Hiking exploits, experimental cooking, general nerdery, and cat pictures.
Seriously. Do not call me Katy.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Back in the States
Dad has requested that I post something besides the picture of my laundry! And I will admit that I got busy the last week I was in France and didn't update here. Now I am back in the States (and back to my loooong commute) but I will be adding a few more notes and maybe even some pictures. I will most likely post-date though, so scroll back over the past few entries for the new stuff.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
The Downside
So the bad part about staying in a ski resort for a business trip.... When I go down for breakfast, everyone is dressed in ski clothes and about to hit the slopes, and I'm there in business casual and ready to drive to work. In the snow. Not fair! Of course, it's probably also not fair that work sent me to France to go skiing at all, so I won't complain too much.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Skiing in the French Alps
Today I got to go skiing in the French Alps! Olivier picked me up and we met up with Liliane (another coworker) and her boyfriend and brother, so there was a good group of us. We went to Flaine, which is part of le Grand Massif. We only skied Flaine - it was only one day and a cheaper ticket, but I am going to come back for a week of vacation and ski the whole Grand Massif sometime!
I wound up renting performance skis, Safine Infinitys. I'm not familiar with that brand, and Googling only seems to bring up foreign language websites, so I'm guessing it's a European brand? Anyway, the skis were FAST, much faster than I am used to skiing with, but I was able to control them pretty well. There were times my brain just gave in to going fast, and it was awesome, and other times when I tried to control the speed too much, and I definitely fought with them...which all leads me to think it's time for new skis of my own to practice with! My friend L would get along well with the group I skied with - they are all fast and I was definitely the poorest skier out of the group. The slopes over here are green-blue-red-black. I did not ski any blacks (I don't think....) but the reds are nice and steep - long stretches of steep, not just 50 m. They have "mile markers" at the edges of the slopes so you know how far it is to the bottom!
I wound up renting performance skis, Safine Infinitys. I'm not familiar with that brand, and Googling only seems to bring up foreign language websites, so I'm guessing it's a European brand? Anyway, the skis were FAST, much faster than I am used to skiing with, but I was able to control them pretty well. There were times my brain just gave in to going fast, and it was awesome, and other times when I tried to control the speed too much, and I definitely fought with them...which all leads me to think it's time for new skis of my own to practice with! My friend L would get along well with the group I skied with - they are all fast and I was definitely the poorest skier out of the group. The slopes over here are green-blue-red-black. I did not ski any blacks (I don't think....) but the reds are nice and steep - long stretches of steep, not just 50 m. They have "mile markers" at the edges of the slopes so you know how far it is to the bottom!
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| At the top of Flaine |
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| Looking across the top |
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| Stuck on a chairlift, time to pull out the camera! |
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| Tracks! |
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Photos, Saturday
More pictures!
At the top of Aiguille du Midi, height of 3842m. "Aiguille du Midi" means "needle of midday" because at noon, the sun is directly over the peak of the mountain when viewed from Chamonix. This also explains where there is so much sun glare in all my pictures....
The rounded peak at the very right of the frame is Mont Blanc, height of 4807m and the tallest peak in Western Europe.
Fernanda and Olivier (and a lot of sun glare!) Mont Blanc is the second peak on the left.
Olivier says this is called the "tooth of the mountain."
The very top of Aiguille du Midi, as seen from the observation deck at the top of the cable car. You can take an elevator to the top, but we were cold enough already! Maybe if I am back sometime in summer!
I am not positive, but I think you can see mountains in three countries in this picture: France, Italy, and Switzerland. It's hard to tell though, because despite what I learned from the maps in elementary school, the land does not change colors at the borders of countries!!
Looking from one observation deck to the other. We walked through a tunnel in the mountain to get from one to the other.
Mont Blanc is the rounded peak left of center.
Ready to make our descent from the midstation.
Back on the ground! Chamonix, which is still at 1000m elevation, but seemed so low and warm after being on the top!
At the top of Aiguille du Midi, height of 3842m. "Aiguille du Midi" means "needle of midday" because at noon, the sun is directly over the peak of the mountain when viewed from Chamonix. This also explains where there is so much sun glare in all my pictures....
The rounded peak at the very right of the frame is Mont Blanc, height of 4807m and the tallest peak in Western Europe.
Fernanda and Olivier (and a lot of sun glare!) Mont Blanc is the second peak on the left.
Olivier says this is called the "tooth of the mountain."
The very top of Aiguille du Midi, as seen from the observation deck at the top of the cable car. You can take an elevator to the top, but we were cold enough already! Maybe if I am back sometime in summer!
