Ice skating

Megève has an outdoor ice skating rink in the centre of town that has been on our ‘fun things to do’ list for quite a while now. The other day, conditions were perfect (as in, it was sunny and we had a bit of free time on our hands) so we paid our 15 or so euro each (see blog title to guess which person had some trouble handing over the money and which one did so with glee) and headed out onto the ice. The appropriate clothing (aka Elvis glasses we found at the chalet) was also required…

Being the beginning of springtime there was a decent series of puddles on the ice and some quite gnarly cracks that made disconcerting creaking noises as you skated over them, but luckily our lardy croissant packed bodies weren’t so bad as to actually fall through the ice. Adrian (as to be expected with all winter sports) picked it up incredibly quickly and started showing off doing fancy stops and going backwards etc. – I reckon he’d make a great figure skater – imagine the costumes!

I (Amelia) on the other hand made somewhat tentative progress, aided by my new best friend, Jan (a 5 year old French girl in Megève on holiday who told me several times this was her 3rd time ice skating and she could already go forward, turn, and stop). It was probably about my 3rd time too so I was pleased I got up to about her level by the end of the session…

Once we got a bit of practice in I got a bit cocky and challenged Adrian to a race down the length of the rink and back. Unfortunately, my lead which was unchallenged until ¾ of the way through the race, came to an abrupt end when I tripped up, fell backwards, and cracked my head on the ice…yet again proof that I am not naturally blessed with either balance or sporting ability… The people watching gave a collective ‘oooh’ that even I heard in my semi-concussed state, so I’m pleased that I at least managed to give them some entertainment! I took it grandma-slow for the rest of the evening I can tell you… Click here for some more photos.