Bila Kak Ton Blaja Ski ~ Jan 2015

Tahun ni kitaorg balik kg lagi, patut balik raya tapi sbb semua nk balik, laki kak ton kena take turn dgn org ofc dia. Kesahnye, kitaorg balik sehari lps raya & laki kak ton ambik kesempatan utk join kwn2 dia pegi Ski dkt Alps. 

Tempat Ski ni nama Les-Contamines Montjoie, dlm 40min drive dr Chamonix & 1 hour drive dr Geneva airport. So kitaorg pun flew pegi Geneva & kwn Nico fetch us there. Mamat ni anak org kaya, mak bapak ada rumah dkt area ski ni, so kitaorg yg org2 biasa ni pun tumpang la rezeki kawan.

(Dekat nk sampai Geneva airport, excited nampak salji)

Dr Geneva lagi rata2 tempat dh penuh salji walaupun awal lagi sebenarnye utk ski season. Biasa org pegi bln 1 atau 2 bila snow dh banyak. kwn2 Nico ckp, sehari sblm kitaorg sampai tu, semua tempat hijau lagi sbb salji tak banyak, so alhamdulillah la rezeki Nico yg dh 3 thn tak pegi ski and rezeki kak ton yg first time nk try2 ni. Sampai2 umah mlm tu, temperature -15 degree, terganggu mental sket sbb sejuk sgt, ye la kan, kat malaysia dh biasa 30 degree.

(view dr living room rumah member)

The next day pagi, kitaorg pegi sewa ski utk kak ton sbb semua org dh ada diaorg punya gear sendiri so tak yah sewa2. Ski gear ni termasuk la ski boots, papan dia tu nama apa tah, ngan ski pole. Ski renting price agak mahal, so kalau sapa2 nk try pegi ski tu sila buat calculation sbb jgn pegi sebarang. Utk sewa ski gear seminggu, laki kak ton cakap dia bayar Euro100, which is dlm RM400 gitu. Ni dh harga kwn2 yea sbb kwn Nico ni kenal org yg bukak kedai ski kat situ. Price range between 100-200 (euro) per week. 

Lepas sewa ski gear kitaorg pegi Ecole du Ski (sekolah ski) utk kak ton blaja dgn cikgu yg terlatih. Ski class ni penting utk beginner especially yg first time and belum pernah try mcm kak ton. Kalau ada kwn2 atau fam yg ckp nk ajar or you simply didn't want to spend money for class, don't do it. Sbb ski ni boleh jd bahaya kalau tak tau. Kak ton memula ingat org poyo je nk ambik duit suruh masuk class berbagai kan, skali apa jd masa ski mmg buat kak ton akan masuk class sampai pandai.

Price for ski classes pun bukan calang2, utk 2 jam kelas laki kak ton Bayar Euro85 atau RM350. Tp ni private class la, one to one bukan group class. Kalau pegi satu family boleh la request for group classes which is so much cheaper tp tak sure harga berapa. Cikgu kak ton org perancis nama Gilbert, kak ton request yg reti speaking english.

(Ni resit yea, bukan ski pass)

Last skali beli ski passes pulak. Passes ni beli sbb karang nk naik cabel car pegi atas. Depends brape hari nak ski, harga lain2. Laki kak ton terus ambik 4 hari access terus tp kak ton top up tiap kali rasa nak naik. Utk beginner harga Euro14 sehari. Tapi gambar kak ton lupa ambik, ski pass ni rupa dia mcm access card or bank card tu. Nnt masuk dlm pocket dkt glove so its easy nak scan masa nak naik cable car.

Sekarang semua dh ada, gear, class & passes. Baju ski kak ton pinjam kat budak2 ni je sbb diaorg banyak baju, kalau korang kena sewa baju utk ski, please bear in mind it will be around another Euro100 kot lagi utk sewa. Tu blom cite korang kena dok hotel, makan luar & kalau2 nk shopping. 

What to wear to ski:

Benda ni benda paling serabut nk pikir sebelum pegi. Tanya kwn2 kak ton diaorg ckp tak yah pakai tebal2, nnt berpeluh. Tp pikir2 balik kalau sejuk plak camne? Basically dua2 kita akan alami. Sejuk dan panas. Memula sejuk sbb kita tak banyak bergerak, tp bila dh start, 2 jam tu jenuh berpeluh. Ikut pengalaman kak ton 2 hari kat sana, ni yg kak ton pakai :

(Gambar internet sbb kak ton tak putih lol)

1. Thermal inner wear, this is a must. Lagipun suhu normally bawah 0 degree, siang2 hari dlm -7 gitu.  Mat2salleh dh biasa sejuk diaorg pakai baju biasa je satu layer + sweater. Please buy yg saiz ngam2 melekat kat badan, kalau besar nnt payah nk pakai 2nd layer.