I am not positive, but I think you can see mountains in three countries in this picture: France, Italy, and Switzerland. It's hard to tell though, because despite what I learned from the maps in elementary school, the land does not change colors at the borders of countries!!
Looking from one observation deck to the other. We walked through a tunnel in the mountain to get from one to the other.
Mont Blanc is the rounded peak left of center.
Ready to make our descent from the midstation.
Back on the ground! Chamonix, which is still at 1000m elevation, but seemed so low and warm after being on the top!
Photos, week 1
A picture is worth a thousand words, right? Here are some from the first hotel. Le Relais du Mont Blanc, a bed-and-breakfast just outside Magland, France.
The inside of the hotel. The lobby and restaurant are decorated with old skis and climbing gear.
The mountain starts pretty much in the hotel's backyard, shear rockface.
Looking west-ish down the valley from the hotel, towards Magland, Cluses, and Thyez (where work is located). It is a 15-20 minute drive from here to work.
Looking east up the valley towards Chamonix - Mont Blanc.
The inside of the hotel. The lobby and restaurant are decorated with old skis and climbing gear.
The mountain starts pretty much in the hotel's backyard, shear rockface.
Looking west-ish down the valley from the hotel, towards Magland, Cluses, and Thyez (where work is located). It is a 15-20 minute drive from here to work.
Looking east up the valley towards Chamonix - Mont Blanc.
Valentine's Day in France
This was by far the best Valentine's Day I've had in a long time! Spent the day in Chamonix with Olivier and his wife Fernanda, who both work at the French office. We arrived around 11 AM and walked around the village a little bit. It is a quaint little alpine town/village, pretty much devoted to tourism, so very attractive and open to visitors. We had a snack at a patisserie; I had a raspberry and chocolate tart (mmmmm, delicious!) and hot tea to warm up. Walked around some more and then took the cable car from Chamonix up to the top of Aiguille du Midi.
The cable car goes up in two stages. Each stage takes about 10 minutes, and the cars hold ~40 people. I didn't have any problems with the height or vertigo, thankfully! The first stage is pretty easy and doesn't seem too steep. The second stage though...as you reach the top the cable car basically climbs up the rock face of the mountain. The face is at probably an 80 degree slope (you can see how steep from some of my pictures, but I think all of those are posted on my Facebook) and if I looked directly at the slope, my brain would start thinking we were going to go right into it. Needless to say, I kept looking down instead! At the top are two observation decks, one overlooking Chamonix and the other closer to Mont Blanc. Though clearly, you can see the mountain from both! There is also a small exhibit of how the Mont Blanc was first ascended, and how the cable car to Midi was built. We did not stay very long at the top because it was freezing! Not sure of the temp, but probably -20 or -30. You can see how bundled up I am, and by the time we left the top my fingers and toes were frozen. I'd love to go back sometime in the summer when it's a little more tolerable! Supposedly in the summer there is a restaurant/cafe at the top!
After we got back down to Chamonix, we had a late lunch at a restaurant that serves a traditional fondue. Apparently this is the region in which fondue originated, and the standard "recipe" is 250 g of cheese per person (1/2 lb) melted together with 1/2 glass of wine per person. We had French bread to dip, plus a patter of cold meats (ham, prosciutto, and a local sausage) and steamed potatoes. As an American, my mental image of fondue is Wonder Bread dipped in melted Velveeta, but this was delicious and incredibly filling. Finished dinner, I bought some souvenirs, and we headed back to drop me in Samöens.
In the evening I ate dinner at the hotel. They had a 5-course meal for Valentine's Day. 1: Squash (or maybe pumpkin?) soup. 2: oysters and crawfish (I ate the oysters, but if I'm going to eat something that LOOKS like a lobster, it's going to actually BE a lobster and have enough meat to be worth it!). 3: filet minion in mushroom sauce with gratinée potatoes and roasted tomatoes. 4: cheese course - they roll a cart up to your table with 8 or so different kinds of cheese and you pick out what you want (I have no idea what any of them were, but the one I had was pretty good!) 5: dessert. They had to make me a special dessert, because the planned one had pistachios in it. So instead I had a mini chocolate lava cake with a tiny little scoop of strawberry ice cream. Delicious!
