Our second trip to La Plagne this season was a very social affair due to the presence of our friends the Alabasters, including Elisa's sisters Christa and Samia, and the Tcherdakoffs. It was also a rather odd vacation for us, as Nick missed out on the week due to school work.

Though we were missing Nick, we had a great week nonetheless. The conditions started off quite balmy, with highs on Saturday and Sunday of 14C at 2000m. The result of the warm weather was the snow was very soft and the skating rink was unusable. However, the conditions improved on Monday, and by Tuesday is was quite chilly and the conditions had become icy at low levels.

Alexandre managed to get out of ski school, due partly to the excess demand for lessons at his level, which made him extremely happy. Andreas took lessons for his Deuxieme Etoile, and while he just missed passing (which would have been a spectacular result given his age and given none of our other kids accomplished it on their first tries either), his skiing skills improved massively thoughout the week and by the end he was mastering difficult red runs. Katie split her time between skiing and snowboarding (she received all new equipment for both at Christmas), and her skills at both were impressive, doing some difficult off-piste skiing with Kevin and getting quite solid on the snowboard.

Social activities began by celebrating Kate's birthday on the Saturday of our arrival at our favourite restaurant, L'Arlequin. We spent the first three evenings watching the X-Men trilogy with the Alabasters. On Wednesday night we enjoyed a raclette dinner in our apartment, followed by a raucous game of "Donkey" that nearly sent Katie into an asthma attack from the laughter. We also got to know the restaurant Au Bon Vieux Temps at the bottom of the Golf piste in front of our building, where the adults went out for dinner on Thursday night. That evening started with walking/sliding down the piste to get to the restaurant then beginning with Tequila Sunrises and finishing with La Grolle (http://www.sports-sante.com/index.php/cocktail-savoyard-recette-de-la-grolle-savoyarde) and then climbing back up the piste to return to our apartments. As always, we also repeatedly enjoyed the restaurant, L'Arlequin, where we appreciate the hospitality of the owners, Georges & Monique.

We also caught up with Theo and Caroline, who own & operate the outdoor skating rink of Aime la Plagne, and we are very hopeful they continue to enjoy success to ensure the rink remains open and operating for years to come (it was closed for the first 5 years we started going to La Plagne).

Check out the plan of the pistes at La Plagne and the connected Paradiski resorts here http://www.paradiski.com/skiplan/skiplan.htm.



