Bourg St Maurice. Kate and Emmie

7:30 this morning the moral of the team was extremely high with the excitement of the day ahead. The buses were to leave at this time on the dot. But us females were a tinsy bit late obviously testing the patients of the adrenalin pumped team. Once on the way we were able to enjoy a very picturesque drive which included a spectacular viewing of Mt Blonte, the highest mountain in Europe. Also, second to none, we past the home of the great Beethoven (the Saint Bernard kind, not the composer)
After winding further up the mountain pass and a pee stop, we reached the boarder into France. Kate and my nerves started to kick in from here on. When we reached the course we all suddenly realised why the French paddlers are so damn good…… because they have about a thousand to choose from. We were lucky enough to be there on the eve of the French National Championships and so were able to be paddling with the best. We were allocated four separate training slots, the lucky K1 men were the first, followed by the ladies, then c1 and finally our exciting c2 boaters. The boys came off the water absolutely buzzing after their session and couldn't slow down to take a breath between sentences at telling us how wicked it was. The carnage queen (roz) Kate and I were up next and we proved to be a little more hectic. Roz and Kate decided that a little detour into a nasty hole (backwards) would prove to be fun and they were quite right, though perhaps not as fun for them as it was for those spectators on the bank. However all in all we came off the water like jumping beans. The c1's were just as exciting to watch with some spectacular freestyle moves being pulled out by Richie including a nose to tail cartwheel!
But the prize for the MOST exciting watching came from our very own c2 boys CJ and Karl.
Lets just say that we (the rest of the team) were provided with ice creams after dinner tonight. And that their pinned boat pulled a huge crowd. However awesome the crash looked the boys were very lucky to have come out with just a grazed bottom and a few cracks in the boat. All was fine in the end and we received applause from our fellow French onlookers. After the excitement we reluctantly packed up our gear, said farewell to our friends and got in the buses to head home to the mozzie infested Ivrea… though not before a quick snow fight on the side on the road. QUICK being the key word as Zlatan gets very hungry around dinner time.
We have had a wonderful day and won't be coming home, but we will send you all a post card…if your lucky.

WE LOVE BOURG ST MAURICE