Some friends had very geneously said that we could stay in their apartment, but we decided to camp instead beause we like to camp. Samoens is beautiful, it is right in the Alps with big mountains all around and it is a reasonably sized town with lots of shops and patisseries and a market on Wednesday. the campsite is next to the river and looks up big valleys. It is at a height of about 1700 m above sea level.Have a look here at some pictures of samoens.
Some other friends, the Coopers were also staying there in their apartment and as they are also a rock climbing , outdoorsy family, we knew we were going to have a great holiday.
The waether was not great, there was a lot of rain and in fact our tent seemed to be pitched above a natural stream so everything got quite wet. But we did som very fun things, like rafting. the water was so high that they had to move the start as the gorge was too dangerous but it was such fun and althought I find that I am very anxious about matilda, she loved it and was the one that asked could we all stand up in the raft. The guide was very careful and nice and responsible so we all got out alive like almost all rafters.
We did a lot of climbing. 9 days. Everywhere somehwere differnt. luckily the Coopers know where to go and we had some guide books so could find the places. All bolted. We had some lovely days with all the kids climbing, all except Matilda and I and Jay leading and it was just like a regular climbing trip. Toby was ooooo keen, he could not have had a better time. We got him a new rucksac and he even wanted to carry it loaded up with ropes and water. Theo is now a very good climber and why not as he is 5 foot 11 inches and counting and looks a lot like a french bean. Noone wanted to belay him as he was so fast it was just too hard.
Harry took the kids on a Via Ferrata, i decided not to go as I was cramping matilda's style and she went on to have a brilliant day and I was saved the worry.
One day we went to a very old fashioned cafe with a very old hostess who was a bit perplexed that we were 11 people and we all wanted a hot drink. 4 coffees and 7 hot chocolates. The cafe was very dark from all the years of smoking, it had some large faded pictures of alpine scenes which turned out to be jigsaw puzzzles, Jay is a jigsaw enthusiast and we were investigating them to determine how many pieces 5000? 10000? As we were counting a sample corner, we imagined the catastrophe of the jigsaws collapsing with the ancient glue failing to hold it up against the constant force of gravity... We imagined how the pieces would get stuck in your hair. There was quite a long time to build this scenario up into a full blown horror show complicated by the fact that Toby somehow got his arm stuck in his chair and then Theo while replicating the movement also got stuck. We imagined how we would beable to make a quick exit with bits of jigsaw falling off us and chairs stuck on arms which then might well get entanled in the ancient vine that was wending across the ceiling. The coffee etc still had not come. then the door opened and another lady came in, she had been summoned to help, then a third lady came. Shortly after, the coffee was served, the boys got their arms out of the chairs and order was restored. Everyone smiled and laughed a lot. The old lady whose cafe it was could relax and cunt the money.
We went on a brilliant walk (although at the time, i found it hard going) up to the refuge de sales . Have a look at his website, it is beautiful. While having a well deserved coka cola at the refuge, Theo saw a group of people which he said looked like the groups that he had seen photos of in our earlier albums. the guys with the beards, the heavy back packs, all spread out in the sun, the non-fashion clothing. He was quite struck by this and I think he thought that these photos represented the 'olden days' and it was like coming across people plowing with horses, you just don't believe it happens anymore.
On this walk we went through some Alpine Meadows which were in full flower. I had never thought about meadows except that they were all about the flowers, what comes with flowers? butterflies and bees and all sorts of other insects too. Reclining on the meadow with our honey sonadwiches we became a kind of target for these insects and were soon all hosting about 10 butterflies and assorted others as well. It became a bit freaky and reminded Harry and I of the time that we had walked through the butterfly forest on Hinchinbrook island with the millions of blue butterflies which after 10 minutes became a nightmare.
This was all week one.
In week 2 we did much the same sort of things, every morning, walk to the boulangerie to buy assorted delicacies and eat them, then hang up all our things to dry then go to the Coopers flat to plan the days activity then set out. back for dinner in the evening at the flat and games of cards, bottles of wine and lots of laughs, then back to the tent, creeping becuase we got back each night after the curfew.
The big walk in the 2nd week was to Lac Blanc. We drove to Chamonix and caught the telepherique up to 2400 metres, directly opposite Mt Blanc, over the road really. The panorama of mountains was mind blowing. It was a hard days walking, Harry forgets about Matilda's ailments (the knee thing, the plantar fasciatus) and really should do a differnt trip but he was so excited about taking the kids to the alps, his spiritual home tha he could not resist taking usoff the beatd track. there were many many people in the mountains as it it was the ony nice day for the week. It was a hard day for Matilda and but well worth it. We saw some chamoix and some marmots and the lake is very beautiful. When we got back to the chairlift, there was a huge queue to go down. It took more than an hour! The can move 550 people in an hour it says on the sign. There were probably another 600 people behind us when we finally got on.
The drive back was pretty good. We stayed in Dijon, my new favourite town and mustard. It is beautiful and ancient. It was the seat of the Dukes of Burgundy and they knew how to make a town splendid. We were there on Saturday and there were 5 weddings that we were in the photos of. Everyone elaborately dressed (except us) and they drive around after beeping car horns on the ay to the party. We had a lovely meal of steak and chips. On the way to the meal, we encountered a performance artist who was just laughing. That seemed to be the act she just laughed and there was a small crowd standing around laughing at her in a kind of obliging but confused fashion. As we approached, in full view of the crowd and the artist, harry slipped over in a huge dog pooh. Then they laughed, oh, how they laughed. there is no substitute for a real laugh. We al laughed too, even harry who was then stuck with the pooh removal task, also funny. But hewas a good sport about it.
All too soon we were back in Chilworth for our last night in our house while it was stiull habitable. The holiday over.
Chicago in the Summer
11 years ago
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