Charlevoix – Day 4 can be found here.
7 am start today, as we had to get my son fed and prepped in time for his snowboarding lesson at 8:30 am. Quick trip for breakfast and back to the room to change, then down to the lockers where I discovered that both of our lockers had their codes changed in the night.
How was that possible? Well, I’m embarrassed to say that I had not realized that the locker numbers matched up to the room numbers.
This means that – for the past 4 days – we had been stealing not one but two lockers that belonged to other guests.
I’m not sure how I missed this the first time, when our stuff ended up in the ski shop. But I did.
Anyway, we soon found our proper locker and moved all our gear over. Problem solved. (At least until karma rears its head and someone puts their stuff in our locker.)
The temperature had dropped precipitously, and it was now around -12C outside not including windchill – and there was quite the windchill. What’s more, the gondola was also not running this morning. (Which I suspect was related to the wind speed.) So we’d have to trek past the gondola, across a bridge, and over to the chair lift.
Getting back down? Likely the same – a trip down on the chairlift followed by an extended trek back to the hotel.
This is what we somehow missed the day before. And let me say, I’m glad we only had to do it the once.
But – the conditions were further improved today, and we had another series of beautiful runs before we decided to call it a day before heading back to the room around 11:30.
Fortunately, the gondola was running again by the time we got back. Unfortunately, the magic carpet was jammed. The signs ask you to leave 2 metres between the guests, and for good reason – otherwise people start to pile up at the disembarking point. Particularly when those people are 5 years old and have only spent 84 minutes on skis in their entire lives.
Anyway, we made it. Not without incident, but we made it.
Our son arrived back not long after. His lesson had gone well – though he claimed that it was more of a ski-together session than an actual lesson, and that he hadn’t really learned anything new. Regardless, one lesson was enough for one trip. He wanted to ski with us again tomorrow. And who can blame him? We are pretty awesome. (And aware that he is not going to want to ski / snowboard with us forever.)
Lunch was busy that day, and we can tell that the resort is ramping up for Christmas and the holidays. Still, no issues finding a seat and the waits for food were minimal. I had fried chicken, mashed potatoes and onion rings.
This was followed by a banana-caramel cake and some sort of strawberry whipped cream cake.
All very delicious.
We were running ahead of schedule for once, so I managed to get in both a power nap and a trip to the pool. With the hill reopened, the pool was all but deserted – the lifeguards outnumbered the guests.
Our daughter once more ensconced herself in the hammock, and I had the chance to visit the steam room, pool and the outdoor hot tub. The hot tub was a little cool, but had a great view of the ski hill. There’s something meditative about sitting in steaming hot water while you watch others engage in winter sports.
The steam room continued to steal the show, however – and after two successive trips, my back felt almost as good as it had before we made the 7 hour trip to get here. (Just in time for another 7 hour trip in 2 days time.)
Hard to believe, but this trip is already drawing to a close. We’re already strategizing as to how best to load up the car before our departure.
And how are we feeling about leaving? Will we be bereft to depart this not-quite-winter wonderland, or relieved to leave the troupe of destructive capuchins ahem children behind? Methinks it’s too soon to say.
Back to Le Chalet, where I enjoyed this spectacular view with a cappuccino:
And then off to the theatre for another round of Aerial Circus lessons, this time with silks.
Then off to dinner, including beet ravioli:
Lamb shoulder:
Breaded calamari
And pineapple shrimp:
Followed by gluten-free opera cake:
I have to say, the gluten-free desserts have really been punching above their weight during this trip. They’re often better than their gluten-laden alternatives. Really impressive.
Early night for us tonight, as we are planning to get back on the hill again tomorrow morning.
Which is a shame, because we just discovered the Aperol spritz:
Which paired well with the tail end of tonight’s show:
And that wrapped up Day 5. One last day left to enjoy the drinks, skiing and entertainment.
Continue with Charlevoix – Day 6 here.
Ready to check out the Club Med Charlevoix? Contact me at unknownlongitude@gmail.com for a friends and family invitation that will save $100 off the cost of your trip.
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