The cable car goes up in two stages. Each stage takes about 10 minutes, and the cars hold ~40 people. I didn't have any problems with the height or vertigo, thankfully! The first stage is pretty easy and doesn't seem too steep. The second stage though...as you reach the top the cable car basically climbs up the rock face of the mountain. The face is at probably an 80 degree slope (you can see how steep from some of my pictures, but I think all of those are posted on my Facebook) and if I looked directly at the slope, my brain would start thinking we were going to go right into it. Needless to say, I kept looking down instead! At the top are two observation decks, one overlooking Chamonix and the other closer to Mont Blanc. Though clearly, you can see the mountain from both! There is also a small exhibit of how the Mont Blanc was first ascended, and how the cable car to Midi was built. We did not stay very long at the top because it was freezing! Not sure of the temp, but probably -20 or -30. You can see how bundled up I am, and by the time we left the top my fingers and toes were frozen. I'd love to go back sometime in the summer when it's a little more tolerable! Supposedly in the summer there is a restaurant/cafe at the top!
After we got back down to Chamonix, we had a late lunch at a restaurant that serves a traditional fondue. Apparently this is the region in which fondue originated, and the standard "recipe" is 250 g of cheese per person (1/2 lb) melted together with 1/2 glass of wine per person. We had French bread to dip, plus a patter of cold meats (ham, prosciutto, and a local sausage) and steamed potatoes. As an American, my mental image of fondue is Wonder Bread dipped in melted Velveeta, but this was delicious and incredibly filling. Finished dinner, I bought some souvenirs, and we headed back to drop me in Samöens.
In the evening I ate dinner at the hotel. They had a 5-course meal for Valentine's Day. 1: Squash (or maybe pumpkin?) soup. 2: oysters and crawfish (I ate the oysters, but if I'm going to eat something that LOOKS like a lobster, it's going to actually BE a lobster and have enough meat to be worth it!). 3: filet minion in mushroom sauce with gratinée potatoes and roasted tomatoes. 4: cheese course - they roll a cart up to your table with 8 or so different kinds of cheese and you pick out what you want (I have no idea what any of them were, but the one I had was pretty good!) 5: dessert. They had to make me a special dessert, because the planned one had pistachios in it. So instead I had a mini chocolate lava cake with a tiny little scoop of strawberry ice cream. Delicious!
Friday, February 13, 2009
Day 5
12:45 AM French time
So I had a somewhat spotty internet connection at the first hotel/bed-and-breakfast, so posting here was problematic. I've moved to the second hotel now, which is in more of a tourist area, so the internet is a little more stable now - YAY!
I've taken a few pictures over the last couple of days and will post them this weekend, probably in some backdated posts. I didn't actually bring a paper journal with me on this trip (I carried enough other junk with me....) so the blog is my travel journal. It's easier for me to keep everything in the right date order, even if it isn't necessarily easy for you all to read it!
So....the end of the first week in France, and I think things are going well. I am slowly slowly slowly starting to remember more of my French. What I do not remember is how to conjugate any verbs beyond "to be", which makes forming sentences a bit hard. But I can pick up a few words here and there in conversation at work, and read parts of the menu/order dinner! Work is going well, although this is clearly not a group that only works 35 hr/week like we all hear about in the US. That's ok, it's keeping me busy, but it makes for very long days, especially considering that an "early" dinner here is 7:30 pm. Tonight we got to the restaurant at 7:15 for drinks, and I got back to the hotel (a block away) at 11:30!
I am falling asleep at the keyboard now so I'll cut this short with just a couple of links for you to check out. Tomorrow Olivier (the product manager I work with) and his wife Fernanda are taking me to Chamonix to take the cable car up to view Mont Blanc, which is the highest peak in Western Europe. They promise me fondue at the restaurant! And Sunday Olivier, Fernanda, and I are meeting up with Liliane (project manager at work, she is the new French employee who is doing training with me) to go skiing at Flaine! Skiing in the Alps! I am going to possibly be in over my head, but I cannot wait!
So I had a somewhat spotty internet connection at the first hotel/bed-and-breakfast, so posting here was problematic. I've moved to the second hotel now, which is in more of a tourist area, so the internet is a little more stable now - YAY!
I've taken a few pictures over the last couple of days and will post them this weekend, probably in some backdated posts. I didn't actually bring a paper journal with me on this trip (I carried enough other junk with me....) so the blog is my travel journal. It's easier for me to keep everything in the right date order, even if it isn't necessarily easy for you all to read it!
So....the end of the first week in France, and I think things are going well. I am slowly slowly slowly starting to remember more of my French. What I do not remember is how to conjugate any verbs beyond "to be", which makes forming sentences a bit hard. But I can pick up a few words here and there in conversation at work, and read parts of the menu/order dinner! Work is going well, although this is clearly not a group that only works 35 hr/week like we all hear about in the US. That's ok, it's keeping me busy, but it makes for very long days, especially considering that an "early" dinner here is 7:30 pm. Tonight we got to the restaurant at 7:15 for drinks, and I got back to the hotel (a block away) at 11:30!
