My Trip with AVF

I joined a group about a month ago called AVF that welcomes newcomers to Chambery. While most of them speak only French, there are a few that speak English. I went on my first trip with them to Peisey, France. The town is in the same region as Chambery (Savoie) but is only 20 km from the Italian border. It is pretty high up in the mountains and actually snowed while we were there! I was so not prepared for that.

We visited a church within the town to observe this Baroque style altar. Baroque was an era in the history of Western culture whose art exemplified drama and exuberance (and yes, I looked that up). There are over 1,000 angel faces in this piece of art. The sculptures are made from mountain pine and covered in gold leaf.

Don't even ask me the name of this church. I lost it all in translation. I did have help though, from a friend who briefed me in English what I had missed from the French speaking tour guide. The trip would not have had as much fun without his help and the help from others!

This is a typical style house found on the steep hills of the town. I still don't know how the bus made it up here and how I managed not to get motion sick on the way up (or back down).

Just a Walk

We went to see this waterfall, Sentier des Cascades, the day after Easter. It was on the map of places we should see, thoughtfully created by one of Max's French co-workers. It was only about a twenty minute walk from our apartment.

Day trip to Beaune, France

Nicely preserved from the Middle Ages, the Hospice de Beaune was built in 1443 and served as a hospital for the poor. The roof of the courtyard buildings are covered in multicolored tiles. Besides the wine cellars, it is the main attraction in Beaune (about 40km south of Dijon). We thought we'd easily be able to see this building in such a small town, but we found out after circling the outer walls that the only way to get any sort of view of this building was to pay for admission.

The city of Beaune is the unofficial wine capital of the Burgundy region. We went to visit the winery Patriarche: Pere et Fils, home to one of the largest wine cellars in Burgundy. We wanted to learn more about wine (and of course test a bunch of samples).

The caves in these cellars span 15,000 square meters and run under the buildings and streets of the city above. Neighboring cellars, some dating back to the 14th century, have been linked together to allow for expansion.

The cellar we visited held 4 million bottles of wine, ranging from the year 1904 to today. Four million bottles of wine, so little time.

At the end of the tour, we got to sample about 14 different wines! We were given little tins to sip from. We rated each wine and at the end, we bought a couple of the ones we liked (and could afford).

A Weekend in Monaco

This was the view from our hotel room! We felt very lucky to have gotten a room with a bacloney, and a great view of the harbor and ocean. Monaco was a good "first trip" for us because we could drive there (5 hours) and it was small enough that we could explore without getting ourselves too lost.






The Cathedrale du Monaco was a surprising highlight of the trip. It was my first peek inside a European church.

While walking around the city, we came across this Bugatti. Of course I didn't know what it was but Max made no hesitation in getting this shot (bottom) with his Blackberry. Apparently there are only about 133 of them and they list at $1.5 million. Looking out for these types of cars made our walks that much more interesting.

Getting around the city wasn't always easy (especially in heels). There were so many steep hills that often, to get from one street to the other, we would have to walk up (or down) several flights of stairs or take one of the public elevators. There were even elevators to take cars to the private garages. Space is definitely a commodity here.


Here is the Palais du Prince (Prince's Palace). We read somewhere that each prince leaves their own addition on the palace, which doesn't make it one of the prettiest palaces but the view from it's cliff makes up for any short comings.








Here is the Oceanographi
que de Monaco. I think marine life is fascinating, so does Max to some degree. When we read that this aquarium was one of the best in Europe, it gave us another reason to want to visit Monaco.


The aquarium has over 90 tanks, all of which has a unique or exotic display. We went early, but not early enough to miss to the bus of teens who arrived at the same time. I don't think "personal space" is understood by all cultures! (You know who you are). It was an awesome way to spend the morning.

Here we are in front of the Monte-Carlo Casino with the Hotel de Paris to the right. Some nice guy, obviously seeing we were tourist and being American himself, took this (botton) picture for us. We got dressed up the next day (jacket and tie required), paid to get in the casino, and then proceeded to lose money. We had a lot of fun though and the place was so beautiful inside.

