27 July Alpe d'Huez

27 July - Alpe d’Huez French Alps
We had another beautiful day today in the French Alps. 30 degrees and blue skies but some cloud rolled in in the afternoon.

We had a yummy breaky then set off into the village for some looking around and some shopping. We posted some postcards and bought some souvenirs.

Then we went ice skating in an open air rink in the village. It was free. We skated for about an hour or so, couple of major stacks but great fun. There were some aussies there hooning it up and there were some really good skaters doing their thing.

Then we went trekking in the Alps at the top of Alpe d’Huez just beneath Pic Blanc 3300m. We had a picnic overlooking the Alps and two beautiful lakes. The views were incredible. We had baguette and ham, cheese and tomato for lunch. Then we walked around the mountains and the lake for about 2 hours looking at the views and taking plenty of pics. We saw way down in the valley below the lake that dad had done his triathlon swim yesterday.

Then we went for a drive to a little village off to the side of Alpe d’Huez along a really narrow cliff road. The views there were amazing too, so high up and snow-capped mountains all around. We could see a few of the bike course 21 switchbacks from dad's triathlon the day before.

Then we came back to our apartment and went for a swim in our pool. It was great in the hot sun after a big day skating and trekking.

We went out for dinner in town.

We drive to Lyon tomorrow for a flight to London Stanstead Airport where we get a hire car and drive to Aunty Veronica’s house in Minehead in south west England for a few days before back in London. Sad to leave the Alps, we have had a fab time and the weather has been unbelievable.

Au Revoir from France for now (we’ll be back later on). We love France!

The Creber Girls xxx

Our First Full Day in Alpe D' Huez. By Elodie, Holly and Erin.

Alpe d'Huez 26 July

This morning we woke up at around 8:30. We had a bit of a sleep-in. It was clear and sunny and predicted to get past 30 degrees.

We got dressed, had breaky, cleaned our teeth and brushed our hair. The usual. After we got ready we quickly had a look at our blogs and started some more blogposts. A little while later Mum and Elodie went to do the washing. Mum and Elodie came back up and we went to the shops. Dad set off on his bike because he was doing a triathlon (the Alpe D' Huez) and the rest of us went on foot.

We walked to the shops and then we set off to the chairlift. We said goodbye to Dad who was riding down the mountain to the race start in a nearby valley town.

We bought our tickets and then we went up on the gondola (cable car)! The views were amazing. We were blown away by the views. We had so much fun going up the lift.

We first got of at Lac Blanc at 2700m altitude. We had biscuits, eclairs and a donut. Yum!

We then found out that you could go up higher on a second gondola so of course we did. We got on the big gondola and we set off steeply up the mountain. The views were spectacular and our eyes could not get enough of the views!!!!

We got off and took a few pictures and then we had a bit of a walk around. We didn't go to far though!! We were at Pic Blanc which was 3330m above sea level. That's roughly 6660 baguettes high!!!!

The indicator board said there was a chance of an avalanche but it was very unlikely to happen. We had amazing views all around the Alps. It was beautiful and clear.

Then we got back on the gondola and we got off on the stop below us. We went for a small hike and we found some snow and we started a snowball fight between the four of us. Elodie reckons she won by far. We had so much fun!! We made a snow face (we think it looks a bit like dad), we made our names in the snow with rocks and we even slid down the mountain.

We then caught the cable car back down to the town and then we went to watch the rest of Dads triathlon. We saw Dad on the bike coming into town then going into transition. We were yelling and screaming like crazy!! Then we saw Dad finishing at the end of the run and it was so cool!

 

Dad said his race was incredible with many memorable bits like riding down around the nearby mountains for 30km to the lake in a nearby valley for the race start, swimming in the clear blue beautiful lake (16 degrees water temp), riding up Alpe d'Huez (even though it was boiling), and then running around the ski resort for the run leg. He said it was very hot, near 40 degrees in the valley and on the mountain climb. It was 35 degrees in the village where we were but it was cooler up at the very top of the mountains.

