After three and half months I was finally reunited with Stephgirl and Doug! Ian was notably absent because he's a butt and I hate him. Just kidding. Not really. Anyway, I met them in Chamonix in the french alps to ski for New Year's. The Chamonix valley was absolutely breathtaking. It might be the most beautiful place that I have ever been to. No matter where you are either in the valley or on the slopes, the views are just stunning. It was hard to concentrate on skiing when all I wanted to do was look up and around.
Speaking of skiing.. let's just say skiing in France was an experience. It was unfortunate because there really wasn't enough snow and they don't exactly make snow in Chamonix (at least not as much as they should) so it was really icy and even rocky in points. Thank god we rented skis. Conditions-wise it felt like we were skiing in the northeast when we really wanted Colorado-like conditions. I mean you would expect that from the alps, right? Ah well. On top of the lackluster conditions, the crowds were INSANE. We expected that since it's a vacation week but in a typical french way, there was zero organization. If you ski in Vermont during President's week, for example, the bottom of the lifts are super organized. There are multiple sections funneling people towards the lift and there are people patrolling the area and directing traffic flow. In France? Hell no. There would be hundreds of people funneling towards a 4-person chair with ZERO organization. Basically just a free-for-all bottle neck going on. It was the WORST. The crowds also made it really difficult to find food some days. I guess Chamonix just was not equipped for crowds.. which makes perrrrrfect sense considering it's one of the oldest ski resorts in the world. Typical France. After talking to my hosts when I got back to Toulouse they said that not all french ski resorts are like that but idk.. if there's one thing that the US does well it's organization, so I find it hard to believe that other mountains in France would be organized.
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WORST |
But it wasn't all bad! We took one of the highest cable cars in the world up to the summit of the Aiguille du Midi overlooking the Chamonix valley and the rest of the alps. The cable car was amazing and terrifying but the views at the top of the mountain were incredible. I can't even describe it. The pictures say it all. The town of Chamonix itself is the perfect ski-town size. Not too small and not too big with lots of shopping and plenty of restaurants. We ate traditional raclette and fondue which were both amazing. Mom and I also enjoyed our fair share of vin chaud after skiing. We also discovered the best little patisserie where we got desserts and coffee. Yum.
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Raclette |
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Nomnomnom |
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Fondue |
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Took that baby to the top of that mountain |
All in all, it was a great, albeit frustrating at times, week. It was so amazing to see the rents and I can't wait to see Stephgirl again in March. Though the skiing was meh, the town and overall beauty of the area were incredible and I mean we were in the alps right? How many people can say they skied in the alps?
P.S. I've now been here for four months. Cuhrazy.
Aiguille du Midi!!! Dayum!!
ReplyDeleteLooks incredible......