Skiing Tales

Okay. I am pathetic at posting in this blog. I admit it. Therefore, I am punishing myself by writing this blog after a long day of skiing. And all for YOU! A.k.a. those very few who are even attempting to still check my blog for the merest chance that I would have possibly posted a few words. Again, my apologies. I would say I will try to be better in the future, but alas that would be an empty promise as I am having way too much of a blast to sit on this blog every week and pour my heart out. I would much rather be drinking that 3 euro wine in Europole with my wonderfully international friends. Oh and which brings me to an extremely important, dare I say earth shattering, mind boggling, apocalypse-esque point: I may....like wine. My famed Bordeaux (in which I believe I have bought so much of I have sold out the store around the corner, sorry fellow Bordeaux lovers) has started to taste semi-non-disgusting, in fact possibly.....good! Shocking, I know. I won't go on about it forever because this breaking news will be hitting all the major newspapers tomorrow with a scintillating insiders look at my new love affair....with wine of course! Silly blog-readers.

But I digress, skiing on the other hand was fab fab fabulous today! It was my second time out on the slopes and this time the group went to Les Deux Alpes - infinitely better than Chamrousse (our first ski outing) in my opinion. There were amazing views of the mountains and the town in the valley was very quaint. Especially at night when it was lit up with various shades of blue lights reminiscent of Christmastime. I know its February, but I am certainly not complaining. Erin, Orla, and I opted for the kiddy slopes (we will pretend for a second that this wasn't our only option), while Trish, Simon, and Amelie went for the more advanced stuff a.k.a. not at the bottom of the mountain on a sledding hill. So us beginners took a lesson with a lovely Italian ski instructor and learned tons! How to move sideways instead of slowly inching straight on down the hill with no control of direction whatsoever was a step up for Erin and I from last time's fail (more to come on that, never fear). He even set up a challenging obstacle course down that rigorous hill for bunnies such as ourselves and we somehow made it out alive and are fully prepared for success at the 2014 Winter Olympics - we made some time at the end of the day for the important stuff like practicing our surprised face and gallant wave from the gold medal stand. Oh and crepes, divine crepes. All in all a lovely day and I absolutely cannot wait to go back for more!

So, as promised I will give an account of our first ski outing, which will be by far more interesting/mortifying depending on your perspective. This is an excerpt from my travel journal on January 27. The context begins with me explaining how there's nothing to do in Grenoble, but drink really (which was fully disclosed above with the wine news). Anyway, here goes:

Since we are in the Alps there is also skiing, which Erin and I so daringly ventured to do this past Sunday. It was very, very fun (falling on our ass and all) and we are tres pumped for our next skiing adventure. I paid like 100 euro for the damn clothes, so I have to get my money's worth. Although I shouldn't really complain, as anything that requires buying a new outfit of any sort is a friend by my standards. So, highlights of the outing include:

• Erin sliding down a mini hill face first into a pole which then proceeded to dump snow on her head from the impact of the collision. Imagine her arms wrapped around it and skis at all angles and me ra-ha-ha'ing it up. Especially when a French woman, who spoke no English, was trying to turn her around and push her back up the hill, all while yelling directions in French to a confused American.
• Next, I took quite the tumble when I was on the ski lift. It was a metal bar you held going up the hill. Just at the top a little girl had fallen (this is what you get for being a beginner) so of course I'm freaking because I'm probably going to ski right over her and then get caught in in some nasty lawsuit for 10 bazillion years (oh wait, we're not in America....low blow, I know). However, I admirably managed to dodge her and then end up flying over a mountain of snow. So I lied on my back for a minute contemplating the propensity of what just happened (my upcoming Nobel Peace Prize for my calamity-preventing heroics, of course) and then someone informed me that my catapult-esque move had put a halt on the whole ski lift. I then realized how truly graceful my life is when I finally stand up and see the masses of people holding onto bars up the hill and all staring at me, myself, and I. But I brushed myself off and skiied on to successfully not falling the rest of the day! Quite a feat, considering I was really craving some more embarrassment paired with a splitting headache and exquisite violet bruises.

By the end of the day we were complete icicles, but it was well worth the freezing temperatures. Especially for the views. Taking the bus back, we were above the clouds (obviously not at the bunny slopes...). It really doesn't get any better than that. I can't even put into words how unreal it was. Absolutely out of this world. It might be totally lame-o, but it reminds of the movies at Epcot in Disneyworld. The ones in the big, circular rooms where you have to keep turning round and round to see it all. There was one in the France section of Epcot and I always remembered how magnificent the Alps looked when this paraglider soared through them up and down and through and above the wispy clouds. I thought it looked like the best place I could ever imagine. And oh, how it was.

So guys, I think I have suffered enough for one night. HA, only kidding, you know I thoroughly enjoy entertaining you. I promise (but seriously, I promise) to have posts of my travels in Geneva, London, and Dublin soon. Maybe even tomorrow perhaps if you're lucky and give me rave reviews on this one?

These pictures are from our skiing trip today!

Bonsoir les amis!