2. Second layer kak ton pakai legging + sweater. Seluar apa pun boleh ikut selesa masing2. Kak ton tak suka pakai jeans, tu yg pakai legging.

3. Socks pulak kak ton pakai thermal + thick socks. Itu pun rasa mcm nk tercabut kuku sbb sejuk.

4. Last layer pakai baju ski, Ski glove, face mask, hat, sunblock & goggle. Sunblock penting juga utk mengelakkan kita dr kena sunburn. If you are beginner, jgn gediks2 nk pakai sunglasses sbb kalau jatuh and patah, habis nangis. So sila rent goggle utk mata anda, ini wajib kalau tak nak buta. Helmet tu tak payah la sbb biasa yg terer2 & stock terbang2 je pakai helmet for safety. 

So skang boleh la start ski. Basically kalau korang pakai extra pun takpe, bawak beg pack pastu kalau panas bukak & masuk beg. Mat2salleh ni buat camni la. Even food tapau dr rumah, masuk beg, bawak ski skali sbb makan luar mahal.

(So ini la rupa kak ton, jgn risau takde sapa pun yg nampak hot pakai baju ski ni ahahhaah)

(Kat belakang yg bebudak dok naik tu la nama tuba)

First day kak ton ski, kak ton tak pegi class lagi. Just followed bebudak ni & laki kak ton janji dia yg bg tunjuk ajar sebelum class the next day. Pengalaman dgn dia ni la yg buat kak ton agree yg org baru nk blaja ni jgn blaja dgn kwn or family. Kesahnye camni, sampai2 kat atas lps naik cabel car, semua org start hook kasut ski dgn board. Kasut dh pakai awal2 sampai2 kat parking, punya la berat. So kak ton pun pakai la, yg ni takde masalah. Dh tu, jln kedek2 ada satu slope semua org trus turun & ski kat situ. Bebudak pun buat, sbb tak tinggi. Yg kak ton kat situ mcm nk nangis sbb tak nak turun takut jatuh & tak tau nk break. Laki kak ton plak bising2 paksa turun no matter what, takkan nk tunggu situ je kan. Nak tak nak turn je la dan akhirnya jatuh & siap langgar sorang budak lagi which coming from the right side. Ni la sbbnye patut ambik class dulu sebelum pegi ski. Ni tak habis lagi ni cite first day aku yg seram ni...

(First cable car dkt atas, keluar dr sini semua org trus ski turun pegi station cable car lain pulak)

(Ni 2nd Cable car utk naik atas gunung, of cos la kak ton yg beginner ni tak naik. Gambar laki yg ambik)

Dh turun dr first slope tu kitaorg kedek2(aku yg kedek2) pegi 1st phase, kat situ ada lagi 2 cabel car. Satu slope rendah utk beginner and satu lagi utk yg dh terer. So laki kak ton stayed with me the whole afternoon & tak join kwn2 dia, takkan nk tinggal bini dia yg tak tau pape ni sorang2 kan. Kitaorg pegi 1st slope utk beginner & naik benda ni nama "Tuba" kot. Dia mcm pole, pegang je pastu dia akan tarik korang naik. Kak ton try benda ni 2 kali, dua2 kali jatuh berdebuk. Last2 laki aku tarik pegi slope terdekat & gedik2 je la kat situ. Dah penat dia tarik dia ajak lagi naik si tuba tu, kak ton of cos la tak nak kan. So dia pegi tanya org yg jaga tuba tu kalau boleh naik skali 2 org. Org tu ckp boleh tp dia kena berdiri belakang, so kitaorg pun berjaya la naik sampai atas.

Dh naik skang nk turun pulak. Laki kak ton plak tak ajar camne nk break, camne nk pusing, nk belok, nk gi straight tu senang je, tp takut masuk gaung pulak. Ttba dia nampak mak bdk ni ajar anak dia ski, ski skali. Kak ton kat depan, laki kat belakang, ski parallel, kira dia mcm peluk dr belakang la tp tak peluk. Sepanjang hari kitaorg buat camni & tak tau la brape kali jatuh. Siap one time kena marah sbb bdk2 keliling takut kitaorg langgar budak kan. Dok banyak kali jatuh, after one point kak ton nangis sbb takut & rasa tak fun at all. Ye la, dh la laju turun, tak tau break, tak tau nk cilok2, mmg rasa takut sgt2 tp kak ton gagahkan juga sbb pikirkan laki yg excited mengajar tah pape. Last2 drama kat situ, kitaorg berenti ski. Nasib baik la jugak masa tu dh petang & semua org pun dh ready nk balik.