080301_01_Katie sledding in La Plagne.JPG

080301_02_Andreas sledding in La Plagne.JPG

080301_03_Alexandre sledding in La Plagne.JPG

080301_04_Alexandre sledding in La Plagne.JPG

080301_04_Peaks of La Plagne in setting sun.JPG

080301_05_Peaks of La Plagne in setting sun.JPG

080301_06_Peaks of La Plagne in setting sun.JPG

080301_07_Peaks of La Plagne in setting sun.JPG

080301_08_Elisa, Samia and Christa.JPG

080301_09_Francesca, Elisa, Samia, Christa & Richard.JPG

080301_10_Andreas, Kevin and Alexandre.JPG

080301_11_Kate, Andreas, Kevin, Alexandre & Katie.JPG

080301_12_Kate, Andreas, Kevin, Alexandre & Katie.JPG

080302_01_Alexandre on the piste.JPG

080302_02_Alexandre on the piste.JPG

080302_03_Alexandre & Katie on the piste.JPG

080302_04_Katie & Alexandre relax on the deck of Verdun Sud.JPG

080302_05_Katie & Alexandre relax on the deck of Verdun Sud.JPG

080302_06_Katie, Alexandre & Kevin relax on the deck of Verdun Sud.JPG

080302_07_Alexandre & Katie with awesome background.JPG

080302_08_Alexandre & Katie with awesome background.JPG

080302_09_Katie & Alexandre in canyon 'half-pipe'.JPG

080302_10_Group shot at Au Bon Vieux Temps.JPG

080302_11_Andreas grumpy at Au Bon Vieux Temps.JPG

080302_12_Alexandre chilling at Au Bon Vieux Temps.JPG

080303_01_Kate, Christa, Elisa and Samia on piste.JPG

080303_02_Katie, Alexandre and Kate on chairlift.JPG

080303_03_Katie, Alexandre and Kate on chairlift.JPG

080303_04_Valley from chairlift.JPG

080303_05_Alexandre, Kate & Katie above Aime La Plagne.JPG

080303_06_Alexandre, Kate & Katie above Aime La Plagne.JPG

080303_07_Alexandre, Kate & Katie above Aime La Plagne.JPG

080303_08_Alexandre, Kate & Katie above Aime La Plagne.JPG

080303_09_Richard joins for lunch at Verdons Sud.JPG

080303_10_Alexandre, Katie & Andreas at lunch at Verdons Sud.JPG

080303_11_Katie & Andreas at lunch at Verdons Sud.JPG

080303_12_Alexandre & Katie at lunch at Verdons Sud.JPG

080303_13_Katie & Andreas at lunch at Verdons Sud.JPG

080303_14_Kevin at lunch at Verdons Sud.JPG

080304_01_Kate, Alexandre, Andreas, Katie & Francesca.JPG

080304_02_Alexandre plays in the snow.JPG

080304_03_Andreas plays in the snow.JPG

080304_04_Alexandre & Andreas play in the snow.JPG

080304_05_Alexandre plays in snow cave.JPG

080304_06_Andreas plays in snow cave.JPG

080304_07_Andreas poses in snow cave.JPG

080304_08_Instructor digs new snow cave.JPG

080304_09_Andreas in new snow cave.JPG

080304_10_Andreas in new snow cave.JPG

080304_11_Andreas in new snow cave.JPG

080304_12_Dinner at L'Arlequin with Tcherdakoffs.JPG

080304_13_Dinner at L'Arlequin with Tcherdakoffs.JPG

080304_14_Dinner at L'Arlequin with Tcherdakoffs.JPG

080304_15_Dinner at L'Arlequin with Tcherdakoffs.JPG

080305_01_Katie on the snowboard.JPG

080305_02_Katie on the snowboard.JPG

080305_03_Katie on the snowboard.JPG

080305_04_Katie on the snowboard.JPG

080305_05_Francesca races.JPG

080305_06_Francesca races.JPG

080305_07_Francesca finishes her race.JPG

080305_08_Francesca finishes her race.JPG

080305_09_Andreas races for 2ème étoile.JPG

080305_10_Andreas races for 2ème étoile.JPG

080305_11_Andreas races for 2ème étoile.JPG

080305_12_Andreas races for 2ème étoile.JPG

080305_13_Andreas races for 2ème étoile.JPG

080305_14_Andreas races for 2ème étoile.JPG

080305_15_Andreas races for 2ème étoile.JPG

080305_16_Andreas races for 2ème étoile.JPG

080305_17_Andreas races for 2ème étoile.JPG

080305_18_Andreas & Francesca after race.JPG

080305_19_Andreas after race.JPG

080305_20_Francesca after race.JPG

080305_21_Elisa, Samia and Christa.JPG

080305_22_Andreas in front of Au Bon Vieux Temps.JPG

080305_23_Alexandre, Kevin, Andreas & Katie.JPG

080305_24_Alexandre, Kevin, Andreas & Katie.JPG

080305_25_Andreas, Kevin, Alexandre & Katie.JPG

080305_26_Andreas, Katie, Kevin & Alexandre.JPG

080305_27_Andreas gets race booty.JPG

080305_28_Andreas gets race booty.JPG

080305_29_Francesca gets race booty.JPG

080305_30_Katie, Andreas and Alexandre play hockey.JPG

080305_31_Katie, Andreas and Alexandre play hockey.JPG

080305_32_Katie, Andreas and Alexandre play hockey.JPG

080305_33_Raclette dinner in the apartment.JPG

080305_34_Raclette dinner in the apartment.JPG

080305_35_Raclette dinner in the apartment.JPG

080305_36_Alexandre and Andreas enjoy ham dinner in the apartment.JPG

080306_33_Alexandre with Mont Blanc in background.JPG

080306_34_Alexandre with Mont Blanc in background.JPG

080306_35_Francesca on top of Verdon Nord.JPG

080306_36_Alexandre, Francesca & Elisa.JPG

080306_37_Alexandre, Francesca & Elisa.JPG

080306_38_Kate, Alexandre, Francesca & Elisa.JPG

080306_39_Andreas, Kate, Francesca & Elisa.JPG

080306_40_Group shot at Verdons Sud.JPG

080306_41_Group shot at Verdons Sud.JPG

080306_42_Group shot at Verdons Sud.JPG

080306_43_Group shot at Verdons Sud.JPG

080307_01_Lunch on the terrace of aime 2000.JPG

080307_02_Katie in front of tunnel from Roche de Mio.JPG

080307_03_Katie with La Plagne in background.JPG

080307_04_Katie with La Plagne in background.JPG

080307_04_Kevin with La Plagne in background.JPG

080307_05_Katie with La Plagne in background.JPG

080307_05_Katie with La Plagne in background_full.JPG

080307_06_La Plagne in background.JPG

080307_07_La Plagne in background.JPG

080307_08_Katie La Plagne in background.JPG

080307_09_Jorge flaming our dinner.JPG

080307_10_Katie in L'Arlequin.JPG

080307_11_Kevin in L'Arlequin.JPG

080307_12_Alexandre in L'Arlequin.JPG

080307_13_Kate in L'Arlequin.JPG

080307_14_Andreas in L'Arlequin.JPG

Les Arcs Plan des Pistes.jpg

plan-des-pistes-la-plagne.jpg