Vive la France!

Been a while since my last update. I will try and mostly use pictures. After the Tour de Ski, we head to Les Rousses, France. A small town just 2km inside the French boarder from Switzerland, and about 35 minute from the Geneva airport. We have been here for 10 days and leave tomorrow for La Clusaz, France for this weekends World Cups. When we arrived last week there was snow at about 1200m, and we were staying at 1140m. You could tell there had been snow but a warm period had taken it all way from the fields. Now advance a week and we have 30 cm outside out door and over a meter of new snow at 1200m. I think I can say that is the one of the best if not the best places I have ever skied. I hope the pictures illustrate this. It was a great stop for Kikkan mentally and physical after the Tour and during the World Cup in general. We cooked dinner together for the first time in 2 months, skied when she wanted, slept when she wanted and ate when she wanted. Much different from the team life. This weekend in La Clusaz I will try on a new pair of shoe as my colleague will be away I will try and fill his place as media coordinator. I will have help from the other two on the FIS team. But I will look at interviews, press conferences, the media mix zone at the finish and relations with photographers, and live interviews. Should be fun.

When we arrived

Today. Same cool guy with car...but much more snow!

The owner of the apartment we are renting works at the National Ski school, and as a result Kikkan has been able to use the weight room there. Today we shared it with the French national sprint canoeing and kayaking team. Impressive body types!

Our place is the full house you can see. The owner lives up stairs. First left when you hit the Les Rousses town boundary sign.

Kikkan avec Aurore Jean of the French National ski team. She was our tour guide today and our host with her husband Fred last night for dinner.

Snow baby snow!

Dinner near Geneva Monday night with Toni Sparrow, and her kids Soren and Brenna. Her husband Brad took the picture. She was a physio at the clinic I worked at in Anchorage.

Kikk and I with Hervé at Le Rissou. He is the owner of the place we rented, at the main trails we skied at...before the new snow.

Chez Fred and Aurore. An old concrete apartment made beautiful with wooden walls. Kikkan with Fred.

Aurore in their modern kitchen in an old building. So cool.

The Jura region. Known for it's cheese and love of cross-country skiing. 300km of trails!

Kikk and Aurore leaving me behind...

The sun on the trees covered in snow = postcard.