Our Week in Villard-De-Lans

July 16, 2018: Today we left Villard after a wonderful week with our friends there. We stayed with our dear friends, Francoise and Bado. In 2004 Francoise was our french tutor. We spent a lot of time with her and her husband Bado then and have remained in touch. They came to our wedding in 2006, but this is the first time we have been back to Villard in 14 years. We arrived late on Monday and Tuesday was spent relaxing. We went into town in the morning to shop with Francoise. I love small town shopping, one stop in a different store for each separate item. Every morning and every meal we ate together was a wonderful display of hospitality and luxury. We ate outside on their deck with loads of bread, cheese, meats, delicious salads, rice, and fruit. Rose was on tap every day for lunch providing the perfect segue to a post lunch nap. Wednesday Bado led us on a 20 km bike ride. This was our kids first time on real mountain bikes with gears. We started out on a nice smooth trail along a river heading out of town and then he took the kids on a slightly more difficult section. They all handled themselves very well and Bado was thoroughly impressed. Let me mention, Bado is now 81 and is still in amazing shape and looks and acts like he is 50. Wednesday afternoon we reconnected with some of our other friends in town. We drove up to their home unannounced and it was as though no time had passed (except we now have 6 kids between us). It was great to spend time catching up and watch our kids become friends without being able to speak to one another. Thursday we took the kids for a 6 hour hike up to a spot we used to like to go to. It was longer than I remembered but the kids did great. It was a beautiful day and we got to see two gliders floating back and forth during our hike. The weather in Villard was incredible. No humidity, and amazing cool nights. The kids were wiped and my leg was sore on Friday after all our exercise so we took a day to relax. James went for a bike ride with Bado while we walked around town a bit. We spent the rest of the week just hanging out with our friends. Saturday was the French National Holiday, Bastille Day, and we had a bbq with our friends and then went to watch fireworks with them. Sunday France played in the World Cup finals and won! Small town parties were nothing like the wild scenes from Paris but people were thrilled. Saying goodbye to the town and the special people there was not easy for me. At one time, in 2004, James and I considered moving there for good and raising our kids there. I remember why we loved it so much.