(Ni gambar jatuh dh hari ke 3)

The next day laki kak ton bawak kak ton pegi class & leave me there with the teacher. Dia join kwn dia ski, lps 2 jam dia dtg ambik kak ton balik. First thing cikgu cakap, jgn takut. Masa tu mcm payah la kan sbb smlm dh bad experience. Semua org blaja ski start kat sini, ada taman kecik utk kanak2. Cikgu ajar camne nk jalan dkt slope, camne nk jln kalau licin, camne nk break & camne nk belok. Ini je kak ton blaja dlm masa 2 jam tu. Dh dia rasa kak ton ok, dia bawak kak ton pegi higher slope. Kat sini pun rasa dh tinggi dah tp kalau tgk bdk2 bawak 6 tahun ski, rasa malu sangat.

So kat sini dia berdiri kat depan, pegang ski pole & kak ton pegang the other side of the pole. Dia direct kita apa nk buat & kita follow je, alhamdulillah takde pun jatuh2 & it was fun. Masa ni la yg rasa panas tak hengat sbb class 2 hours straight, berpeluh-peluh dlm baju ski.

Alamak, dah panjang sangat rupanye enrty ni...ingat nk sambung lagi, apa pun ni la pengalaman kak ton first time pegi ski. Next time kalau pegi lagi mmg confirm ambik kelas lagi sampai pandai. Pada yg nk pegi tu, jaga diri baik2. Mat2salleh kat sini takjub kak ton balik malaysia takde patah2 sbb normally org pegi ski first time akan patah kaki, ke tangan ke lutut. So thats why, hire a teacher.

Apapun, it was a very nice experienced. Walaupun takut ski tapi cantik betul tempat ni bila penuh salji. Bila snowing tu rasa best sangat sbb tak pernah rasa sblm ni kan. So sapa2 ada chance pegi ski tu, pegi la. At least merasa dr dgr je org cakap kan :) So gambar2 kat bawah ni gambar dr depan rumah je..cantikkan?

La Rochelle, France ~ Winter Feb 2014

So the journey continue from Poitou to La Rochelle, with Marion joining on board. It was one windy and cloudy afternoon when we get there, you could not imagine the cold (of cos you can if you are European) since La Rochelle is a coastal city.

We parked our car near to The Lanterne Tower, one of La Rochelle famous tower and praying that the tower open for visit. It was almost 3pm when we get to St Nicolas Tower and  we try to rush a bit in order we can see all 3 towers before it closed. 

The Saint Nicolas Tower (Tour Saint Nicolas) is the biggest one and once served as a prison. The staircase here is a little bit confusing and i can go round and round and still didn't find my way out if not for the signage. All this passageway was actually separated to avoid both residents and soldiers meeting. 

(Saint Nicolas Tower on the right and Chaine Tower on the left)

(the staircase and me :)

Visitor are also allowed to go up on the rooftop which provides view over the old port, Fort Boyard and the other towers. 

(The Chaine & Lanterne Tower)

Since there's in no connection between Saint Nicolas and The Chaine Tower (Tour De La Chaine), we had to make a big round on the port to go to Chaine Tower. I was tempted to just swim across but unfortunately its winter and i cannot swim lol

The Chaine tower during our visit housed an exhibition on the departure of immigrants to Canada (yes, french immigrants)  and history of La Rochelle. It was a short visit here since we race against time and this tower is a smaller version of Saint Nicolas with no complicated staircases. The tower was originally a residences of a harbor master until 1472. Gosh, thats sounds like zillion years ago. Owh btw, its called chain tower since they use chain mechanism before, which were later demolished. 

(at the entrance)

(exhibition and i only have this 2 picture from this tower :s)

We are pretty excited to check The Lanterne Tower (Tour De La Lanterne) because of its design. The tower is 55 meter high and was once the residence of the ship disarmer (the brochure said, officer in charge of keeping the arm of ships entering the port) (ship have arms?).

( Rooftop view from The Chaine Tower)

(The Lanterne Tower)

(St Nicolas & The Chaine tower at the other side)

(at Lanterne tower rooftop) 

(view of the port)

(roof)

(The famous 4 Sargent's who was arrested in La Rochelle, died for freedom (Google translate) and the date was our wedding anniversary, and it was 191 years ago :o

After finished with our tower visit, we just go around the city, shop and drink more hot chocolate before heading to Bordeaux. 

