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Day 1 - Tuesday, May 8 After teaching in the morning, I arrived at the airport by 2:00 for the 4:50 plane. The team made it through security with no issues and we just hoped we had packed our skates safely. Tried to sleep on the plane… but at 5pm, it’s rather difficult.
Day 2 - Wednesday, May 9 Arrived in Paris on time - 6:15am. Not much sleep for any of us… the plane was really hot (no A/C) and the entertainment system was broken… but we survived and made our quick connection to Bordeaux after landing in Paris.
Upon arrival in Bordeaux, we claimed our 5 rental vehicles and stacked them full of luggage. We were very lucky to actually fit everything in! I must say, the red carry-on bags looked very impressive… and drew a lot of strange looks from others in the airport as 20 of us paraded off the plane and through security with them.
Last year, it took the team about three hours to find the chateau. This year… 30 minutes! Experience clearly pays off 😊
The drive from the airport was great - we were definitely in France! Once we got off the
The key to our success
Chateau Lagorce - a great place to stay and a nice wine to drink!main highway, it was obvious we had stepped back in time. The old, stone buildings were right against the narrow streets with vineyards everywhere! The first sight of our home for the next week was breathtaking! Looking out across a small valley, we saw the turret of Chateau Lagorce as we pulled in the driveway. We were really there! After quickly exploring the chateau, marveling at the common areas and picking our rooms, we started to settle in. The team separated and took care of various jobs early in the afternoon - grocery shopping, checking out the arena, picking up a few others at the airport… and then we had some time to relax.
We had a tour of Chateau Ballarin winery across the street in the afternoon. We toured their underground tunnels which are now used for storing and aging the wine, but were originally constructed in the mining of limestone for the construction of buildings throughout the area. I seem to remember them saying there were over 12 kilometres of tunnels! We also saw their bottling facility - a very simple, but effective process for ensuring their wine was clear and corked effectively.
Breakfasts and dinners were organized
Chateau Lagorce
Our home for the week! by skating lines. Each group of skaters had one dinner and one breakfast to prepare for the group of 24. Luckily for me, I had the first days off. Instead, I got to indulge in the incredible masterpieces created by others on the team. For me, it was a great chance to really get to know members of the team. What a wonderful group of people!
After dinner, we had an off-ice practice on a lower chateau terrace overlooking the valley covered with green fields and stone buildings. Now that was the ultimate in off-ice practices!
I retired to bed early as did many others. It had been a long day.
Day 3 - Thursday, May 10 Thursday morning was to begin with a quick continental breakfast, followed by another off-ice practice. Unfortunately, a change was made to the morning’s timing after I went to bed the night before… so I was late for practice, and had to settle for leftover croissants on the run!
Our sightseeing today took us to St. Emilion - a huge winery town. We toured winery and heard explanations about the various different grades of St. Emilion wine. Our next stop on our tour
Winery
The second winery we toured. Grapes just starting! was the underground monuments. After investigating Emilion’s cave, we ventured into the catacombs and then the monolithic church. This church is carved out of a single stone underground and is very impressive!
After our team lunch at a local restaurant, we had a few hours to tour and shop in this quaint little village. A few of us ventured up the Tour de Roy - the King’s Tower - and had a beautiful view over the entire town. The stone and plaster houses with red clay tile roofs took me back in time hundreds of years. What history!
We headed back to the chateau for the evening - another great dinner followed by a relaxing evening. Still suffering from a little jet lag, I packed it in early… but missed out on the infamous kitchen party 😞 I’ve heard that others have documented the event fully and look forward to seeing their videos and pictures!
Day 4 - Friday, May 11 The day before the competition… My line was responsible for breakfast. Luckily, we have quite the chef on our line and Stephane organized us effectively to produce a really yummy egg/ham/cheese/bread lasagne-type dish. Along with fruit, yogurt, juice
Wine tasting
I was told the wine was very good! etc, everyone was ready for another off-ice practice on the chateau terrace (this really doesn’t compare to upstairs at Iceland!)
Today we saw the old town of Bordeaux. We made our way into town and then headed out in small groups to explore and shop. A couple of us found the tourism office and invested in a map of various walking tours. We made our way around to several different monuments and old buildings. The town hall and Cathedral St. Andre were spectacular! The detailed stone carvings around the entryway to the cathedral are unbelievably detailed and the interior is just as impressive.
We just made it back in time to the meeting point with the rest of the team to catch the boat for our tour on the Garonne River. Unfortunately, the weather was a little cold and windy, so the boat tour was a chilly experience. We did get to see some more of the architecture that we weren’t able to see on foot.
Our next stop was at the city hall in Villenave d’Ornon (a suburb of Bordeaux) for the official event draw. All the teams gathered in the town hall chambers and the draw was done
very appropriately for the region… each team picked a bottle of wine which had a number on the bottom for the skating order… and the team got to keep the bottle of wine!
We made it back to the chateau for a late dinner and packed it in fairly early before the big day on Saturday.
