Thursday morning, 8:30 AM… As I arrive at l’Attisée Refuge, I am greeted by the smell of homemade pancakes. I was so busy tasting themI forgot to take pictures. Butsoon my faithful camera, the group has nicknamed it my baby, is back at work, as Catherinebecomes a hair stylist for Medhi, our very own “Blade”. Our group is now a family as closely knit as Bonhomme Carnaval’s arrowhead sash. Today, we live expedition style, except for the travelling, at the Eau vive site, less than one kilometre from our headquarters.
We’re all very busy setting up the tent, and Mario is under the (false) impression that the ropes have been misplaced. As we wait for Michel to return, Maxime gives us a demonstration of stick manipulation, and Mario transforms himself into a cheerleader (Mario is a cheerleader!) Michel corrects the problem (by extracting the ropes from their hiding place) and soon our temporary campsite stands out with the mountain and the blue sky as backdrop. The men set up the woodstove inside. You’d think we’re at home, living the dolce vita, Saguenay style.
Farniente? Are you kidding? Our logisticians get busy building their outdoor kitchen. The shovels are used to dig up the trenches; the mittens are dipped in water to shape the benches and counters. This looks like a remake of The Dog that Stopped the War! For lunch: pizza, nuts, soup, cheese and raw vegetables… and a surprise for dessert!
At Mario’s suggestion, we have our dessert and hot chocolate around the fire in the tent. As we sit around the file, I propose that we wait until one of the participants has selected his animal totem before we taste the truffles. Very meaningful names came us as each participants tries to describe his or her personality: nimble lynx, luminous dragonfly, intelligent monkey, clever chameleon, considerate dolphin, creativeweasel, wise owl, penetrating falcon, nice rabbit, gentle koala, cute kitten, friendly elephant, cunning fox, laborious ladybug, crazy frog, ninja turtle, playful dog, serene cat… Try matching the totem to the participants and other team members! Answer on Sunday!
After the tent and the cooking, time to bring out the shovels and the saws to build an igloo! Each person in assigned a task, cutting, finishing, transporting the blocks of snow, etc. Atnightfall, we’re not finished yet but tomorrow weather permitting we will complete the task.
Back at l’Attisée, for an evening meal of pasta, pesto, prosciutto and dried tomatoes, topped with blueberry pie for dessert. Time for my deadline, right in the middle of our guessing game.In any case, I was ahead 3 to zip. I will give the others a chance to win at this game!