Greolieres les Neiges

"Where is this?!" Dr asked, (a probing freelance journalist in his heart of hearts) when I tried to persuade him there was fine skiing to be had in the hills behind our house. As the map above illustrates, the ski resort of Greolieres les Neiges is nestled in the Maritime Alps to the northwest of Grasse. Our house is about about halfway between Grasse and Cannes.

We're surrounded by the Maritime Alps. During my parents' visit in October, we discovered there's snow in them thar hills! Last weekend Michelle and I rounded up ski gear, loaded up the kids, and made the windy, sporadically nerve-wracking drive, past medieval ruins, hilltop towns and incredible views to Greolieres les Neiges.

There are 22 runs -- 4 greens, 4 blues, 12 reds (our double blues in the U.S.) and 2 blacks, and by some fluke, we practically had the mountain to ourselves.

The only thing I wasn't pleased about was the plethora of ski tows, otherwise known as the dreaded pommel tow, and, as Michelle explained, known in French as tire-fesse which means, most aptly, a buttocks-pull. I've had bad luck with the similarly designed T-bar in Breckenridge -- two falls down a steep hill, once with Val, once solo, and both times pulled back up the hill in a most appreciated but undignified manner by Dr and Menno respectively.

Luke and Damon thought it looked like fun so off we went with the round-shaped seat between legs and the strong pull of the wire yanking us upwards. Luke rode behind me. "Hey, Mom! I wanted to see what happened if I didn't sit and I almost fell off." "Luke! Don't do that!" "Ha, ha ha! Hey, Mom! Look!" Silence. "Hey, Mom... I fell off."

I couldn't stay mad.. Damon and Adrienne, who hadn't skied in years, went to take a lesson, leaving Luke and me to explore. Sun shining, snow glistening, my heart sang as I followed the boy down and around the mountain. When we rejoined our friends, Adrienne impressed with graceful steadiness and Damon barreled down the hill -- not one to let a few tumbles interfere with the adrenalin rush of skiing fast. Apres ski crepes and gaufres with Michelle ended the day. We got back in the car for the drive home, dubbed our scouting expedition a success, and made plans to go back --next weekend.