Day 5 - Saturday, May 12 The morning started early with breakfast at the chateau. Hair and makeup needed to be done before leaving, but we all got ready and focused and on our way. After arriving at the rink and watching a few teams practice, we had our own warm-up and off-ice practice outside in the French sun. Because we were competing in two events, we had two half-hour practices back-to-back. This allowed us to work through parts of the program separately and then a full run-though… twice!
Throughout the day, we were approached and admired by many young skaters. We had brought all sorts of Canadian stickers and flags and such - we built our own fan club!
After our practice, we had lunch at the rink. The organizing committee provided a cooked lunch, so we didn’t have to pack one
St. Emilion
The tiny cobblestone streets of St. Emilion took us back in time. or go out - what a great idea! Later in the afternoon we had two official 15-minute practices where we again ran through the program twice and worked through a couple of sections. By the time these practices were over, we were all dehydrated and tired! The rink was very warm and it’s a good thing we had brought a change of clothes.
The opening ceremonies had all teams on the ice and then the competition began! We were dressed and ready to go before the competition began so that we could see and support all the other teams. After seeing the practices, I knew we had the program to beat the other teams, but we would have to put it all out there.
When we took the ice, I could hardly believe I was competing as a “Canadian” team! The Master’s skate was going fine until I clicked blades with a teammate. Unfortunately, he fell and my glasses went flying. I was able to retrieve my glasses mid-air and he was up and back in the circle with enough time to save the element. We pulled it together for the rest of the program and finished strong.
As teams
The Monolithic Church
Carved right into the ground! finished, they reported the total scores for previous teams… but their reporting of the marks were delayed by one team. So, after we skated, we heard the Finnish team marks, and we had to wait until the competition was over to hear our own! I thought our marks put us ahead, but since they were reporting in French, I had to wait until we heard the final ranking to have it confirmed. In the meantime, we had to get ready for the Adult competition. We had a couple of skaters that needed to change and they did it very quickly! There was only one team between us skating in the Masters competition and the Adult competition! We were back on the ice with barely enough time to catch our breath. The Adult skate was clean - and boy did I breathe a sigh of relief once we made it through the box pass!
When the competition was over, we were champions in both events. What a thrill to stand on the ice with a medal around my neck, hearing the Canadian National Anthem. For the second presentation, we all turned to the Canadian flag and sang our hearts out. Many
What detail!
Incredible detail on the church entrance. very happy tears were shed on the ice at that time! I hope someone caught a picture of that scene.
After all the presentations, several of us headed up to a pay phone to report home. When we returned to the arena, we sat down to a wonderful BBQ dinner prepared by the host club. It was a chance to socialize with other teams and relax after a very long day.
Once we got back to the chateau, we broke out the champagne from the winery across the street and celebrated for the evening. Given the state of exhaustion of most of us, it was a fairly quiet, subdued celebration. By this point, I really felt like a member of the team - and I thanked everyone for helping to make me feel so at home with a new team. Went to bed happy and exhausted.
Day 6 - Sunday, May 13 Today was another day at the rink. We slept in and had a nice brunch. Today’s group went all out - eggs benedict with either ham or smoked salmon! We then had to get back into hair and makeup for the gala which seemed to be the
club carnival. There were several different numbers from local synchro teams and young skaters as well as the visiting synchro programs. The feeling around the rink was all positive and encouraging. We really shared the day with others who just love skating.
Upon returning to the chateau, it was my line’s turn for dinner. Once again, Stephane arranged it all and the rest of us followed orders. He had already set up the dining room and it was beautiful. It was fun to be part of such a great meal.
Half of the team was heading out the following morning, so they spent the late evening packing and heading to bed. The rest of us gathered in the kitchen and enjoyed each other’s company for the evening.
Day 7 - Monday, May 14 Today took us to Arcachon for some sightseeing. Our first stop was the Dune du Pyla - a natural sand dune on the coast. Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t cooperating and it was windy and rainy. We were all entirely coated in sand by the time we made it to the top of the dune and back down. It was quite the workout getting to the top
St. Emilion
Terra cotta roofs and stone construction. What year are we in? of the dune - it’s a good thing we didn’t do this before the competition!
We found a nice little restaurant for lunch and then did some quick shopping in Arcachon before heading back to the chateau.
I took a bit of time in the evening to take a walk around the chateau grounds and take some last pictures. I couldn’t believe we had been there a full week and it was time to head home. It was an awesome experience all round.
Day 8 - Tuesday, May 15 Up at 4:00am in order to pack up the cars and get to the airport on time for our 6:25 flight to Paris. A few hours in Paris to do some quick duty-free shopping before boarding our plane for home.
Did that week really happen? WOW! Thanks to all Ice Precise France 2007 team members for making the opportunity of a lifetime come true for me!
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Cheri Meadus
non-member comment
Unbelieveable
Sarah, it was great to hear your thoughts of your first experience in France. We all had such a great time. We were a true team on and off the ice. It was a trip I am sure none of us will soon forget. I can't wait to see your pictures! Cheri