Skiing in Avoriaz

We're in Avoriaz, a resort in the French alps to try out some skiing. Me and my brother go to a school were you learn to ski better. I like to ski through the gates. In Avoriaz, no cars are allowed. They have snow tracs and horse and buggys with bells for transportation.

You have to drive through the mountains to get to Avoriaz. If they would build the roads straight, it would be too steep for your car and the car would slip off the mountain. Instead the roads are built zig-zag so it won't be as steep. It is easy to get carsick from the zig-zag.

I am having a great time in Avoriaz.

Head on a Plate

Today we went to Cite des Sciences & de l'Industrie.
There was a special exhibit about food. There was something that was like a joke. Here is the picture:

The truth is: I was under the counter with a hole. And there are mirrors that make it look like I am a head. The mirrors hid my body.

Changements des plans

Today we had planned to meet Eve but she had called to say that her sister (who actually lives in Brussels) had gotten extremely sick so she had to help her get to the hospital so it was not a good idea to meet her just today. Instead we looked at Cite des sciences & de l'industrie but you had to buy tickets two days in advance. (The reason is that in France everybody has Mid-winter-break from school now).
So instead at 2 o'clock we took the RER B to the terminus Saint Remy-les-Chevreuse and walked a looooooooooooong way to Chateau de la Madeleine in Chevreuse, another town. I have about a million pictures to show and here are some of them:

This is one of the bridges that leads to a house where somebody lives. I like how this one is sort of old-fashioned looking.

I took this picture to show you that the apartments in Chevreuse are sort of modern looking.

But the churches are old.

This is one of those first bike designs. One wheel is extremely high and one is extremely low.

This is an old poem at the entrance of the castle. This is the translation:

How I enjoy myself in these mountains,

Which, rising up to the Heavens,

With a graceful diadem,

Crown this beautiful landscape.

This may not look like much, but this is a well about 30 meters deep. It was used when there was a war and the people were stuck inside the castle. They made this well to get water to drink.

It must of been very hard to make the well in the 11th century because they did not have bulldozers then.

This is a tower where you could go in. Can you see the staircase they used?

This is the interior of a typical RER B train.

This is the outside of a typical RER B train.

Here is the Chevreuse valley viewed from the highest point of the castle. 

To market

Today we went to the market to get some food. At the end of this post you can see some craaaaaaazy pictures. My dad is keeping a list of the French A.O.C (Appelation d'Origine Controle) cheeses we have consumed.

France is home to the best bread in the universe. Sometimes in the morning, I walk by myself to the bakery and get some bread. It improves my French.

Sometimes in school, the French kids ask me a question that I don't understand. They end with "Oui ou Non" and that is like all I understand. I can't answer because the first part would be too hard to understand. Then they try with"Yes or no" which doesn't help a bit. They probably think it really whatsoever helps me but I just end it with "Maybe."

This is a picture of a dead fish I named "Eyeball". Eyeball looks weird and I never want to buy him.

This is a real Brie de Meaux cheese. There is also a Brie de Melun that has a stronger taste. Can you see some of the whole Brie de Meaux cheeses?

Next to the Brie de Meaux there are some Brie de Melun cheeses. Can you see how Brie de Melun is a little smaller?

This Cheese is called Valencay. I like the look of it because it looks like a green pyramid. There is also a white pyramid cheese that is called Pouligny St. Pierre.

This cheese is called Morbier. I took a picture of it because I want you to see the green line on the cheese.

I took a picture of this cheese because I want you to see the name. Tete de Moine literally means "Friar's head". Yuck!

 

You can see that I took this picture on the DSi because of the frame. This is actually horse meat.

 

In this picture there is something disgusting. Pig snout and pig feet. Can you spot both?

Paris with Percy Jackson

On Sunday we went to Paris and we planned to go Ice Skating at Hotel De Ville but it was closed because it was Chinese New year. I knew it was Chinese New year, but I did not know that they would celebrate it there. Instead we walked to Le Marais and had lunch there. Then we went to Forum- Des-Halles and got tickets for the new Percy Jackson Movie. We had just missed one. The next one was in about two hours. We took a break at a Starbucks and then we went outside.We went to the second floor which is a part outside. It was not very nice there because homeless people tried to live there and the building smelled like urine. There was a tunnel that took you back down which smelled like urine and there was even probably human poop there. I feel sorry for all the homeless people.

The movie was different from the book, because in the 1st book Percy is 12 and in the movie they changed him to 17. But in the fifth movie he can't be 22, he would be an adult! I enjoyed the movie. It was in English with French subtitles. I tried to ignore the subtitles. Right now I am reading the second Percy Jackson book on my mom's Kindle.

 

Friday and the week end

There is just one thing from Friday that you might find interesting.
The English teacher sometimes says to the class in English class when they are annoying and loud "Shut up!" I told her "Shut up is not a very nice word." She said "I know but they deserve it!" Ha!

On Saturday I asked another girl who is 8 if she could come to my house. Her dad was not there so her sister would stay and she would come. We played a short game of UNO and went outside. Outside we made a miniature Waterworld.

On Sunday in the afternoon just me and my dad went to Paris. We did a lot of metro transportation and this is how it went: first we took the RER B to Paris Gare du Nord, then metro line 2 to Pre-Saint Gervais, line 3 to Gambetta, line 3bis (the shortest line with just 4 stations) to Porte des Lilas, line 11 to Place de Fetes, line 7bis to Jaures and finally line 5 to Oberkampf. Then we walked to le Marais where they have a lot of Middle Eastern food (there was a long line to get your lunch everywhere). We had a falafel. Then we went to a chocolate store and got a small box of chocolates. After that, we went to a fancy tea shop and we planned to have something small to eat but the line was too long. Instead we bought some tea for my mom and had a hot chocolate at the chocolate shop. Then we went home.

I brought my DSi and took some pictures:

This picture is of me and my favorite advertisement.

This is me reading a map with a metro in the background.

This is the long falafel line on rue des Rosiers in le Marais. 

This is the chocolate fountain at the chocolate shop.