We went home and Mum made dinner. We had chicken pasta.

We had such a fun day!!

Did you know that Alpe d'Huez is one of the most famous ski resorts in the world. Yes we are surrounded by ski lifts. It is a mecca for summer sports too - biking, mountain biking, paragliding, trekking, even clay pidgeon shooting. The mountain climb up the 20 or so switchbacks is probably the most famous stage of the Tour de France (didn't feature this year though). In 1968 Alpe d'Huez hosted the bobsleigh event as part of the the Grenoble Winter Olympics. Annecy is bidding for the 2018 Winter Olympics and as part of that bid some events may be held at Alpe d'Huez if the bid is successful.

The Creber Girls xxx

Travel Days - 24 & 25 July.....

24 and 25 July

We had a sleep in and then cleaned up and checked out of our hotel at Disneyland. It was a great place to stay. We went to the pool and spent an hour and a half swimming. It was sunny and 30 degrees and the water was nice and warm. The pool was pretty flash but it was crowded. Erin met a little friend from the Scotland.

Then we went to the Val d Europe shopping centre and had lunch and cruised the shops and bought heaps of clothes. Some jeans, dresses and a few tops. We had been looking forward to spending our pocket money. Mum bought a dress from Espirit. Pretty swish. Dad bought a couple of things from the bike shop for 10 Euros. We looked in Versace and were tempted to buy a 3000 Euro bag. Not!

Then we jumped in the car and drove toward the Alps again. We were going to Alpe d’Huez where dad has a triathlon. We are staying there for 3 nights but we were driving to a place near Macon in the Burgoyne Region to stay overnight on the way. It was a long drive but a beautiful day and lovely countryside and scenery. We did some school work in the car and read our books and played poker.

We arrived at our little hotel (Hotel de La Moulin de la Brevette) in the French countryside near Arbingal. It is in a national park area. It was very quaint and very quiet but very popular with travellers as a stopover between destinations. We had dinner at the hotel restaurant – we sat outside in the warm evening and had chicken risotto and then icecream. We went for a walk along a little country lane. It was beautiful and very quiet.We didn’t see a car drive past. We had a great sleep that night.

We woke up early and checked out. We went via Pont de Vaux to get back on the A6 to head towards Grenoble then Alpe d’Huez. We stopped at Pont de Vaux and had brekky – lovely French pastries. We went to some great markets there. Heaps of food and clothing. Lots of locals and tourists. Elodie was excited because she saw a bracelet and a necklace with Elodie written on them. We bought the bracelet. Mum bought a skirt. Holly some sunglasses and Elodie some shoes, Erin a skirt and a bracelet. They were great markets.

We drove for about 3 hours past Macon, Lyon and Grenoble and then beyond Grenoble we drove through the most incredible valley between steep mountains in the Alps, next to a river, through little towns - then up Alpe d’Huez and its 20 or so switchbacks (hairpin corners) rising a kilometre and a bit above the town (Bourg d'Oissans) below. It was steep. Dad will be riding up here tomorrow in his triathlon. The mountain climb went for 20km and we finally came out in the ski village at the top at 2000m above sea level. We were starting to get a little car sick after all those hairpin bends but it was beautiful at the top.

We had lunch. We checked into our apartment (Les Bergers Alpe d’Huez). It was pretty flash. We went for a swim in the outdoor heated pool overlooking the Alps. That was great. We swam into it from a chute from inside the building. We went to the supermarket for some food for our stay. Dad went and registered for his triathlon. Then we had spag bol for dinner and dad went for a training ride halfway down the mountain and back up and then to the very top of the road at the summit. He said the views were amazing.

It was sunny and about 30 degrees here today but a lovely breeze was blowing which kept us cool.

We are excited about the next few days here before we fly off to England and see our relos and friends and big brother Nathan and sis Alana.

Au Revoir xxxx