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Thursday 16 January 2020

THE FRENCH ALPS || 22ND DECEMBER WEEK (PART I)


Hi there.

I totally forgot to post this whole-week story so here it is. Oh, before I say anything, I want to wish you a belated Merry Christmas🎄 to all my friends, close ones and everyone who  celebrates. Hope you had a good one. Also, I want to wish everybody a Happy New Year!🎉

 Last christmas, we  went to FRANCE!!! We went to meet Aunty P and her family. We got up early at around 4.30 in the morning of Sunday, the 22nd of December 2019 and Dadda called the airport taxi to take us to the airport by 7am. We took the EasyJet aeroplane and arrived at the Geneva International Airport at around noon. When we arrived, we had to wait for Aunty P to come and pick us up to go back to her place up on the Alps. Unfortunately, there was a traffic jam on the way to the airport so Aunty P was stuck in the traffic jam for a wee bit. Hehe... When Aunty P arrived at the airport, Aysha got awkward and she just stared at Aunty P with a serious face. Hahaha!!!


Glasgow airport


Departure hall

Our ride

At the arrivals of Geneva airport with aunty P.


It took us an hour to get from Geneva to St Jean de Sixt. When we arrived, we went straight to Aunty P's house for lunch. Her children were already waiting for us. Everybody looked different now because the last time we met was in 2014 in Japan when we attended Uncle Keith's wedding. Aunty P had prepared a lovely lunch for us before she picked us up so we could eat as soon as we arrived. After we've had our lunch, we went to Mimi's house (Aunty P's mother-in-law) across the road. We'd be staying there for the whole week because Mimi was away in Barcelona. We settle down and took a short nap before going back to Aunty P's house for dinner. We had minced meat and vegetable soup and some bread with butter and cheese. After we're done we looked at old photos together, chat about old times and played games. So basically, the first day all of us just relaxed.


Going out of Geneva

On the way up the mountains

Snow!

A card left by Mimi (Uncle Stef's mom) for us.

Mimi's apartment where we stayed for a week. 
She left us a box of cookies too!

And decorated it with Christmas deco for us!

The balcony of the apartment


Cheese to have with our lunch and dinner at Aunty P's.

Christmas candy

French flavoured syrups. They were yummy! 
My favourite was the strawberry flavour.



The game we played while we waited for Uncle Stef to come home from work.





Back to Mimi's apartment after dinner for a good night's sleep.

It was snowing heavily after dinner walking back to Mimi's apartment.





Day 2 - Annecy

On the 23rd of December, we went to Annecy to walk around and check out the christmas fair.  We planned to take the 11am bus but we missed the bus so we had to wait for the next one at 12:30pm. While waiting for the bus to arrive, we went to a little café nearby to kill time. The pastries at the café were delicious! We bought 2 croissant, 2 pain au chocolat an eclair and a cookie. Mommy had her usual coffee and Dadda had tea while Idzhar had orange juice. While we were eating, it started to snow heavily outside! Idzhar was so happy that he wanted to go out. After we've finished our pastries and drinks, we went to a little gift shop right around the corner to buy souvenirs and postcards. One for Aaron and Aezra and one for PJ cousins and then we went straight back to the bus stop.


 At Cafe Capucine in St Jean de Sixt having coffee, tea and pastries while waiting for the bus.

In front of the cafe  



The bus journey to Annecy took about an hour. When we arrived at Annecy, Ailis and Millie were about to head back to St. Jean de Sixt because Millie was tired so it's just my family and I, Aunty P and Oscar. First, we went to a gift shop to buy souvenirs of Annecy and postcards just for fun. After that, we went to the christmas fair! There, the first thing we bought (more like trying actually. Hehe...) were frozen maple syrup courtesy of Aunty P. Then, we went to check out a stall that sold different kinds of tea. They even prepared a station where you can smell the tea. It was so cool! As a tea lover, Dadda bought a pack of tea and a tumbler.


 Our bus to Annecy

 Rendezvous with P and kids in Annecy.

Annecy is also known as the Venice of France.
You will see why from my pictures here. 













 The old prison.

 Annecy's Christmas market.



Different flavours of tea.

 Cheese!






After we're done shopping, we went back to St. Jean de Sixt. On the way back, we planned to go somewhere for tea but unfortunately, Idzhar, Oscar and I slept through the journey so Mommy, Dadda and Aunty P did not want to wake us up to avoid possible tantrums. Aunty P dropped us (my family and I) at Mimi's house for a quick rest before heading back to her house for dinner.

For dinner that night, Aunty P had prepared a special treat for us. When we arrived at her place, she was busy preparing  cheese fondue! We ate a lot and by the time we were done with dessert, everybody couldn't move. After dinner, we played a game called Headbandz with Millie and Oscar. It was fun! After a while, we felt tired and went back to our house to get some sleep.

Preparation of the fondue

Headbandz game after dinner.


Day 3 - Christmas eve

Yay! It's Christmas eve! On the morning of Christmas eve we went to La Clusaz to sledge. Unfortunately, Idzhar was sick the night before and we suspected he caught the winter stomach bug but still, he said that he was okay so we went ahead sledging. Oscar and Ailis did not join us so only Millie followed us.

It took us about 30 minutes to get to La Clusaz by car. When we arrived, the sledging place was empty so we had the whole place to ourselves! Aysha sledged too. While waiting for Mommy and Dadda to sledge, Millie and I built a snowman with Aysha and Idzhar.

Idzhar trying to prove to Mommy and Dadda that he's ok because he wanted to go sledging so badly.😂

The moment he got out of the car. He did this in Japan too. He loves snow too much!



Dadda stuck in the thick snow

After a few rounds going up  and down the hill (hehe...), we went back to our house to freshen up before going back to Aunty P's house. We were supposed to head back to La Clusaz at 6.30pm to watch the arrival of Santa and his elves! According to Aunty P, Santa arrives in a different way every year. This year, he flew in on a blimp and threw candies at us! It was so funny because the announcements were all in French and Idzhar and I did not understand a thing they said! Hahaha!!! We took a lot of videos of the arrival but no photos, sorry. I will try and post all the videos from the trip soon.

After the show ended, we went sliding on the slopes while we waited for Uncle Stef to finish his work at the bar. We were all wet from the snow-sliding but it was still fun!

La Clusaz




The Christmas tree at the square outside Uncle Stef's bar.


Dadda and Oscar ready to see Santa.

Had some crepes while watiing.


We slid down that hill after the show ended.

Everyone waiting for Santa.

We had a three course dinner that night. For starters, we had prawns (which all of the kids ate a lot until we were so full!). For the main course, we (except for the kids because we couldn't eat anymore.) had scallops on fried cheese crackers and leeks and for dessert, we had special pastries that Aunty P bought earlier. We really overate that night. It was a fantastic day for us!


The table decorations I did with Millie for our Christmas eve dinner.

Starters

Aysha playing with the toys at Aunty P's house.

Us kids with our Christmas hats.

 From bottom left clockwise: Idzhar, Oscar, Uncle Stef, Aunty P, Ailis, Mommy and Aysha, me, Millie and Dadda.

Scallops and leek in fried parmesan cheese with mashed sweet potatoes on the side. Yummy!


Small cakes and pastries for dessert.

Aaand... French Yule Log!

Stay tuned for part 2 coming real soon!

                                                                TO BE CONTINUED!😉




Make sure you read this too!

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