In Search of Snow

Having just started skiing a few years ago, I was content with our 1 week of skiing in the Dolomites booked for later this month. We had already been to Auron skiing at peaks of 2500 metres a few weekends back and I was relieved to have made it through that.  But of course that wasn't good enough for Sal who has been skiing since university and Simona and Madeleine who started skiing at 6yrs old. They wanted another weekend of skiing in the bigger and higher French Alps and I was outnumbered. We set off on Thursday afternoon on a 4 and a half hour drive( it was supposed to have taken only 3 hours Sal had assured me) to the  town of Briancon, apparently the highest city in Europe to ski in the Serre Chevalier valley. Thankfully the mountain roads were not too laden with switchbacks which made the long  drive easier for all of us. Briancon is a small picturesque town at 1326 meters surrounded by mountains.  The views from the town were spectacular. 

We quickly learned that the French Alps have been suffering from a lack of snow this winter, and  ski conditions in the Serre Chevalier area were questionable. We were advised to ski in Montgenevre about 15 minutes away right on the border between Italy and France. The majority of the skiers were in fact Italian, from Torino, just 1hr 45 minutes away. We had 2 great days of skiing in sunny, spring like weather with highs between 6 and 10 degrees. I was happy to ski the gentle green and blue runs at my own pace and left Sal and the girls to the reds. By about 2pm each day, I had my fill  and enjoyed sitting in the sun at the bottom of the hills waiting for them to surrender to their exhaustion.

We visited the hot springs, Monetier les Bains, after our last ski day. Water from the hot springs flowing into various sized pools, both indoor and outdoor was a soothing treat.

Italy's First Parliament Building
 in Piazza Castello

We decided to set off early the next morning and visit Torino before heading home, one of the many cities on our list to see.  We were overwhelmed by the beauty of the city which has experienced a rebirth following the Olympics. There were many impressive and well kept piazze and palazzi. Piazza Castello was the largest and most important with Palazzo Reale and Cathedrale San Lorenzo, both spectacular.

Bank of the Po with Gran Madre Church

On this beautiful +13 sunny Sunday the squares and boulevards were packed with people shopping, walking, and lining up for ice cream. 
Our mere 6 hours in the city didn't do it justice and we hope to return as Torino is the city hosting the celebrations commemorating 150 years of the unification of Italy given it was the first capital.

Nancy

Chocolate.... of course!!