April 29, 2010, La Grave

Our buddy Tom showed up last night, having just come directly from the US to Milan, and then driving four hours to our gite, missing the turnoff for Frejus and ending up in Torino rush hour traffic.  So we decided to ski lifts today, and for the price of a Crystal ticket.  La Grave only has three lifts, but they are pretty big, and in impressive surroundings!   One of the lifts is a poma that is actually on a glacier. 

Views were great in all directions, again we could see Mt Blanc loud and clear, as well as some impressive closer backcountry tour lines.   Around 2PM, we skied down to a little restaurant in the area for berry pie and beer.  The proprieter was entertained by us I guess, and gave us some of his homemade white lightning to drink.   Warm and fuzzy!

Looks like the weather will still be good tomorrow, but maybe not Saturday, we are likely to be ready for a rainy rest day anyway.   Off to find a new restaurant for dinner now, we are practically locals here in Monetier les Bains, as I sit in the square behind the mayor's office, people are asking for directions and what time different restaurants open.  Also the owners of restaurants we have tried stop by and ask how our day went and what we did.  Tres sympatique village!   Plenty of gemuetlichkeit.

Tres bein! Je suis très jaloux.

Nice Silas, good to hear you finally made it out to La Grave.