Poitou Donkey, yay donkey!!! Poitou-Charentes France ~ Winter Feb 2014

Honestly, i never see a donkey before lol. And since we already in Poitou-charentes area i begged Nico to make a trip to Poitou Donkey Sanctuary before we go to La Rochelle. The way heading to this sanctuary is really "kampung", you will pass few small villages and a castle. There's a few time that we thought we might be lost but lucky Nico french gf aka GPS bringing us to the right direction. 

We might also be the only visitor to the sanctuary that morning, it was sunny and cold. When we arrived at the sanctuary office, there's a staff which take us around the property and give us briefing. She even speaks in English :) but i was too excited taking picture and in the end she explain everything to Nico in French. 

She told us that they select few good breed of donkey which is of cos having a good look :), nice hair, tall, dark and handsome hahahahah. These few donkey, which is 5 or 6 of them having their own apartment in order to separate them from ambitious ladies and unplanned pregnancy. 

(big apartment for eligible bachelor)

(male neighbor)

If im not mistaken, those who is not good enough to be "The One" will be arranged to work around the sanctuary. These few donkey that we had a chance to take a picture with are a working donkey. They are very tamed and go around in pack. During our visit, we've been told that the donkey wasnt so active since they were sad for losing one of their close friend which died few days before. RIP what-ever-his-name :(

(Hello human!!!)

(The only one who wasn't sad enough)

Horse + donkey = Handsome long hair mule. We've been informed that these mule is as strong as horses but have a handsome trait from the donkey. 

(I believe this is horse since they didn't have white mouth)

(but they have pretty hair, so maybe mule?)

Donkeys also been classified into group, the babies, the virgin, the mama-to-be and also the boys. It was fun when we visit the mama-to-be area since all the mama recognized our guide and they make a loud noise from far when they saw she's coming. 

(mama-to-be since only 44 poitou donkey left at the sanctuary)

(might be the ladies ready for the season)

For those who by chance being in this area, it is highly recommended to check this sanctuary. They have a lot of activities during summer and its not only fun for kids but also adults since i already 33 when i wrote this entry :) Entrance fee is only 6 euro for adult and we bought "Marion", from souvenir shops as our token for this visit. 

(Donkey coming through!!!)

(Next stop for Marion, La Rochelle)

Rochefort, France ~ Winter Feb 2014

Our trip to France this time was only 10 day and so we didn't have so much time to visit. We still excited and managed to make a plan and wanted to visit Bordeaux. Nico suggest that we stop at a few city including Rochefort and La Rochelle so our road trip is bearable and didn't feel so long in the car.  

So, we leave Brittany late afternoon and arrived in Rochefort around 8pm. Since its low seasons, we didn't have to booked our hotel earlier and still can go around to check for cheaper price. We stayed at the hotel right in front of the square and post office which i didnt remember the name. lol

Cities in France is really seems dead to me during winter. Of cos everybody prefer to stay in instead of being outside in the cold but when the sun shone, its seems wrong to stay in i guess. :) 

Unfortunately, again, most places closed for winter. We wanted to see The Rebuilding of Hermione (La Chantier de l'Hermione), French ship that was built in Rochefort in 1779 which sailed to North America during the United State war of independence. I don't know if she make it to the US or not since she supposed to sailed to Boston in 2011. I guess it will be nice to see real old ship re-built but we didnt get the chance. www. hermione.com for more info. 

Our next stop is Pierre Loti's House (Maison de Pierre Loti) which also closed GRrrrrrrr. Imagine my disappointment since i really, truly wanted to see this place. Pierre Loti's is a Naval officer, novelist and traveler and his house not only collected exotic collection from all over the world but also been decorated according to theme. Since Rochefort not far from Brittany i will ask Nico to re-visit, maybe advanced call to the museum will be good this time :)

The only place that open, THANK GOD, was Museum of The Old Shops (Musee des Commerces d'autrefois) yup, that's a museum. Sounds weird but its actually one of must visit museum in Rochefort. This place will simply bring you back to France in 1900's to see how French people used to do their shopping. 

We were the only visitor during our visit and i remembered that they close for lunch at 12pm and we got to rush visiting since it was 10.30am when we get there. 

(Hat shop)

(Kodak moment)

(Parisian News stand)

(Wine maker)

(Hair Salon)

(Your laundry back in 1900's) 

Toblerone already exist before i was born :o

(French bar back then)

(emmmm no high heels or is this only for the gentlemen?)

(grocery)

(old classroom french style)

It was fun morning for us, even though we are not allowed to take picture but obviously you can as long no flash. Shopping at the museum was also fun since you can get an item with an old design. Mostly item here cost around 4 euro. So i get some metal thingy and plate mat lol

(I don't even know who is this Suchard girl, but she is cute :)

(Plate Mat of Lu, and i definitely love LU Biscuits)