27.2 - Discovering by hitchhiking

Because of the cloudy and snowy weather we staid calm and just chilling at the châlet. I skyped with Sabbe. For lunch we had pasta carbonara and then I started doing some studying for the DALF exam, that's already in less than one month. The family left for the last skiing course of the children and I decided still to discover the surrounding environment a bit.

I went to St Nicholas to go and join a guided tour in the well known church of St Nicholas. To get there, I hitchhiked with two rides. The second one was an very kind local elderly man who told me a lot of useful information and dropped me next to the church. The guide was already there and I talked to her a bit before the tour. She seemed very interested in my background and was worried about me not understanding much of her presentation. But I told her not to worry. After a while we were pretty many joining the tour and it was very interesting to hear about the history of Savoie in general and the history of the very special Barock style church. I feel I really got something out of this free visit and the church of St Nicholas is very beautiful.

To get down to the village of St Gervais, I used hitch hiking again. It took me a while to find a ride but finally three guys offered me a ride. They work in a restaurant at the skiing pists and were very nice. 

In town I had a snack break and visited just some shops and the church of St Gervais.

Before heading with a ride back home I also did some necessary food shopping for the family. I got back to the châlet with two rides. The last one was a very kind elderly man working as a skiingschool teacher in St Nicholas. It has been very interesting to discuss with people during my hitch hiking adventures and people have seemed to be interested in my story too. People are always very surprised when I tell them that I'm from Finland and they praise my knowledge in french, that feels really good.

At home there were four proud children with medals and all having succeeded their skiing level. After a while Anthonys cousin with families came over for an appéro. We were a lot of people, a lot many than we expected but it was very nice. For the adults there was blueberry bubblewine, interesting but tasty. I talked a lot with the older children.

After the relatives left, we had raclette. I was very full afterwards and soon we all went to bed. I staid up still writing a bit and skyping with äiti.