Day two of skiing was great – warm, sunny weather all day long.  If anything, it was a little too warm, with temperatures near 10C.  By mid-morning the snow was soft and heavy, making it tough to ski.

We skied the Brévent-Flégère area, plenty of variety and lots of southern sunshine to keep us warm.  The gondola on the Flégère side was closed, so we headed back to the centre of Chamonix and caught the lift from Brévent.  Lots of beginners on the slopes, so we caught the connecting lift over to Flégère and basically had the mountain to ourselves (as access from the base of the mountain was closed).

Aside from sore feet, a perfect day of skiing!

After three weeks of waiting, our skis finally turned up.  I made a quick trip to our local ski shop for the final tuning, and we were ready to go.

The traffic getting down to Chamonix was very heavy, especially coming across Switzerland.  The entire nation of Holland decided to go on vacation all at once, and every car on the road seemed to be Dutch.  They were all in an enormous hurry to get where they were going, tailgating and weaving in-and-out of traffic.  With the predictable consequences. 

I managed to avoid being rear-ended, but the two cars behind me didn’t.  Someone didn’t react fast enough, and as surely as day follows night, there was a three-car pile-up in my rear-view mirror.

Halfway to Geneva, the traffic thinned out.  By the time we got to Chamonix, the roads were almost empty – a few Brits, a few Swiss, and mostly French cars.  We checked into our apartment, run by a British couple, and settled in for the night.  We headed out to the local restaurant (also run by the British couple) and found ourselves transported back to the UK: Guinness in proper pint glasses and not a word of French to be heard from the staff or clientele.  I guess it’s all about meeting what the market demands.

Despite paper-thin walls, we slept well and were up early.  There was a little snow overnight, but the roads were largely clear.  We hit the slopes around 10am and had the mountain to ourselves, at least until 11am when the French managed to struggle out of bed and onto the slopes.  Great conditions today, with temperatures between 6-10 degrees Celsius and clear, blue skies.

They’re predicting more snow tonight, so hopefully good conditions await us tomorrow!

After more than a week and a half, our skis still haven’t arrived from France. Never mind that parcels from Hong Kong arrive at my doorstep four days after being posted.  No, in France, it seems, things take longer.  It took more than a week for my skis to make it 280km to the Export Centre, where they have sat for the last three days making no progress at all.

Once they make it over the border, I’m confident that the Swiss won’t waste a second assessing the duty and taxes on my skis, then sending a man around to collect the balance.  Nothing motivates the Swiss like collecting taxes.

So our plans to go skiing this weekend were put on hold, as I’ve found skiing is less fun when you’re simply wearing boots.

Instead, we headed off to Germany to do a little ice-skating.  Nice way to spend a cold winter’s day, and we had some snow outside to make it even better.  Finished the day off with a trip to the German supermarket (always fun, although I discovered that everything is a little picked-over if you wait until Saturday afternoon to do your shopping.  It’s like the beach chairs – the Germans get up early to ensure the best choice!)

We’re crossing our fingers that the skis turn up before next weekend.  We’re trying to squeeze in a day of skiing before I have to leave for India and Australia – we’ve got a week booked in Chamonix as soon as I get back, and I’d like a chance to get out on the skis once before we hit the big mountains.

We enjoyed some excellent weather in Paris for Bastille Day, and took the opportunity to spend most of the day outside. We had a long walk from our place up to Concorde, then jumped in the Metro and headed out to Monmartre to spend the afternoon there, since I haven’t been there in years. It was absolutely packed with tourists, but no matter — the rest of Paris was closed for the holiday, so this is where the action was.

Sacre Coeur

To say this was a little bit of a tourist trap would be an understatement. Standing room only on the stairs!

Views of Paris from Monmartre

The Eiffel Tower peeks through the trees

A Parisian couple stop to take in the view

A singer in the square behind Sacre Coeur

Aude near Monmartre

A Bastille Day parade with ATVs heads down the street

This takes green transport to a new level

The Fete de la Musique is an annual event that started in Paris and has been adopted in cities around the world. Held on the 21st of June, the first day of summer, it is basically a celebration of music. Everyone, from amateur to professional, is welcomed to play their music in the streets – but on the condition that the concerts are free.

Paris is a city full of buskers, and the standard of street music here is pretty high. The stereotypical images of a wino playing an accordion in the Metro are not a million miles from the truth. On our street corner, a five-piece jazz band plays every weekend – and 30 meters from that, a man plays piano concertos. So my expectations were high.

Too high, it turns out. Fete de la Musique was amateur night. The professional buskers packed up their instruments and enjoyed a quiet night at home, while across town one bad rock band after another took to the streets.

There were a few enjoyable acts, several nice choirs singing in a variety of languages and styles; a flutist playing under the arches at the Louvre; and the odd rock band singing covers and actually holding a tune. But on the whole, the vast majority of performers were pretty dire.

Paris was heaving, though. Good music or bad, this is a city that loves a good party.

This band grabbed a good spot at 2pm — and were still playing ten hours later when we passed them at midnight. Sadly, they only knew three songs, so those standing nearby might have found it a bit repetitive.

Two girls singing covers of French songs

We think this guy was either Canadian or American. And a Pearl Jam fan.

Another performer outside our house

The bassist

A choir around the corner from our house, singing something foreign. Given that we live just around the corner from the Czech cultural centre, my vote is for Czech.

It’s not every day you see a man walking down the street with a Sousaphone.

An old woman peers out her window at the noise below.

This man was responsible for the noise below the woman’s window. He wasn’t too bad, actually.

Everyone’s a photographer. Not everyone’s a naked photographer, however.

Two Sousaphones in one day. What are the odds?

A trumpeter playing Latin music

Two drummers, caught from above

Crowds on the bridge. It was standing room only — crossing the bridge took us nearly 20 minutes and a lot of pushing and shoving.

More crowds on the bridge. For those of you who are of a technical nature, check out the depth-of-field. Available light photography, low ISO, and F2.4 means a pretty shallow DOF.

Two guys on the bridge singing covers. Not too bad.

A few young fans enjoy a concert outside the Louvre

A nice way to end the evening, with a little classical flute music.