Being an intentional ski village meant there were absolutely no cars at all - the closest they came were very active snow ploughs - and you literally stepped out of the door and put on your skis!
We headed out to hire our ski equipment - and were very pleased to have Thomas do the liaising in French! Margaux found a very narrow staircase in the store and, with some concerns for her safety, I attentively watched her proceed to alleviate her boredom by climbing up and down the steps.
Bronwen had booked a lesson for us two that afternoon, which I was both looking forward to and feeling some trepidation about... Well. I couldn't even stand up on my skis, let alone do the 'duck walk' (trying to walk forward while wearing skis). I had such difficulty getting my skis attached and I fell off so many times that I bruised my shins and any sense of dignity I may have possessed before the lesson.
In a lovely show of support, Thomas and Margaux came to watch... one day I hope I'll find the footage (photos AND videos) that he took of that first day as something funny rather than pure embarrassment!
(So in the above collage, the first pic is how the village looked; the second is of Bron and I feeling confident before our lesson; then there's a view of the slope we learnt on, as seen from the balcony of our apartment; and finally there is a miniscule image of me in the photo, but thankfully that isn't very visible and what you focus on is the gorgeous view from the slope we 'skied' on.)
Bron, on the other hand, took to it like a duck to water. After about 20 minutes she was shouting, 'I'm addicted!' and skiing her way effortlessly to the bottom of the slope.
We finished the day with plans to practise tomorrow and perhaps schedule private 1:1 lessons to cater for our differing levels of competence...
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