The rest of Nevache and the first half of Bardonecchia

On Thursday afternoon Ginny, Richard, Alison and Cory have departed to their 3 days of hiking up into the glaciers of the nearby High Alps. While they were away I didn’t do much, partly because I wanted a rest and partly because I wasn’t feeling very good. As it happens, the malaise that hit me then was probably the same bug that most of them were suffering from. I had headaches, shakes and was occasionally near tears with no good reason. I also did do some shopping and cooking in those days, but more of that later.

3 large chickens in bits in the pans

Foolishly I offered to cook a Hungarian meal for them, just as a gesture of thanks for putting us up. It seemed a very good way of returning some of the compliment that they pay me by giving us bed and board of the highest quality. So, on Saturday I went and fetched the chickens, bought some more paprika and the rest of the ingredients and started cooking.  I had a feeling that it won’t turn out very good, but persevered anyway. There were a lot of handicaps in producing a good chicken paprikash there, namely the paprika being inferior to what I am used to at home, the chickens being far too large and the fact that day after day it kept being put off because of Alison and her friends kept changing their activities.

The lovely stone bridge between the two forts

I decided to take the chickens off the bone, partly because they wouldn’t have fitted into the two frying pans with bones and partly because this way I hoped the sauce would get into them easier. The cucumber salad had a serious handicap as the rice vinegar was very weak, but finally that was almost 100% OK. While deboning the chickens I managed to chop off a nice big chunk of my left middle finger, but I carried on regardless. I couldn’t find any plasters anywhere, so kept wrapping paper serviettes round the profusely bleeding wound. Finally they were cooked and I managed to squeeze all of it into a dish and into the fridge.

Briancon Old Town

When they all came home, they looked rather done in, except Alison, who has ants in her pants and is hyperactive with inexhaustible energy. More and more visitors kept arriving, until I was concerned about where they all would be sleeping. Sunday arrived and the main event was a concert in Briancon which finally Richard had opted out of. In the morning, however, while Richard was doing some DIY and the others have gone off to do something else, Ginny took me into Briancon for walking to the nearest fort and for a walk through the Old Town down to the 18th century bridge over the gorge.  That was really lovely and relaxing.

The fact that Richard didn't come to the concert gave Ginny the idea to get him to warm up the chicken as we are coming home from the concert to save time. That seemed like a good idea, except he dried it out so much that it wasn’t very good.  Everybody said they liked it, but I knew it was crap. Still, the concert was very good with 2 Brazilians, 1 Spaniard and 1 Frenchman, all on chellos, playing some amazing pieces.

On the other hand, the making of the dumplings was great fun. Kayllagh and I made a fantastic pair of co-operation in that little kitchen and it was done in no time at all. Obviously, there was a lot left, so I decided that I would feed Alex & co. with it on Monday evening. This also gave me a chance to make some more sauce, which was badly needed after Richard dried most of it off and what was left, we ate.

The 'Boys'

On Monday morning Ginny went and fetched the boys and Alex, Rob, Joel and me sat outside chatting so that the boys could de-stress. After a couple of hours of that we walked up to the Haute Ville for a cake and a drink in the boulangerie. It started raining on the way back, but we managed to get under shelter and after a long wait caught the free bus home. My extra sauce made the leftover chicken superbly tasty and the boys stuffed themselves silly. Ginny made a lovely gazpaccio soup to start with, and served Kayllagh’s cheesecake for afters, so that was a lovely feast.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t so lucky. While still cooking I started having serious pains in my gut. Probably it was a new version of the lurgy of the week and I felt so queezy that I had to miss my soup, which I absolutely adore and only ever get in Nevache. :-( Once I fully packed, we got going and this time it was Richard who gave us all a lift to Bardonecchia.

Alex making a few salient points

The World School was (and still is) tremendous fun, which always gives me a lift, no matter how tiring it is and how much I am feeling shitty. The Canadians, who have adopted me again, number 20 this time, which is an all-time high and they are smashing youngsters, as usual. I bought a copy of the Stalin book, which I helped proof-read and a lovely Italian cloth flag, which took my fancy.

My lurgy started getting better by Wednesday, but in the afternoon I had a relapse. Alex and Rob looked after me while I recuperated and by today I seem OK. The food, unfortunately, is not very safe for me, although their salads and vegetables are lovely. Bread is only white and is mostly made of air, but the special pizza place, where we are planning to go to on Friday should be good. Alex and Rob are again dealing with problems in the section, but looks as if it will be sorted soon. The upshot of all the hassle, however, is good.  Namely, that they only want to spend the free afternoon with me, nobody else, for peace and quiet.  We are off to the top of the ski lift for a little walk and a beer in the bar up there, followed by a return to the valley floor and pizza!

Must go now as the afternoon session is starting in half an hour and I might have 40 winks before that.

PS.: The 40 winks became an hour and a half and I missed the afternoon session. Oops! Never mind! Now I am sitting in the cafe uploading pictures, which if they would be slow, that would be a great improvement. It takes approximately 5 minutes per photo or more. Aaaghhhhh!! In the meantime I bought a Marx poster which cost 5 Euros and the money will go to the Pakistan section, so it will have been very well spent.