through the clouds the dark shape of a wall appeared above us as we walked up the final steep trail.

The wall of the Fort du Truc

Finally 2 hours after starting out we made it to the Fort du Truc. Built between 1891 and 1894 the fort was used to protect the Isère Valley from Italians advancing along the Col du Petit Saint-Bernard (Little St Bernard Pass).

Gun slits in the fort

Manned by 4 Officers and 222 Soldiers and NCO's, the fort also had barracks, and infirmary and kitchens behind it. However by May 1915 further development was put to a halt as the Triple Entente prevented any further fortification of structures facing a country that is an ally. by 1916 the fort was completely disarmed. 

Fort entrance

We couldn't make it inside the fort as it's sealed off and covered in private property signs but it still seems to be in pretty good shape (compared to the barracks and infirmary).

After another 2 hour walk back down the mountain via the roads (the snow had completely covered the trails) we eventually made it back down to Bourg Saint Maurice. 

Again, the weather tried to mess up the day and needless to say we didn't make it above the clouds but...

...Day Off 2 complete!

Day Off 1: Expecting the unexpected...

So here we start! For the next 4 months, I plan to spend each of my days off doing something amazing that I've never done before and keeping you updated via this blog. Whilst I now have a rough idea of what I'll be doing, when I started my first day off this week I guess I didn't plan for anything going wrong...

With Les Arc (my local ski area) having only just opened this week, and the local activity companies getting ready for the first winter guests, preparation for the first day off was going to be a bit tight. Nevertheless, I had a plan.

Now an activity I've been keen to do for ages but have never done is 'parapenting'. For those of you that haven't heard of this, parapenting is basically skiing/boarding off the edge of a mountain whilst being attached to a kind of gliding parachute by a seat harness. Once you're in the air, you use the thermals to keep you up longer as you glide around the mountain side eventually landing at ground-level. 

Brilliant, Day Off 1: Parapenting! The perfect opportunity to see the mountain how I've never seen it with just the air flow and thermals to guide me (well, and the instructor also attached to the parachute).

I met my instructor Benjamin on the mountain in Les Arc and we arranged a time to meet for a potential flight "depending on the wind". With the wind constantly changing but looking to be gradually dropping off, we made our way to the take off point to get ready. 

Unfurling the parachute

At the take off point, Benjamin unfurled the parachute into some grooves that he'd already dug in the snow to protect the parachute from any wind coming down from the mountain. He explained that he has to check the strings for any tangles or knots as they may prevent the chute from opening (which no one needs).

Benjamin connecting the harness

Once everything was safety checked, Benjamin attached me to the harness, himself into his and we waited for the wind do drop off so we could set off...

... and waited... 

... and waited... 

... and waited...

....until Benjamin received a phone call from the valley below informing him that it was too windy to fly today.

I cannot put into words how devastated I was.

OK I was gutted... Unfortunately the wind was too powerful in the valley which could result in us entering into an uncontrollable spin - not the makings of an enjoyable flight. But don't feel too bad for me, we had a chat and arranged another day in the future (a future day off)!

With this disappointment fresh in my mind I called Harris, our Neilson rep in Les Arc, and explained my dilemma and arranged to meet up.

Once I met Harris, he explained that there is a new 'igloo village' that has been built this winter in Les Arc 1950m and is worth a look. Fantastic! So off we went up a few chairlifts and down some runs into 1950 to check it out. 

Harris in one of the igloo entrances

Now these igloos are pretty special, they are made out of snow and ice and are also linked to an ice cave which displays snow and ice sculpture. Bedrooms in these igloos can be rented overnight with a meal included and breakfast the next day - a future Day Off!

Panoramic shot of one of the seating areas

Inside the different chambers of the igloo there is plenty of seating, a bar and a mini cinema. At night time the chambers are turned into a club!

Harris had a chat with one of the workers in the igloo to see if we could have a look in some of the closed off places but as it wasn't properly open we weren't allowed.

As we left the igloos, Harris explained that he'd been invited to The Arpette in 1800m, a restaurant/bar and potential supplier, for a meal that evening so we should check it out. Now for those of you unfamiliar with the concept of après, it's a popular activity in The Alps which involves relaxing with some drinks after a day up the mountain and carrying on into the night! On the way down to 1800 we met up with Abbie who works in the office and was also up for the meal. 

So imagine our delight when we arrived at The Arpette and it was packed with about 300 uni students on a ski trip!

View of the outside decking at The Arpette

Needless to say it was rammed. The DJ was pumping out the tunes and there was no way we were getting to the bar. Eventually the guys head inside as they were also there for the evening meal. 

After Harris chatted with the manager, we managed to get a table for 4 of us (now including Bex, a local rep) with a free jug of vin chaud (mulled wine) and bottles of white and red. We were given our starters and then came the massive wedge of cheese for our main meal - raclette. Those of you who haven't experienced the joy of raclette will be interested to know that it's half a wheel of cheese, fixed under a grill which melts the cheese ready to be scraped onto your plate. It's best enjoyed with potatoes and different cuts of meat! Delicious!

Harris clearly loving the cheese!

We managed to get a couple of scrapings of cheese each and we're stuffed. We even got given raw bacon which at first decided to give a miss until we realised we could cook it on top of the cheese!!!

Once we'd had enough of cheese and bacon we were ready to go. However, we were informed that we weren't allowed to leave the bar as it was 'too dangerous'... Two points to mention here are:

• The Arpette is actually on a piste up the mountain so we had to wait for the pistes to be floodlit before making our way down (hence the danger).
• This is also the first time I've been told that I can't leave a bar...

Before we could leave we had to wait for the DJ to play another hour of music so it wasn't actually too bad. Eventually we were given the all clear to go so we sacked off the uni lot and got our kit on and headed down into 1800 town!

Les Arc 1800 at night

Unfortunately my GoPro had ran out of battery at this point but the floodlit snowboarding topped off the evening. Since we left first there was only the 4 of us on the piste all the way down to 1800. I managed to get a photo of the piste from the Les Arc website but it doesn't quite do it justice! 

So there we go. Day Off 1 complete! What originally could have been a disaster clawed it's way back ending in a brilliant day off! Now that the mountain is fully open, supplier all ready and the links to other resort operating, the future editions will be a lot more extreme!

Introduction

In 2007 I decided that I'd like to do a bit of travelling and see some other countries. I looked up cruise ships, travelling and working abroad on-line and in the end I decided to go with the latter. It seemed the easiest way to see other countries without having to worry about money and look for accommodation. I applied, had an interview and got the job working for a holiday company abroad! Great news! Imagine all the places I've seen!

Well, having worked overseas for the last 6 years it's dawned on me that I've not seen many places at all... Sure, I've visited Athens now and then when in Greece and I've snowboarded in lots of resorts in the French Alps, but this has only been because I happened to be there by chance. e.g I'd never have visited Athens if Neilson (the company I work for) hadn't flown me there as a means of getting me to the resorts I would be working in.

So what's my point? 

My point is... I've been lazy. I've not taken advantage of the countries I've been in and I've not done my best to explore them. So I've made a decision. A commitment. Every day off I'm going to do something AMAZING! Something I've never done before and something that, when I look back on this winter in France, will fill me with a sense of achievement. This something is called Richard's Amazing Day's Off!