ITALY- Val Ferret
February Vacation in France- We managed to escape the ski tourist crowds and venture off to Italy -only 15 minutes away through the Mt Blanc tunnel and get some great cross country skiing with no one around. The tracks in Val Ferret are amazing. The landscape is “sauvage” wild and you literally are in another country. We all skied and then enjoyed some delicious homemade Italian pasta for lunch and then found ourselves warming up in an Italian cafe for some good ol’ Italian Hot Chocolate- a.k.a. chocolate pudding. The boys certainly enjoyed it.
Switzerland
Children’s US passports have to be renewed every 5 years until the age of 15 and both parents must be present. The closest US Consulate is in Geneva, Switzerland so we decided to make a family day out of it. While we were waiting for the passport pictures to be developed we wandered around a corner to a Starbucks- (actually there are only a few in Switzerland and Nina could not resist paying the Swiss price for the vanilla latte. After a very efficient and quick passport check in, we strolled along the lake looking at ducks, boats and swans and headed to the Natural History Museum. There the boys got their first glimpse of the life size dinosaurs. They also have a great exhibit on all types of animals. And to top it off there was green grass to run around…..something we do not have at our house as the snow keeps piling up higher and higher. No complaining there. The skiing is excellent and the boys have been enjoying skiing in ski groups this week. Anders may be one of the few who ride the poma lift who is not yet three years old.