I am falling asleep at the keyboard now so I'll cut this short with just a couple of links for you to check out. Tomorrow Olivier (the product manager I work with) and his wife Fernanda are taking me to Chamonix to take the cable car up to view Mont Blanc, which is the highest peak in Western Europe. They promise me fondue at the restaurant! And Sunday Olivier, Fernanda, and I are meeting up with Liliane (project manager at work, she is the new French employee who is doing training with me) to go skiing at Flaine! Skiing in the Alps! I am going to possibly be in over my head, but I cannot wait!
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Day 2
This will be an extremely short recap of today as it is bedtime, the wireless network is down, and I am writing this on the Blackberry.
Today was better. The French is coming a little bit easier now that I am not so tired, but still not good enough to carry on a whole conversation or even to form a complete sentence.
There is a gentleman from an English business unit within my company who is also visiting the French facility today and tomorrow. He is staying at the same hotel, so I had company for dinner tonight.
So....now it is late here, it is snowing, and I am headed to bed. No pictures today, but I will try to take some more tomorrow. Bonne nuit.
Today was better. The French is coming a little bit easier now that I am not so tired, but still not good enough to carry on a whole conversation or even to form a complete sentence.
There is a gentleman from an English business unit within my company who is also visiting the French facility today and tomorrow. He is staying at the same hotel, so I had company for dinner tonight.
So....now it is late here, it is snowing, and I am headed to bed. No pictures today, but I will try to take some more tomorrow. Bonne nuit.
Monday, February 9, 2009
One last thing
Oh, and the rental car I have - is a bigger SUV than the one I drive at home. This is Europe, home of the SmartCar. I feel like SUCH an Ugly American driving this thing!
End of Day 1
French time 9:15 PM
So I just posted several things in a row, but I finally figured out how to get internet access in my hotel room, so I am catching up.
All in all today went mostly well. The flights and getting to the hotel went off without a hitch. I couldn't fall asleep this morning (though almost did this afternoon) and so I'm pretty tired right now. Work was fairly non-stressful - had a tour of the factory, met lots of people whose names I do not remember, met with the Quality Director/Manager, entertained some guys with my inability to work a car. Everyone seems very nice so far.
Dinner was on my own tonight, which was okay because I am close to dead tired and didn't want to be out late. I'm staying in a B&B that serves dinner as well. It is run by a husband and wife, and she does the cooking. Oh. My. God. I am in heaven. Three course dinner, and that's only because I was too stuffed to have dessert. Pea soup (at least, I think that's what it was). Salad with some type of zesty oil dressing. Pork tenderloin with wild French mushrooms in demi-glace, risotto, stewed celery (sounds weird, tastes like applesauce), and a cooked artichoke heart. And of course, French baguette, with a local red wine to wash it all down. Delicious delicious delicious!
HOWEVER. There is definitely a language barrier here. My high school French is not just rusty, it's a big ol' pile of corrosion. I can understand maybe 1 word out of 10 or 12 (and they're not useful words, just "with" and "now" and "how's it going") and while I can mostly plan out a sentence in my head for what I want to say, somehow I can't get it out in French and just stick with the English. So I have a long way to go on that.
But over all, today was good! And now, I am heading off to sleep. Aahhh, sleep.
Bonne nuit!
So I just posted several things in a row, but I finally figured out how to get internet access in my hotel room, so I am catching up.
All in all today went mostly well. The flights and getting to the hotel went off without a hitch. I couldn't fall asleep this morning (though almost did this afternoon) and so I'm pretty tired right now. Work was fairly non-stressful - had a tour of the factory, met lots of people whose names I do not remember, met with the Quality Director/Manager, entertained some guys with my inability to work a car. Everyone seems very nice so far.
Dinner was on my own tonight, which was okay because I am close to dead tired and didn't want to be out late. I'm staying in a B&B that serves dinner as well. It is run by a husband and wife, and she does the cooking. Oh. My. God. I am in heaven. Three course dinner, and that's only because I was too stuffed to have dessert. Pea soup (at least, I think that's what it was). Salad with some type of zesty oil dressing. Pork tenderloin with wild French mushrooms in demi-glace, risotto, stewed celery (sounds weird, tastes like applesauce), and a cooked artichoke heart. And of course, French baguette, with a local red wine to wash it all down. Delicious delicious delicious!
