Scattered clouds shed a continuous sprinkle of flakes throughout the day, adding a glittering display to cold and crisp conditions. The absence of any wind allowed those delicate crystals to float languidly before settling on branch and trail. Moments of quiet solitude sitting in the chair as it ascended to the top of its destination seemed almost surreal in the presence of all those falling diamonds. We are grateful for the beauty of the mountains and winter.
Winter finally decided to arrive in 2011. A good amount of snow fell on the mountain this weekend, so conditions were really improved. It was a joy to slide through fluffy powder over a foot deep. The crowd level was fairly high, given the long weekend, but the lift system did a great job of keeping the lines moving. It was never a problem to be going back up the mountain in 2 minutes or less after arriving at the lift from a run. The mountain complex is also large enough to absorb crowds so it is possile to find space and solitude during a run; and even catch a chair alone on one of the lesser used lifts. Skiing with an iPod plugged into helmet earphones allows aural augmentation to the physical thrill of skiing, but at the cost of awareness of others nearby. Having some space is a good thing.
The chateau was loaded with guests and members, so the après ski scene was pretty lively. We have an interesting mix of personalities; there is never any dearth of banter or laughter. A new visitor coming in the door at the end of the day will be greeted by warm incandescent lighting, and small knots of people gathered around the dining table or in the living room, engaged in the chatter of some story or repartee, who will look to immediately greet the newcomer. The friendly and welcoming atmosphere is always augmented by music on the excellent sound system. We are fortunate that there are a lot of audiophiles in the house who love to share and trade music. The diversity of our house music is notable and makes for a special treat when we come up. We are either going to have fun turning somebody on to music they haven’t heard yet, or they are going to be doing the same for us. It’s like having a surprise gift every time one visits here.
The long weekend allows us just that much more time to enjoy the whole vibe. The hot tub is, of course, one of the highlights of our day, and it can sometimes work against any plans to go out on the town. The supreme sense of comfort and relaxation is so alluring that one can lapse into a spell. Last night we sat in the tub with our host and two of our women members, enjoying our drinks of choice, and watching snowflakes drift down through the rising steam to land and melt in the bubbling caldron. We have done this many times before, and the more memorable times include laying back to ponder a sparkling Milky Way on a crystal clear night, or marveling at the staccato movie shutter effect of fast moving clouds racing across the face of an incandescent moon, and the winking glimmer of delicate flakes descending from the sheltering sky. Lovely.
We tore our selves free from the hot tub to get ready to go out for the evening. We drove the hour to Burlington to go to a small night club in the center of the city. It’s called Red Square. The visitor is greeted by a narrow and compact entrance with tall round bistro tables and chairs on the left hand overlooking the windows to the closed café outside, and a long bar with a riot of colored lighting on the right. It has a funky college jazz club feel. We walked in and proceeded to the back of the place, and entered a second seating area with muted red table lighting and comfort chairs. Once past this anteroom we walked through a doorway to the room reserved for the evening’s Latin dance night. A DJ entertained the crowd with a mix of Salsa that kept the crowd animated and the dance floor full. A large screen high up on the far wall played videos of Salsa bands in concerts. We took our time to savor our drinks and people watch. There were some very good dancers out there for sure. We felt good enough to dance for a few songs. Eve looked vivacious in a form fitting turquois knit top trimmed in silver filigree. Her black tights were tucked into dangerous black lamb skin thigh high boots with tasseled zippers. Erik was turned out in the Johnny Cash motif.
After a while we felt the need to eat and headed out and down the street to one of the many college pubs for some rather unhealthy but immensely delicious bar food. It’s so much fun to go out together and just “hang”. We didn’t get back to the chalet until 12:30 PM, and all was quiet. We have one more day to spend at Chateau Relaxeau this weekend. Hmmm, what to do?
