In spite of an attack of sciatica that won’t go away, I ventured on a short ski trip to Mt Tremblant, Quebec. We flew into Montreal and bussed to the village at the base of the ski area. I had paid for the trip so decided to go, even though I didn’t know if my leg would hold out for skiing.
Our trip organizer assured me that it is a fun place to go even if I didn’t ski. The French village is quaint, with pedestrian lanes and multi-colored houses turned shops. Best of all was the French onion soup for lunch, crēpes one evening and a marvelous dinner at C’est La Vie! We had cheese fondue as an appetizer, with a great Semillon, followed by duck breast with a honey glaze, and decadent profiteroles for dessert.
I tried to ski our first day, but my damaged right leg kept collapsing under me. I fell on my left turns several times (the right leg is the control when turning left) and a gracious friend helped me up each time. The leg was so weak I couldn’t just push up as I usually do. So day two I abstained from skiing, and instead hobbled through the village and had the onion soup and returned to the hotel to ice everything. I did ski again on the next day and did better- modifying my technique to make steering my bad leg more reliable. It is really disconcerting to find that muscles trained for years to do something like turning a ski can simply go limp and achy when a nerve is damaged.
The other annoying experience was trying to get back to the US. In advance United Airlines told us that they were following the CDC guidelines for Covid testing so we printed a list of the types of tests allowed, and we all tested negative before we got to the airport. But then, the United agent at the desk said, "Oh no, those tests don’t count! You have to go upstairs in the terminal and pay $120 for a different Covid test!" Luckily we had time to go through the protocol and wait for the results. Unfortunately one of the group then tested positive and had to stay behind and quarantine, He feels ok, but what a bum ending! The rest of us have been testing since we got home as we were all in the same group for five days.
C’est la vie for travelers today!
"Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear — not absence of fear." Mark Twain
