The weekend of March 14th turned out to be our French Alps Ski Trip. The 3-day trip was in the works for a couple of months and almost was cancelled due to Keaka suffering through a bad cold and missing school on Wednesday and Thursday. But, we were able to make the 2-1/2 hour drive up to PraLoup Ski Station in the Alps and stay in a small condominium owned by our friends Kirin and Eric. We were hit by the warmest weather we’ve seen since last fall, with temperatures near 70 on Friday (even up at the ski area) and temperatures pushing 80 on Sunday. So, at least for the tour director, it was the best of both worlds – a ski vacation with beach weather.
Ski resorts are called ski stations in France. PraLoup is one of many ski stations in the French Alps and one of four or five in the immediate area of the village of Barcelonnette (you can look up the village), which is located east of Gap, north of Nice and not that far from the border with Italy). Let it be know that Barcelonnette was founded in 1231 and sits at 3,700 feet above sea level.
Let’s go to the photos. There’s a photo (hopefully the first photo) of the view from our condominium and another that shows the view of the mountains and down to the valley where Barcelonnette is located. Barcelonnette is about 1,500 fee below the ski station. Also, see Marlene and Keaka at their photogenic best as we enjoyed drinks while waiting for dinner time on Friday (8:00 pm). Marlene and I went down to Barcelonnette around 6:00 pm on Saturday looking for a Mexican restaurant. Well, we found it, but it was closed, as were all of the other restaurants. Nothing opened until 7:00 pm, so we headed back up the road to the ski station, not wanting to drive in the dark (getting old and afraid of heights or at least afraid of roads with huge drops and no rails). But, Barcelonnette was charming, as the photos hopefully show. You’ll also see a photo looking down on a man-made lake which is on the way up to the ski station.
All and all the journey was outstanding, primarily because of the beautiful scenery and Keaka’s success skiing. Photos of the snow (that’s French snow) forthcoming.
The Wilsons
