Un Pélérinage

This morning while the others went skiing I drove down to the valley by myself to visit the town of St Jean de Maurienne. This was an important journey for me because when I was eighteen I spent nearly a year living in the boarding school there. My French was so good then. I made some good friends among the "pions" who also worked there and I kept in touch with some of them, but they all came from different towns in France so I haven't been back to St Jean de Maurienne itself for more than thirty years! On the way to various ski holidays I have seen signs to it, and I have always meant to return. And today I did it!
I took it easy on the drive down the steep switchback roads into the valley, but there was hardly any traffic and it was fine. Parking in the town was easy and I was soon wandering the streets where I had spent so much time all those years ago. It brought back good memories of a brilliant year. I recognised a lot of the streets and buildings of course, especially the old church and tower in the centre, and the shopping arcades which show that St Jean has a lot of Italian influence, being so near the border. However there were some changes too; the book shop that I used to frequent is gone and there is a new supermarket. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and wondered if any of the inhabitants had been in my classes - if so they would be forty plus now!
Later James and I went for a swim in the hotel outdoor pool; the sky above the mountains was an amazing mixture of blues and rosy pinks, with snow-covered peaks standing out bright white in front of it. Then the sky faded to a dark blue and the mountains themselves became tinged with pink! James said that it was just as well that we didn't have a camera with us because it was so stunning that it would have looked unreal! As it got darker someone switched the pool lights on and the pool became a luminous turquoise.
On our last night of a ski holiday we like to celebrate an enjoyable week of skiing with a pierre chaude and a fondue savoyarde. This evening we went to the Bar St Moritz - lucky that we had booked it earlier in the week because it was completely full. We had a delicious meal; the main dishes were complemented with salad, chips and charcuterie and we ate heartily while reminiscing about this week's ski experiences. To finish off our meal we ordered Café Val d'Aoste "la grolle" which is served in a little wooden pot, served with a jug of flaming chartreuse liqueur. You blow out the flames then pour the hot chartreuse into the coffee, put the lid onto the wooden pot, then drink the potent brew from holes in the side of the pot using straws! The boys all drank some and found it to be quite breathtaking, with a strangely medicinal after-taste! The restaurant owner explained to us that shepherds in the Aosta valley used to drink this mixture out of their boots which were called "grolles," hence the name. We later sauntered back to the hotel bar for drinks. Tremendous evening.