Ski Day #6 At Le Semnoz

Date: Sunday, 23rd February, 2014

I've been hesitating to put up this post until some follow up that happened today. 

The day started off by getting the snowboard, I got the last one in my size luckily. However getting up the slope was proving difficult. So many people had been using the lifts on skis that there were major track marks and I was having trouble getting my balance on the board on these marks so in the end I stuck to the green slopes because the lifts were easier too. After a couple of runs I started to get into the swing of things again, but my last run went kind of wrong. I was trying to slow myself down by leaning back on the board a little, but I leant too far (like usual... but hey, I'm only a beginner!) and fell on my bum. Usually I put my hands out to stop my bum taking all my weight, and usually I'm ok; this time for some reason the thumb on my right hand was pointing straight down into the snow, like so...

Because the snow was so compact on the slopes, my thumb got stuck but the rest of my hand and I kept sliding forward, so my thumb bent in an awkward position like this but further than I can make it go...

I noticed it hurt quite a lot at the time, but because my hands were quite cold I didn't know how bad it was. That night my knuckle swelled and I could barely bend my thumb. I went to the doctors on Monday and she told me I had to wear an immobilising thumb/write brace because there was a chance I'd fractured the knuckle! Luckily the wrist brace was kindly provided for by social security, and I arranged for the x-ray to be done on Thursday (today). 

Today I had the x-ray, and it showed that nothing is broken! Yipee! I've apparently just twisted it quite badly. I'm supposed to keep wearing the brace but it all honestly I feel better without it because otherwise my thumb just gets stiff. I'm going to wear it to bed because I'm worried I'll move it awkwardly in my sleep and hurt it even more, but the good news is it's not broken and I don't have to wear the brace for a long time! Here in France you get to keep a copy of your x-rays, so here's mine for you lovely lot to see; you should be able to click on the pictures to make them bigger...

Ski Day #5 At Le Semnoz

Date: Saturday, 15th February, 2014

Today was a little bit different to the previous ski days... First off we weren't at La Clusaz, we went to a place called Le Semnoz which is about 30 minutes drive from Annecy town centre and it's much smaller than La Clusaz. Secondly, I tried snowboarding for the first time! I'm not great at it but I find it a lot easier and a lot more enjoyable than skiing, despite falling over so many times! Luckily I didn't injure myself, apart from a lovely bruise on my knee where I fell off the button lift and landed on the edge of my board... but I think I did pretty well for my first day. I even managed to go down a blue slope, which I have yet to manage succesfully on skis!

Trying French Food: Croque Monsieur/Madame

The Croque Monsieur originates from a Parisian café in 1910 located on the Boulevard des Capucines. The recipe varies depending on the region, but the main ingredients are sliced bread (pain de mie), cheese (gruyère or emmental rapé), and ham (jambon). I make it the way my au pair family in Laval made it, which also includes crème fraîche. If you wish to turn your Croque Monsieur into a Croque Madame, simply add a fried egg (œuf sur le plat) on top! 

Start by placing your slices of bread onto a tray, and adding the ham to the bottom slice. You don't have to cut up your ham, but I think it's easier to quarter it and then you can make the ham fit the shape of the bread!

Mix some cream and cheese together in a bowl and add it onto the ham.

Place the other slice of bread on top, and add some more of the cream/cheese mixture to the top slice.

Place your Croque Monsieurs in the oven at 180°C and cook until the cheese goes golden brown on top.

Your Croque Monsieurs are now ready to eat!

I turned mine into Croque Madame's by adding a fried egg on top.

Trying French Food: Raclette

Date: Saturday, 8th February, 2014

Raclette is a typical French meal that involves the best French food: cheese. Raclette is a type of cheese that is made from cow's milk and it most often used for melting. The term raclette comes from the French verb "racler" which means 'to scrape', but the meal is originally from Switzerland. As I live in the Haute-Savoie here in France, a lot of the food is similar to parts of Switzerland as they are more Savoyard traditions.

Raclette involves melting cheese, traditionally by a fire but nowadays machines exist for the purpose of melting the cheese in small, individualised trays that allow diners to melt their own pieces of cheese at their own pace. Typical accompaniments include potatoes, meat (usually ham and sausage), pickled onions, and gherkins. Unfortunately I didn't know about the pickled onions or gherkins so they weren't included in our soirée.

My landlady was going out and she owns a raclette machine, I asked her if it was ok for me to invite some friends round and to use the machine, and luckily she said yes! So I had 7 people round and served raclette for all 8 of us! The meats I had in the selection were some sort of sausage (possible salami?), chorizo, parma ham and bacon. We also had a salad, and, as is French tradition, lots of fresh bread. Personally I think the night was a success; we ate a lot and it wasn't too much effort to put the whole evening together. The only problem was trying to fit 8 people round our table when realistically it will comfortably seat 6!

Ski Day #4 At La Clusaz

Visit Date: Saturday, 8th February 2014

Once again I returned to La Clusaz, dreading doing any skiing because of the terrible experience I had with the blue piste last time. This time I stuck to a green, and the first run was pretty daunting but I managed it. I eventually got my confidence back and by the 4th run I managed the whole run without stopping once! Here are some photos from the day, including my friend G on her snowboard.

Views of Lake Annecy

Date: Friday, 10th January, 2014

Earlier on in January I decided to take a walk by the edge of the lake since I had the Friday off; I randomly met one of my friends, G, on the bus so we walked together and here's some of the photos! It was a really beautiful evening too.