Courchevel; First Day Smiles

Courchevel is a part of a huge ski area known as “Les 3 Vallees” or the three valleys. Courchevel, Maribel and Val Thorens are the main areas, setting in adjoining valleys and connected by an integrated lift system. It would be a challenge to navigate its expanse in the fog or clouds. Fortunately that was not an issue as the sun splashed its rays over all the valleys on Sunday.

Though the group arrived Saturday after a 13 hour bus ride most were ready to explore the new resort early on Sunday morning. Several groups hired ski instructors to guide them over the resort the first day. The instructors knew the best slopes and routes and most made it to all three valleys. Others chose to explore on their own.

 As the happy skiers straggled home after an exceptional day smiles were much in evidence. If the current weather continues the blog reports will be simple; went skiing, found a great place for lunch and returned home. If so, no one will complain.

A Word About Conversions: When you travel in Europe you need to adjust your thinking on currency, distance and other metrics. For example:

• Dollars become Euros

• Feet becomes meters

• Gallons become liters

Paul Luczak suggested that we should also adjust for Italian time. We were told by the Italian bus company that it would take ten hours to drive from Corvara, Italy to Courchevel, France. It took 13 long hours. So we conclude that you must multiply normal time by 1.3 to get Italian travel time.