We are back from our trip to Chamonix, where Uli attended a CERN LHC workshop. We left on Wednesday afternoon and drove past the Geneva airport in the direction of the Alps, passing from France where we live to Switzerland and back to France. This ease of crossing the borders is amazing and you always carry two money purses—one with euros and one with francs—to be prepared.
Fog lingered in the valley so when we arrived in Chamonix the mountains were hidden. The hotel was pleasant, the outside spa we used in the evening a bit too cold. Uli’s conference dinner was in La Caleche, a funky restaurant with sleds on the wall, cowbells, horses, a babycarriage standing near the toilet. Like all the local restaurants it smelt like cheese but our dinner was trout with a fabulous sauce. We sat with an Italien group and everywhere one could hear bits of other languages spoken, an international crowd.
The next days Uli was at the conference while I skied at nice low altitudes. The view was mixed, cloudy and heavy snow set in. The skiing was great but was dampened in the end by a fall standing(!) twisting my knee. I then had to stop and in the afternoon when the sky opened for one hour was able to see the mountains and snap pictures. I went to a tea room with a nice Russian lady for farewell. We came back on Friday.
On Saturday I had a visit to the hospital since my knee hurt but luckely nothing is broken and I just need patience for the healing! My French speaking is getting better since most people speak limited English. This is a bit of a challenge for our car hunting!
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