LAST OF THE GREAT WHITE SNOW - Bessan, France

Mid April and we are all set for spring. But doing what spring does best, we had a cold snap that offered up an invitation from friends to go 2 hours north of Grenoble to the village of Bessan to ski. Naturally, Dick and Walker jumped at the chance for the season's last bit of skiing and I am always happy to sightsee and read. So off we go, striking out on a gorgeous Saturday morning, not a cloud in the sky. Perfect skiing and reading day!!! We traveled higher and higher into the mountains and literally at the end of the road was our destination. The road would normally continue on but the winter snows had the road closed for several months and who knows when the snow melt will allow traffic to cross through the pass again.

Steeple of Baroque church

Charming village of Bessan, France

We had landed at the end of the earth it seemed, but what a beautifully charming village we would now over night in. Bessan is a tee tiny village (350 inhabitants - more animals than people by far!), with a lovely baroque church, and lots of large farm dwellings. The village is known for Beaufort cheese (yummy)!!! The large farm dwellings have two levels. The lower level serves as the winter living quarters for many many cows, sheep and goats (milk supply for the cheese!) and the upper level is then for the human inhabitants. Due to the huge amounts of snow in the area, the cows, sheep,goats AND PEOPLE remain INSIDE from late October until late May. The reason for the animal / human co-habitation is body heat. The animals give off heat that then rises into the upper living quarters. Now my question was, is it only heat that rises??? Throughout our 24 hour visit, I did not see a single animal (except for a fox!). I did smell the animals, and saw many of the farm dwellings with the cow dung blocks stacked outside the door which is used as a heat source for the home when burned in the stove. So obviously these farmers have a way of life we have never seen before. The village thankfully does have electricity, though a neighboring village did not. The amazing thing is these farm animals do not see the light of day for all these long winter months, then when spring does FINALLY arrive, all the animals are taken up into the mountains for summer grazing. We developed a whole new appreciation for the mountain areas that produce the wonderful French cheeses we all enjoy!

Barn w/ ladder leading to dung block storage used for heating the house !

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But the purpose of the trip was not for me to sightsee, but for skiing! And what a day. Not a cloud in the sky and powder, powder, powder!!!

Skiiers on their way!

They found their heaven!

The Dehrbys have been wonderful ski buddies and instructors for Walker this year. They took him to Italy for a week of skiing, and that is when Marise really took Walker to a higher level of skiing. She began skiing at age 2 and was a part of the French national ski team, so needless to say, Walker has been a lucky fellow to have ski time with this family!!!

We stayed in the Dehrby's precious barn (no animals!) that they have converted to cute and comfy living space. They have beautiful views out their windows.

Window view on Saturday



Same window view on Sunday in a mid April blizzard!!!

No skiing for the die hards with blizzard conditions. Obviously all the animals of Bessan will remain in their cozy barns for several more weeks. It will be quite a while before the spring grasses will appear for sure.

We headed back down the mountains, and were greeted by full flown spring here at "home on the range." Our Vercors mountains seem so tame compared to the high peaks of Bessan.