Winter COLD Weather

Well, we haven't had a winter like the east coast of the US but on the otherhand it has not been pleasant here. It has been cold, cold, cold. Since we got back from vacation back in early January the temps haven't gotten up above 40 and that is being conservative.

I have been in Lyon now for 5 years and have never seen so much snow. It doesn't stop. For 2 weeks we have been getting snow almost daily. Temps today rest in the low to mid 20s and it continues to snow.

In fact, it is rather annoying because even though we have gotten a ton of snow. It doesn't rest on the ground more than a day. In the morning Lyon is white. By the afternoon it is all gone. Crazy. Outside of Lyon a lot of the schools have been closed due to the snow (outside of the city it doesn't melt so fast) and of course, the train system has been in havoc. I feel sorry for commuters.

Anyway, this weekend is going to be exactly the same. We can't even go skiing because, it is the winter vacation in France and everyone is in the mountains right now. Of course, we are not at all envious since the temps are barely in the teens on top of the mountains. Enjoy your vacation frenchies.

In other news, Mathieu is starting realize that snow maybe cold but it can also be fun. He actually enjoyed the sled for the first time last weekend.

PS, don't forget to check out the new pics posted on the left.

Couple of more pics from the wkd

Snowshoeing in Haute Savoie. This was fun but next weekend we are going to have a fondue at the midpoint. I am looking forward to that.
















Oscar is happier than Mathieu.

And the winter continues

Yes it is still winter here. Mathieu and Oscar are enjoying it and so are we.

This was last weekend so we are looking forward to skiing this weekend (yes I will be skiing instead of snowboarding). I haven't skied in about 8 years and we are planning to ski the Valley Blanche in Chamonix at the end of March which is supposed to be one of the most exciting out of bounds descents in the Alps starting at 12,500 ft. The hardest part is getting down to the area for skiing since you must walk along a ridge that drops off 1000s of feet on either side. Unfortunately, snowboarding the valley would require a lot of walking so I am going to ski a couple of days and hopefully I will remember how everything works before we go.

A little update

We went up to Metz 2 weeks ago to celebrate the 80^th birthday of Valerie’s uncle. On the way up there as we passed the toll booth just outside of Metz, the temperature registered 10 degrees. “Welcome to the Arctic”. Yes, it was cold, fricken cold! Metz is a beautiful city but I have trouble understanding how people can endure winter there. I know it doesn’t get as cold as the midwest of the US (especially recent temps in the Midwest) but come on how do you live in this weather. I guess California weather is ingrained in me.

We didn’t spend much time outside since it was so cold but we did manage to get out and buy a few things since January in France is “Les Soldes” meaning “Sale time”. Valerie and I both managed to find a couple of things to buy plus everything is generally cheaper in Metz than in Lyon which makes it easier to find good bargains.

News from Mathieu

Mathieu is starting to talk. He is blabbing about everything saying mama and papa for the most part to the right person and he is saying “doudou” which is the French term for “preferred stuffed animal”. When he arrives at daycare in the morning he runs over to the “doudou” wall, finds his doudou and says “doudou”. He even says “toutou” which is the slang term for dog.

He is really easygoing. We can take him anywhere and he just seems to get along with whoever is there. Last night we went to dinner with some friends and we left him down at the end of the table in a high chair. He was having a blast with throwing his arms up in the air with our friend Irvin for half the night.

Anyway, we were up in the mountains last weekend with friends but we didn’t get to go boarding but we are heading back up this weekend to board. We did take Mathieu out on the sled. I will post some pics in the next few days. He is not sure about the whole sled and snow thing yet. I think we are going to have to wait until next year.

Col Malval

Mathieu is much happier in his mother's arms. :(

We got lots of Snow

This is right outside of Lyon which is no more than 600 ft above sea level. It snowed most of the week so it is looking good for some late December boarding.