Theraputic Weekend

Late Post from Oct 16

So, this week was unusually rough.  The training is getting very intense, I have a TON of work, I have gotten almost no sleep, I REALLY REALLY miss my family, and the daily grind of french life has become "normal."  The only thing keeping me upbeat this week was the thought of going to the MOUNTAINS.  It's amazing to think that just a few short hours away (440km) from the center of the earth (Clermont Ferrand) are JAGGED, SNOW COVERED mountains.  Today I was revitalized in so many ways.  I hope this trip will help sustain me for the last grueling week until I can return home!

Check out some of my adventures today:

Ahhhhh. The Alps!

This tree reminds me of the redwoods in California

Annecy is a beautiful place.....

I convinced three of my buddies to take this ridiculous day trip with me to Mont Blanc and back!

What a beautiful lake

Dont I look like I am enjoying myself?

Here I am calling my husband from the TOP OF MONT BLANC!!!!

Ahhhhhhhhhhh......therapy.  I got to play in the snow!

This reminds me of "home"

I wanted to go out to the great outdoors, but you aren't allowed here without crampons and proper gear!

Going back down the mountain on the cable car.  There is parasailing everywhere.  Good thing my buddies and I didn't know that several weeks before, one flew into the cable....and the cable car was stranded for hours and the people had to come out one by one with a harness.......After we discovered this, I thought that would have been an AWSOME experience.....but my buddies didn't agree :)

Look at the lovely town of Chamonix below!

More pictures of the lake at Annecy

More pictures of the Alps!

Ahhhhhh.  That was great for me!  Ready for the LAST WEEK!

Weekend Fun

It's hard to pack a description of everything I did over the past two weekends into a single blog post, but I will try without being too descriptive.

So, on Saturday Oct 1, we went to the city of Lyon.  Dave (shown at left in the first picture) previously lived in Lyon and was our tour guide.

Isn't Lyon a beautiful city

We visited some ancient roman ruins.  This is an amphitheatre built ~40 B.C

We also visited some beautiful cathedrals.  Here is one.

Here is a second in a different but similar style

We went also to the city park.  They had interesting bicycles and boats to rent.

They also had a large zoo that was free to the public.  In typical french style, dogs are also welcome to enjoy the zoo.

On Sunday Oct 2, we hiked to the top of a volcano (see the remains of the volcanic Crater below)

There were a lot of us on the hike.  The Clermont area has a lot of volcanoes.  See the famous Puy du Dome in the back ground.

This is a picture of our hiking group

This is a view of the city of Clermont Ferrand on the way down from hiking.  See the beautiful cathedral Notre Dame de L'Assomption (which is built from volcanic rock)

Saturday Oct 8 we traveled south.  This is a monument to Michelin in the form of a train bridge.  In the past Michelin was famous for its train cars that connected areas of France.

I have been avoiding this for weeks, but at the rest stop I was forced to us a "traditional" restroom.  EEEK

This is the worlds tallest bridge.  A modern Marvel!!

The Mediterranean Sea!  There us a light house in the distance.

I played in the sea.  Yes, in October it is COLD!!!

Finally we visited an ancient roman aqua duct which was build in 19 B.C  (a big contrast to the modern bridge we saw in the morning)

Isn't this amazing.  There is no structure this old in America!

Even the trees are old.  The sign tells us that this tree was "born" in 908!!!!

I miss everyone but I am having a great time.  The week days are quite stressful, but the weekend is a time to explore.  I am hopeful that we can arrange a trip to the Alps next weekend!!!!