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Friday, February 18, 2011

We have snow!

Sarah and I on the gondola

As of Tuesday 15th February we now have fresh snow in Tignes which is so exciting and has been much awaited.

Here are a few photos from our first day out in the snow since it arrived. In the photos are two gorgeous people, namely Sarah my roommate and Chef John who works at a chalet nearby.


Snowy skies

Chef John

Caught unawares

The pistes

Tignes Le Lac 
It's snowing
Hopefully there will be plenty more snow to come!

Luckily our guests this week have been unbelievably cool and a pleasure to look after. They took us out for an amazing meal in a really nice restaurant - I had escargots for entree and a pan-seared salmon fillet for main. The food was delicious and it was such a treat to be taken out and served rather than always waitressing everyone else.

Hoping there is more snow on it's way and, until then, making the most of the small dump we just received.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

I hate Valentine's Day


For those of you with a boyfriend or girlfriend, husband or wife, I'd like to wish you a Happy Valentine's Day. I sincerely hope you're having a beautiful day together.

Me on the other hand? At risk of sounding bitter and twisted I'll let you know that I hate Valentine's Day. Of course it's only because I don't have someone special to share it with. If I did have a boyfriend I'd be in my element.

Maybe next year might be different? I expect I'll change my opinion of 'V' Day (v for vile) once I am one of those girls getting a tacky loveheart teddy bear. Please note though that I absolutely despise those naff Valentine's pressies such as bear cards and little cherubs. I'd much prefer a cute handmade card or an experience with someone like a picnic any day.

Anyway, now that that's off my chest I thought I'd let you know some good news: today it started snowing on the Tignes glacier. So exciting. We are expecting another 12 centimetres in the next day or two. Here's hoping!

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Chalet Girl Foam Wrestling


This week has flown by ridiculously quickly! I spent my day off on Wednesday skiing with one of my colleagues - a 'ski companion'/ ski guide- and some guests over in Le Fournet, before enjoying some wine tasting in Val D'Isere. How civilized. We then headed to the Folie Douce and headed home at around 6pm - skiing in the dusky twilight - just in time for dinner.

On Wednesday night a 'once-in-a-season' event took place in the Underground Bar beneath our hotel. It is known as 'chalet girl foam wrestling' and, I have to admit, when I was asked to get involved I very firmly declined. I just wasn't really interested in participating in it because it is degrading to women and it doesn't really fit with my morals or principles. Boring I know. I didn't like the idea of so many sleazy men looking on at me while I competed without really gaining anything from it myself.

So although I wasn't wanting to personally participate I did go along to watch my friends give it a go. There was a foamy pit full of suds and each of the two competitors were given a sock. The object of the game was to remove your opponent's sock first. All clothes remained on, everyone was having fun and it wasn't skanky at all. It was just good, clean (and soapy) fun.

The bar was short of competitors and my colleague Janine who I get on so well with - and who was as adamant as I was that we wouldn't get involved - soon decided we'd compete against each other. Janine, who is from South Africa, took the stage-name 'Springbok' and my name was 'The Kangaroo'... how original of us. Our foam wrestling was spread over three rounds - round one I won, round two Janine defeated me and, in the third round, although it was ridiculously close, I managed to triumph. It was a huge amount of fun and I am really glad I did it in the end! A big buzz. Here are some of the photos:

The Kangaroo


Then, on Thursday, it was my roommate Sarah's 19th birthday. We all celebrated by holding an off-piste birthday picnic in the glorious sun. We had loud speakers, lots of food courtesy of the chefs, and some ice-cold beers. That picnic embodied what this ski season is about. It was unbelievably chilled and so much fun. We followed our picnic with a nice ski over to La Daille and the Ski Tranquille area of Tignes.

Regardless of the severe lack of snow here (there are exposed rocks and patches of grass all over the slopes) we are still in good spirits and are soon expecting some 10 centimetres of snow. Hopefully there will be much much more to come because my journey to work and back each day gets more and more slippery and I am now falling daily on the ice sheets.

Tomorrow is changeover day again and hopefully our guests next week will be lots of fun. We are expecting a large group of firefighters who like to party so I'm thinking it should be an interesting week. In the meantime... please pray for some snow!

Friday, February 4, 2011

Same sex marriage. What do you think?



I feel quite strongly about the right to same sex marriage.

I believe that everyone has the right to wed the one they love.

In the above clip,  19 year-old student Zach Wahl - who is fighting for equality in marriage rights - addresses a public forum on House Joint Resolution 6 in the Iowa House of Representatives.

His speech entirely personalises the debate. He is a striking example of how a same-sex couple can just as successfully raise children. 

Even if you don't agree with him, it's certainly worthwhile listening to what he has to say about his experience being raised by two women.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Atlas Hands



Something entirely un-snow related, but this has been my favourite song for a while now and I thought it needed to be shared!

I wake up to it each morning as my alarm and couldn't imagine anything more ideal as my wake-up song.

The video clip is also absolutely gorgeous - so full of beautiful seaside landscapes and breezy salt spray - it carries me far from the snowy setting I am currently in.

Hope you like it just as much.