Chamonix, France (2008, 2009)

2008: Muriel, a friend from work, has a flat in Chamonix, France. We headed out to the French Alps, along with Maria and Mike for a ski/snowboard trip.  They were there a full week, but I stayed only 5 days.  Joining us throughout the trip were Jonathan, Jo, Sarang, Kes and Nic.  We had a riotously great time—hitting the slopes all day and feasting on French food and wine all night.  Thanks for the awesome trip Muriel!  Don’t worry Mu, I won’t tell anyone the story about when you ran up to your parents on the street to hug them only to discover that they weren’t really your parents.  Or about which swear words make you feel relaxed…  Or…

 

2009: Next year we hit the slopes of Chamonix again, but this time it was much mellower with fewer people—only me, Muriel and Andrew. It had been storming for weeks and then it suddenly cleared up the day I arrived and was sunny the whole time. Great snow, great weather, great food, great company—living the dream!!!


2008


The gorgeous Alps.

 


Mont Blanc is more than just a white mountain.

 


Mike took this photo of the clouds mimicking the mountain tops.

 


If we come back in 10 years, the glacier may not be there.

 


Colorful paraglider birds dance around the sky.

 


You can’t be afraid of heights.

 


The next step up from the playground swing set.

 


Wee!  (or, Yes!)

 


An actual bird.

 


Mike, Maria and Jon work on their stretches and/or ballet.

 


Muriel prepares some crepes.

 


At the bunny slope, Muriel teaches Maria how to ski for the first time.

 


Once Maria got some speed, Muriel ran for her life.

 


Until Maria fell down and couldn’t figure out how to get up.

 


Muriel attempts to pick Maria up off the ground, but fails.

 


Instead, Muriel stands over Maria exclaiming, “Les poisons! Hee hee hee, HAW HAW HAW!”

 


Long story short, Maria ended up in a knee brace at the end of the week.

 


Jo and I take the lift to the top.

 


Muriel tries to avoid being in this photo, but there really is no where to go.

 


Enough photo-taking, let’s hit the slopes!

 


Wait, one more, it’s a nice view.

 


Carving down the slope with Mu right behind.

 


Wave of snow.

 


Goofy grin as I attempt to scare Jo, who’s taking the photo, by pretending to crash into him.  I ended up wiping out hard no where near him.

 


Jo and Mu take a rest.

 


Mu stops to take in the view.

 


I’m eyeing up an off-piste (off trail) jump.

 


Zut alors!  I am flying!

 


Stop for lunch with Mu’s aunt and uncle.

 


There appears to be something wrong with lunch today for Mu, Kes and Nic.

 


Glaring poor visibility conditions when a storm came through in the middle of the week.

 


Sarang and I stop for a quick photo on our last run down the mountain.




At the end of a good day of boarding/skiing, we kicked back some beers.

 


And a croissant of course.

 


And some gooey chocolate thing that was really really good.

 


The lively town of Chamonix.

 


Half of Chamonix is actually British.

 


The church looks pleasant, but rings its bells a bit too often when somebody dies on the slopes.

 


I’m not really sure why Muriel appears to be crying.  Perhaps we put cheese in her boots.

 


Guy with marshmallow hat and horse that Muriel liked to walk in front of.

 


Getting some shopping in for supplies…and birthday cake!

 


Jo celebrates Kes’s birthday with some nice cake.  It was Jon’s birthday as well so you know we had to go out partying.

 


Birthday celebration dinner consisted of massive amounts of cheese.

 


Fondue!

 


Sacre bleu that’s a lot of cheese!

 


Sarang and I split the raclette, which was half a wheel of cheese baking under a mini-oven.  As the top of layer of cheese heats up and gets all cooked and melty, I had to pull it out and tip it down to scrape off the melty cheese onto meat, potatoes, bread or whatever else.

 


Kes approves of the cheese.

 


Mu does not notice the alien next to her.

 


This is Muriel after she’s finished 5 glasses of wine and had a massive dinner surrounded by cheese.  In a word: full.

 


An angel looks down upon us, waiting for someone to have a heart-attack.

 


Fortunately no one died from dinner.  Except for Maria.

 


Nic and Jo decide to get some dessert, but they can smell the strong aroma of alcohol drenched in their sorbet.

 


Wowza that’s strong stuff!

 


The look of a satisfied customer.

 


Even Kes agrees there is something not right with the dessert.

 


After dinner we hit the town.  Except for Maria of course because she died.  Oh wait, there goes Sarang.

 


Anxious to hit the Chamonix club scene.

 


We found some cool DJ’s with one of them playing percussion to the beats.

 


Champagne all around!

 


Next we hit the dance scene.

 


In order to work off that meal we had just eaten, we calculated that we needed to dance for 146 years.

 


I’m feelin’ some West Coast California hip hop.

 


Ski all day, dance all night.

 


Au revoir Chamonix!

 

2009


The lovely mountains of Chamonix once again.




Mu and I hit the slopes of Brevent while Andrew takes an advanced lesson.

 


View of the town from the Brevent lift.

 

 


Waiting for the bus the next day.

 


Yay all three of us got to hit the slopes together!

 


Andrew getting his technique fast.

 


This is Muriel and her new friend, Hector.

 


Hector is a good kisser.

 


View from Le Tour.

 


I’ll be coming down the mountain when I board. I’ll be coming down the mountain when I board.

 


I’ll be getting air off jumps, I’ll be getting air off jumps.

 


That’s how I’ll be coming down the mountain when I board.

 


Muriel basks in the sun on the way in to town after a satisfying day on the slopes.

 


We grabbed some pastries and hot chocolate for a bit of indulgence. Yummmm.

 


After dinner we hit the Chamonix club scene, which is designed entirely for British tourists. Here I hold a glass of pastis, which is a French liquor, but the bartenders didn’t even know what it was because they were so used to tourists ordering only Heineken.

 


Andrew in thought.

 


Thoughts of drinks swirl around my head.

 


The classic drink Sex on the Beach has been re-named here to Sex on the Piste (i.e., the ski path).

 


After partying all night and sleeping in all morning, we only had a few hours to hit the slopes of Les Grande Montets.

 


We hit the popular tourist bar in the middle of town before dinner.

 


The slopes cool down as the town heats up.

 


The awesome 3-story cheese restaurant of Chamonix.

 


Andrew and I attempted to get through this hunk of cheese, aka raclette.

 


Mmm, the raclette wheel of cheese melts quickly under the heat.

 


If you get too close to the heater your head melts.

 


In the end it was just too much and we couldn’t finish it. We had cheese in our knees, raclette in our head. Then of course the waitress comes over and asks, “Are you finished?” but really she is thinking, “I thought you were men, but apparently you are little boys.”

 


Another great holiday in Chamonix!