Coupe de Monde Escrime February 2008

Maggie's fencing club "Cercle d'Escrime Orleanais " was the organizing club for the competition "Grand Prix Sabre Dames 2008", held February 8-10, 2008. It was held in the Palais des Sports in Orleans.

Maggie, along with her colleagues in the club, played a part in the festivities during the individual finals on Saturday night, as can be seen in the photo above. They lined up and performed a series of moves for the crowd.

The top photo was from one of the final group of 8 or so. They had set up a central platform for the later matches Saturday night.

It turned out that two American fencers were in the final (Rebecca Ward - Gold; Sada Jacobson - Silver). They put on a great show and the Orleans club did a great job too.

We met the US team trainer, who told us that the Orleans event is the best on the circuit - lots of excitement and very well done overall. This was an important competition because it affects the standings for the Summer Olympics, apparently. The French team took 3rd place in the overall team competition that was held Sunday, the 10th.

Maggie will have her own competition with fencers from other clubs this weekend and next weekend. She is in the class 'benjamin.'

Switzerland vacation

We spent the week between Christmas and New Year's in Switzerland with Swiss friends Markus and Lottie Stokar.

I am writing this a couple of months after our trip to Switzerland, but I certainly wanted to make sure this was included! The town is in 'Vallis' in the soutwest part of Switzerland, not too far from Zermat. The photo at left is from the inside of the apartment where we stayed in Jeizenen with Markus and Lottie Stoker. The image to the right is Maggie on her sled in Zermat. The other photo above is the view from the small town of Jeizenen, looking down over the valley.

We spent several days skiing at the small resort in Jeizenen, and also made trips to the hot springs in Leukerbad. One view of the lovely town is shown at left and below.

In addition to the days of skiing, including one great afternoon in Zermat, we spent New Year's eve at the apartment in Jeizenen.

We also had a great dinner - of the famous Swiss specialty 'raclette' - in a very genuine Swiss restaurant in Jeizenen. Photos of this evening are below - showing the server making the 'vrai' raclette at the feu and a photo of our group.

Son Steve was with us, as was Rob, Maggie, Sue and Markus and Lottie. Maggie had made friends with a little dog at the next table. We had a conversation about US presidential politics (including the chances of Hilary Clinton and Barrack Obama) with the dog's owner. Partly in english and partly in french!