France is one of the best countries in Europe, if not the world, to come on a skiing holiday. France has more than 40 fully equipped ski resorts, some of which are working all year round.

Geography of France reveals six mountain ranges where skiing holiday can be chosen on. These ski resorts are detached and can be seen on the Alps, the Jura, the Vosges, the Massif Central and the Corsica.

Weather conditions play all-important role in deciding about which skiing resort to spend the holiday in. Of course, one’s own choice of picking out the skiing resort to suit the varying skiing season in France is evident since snow conditions in vary in these resorts.

January and February are the two months best suited for skiing in France. February attracts even more skiing enthusiasts for in France school holidays fall in that month and so the ski resorts fill up to brim.

Skiing season in France extends generally between December and March or April taking into consideration the altitudes of the ski resorts you decide to take a vacation at. Snow stays better in accordance with the altitude of the ski resort.

Downhill skiing is preferred to cross country skiing but it is more expensive though prices vary among ski resorts in France. Expenditure includes equipment rental, life passes, accommodation and apres ski activities.

Cross country skiing in France works out a lot cheaper and there are some superb cross country skiing runs in France.

Although there is cross country skiing accessible at high altitude resorts, the best cross country skiing in France is to be had in the valleys.

The most preferred resorts for cross country skiing in France are the Les Grande Bornand and La Clusaz nearby Annecy where ski trail runs in excess of 200 kms. Trails offered in the Jura range and Metabief are the other ones used for skiing.

A Camping trip to France is a great option for summer holidays. In the winter, you are better off looking for Cheap French ski vacations .

I am a professional photographer in Costa Rica. The experiences on my tours are many since I never know what my group and I will happen upon. Let me tell you about one of these surprising events.

During one of our Costa Rica Photo Tours, my group drove to a photography location in the beautiful and pristine Osa Peninsula which National Geographic has called “the most biologically diverse place” on earth. To get there we drove through the tiny village of Ojochal near where I live.

One of my groups discovered that moving day for some Costa Ricans can be rather unique. As my group and I were passing through the village we saw an incredible sight. But before I tell you the story let me tell you a bit about the man who was moving.

When we first moved to Costa Rica our only neighbours were Ticos (as Costa Ricans call themselves) and Senor Wilson (isn’t that Spanish or what?) brought us a house-warming gift of some flowering plants. It was quite humorous to see him standing at the top of our driveway holding some plants because, you see, he was too polite to come to our door without an invitation even though he was bearing a gift to welcome us.

We finally realized after speaking (he in Spanish and we mostly in English that ) that he wanted to give us the flowering plants he was carrying. Very neighborly. Particularly when you understand that Senor Wilson did not own a car and walked, plants in hand, down a mountain on a dirt road–an hour to our house and an hour back!

Over time, neighbor Wilson has walked to my house many times with plants. Now, it often happens that when he gives me his gifts he stands there waiting for me to plant them. Of course, sometimes I may already be on another project and cannot very well stop what I am doing so the plants get put into the ground later but my good neighbor sometimes drops by to find out where and when I had planted them. I never imagined that when I moved from Canada to Costa Rica.

One day Wilson arrived at the house with another plant, accompanied by his two sons who were going swimming in the river beside our house. He gave me the new plant and then asked where I had planted the others that he had brought.

Well, they were still in the pots (these pots are not the plastic pots that we are familiar with but old aluminum kettles with drainage holes made by stabbing the bottom with a machete), would you believe it? Wilson saw this and decided that he not only would bring the plants but he would plant them in our little garden. That tells you all you need to know about this good man.

Now, back to my photography tour group and the day they met Wilson. As we were driving along, we saw a man walking a horse. It was neighbor Wilson. What a sight! The poor horse was carrying two huge, not big–huge, white bags filled with clothes and household items. To add insult to injury, Wilson had propped a broom between the bags so that its blue bristle appeared between the horse’s ears. It looked just like the critter was wearing a bristle blue tiara! Not a very macho horse, I must say.

Wilson, standing by the horse, was holding a bridle in one hand and a birdcage in the other. A man, his birdcage, a horse, his crown. Quite a sight! It was moving day in Costa Rica.

I started the conversation as usual with “Hola, que tal?” “How are you?” And then I asked if he was moving (only kidding). But, sure enough, the horse was neighbor Wilson’s version of a moving van. I believe it is called a grass-eating 4 X 4.

He explained that he, his wife (a tiny lady who looks 14), and the 3 kids would be taking care of a B&B while the owner returned to Germany during Costa Rica’s rainy season. They were very pleased about this arrangement because living in the pueblo brought the kids closer to the school, saving them from walking two miles down and back from their mountain home.

I thought that it was rather interesting that he was carrying the birdcage. I would have thought that on one of the previous trips down to their new digs one of the children would have wanted to carry the cage.

Carting flowering plants and birdcages is all in Wilson’s job description. He told me and the group that the little bird was very young (parrot or parakeet, I don’t know), that it just loved to talk and knew many words. As though he understood, the bird started showing off, chattering away while we are talking about it. I would tell you what it said but my command of bird Spanish remains very poor to this day. Sorry.

Everybody’s cameras were clicking away because this was certainly something not seen every day. A moving van of a horse wearing a blue tiara, a chattering bird showing off for company, and a family of five walking down a mountain, worldly possessions in hand, on moving day in Costa Rica. My photo tours are filled with surprises even for me.