- It wasn't a parliament of owls, a gaggle of geese or a murder of crows--but there sure were a lot of wild turkeys on the road.
- On the way out, it was foggy as could be. I wish we could have stopped by the river, just outside of town (but there are signs everywhere saying that you can't). There is an ice-fishing village of perhaps a hundred little huts, some of them brightly coloured, which peeked out ever so gently through the mist. It is an image that will stick with me.
- We couldn't go to the spa on Saturday because there was a waiting list. Let me say that I was very surprised by that. I thought it would just be us going to hang out in the cold winter air. Apparently, it's busier in winter than in summer. I decided that we would return on Sunday morning, right at the start of their day. It was still busy, but in spite of that, it was a perfect afternoon. I read a whole entire book, and I had two cycles in the Finnish sauna followed by the ice cold waterfall. We found spaces in the zero gravity room right by the window, where we could look out on trees, snow and the occasional deer. We both took a nap in those chairs. We also spent time in two different whirlpools, and a relaxing room that looked out on the deer feeder. It was perfect.
- The only problem was that we had to drive home afterwards. I was so ready to sleep for hours. When we got back, I actually fell asleep before 9, and only woke up once until 7. Since the car accident in December, this is the first time that I had that kind of rest.
- My birthday dinner was so much fun! We went to the La Savoy restaurant in the Village. While I think the restaurant is a wee bit overpriced, so is every other restaurant in the Village. Every other aspect of the place was grand. It's tiny and homey, with hand painted wooden dividers that sit on the tables, effectively changing them from seating two to four or six or eight. The wait staff offer great suggestions, and are charming and fun to be around. At this restaurant you can have fondue, raclette or pierrades. While I love the raclette cheese it is so very rich that we only have the appetizer portion. The cheese is melted over potatoes, and bits of dark smoked meat. However, if you were to have raclette as the meal, it would look like this. It's fun to watch people scrape the cheese to their plate. And it smells so good. The people who are cooking on the pierrade, a grill stone placed over a heating element, are also filling the air with succulent scents. But in our case, we went for fondue. At home, we have fondue with broth, and we like it very much. So much in fact that we fondue a dozen times during the year. Here, we had an oil fondue. We fondued big chunks of chicken that we dipped into cream, and then into breadcrumbs. The best chicken ever! We also had steak cubes to fondue, and the sides were green salad (as much as we wanted), potatoes, rice pilaf, bread (no shortage of carbs here!), then three old dipping sauces and two hot ones. In addition, they serve a little kir cocktail as their welcome, and offer a very nice selection of wines. We had a big Bordeaux that worked brilliantly with the cheese and the chicken. It's the type of meal that makes you linger for a long time, and just enjoy the company that you're keeping. And MY company...was also perfect.
Well that's it. I'm older, not necessarily wiser, and grateful for all my blessings....which include my friends. Thanks for stopping by!
