My 2011 began over the Atlantic. By the time I left the Charlotte-Douglas Airport at 8 :05pm, 2011 had already dawned in Europe whereas the East coast of the US would still hang on to 2010 for a few more hours. When I arrived in Paris and the Air France bus dropped me off in front of the Paris Gare de Lyon, most of the French capital seemed to still be in bed recovering from a long night of festivities. In Saint Mandé, the Avenue General de Gaulle was even emptier, although there were enough people in the street to offer pitying looks as I tried to downplay the difficulty of transporting 100+ pounds of luggage the last half-mile from the metro to my apartment.
The reason for my New Year’s Day arrival was the continuation of first semester exams two days later. Having made it successfully through the last couple of classes, my second round of vacation began with a weekend trip to the Alps for a little snowboarding and some quality time with friends. Despite the rain on Thursday evening and the rising temperatures, Alix and I braved the slopes of Praz-sur-Arly and Notre Dame de Bellecombe in hopes of finding a few patches of skiable snow before the sun and the rain took over.
Even with far from ideal conditions, we managed to squeeze out almost four hours of ski and snowboard time before calling it a day. The only real disappointment was that I had left my camera on my desk back in Paris. I definitely enjoyed myself, both for the chance to get back out on the slopes and for the amazing views on what was actually a very clear and agreeable day. During our several hours on the mountain, however, I was forced to confront my fear of the téléski, or towrope. Even if I can’t say that I have completely overcome my apprehension, I managed to make it all the way up the slope without falling and without a superhuman effort. Though it may seem insignificant given my snowboarding level, this feat represented a huge accomplishment.
The following is a brief history of a previous encounter with the téléski:
The following is a brief history of a previous encounter with the téléski:
My trip to France in 2008 was the first time in my 7 years of snowboarding that I had met with the necessity of using this contraption clearly conceived for skiers that appears infrequently at resorts in the US. When the time came to hold the bar-and-disc in between my thighs, fear and lack of confidence inhibited me from accomplishing the task of allowing myself to be pulled up the slope with only one foot strapped onto my snowboard while also keeping the board pointed straight up the mountain. Consequently, I held onto the bar with both hands out in front, relying simply on arm strength, and failing that, the fear of falling all the way back down the hill, wiping out all the other unsuspecting dominoes behind me. Having made it to the top without incident, it was only this weekend that I revealed my prior predicament, now that I was once again being faced with the challenge of the « tire-fesses ».
The other noteworthy event of the day, in addition to the arrival of the rest of our weekend companions, included a seemingly uneventful trip to the grocery story that ended in a parking lot omelet and drive-by pickup of a slightly run-over ham. (The logical consequence of setting a carton of eggs and a cured ham on top of the roof of the car and then driving off. The two provisions didn’t totally go to waste. Having realized the missing lunch ingredients about 15 minutes into the meal preparation, Alix ran out in search of the probable roadkill. Having been well-packaged in plastic, the now highly tenderized ham was recovered from Intermarché parking lot at the approach to the roundabout.)
Although the weather prevented further trips down the mountain on skis, the group of us that were in Praz for the weekend took advantage of a second day of sunshine to allow ourselves to be transported up to the Megève Altiport for a leisurely hike down on foot. Fortunately one of us had a camera, enabling me to provide evidence of our outing. The first photos of the Megève Altiport document our time spent watching the many take-offs and landings of the snow planes, which land on the snow on what resembles little snowboards attached underneath each wheel.
Post-walk, we recovered with a nap, a trip to Megève for some vin chaud, and a Saturday evening of fondue and a round of Burger Quiz, a tongue-in-cheek trivia game that requires not only a fair amount of French cultural knowledge but also the capacity not to take oneself too seriously. Since Sunday morning brought more rain, we slept in and enjoyed the good company and a healthy serving of crêpes. And finally, after an enjoyable weekend, it's back to Paris by way of the TGV from Sallanches-Combloux-Megève to Paris Gare de Lyon.
No comments:
Post a Comment