HOWEVER. There is definitely a language barrier here. My high school French is not just rusty, it's a big ol' pile of corrosion. I can understand maybe 1 word out of 10 or 12 (and they're not useful words, just "with" and "now" and "how's it going") and while I can mostly plan out a sentence in my head for what I want to say, somehow I can't get it out in French and just stick with the English. So I have a long way to go on that.
But over all, today was good! And now, I am heading off to sleep. Aahhh, sleep.
Bonne nuit!
La voiture automatique
French time 5:05 PM
How the hell do I put this thing in gear? Or even get the parking brake off??
This is not a great picture, and I will try to get a better one tomorrow, but I had lots of fun trying to start my rental car today. There were 3 guys out front of the building smoking and I practically had them in hysterics. (One of them did help me!) So this is what we learned today about starting an automatic transmission car in Europe.
1. The car will not turn over unless your foot is on the brake.
2. The lever on the right hand side of the steering column that is the same size as a gear shift in the US? Yeah, that's the wipers/windshield wash. Repeatedly trying to shift with this will only make the onlookers laugh harder.
3. The little lever at the top of the steering column that looks like an out-of-place turn signal lever? Yeah, that's what you shift with.
3a. R = reverse. At least this is intuitive.
3b. N = neutral. Also intuitive. But important to know, the car will not turn over unless it is in neutral, nor will it allow the parking brake to be set (more on this later).
3c. A = automatic shift. Revs a bit much when it does so, but at least it does not involve Kate trying to get out of first without stalling.
3d. M = manual shift. No, there is no clutch. Yes, I can manually shift the gears with the short levers on either side of the steering column. I will be trying this once I'm slightly more comfortable with the whole driving in a foreign country thing, because it seems like all the fun of manually shifting without all the mucking about with clutching and stalling. Win-win for everyone.
4. There is no release lever for the parking brake. Do not bother looking for one. Just put your foot on the gas and the brake will release.
5. So you made it through 5 roundabouts and 2 small villages without killing yourself, the car, or any innocent French citizens. What, now you want to park the car? Use foot brake to stop, put car in neutral, and hit big "P" button in center of dash console to set parking brake. Do not absentmindedly hit red button directly below "P", unless you feel the need to turn the hazards on.
How the hell do I put this thing in gear? Or even get the parking brake off??
This is not a great picture, and I will try to get a better one tomorrow, but I had lots of fun trying to start my rental car today. There were 3 guys out front of the building smoking and I practically had them in hysterics. (One of them did help me!) So this is what we learned today about starting an automatic transmission car in Europe.
1. The car will not turn over unless your foot is on the brake.
2. The lever on the right hand side of the steering column that is the same size as a gear shift in the US? Yeah, that's the wipers/windshield wash. Repeatedly trying to shift with this will only make the onlookers laugh harder.
3. The little lever at the top of the steering column that looks like an out-of-place turn signal lever? Yeah, that's what you shift with.
3a. R = reverse. At least this is intuitive.
3b. N = neutral. Also intuitive. But important to know, the car will not turn over unless it is in neutral, nor will it allow the parking brake to be set (more on this later).
3c. A = automatic shift. Revs a bit much when it does so, but at least it does not involve Kate trying to get out of first without stalling.
3d. M = manual shift. No, there is no clutch. Yes, I can manually shift the gears with the short levers on either side of the steering column. I will be trying this once I'm slightly more comfortable with the whole driving in a foreign country thing, because it seems like all the fun of manually shifting without all the mucking about with clutching and stalling. Win-win for everyone.
4. There is no release lever for the parking brake. Do not bother looking for one. Just put your foot on the gas and the brake will release.
5. So you made it through 5 roundabouts and 2 small villages without killing yourself, the car, or any innocent French citizens. What, now you want to park the car? Use foot brake to stop, put car in neutral, and hit big "P" button in center of dash console to set parking brake. Do not absentmindedly hit red button directly below "P", unless you feel the need to turn the hazards on.
Arrival
11:45 AM French time
I am in
The trip over went well with no problems. The flight from
For 7 AM on a Monday morning, the
My room is very nice with a country ski chalet motif. A little on the small side, but then again, this is
This is the room, looking from the door.
And the rest of the room (I told you it was small!)
And the view from the window.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
France!
I still can't believe I am going. TOMORROW. Crazy! T-minus not very many hours and I will be out of here.
Things left to do:
pay a couple of bills
grab addresses to send people postcards
oh yeah, PACK!
Things left to do:
pay a couple of bills
grab addresses to send people postcards
oh yeah, PACK!
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