Places of Great Heights

Alex went on an overnight trip to the Alps with all of his classmates as part of the required curriculum at EDHEC.  This was meant to be a team building exercise, but Alex came home with so much more.  He started his day at 5am where he caught a bus to school with a backpack full of snacks and overnight clothes.  From EDHEC, the students boarded a bus that drove them to Mercantour Park in the Alps.  They stopped to have breakfast at a village before hiking up to their base camp.  

Alex said that they scaled a Summit that day (8,400ft) and he and the other students were very tired that night.  They stayed in a refuge where they ate dinner and students entertained eachother with songs on their guitars and dancing.  Alex went to bed early because he was so exhausted, but quickly realized that he would not be getting any sleep due to the large amount of snoring that was already taking place around his room!

After a long night of never sleeping, Alex went downstairs to play a horse racing game at 5am.  They ate breakfast together, then quickly began to hike again.  On this morning, the students saw a cattle farmer hearding his cows along a stream and also stumbled upon a cheese maker high in the Alps.  Alex thought that because they hiked so far the previous day they would not be hiking too far the second day, but he was wrong.  Again, they Summited a very tall mountain (9,000ft)!  He said that the paths were so tiny that you had to cling to the mountain to keep from falling.  Only 12 people made it to the top that day.

As a side note: One thing that has astonished both Alex and myself is how much the French will allow people to do.  I guess this comes from a society where it is pretty difficult for someone else to be held liable for your own stupidity.  We witnessed this when we visited Point du Hoc 2 years ago, where the French would allow anyone to walk into the large craters left by bombs and also inside the bunkers that had also been bombed.  And on this trip to the Alps the French figure if you are going to be a show off or do something stupid that you know you are not capable of doing, its your fault if you get hurt.  I like this philosophy!

When Alex finally came home, dirty and tired, he said that he had learned many things from the trip.  He now understands why his father has enjoyed hunting and being in the wilderness for days on end.  He also sees the value of getting to know each individual in your team and the importance that has on beling able to work together and accomplish something big.

The weekend after Alex came back from the Alps, we decided to visit another scenic place situated high upon a cliff on the sea, called Eze.  Eze is probably the most beautiful village I have seen so far.  It looks like it is sitting on a cloud, hovering over the sea.  There are all types of little shops with art, jewelery, and other nic nacs, a hidden garden overlooking the sea, and a very old church.  Our favorite spot was on the path of Nietzsche.  The view was ovewhelmingly beautiful and a great place to just sit and think.  I reccommend going to Eze to anyone who comes to the South of France.