ESC: Le Lioran

Up too Early

My housemates and I planned a trip to go Skiing at the Lioran ski lodge. We took the morning train from Clermont, but I don't think we got enough sleep. 

La Gare Le Lioran

We hopped on the train and took a shuttle bus up to the lodge.

Ski Rentals

The trip in total was only about $80 which included transportation, rentals, and an all day ski pass. I don't know if there are prices like that in the US. 

I'm ready to ski!

I got some skis. I would recommend memorizing your height, weight, and shoe size in metric terms if you're planning travel in Europe.

Getting on out skis

Claudio had a hard time getting on his skis, but we are ready to try the bunny hill. It was a first time skiing for everyone except Laura.

Conveyor Belt up to the bunny hill

The Beginner Track

The hill was intimidating at first but not crazy at all. We didn't get going too fast either. Also, the newbies don't get ski poles because they need to learn to use their legs to turn first.

Ski lift to the green track

After a few runs on the bunny hill, we took the lift for the green rated slopes.

Final Picture before death

We got off the ski lift about halfway up the mountain. Another lift can take people further up for more challenging tracks. Little did we know that we were about to face death on these slopes. Leon (in the yellow) and I went first and quickly realized we didn't know what we were doing. We had been given no instruction and the initial descent was sooo steep. I shot straight down the hill and was gaining speed uncontrollably. I decided it would be better to crash early than to hit max velocity, so threw myself to the ground. My right ski got caught and twisted my knee pretty good, but it detached without injury. I couldn't stop laughing as I watched Leon barrel down the hill and crash as well.

Wooded track

Skiing is a lot like mountain biking where you generally don't fall forward or backward, but instead side to side. Skis do not have disk brakes, no breaks in fact. This area was not the French alps in case you were wondering, but instead an area about two hours south of Clermont. The scenery was stunning. I gained a lot of control on the slops by the end of the day and managed to escape with only an overextended thumb.

Sunday Best

(Also my Sunday Only)

L'epicerie du Monde

I went to an Asian store recommended by Nicolas to see what treasures I could find. I found several things I've been looking for and a few that I didn't really think of as Asian, but have been difficult to find in the French grocery stores. I grabbed some sweet Thai chili sauce to make any fried rice better. I got some rice noodles for ramen, rice flower to make spring roll wraps, and beans for my Mexican food. I was surprised to find popcorn, but Kevin and I have been trying to find some for a while.