I’m writing this from our couch in cabin #17, from the top of the mountain ski area in Sochi, Russia. But I’ll tell you more about Russia, our crazy travel day, and rule following in the next post. This one’s about how AWESOME training in France was for us last week!
The girls team (picture from Matt)
After the La Clusaz races, we had a short drive to Les Saisies, where the 1992 Alberville Olympic Cross Country venue is. We stayed in condos and had some of the best training I’ve ever been lucky enough to have. The venue had perfectly groomed trails with rolling hills, a crazy fast and fun “technical downhill” that was really an alpine run, and most days had powder snow and sunshine.
Matt making some turns
There was also a super fluffy dog named Happie at the restaurant we stayed next to. I was missing home a bit so getting my puppy dog fix was a big deal!
Getting cuddles from the biggest 7-month old puppy ever (photo from Chandra)
I was rooming with Ida and Chandra, and the bed that Chandra slept in was a trundle that pulled out from under a closet. It was the best hide-and-seek place ever.
It was a tight fit!
Cooking for ourselves was also a big deal. After being on the road for so long and always eating from hotel restaurants, being able to choose what you want for breakfast and lunch and make it yourself felt really good. Also, it’s nice not feeling bad about wasting food because sometimes they bring us these massive platters of food and we only need half of it!
Holly and Chandra were master chefs! (photo from Chandra)
Now that we’re on the topic of food, another super nice thing about being in France was waking up, throwing on a pair of shoes and walking over to the local bakery to buy fresh baguettes for the house. There’s something awesome about walking down the cold snowy street with hot bread tucked under your arm.
So yesterday we traveled to Sochi, for a week of living and competing at the pre-Olympic World Cups. More on that to come soon!
