Snowboarding, and skiing, and trains, oh my!

So I would have written this blog post earlier, but as we arrived back to the dorm at 9 AM and I hadn't slept much, I figured it was best to get some sleep before class and write this later. I also realized that, for some reason, when writing blog posts, I like to start sentences with the word 'so'.


Anyway, here's a map of our trip to Valfréjus (Modane train station). The black route is how we got there, while the red route is how we got back.

The trip was quite eventful (I feel like I am going to be saying that a lot throughout this semester). The time to get down there was supposed to take about ten hours, but it ended up taking a little bit longer because our brakes didn't work on one of the trains in Dijon (the city that Dijon mustard is named after); this ended up delaying us about two hours, and made us decide to hold off until the next day to start taking advantage of the Alps. Fortunately for us, we had cards! I feel like Euchre, Spades, and Hearts (and hopefully other games we learn) are going to be a huge part of these train rides.


Here are some pictures from various points throughout the train ride.


5:13 AM: When we arrived at the train station.

Right when we got on the train... 

...and five minutes later.

Other random pictures from the train ride.

Our trade arrived in Modane, and Valfréjus was just a 15 minute cab ride up the mountain.

This is what it looked like going up in the cab. There were about 14 of these turns going up the mountain.

And what did it look like when we got up?

We got this room...

...with this view...

...for 25 euros (for 2 nights) per person (thanks Kurt and Paul).


The slopes were open from 9 AM - 5 PM, so we wanted to take advantage of as much of the day as we could. I ended up snowboarding for half the day and skiing for the other half.

Here's a picture after we (the two people who had never done any board activity before, e.g. snowboarding, skateboarding, etc.) finally made it down the bunny slope for the first time on the snowboard (after about 10,000 falls). Notice the snow everywhere (board, jacket, pants).

I fared much better at skiing, although apparently, I am unable to stop on snow. I seemed to have trouble with that on both the snowboard and the skis, so, needless to say, I am an expert faller.


Anyway, the next day arrived and it was time to go.


-7°C when we left.

This tiny cup of coffee cost 1.10 euros, which is approximately $1.50.

And, my amazing seat on the train to Strasbourg! We didn't have reservations so we had to wait until some people got off to get good seats.
PS - In case you were wondering, the thing behind me is the door to get off the train.

The approximate schedule for the train ride back:
1:30 PM - 4:45 PM : Modane to Lyon
6:30 PM - 12:00 PM : Lyon to Strasbourg
6:00 AM - 7:45 AM : Strasbourg to Metz


Yes, there is a six hour layover in Strasbourg. Yes, it is from 12 AM - 6 AM when nothing is open, not even the train station. So what did we do?


Played cards in a bar until it closed at 3:30 AM,

Explored the Strasbourg at night until the train station opened again at 4:45 AM,

And, of course, looked like hobos.

Weekend Picture Count: 130
Trip Picture Count: 535


Note: I also made a few formatting changes to the blog, so hopefully it looks alright.