This is the Monte-Carlo Casino at night. We sat at the Cafe de Paris, had an overpriced drink, and watched all the cars and people passing by. I have never seen so many Lamborghini's, Ferrari's, Rolls-Royce's, and Bentley's in one place! It was impressive, even to someone who doesn't know a lot about cars.

A Job, Well .... Done!

Ok, so we have all the lights up now that we're going to put up. Apparently, it is not uncommon to rent an apartment here with no light fixtures on the walls (top, before) or ceilings.                                                                                                                                                            



Luckily, our kitchen came equipped with things like counters, cabinets, a stove, a fridge, etc., so hanging new light fixtures seemed like all the work we'd have to do. Well, after 3 trips to Ikea, 19 purchased fixtures, tripping the circuit breaker (how many times?), and almost blowing up our volt meter (FYI, the voltage is a lot stronger here), we are ready to get out of the apartment for the weekend. J

Max's Ski Trip

Max went skiing with his group from work! The trip was "obligatory" with the intent to boost moral. Hey, whatever works! I think he really enjoyed it and now when someone asks him if he's been skiing yet (like they do everyday) he can say "yes"! (Max is in the middle of the back row in this picture).

I didn't go with them, and I'm glad I didn't. Max said he was trying hard to keep up with everyone, which means I would have had multiple yard sales on the bunny hill! The ski lift at the right of this picture continues to another set of peaks on the other side!

We Have Our Furniture!

We're so excited to have the rest our belongings in the apartment! It only took the movers 2 hours from start to finish. They set up a lift on the street and the lift came over the top of our balcony. Two men stayed below to load the lift while two men stayed in the apartment to unload it and help us unpack boxes. The whole process was very efficient.

Our freight shipment was in the red container on the back of the truck. During the move, one of the boxes fell from the top of the lift to the street five stories below. Luckily the only thing in it was a lampshade! The expression on the mover's face was priceless. "Quelle chance, quelle chance", he said or what luck, what luck!

Day Trip to Annecy, France

Lac d'Annecy (Annecy Lake) is a beautiful lake near the center of the city. There is a large park surrounding it, with lots of people out enjoying the weather. Annecy is about the same size as Chambery but is more touristy.

Max standing on the Pont des Amours, a bridge that goes over a river at the end of Annecy Lake. The water is so clear from the moutain snow. (If you find out what Pont des Amours means, I'll blush).







Palais de l'Isle is a castle in the center of a canal in Annecy. It was built in 1132 and served as a prison from the Middle Ages until 1865.

There are a lot of shops, cafes, and ice cream places nearby. The ice cream is really good!



A swan swimming / walking in the canal. (It wasn't very deep yet.)

This is the Chateau d'Annecy (Annecy Castle). It was built between the 12th and 16th centuries. It's located on top of a steep hill, which I managed to partially fall down before Max caught me! I'm graceful, what can I say. It was abandoned in the 17th century, then later restored. Now, it serves as a museum of art. Max is standing just right of the entryway, all the way back there.

It's Funny Because It's True

Here is a link to an essay written by an American living in France about the wonders of French appliances.

http://www.americansinfrance.net/DailyLife/French-Appliances.cfm

If you read it, you'll understand my domestic frustrations. Ha!

Painting Our Bedroom

BEFORE - This is our bedroom before we decided to paint it. It's brighter than it looks, but not as colorful as our neon green guest room! Paint is a little pricey here but we wanted to make our room feel like our own since we're going to be here for a while.

AFTER - Max picked out this color and we both thought it was a lot more calming and soothing then the bright yellow/orange. We just can't wait to put our furniture in there. Our bed is in the living room right now serving dual purpose as a couch.

Our New Apartment

So, here we are at our apartment in Chambery, France! It's still hard to believe we live here and can look out our balcony and see this view.

                                                                        




  We didn't know the mountains were that close when we chose this place back in January. It wasn't until we came back in February and were dropping something off at the apartment that the haze lifted long enough for us to see everything.