Yes, my hair will grow!

The first picture was taken in July 2007 after I cut my hair. The others were taken a few days ago when I realised I was still amazed by the question I was asked.

Will your hair grow?

Yes!

Somebody actually asked me this question!

Back to the slopes

You'll remember that my first time skiing was last year; you'll also remember that I had a really good time (see here, here, here and here) and that I invested in a few lessons while I was there. But, for some reason, this year, I didn't enjoy the skiing as much as I had anticipated. It could have been due to the absolutely freezing conditions; yes I know it's meant to be cold, but we were buying additional items of thermal ski wear on a daily basis (my purchases included this very handy ear-muff/head band thing). It could have been due to me spending a lot of time worrying about what was going on back in England with the new house purchase.

However, I suspect it was largely due to the fact that my skiing just wasn't up to scratch. I spent such a lot of time on my bottom or taking my skis off and walking down the mountain! And of course there was the day I thought my number was up...

How old is too old to wear a bib?

This delightful accessory is provided when having the speciality fish broth at a lovely little restaurant in Briancon. The dish is only served on Fridays and is popular with both locals and tourists; I used my best French to book our table as soon as we arrived in town. The substantial broth contains a variety of seafood and fish and lots of potatoes, it's served with rustic bread, cloves of garlic, garlic mayonnaise and Gruyere cheese. Whilst it does have the potential to be a bit of a passion killer, it is absolutely delicious and perfect comfort food to eat after a day in the snow.

BTW, look at how burnt my cheeks are!

Je peu parle Francais!

Not entirely in keeping with the sentiment of my last 'tagged' post, I managed to spend a little time brushing up on my French. Although I had every intention of working on my language skills on a daily basis for six weeks in preparation for being in France, living life got in the way and I found myself having to do final cramming sessions two days before heading to the airport.
I am pleased to report that whilst in Briancon, I did a very good job!
Although I was able to converse on a basic level with some confidence, I came across lots of people who wanted to practise their English; so I often found myself in conversations that took place in two languages!
I use the Instant French system, which works towards the student learning a bank of words that can be used in everyday situations. I have to admit to paying very little attention to the grammar, which means that I use my word bank to construct sentences as if I were speaking in English. Of course this is not the right way and certainly not the way I was taught at school; but I seem to make sense to the people I'm talking to and that's all that matters, right?
In the future I would like to enrol myself on a course, when I can find a window of time in my very busy life!

How did this feature in my Skiing holiday?

Wedding Hair

My friend JayKay got married today. Beautiful bride, dashing groom, emotional ceremony (traditional Jewish ceremony - a first for me) and a wonderful reception. But, no pictures to share, as Simply Silly Mel left her camera at home! Hopefully Parks, who was my 'date' for the day will let me have some of the photos she took and I will be able to share them at a later date.
Many congratulations to JayKay and her lovely Beau!


I did remember to take a photo of my updo when I got home though. I had actually set my hair on SoftSpikes the night before, with the intention of having curly hair. However my hair was still wet in the morning and as a result the curls were, well, not curls and I had to come with a plan b. In the end it was very simple to create; a few flat twists at the front, secured with small rubber bands and the rest of my hair gathered up with a hairtie. I am not a fan of the little rubber bands; I find them fiddly to remove and am pretty sure that I take some of my hair out with them - any suggestions for alternatives would be greatly received.
If you have the patience and time (both of which I didn't have enough of on the day) you could flat twist all of your hair; I'm sure this would create a stunning effect.