Wishing you a very Happy New Year as 2013 gets off to a flying start!!
A couple of weeks lapping up the relaxing lifestyle and beauty of the south of France, a night out to welcome the arrival of the new year, a trip to Perpignan, followed by a magical trip to the snow of the Pyrenees...all in all, 2013 has kick started in fine fashion!
The beauty of the Pyrenees (and a couple of amateurs acting like they know what they're doing!)
We celebrated the arrival of 2013 French style, spending it with Aurelie’s family where we enjoyed an exquisite four course dinner at a family friend’s restaurant. We were welcomed with the obligatory glasses of champagne, delicious appetisers and quickly got into the festivities of the evening. As the countdown to midnight commenced, glittering streamers and party poppers exploded in all directions. 2012 had been an exceptionally dynamic year for us, but our thoughts quickly moved on to what lays ahead in 2013...no doubt a very productive year awaits!
Very civilised in the early part of our New Year's celebrations
After a week of relaxing, cycling and soaking up the Southern French lifestyle and great variety of traditional French cuisines (tough times!!), we headed to Perpignan, which rests just above the French/Spanish border, where we spent a weekend catching up with Aurelie’s grandmother and extended family.
Aurelie doesn’t get the chance to catch up with them too often so the idea of spending some quality time with them was of great appeal. Even simple things like taking the dog for a walk, playing with her nephew or helping out in the kitchen were real treats. Unsurprisingly, we were spoilt with the local specialities of the region and certainly indulged! The highlight of this food feast had to be the home made paella, a family favourite! Shane was also presented with a surprise birthday cake and a rousing rendition of 'joyeux anniversaire'....another year ticked off on his personal calendar.
The local Paella...Bon appetit!
Carbo-loaded and full of energy, we then headed straight to Font Romeu, a little ski village high up in the Pyrenees. Font Romeu is apparently the sunniest town in France, bizarre given it rests in the heart of ski country, but they've built the largest solar oven in the world there so we trust that this is correct!
Day 1 was spent exploring the surrounding mountains via a 3 hour trek traversing through the snow-capped mountain. Impressive as it was, we were there to ski, so we wasted no more time, before collecting our ski gear and heading up to where all the action happens.
Conditions were absolutely perfect! Powdery white snow, sun shining and a balmy 17 or 18 degrees greeted us at the top of the mountain. The only thing missing was Shane's skiing ability!!
Aurelie in fine form...Very very smooth!!!
Shane on the other hand had never skied before and took to skiing like a semi trailor to a sand dune! Arms and legs were flying all over the place and apparently the breaks on the ski's that he had been given weren't working!
Aurelie took great great pleasure in watching him stutter and stumble his way down the mountain in the early stages (sympathetic as ever!). Fortunately this did not last too long as Shane finally found his ski legs and ended up 'comfortably' winning the much anticipated match race...the final run of our ski adventure!
Shane showing off his technique that's certainly 'not' straight out of the text book!
Great experience this little adventure and one that will certainly be repeated in years to come!
We then headed back to Aurelie's parents for our final weekend in France, where we squeezed in one last cycle, a 65km effort up La Nesque (15km climb that rises to just over 700m), before packing our bags and preparing to head off tomorrow for 3 1/2 months in Africa.
First stop is Nairobi, Kenya where we'll spend a month volunteering in a little orphanage.
This is going to be an interesting part of the adventure this one!
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