Snowboarding - Chamonix

Chamonix Chamonix, I was supposed to be here for just a week. An one week plan. Everything is always in 1 day, 3 days and 1 week to me. Jobs, travel and dates. It’s hardly a month or a year. I am quite incapable to plan too further ahead. Today is 5May. It has been 5 weeks here in chamonix. 1 month and almost a half! Not sure it’s like how most people operates, I postponed my return one week after another. This time, right here, right now, is just plainly hard to move on. It’s like when something is so godamn beautiful, how can one move on? It’s simply impossible. Just like everything we touch, feel, eat and think.

Mountains are full of snow here, so white. I never like the idea of snow, in fact. It makes me feel cold, stress, like if I dive into it, I would probably shiver, tense up, heart contracts and die. That’s the image I have with snow. If I have a choice, I would definitely go for the beach, sun and water. I had no idea why on earth people love the snow so much. Ski and snowboarding- they indeed seemed too painful to me. I was here to visit the mountains for a week. For it’s the tallest mountain in western Europe afterall, the Mont Blanc. After countless invites by Danny, I realized there is no harm visiting especially I was in Copenhagan few weeks ago freezing my ass off, it can’t be worst! My plan after chamonix will be visiting my ex date, my last summer love back in Biarritz, Dominik. He called 2 months ago when I was in Rome, asking “carol, why you keep traveling around my country but not mine?” He lives in Switzerland. So I giggled,’cause I never got the invite!' “come over, now this is the invite, I will teach you snowboarding and we will go up the mountains” I was half excited half in doubt, mostly for the snowboarding part and I said,”alright, let’s do that!” he is a snowboarding instructor, and he is hot, by the way.

Anyway, so I arrived Chamonix. At Danny’s house. It was such a cute cosy apartment made of wood. We then headed out for pre-dinner drink in the Centre. I was totally disoriented in this town. Didn’t know where is what. I always have this strange feeling whenever I arrive to any new town. Oh no, that’s not exactly true. Only NYC did makes me feel like I know where I am at. The city looks like this… how can one get confused being in grids?

Dinner was planned. This racclette restaurant was much fun. boiling cheese pour onto grill meat. "Fromage à raclette fondue au feu de bois," wolala!! so yummy. I hardly like DIY thingy but this DIY dinner was just exceptionally inspirational. watching cheese melting and raw red meat turning turn slowly to pale solid meat with charcoal aroma. put them together and stuff into the mouth. em...! you have to try it to know how much fun a dinner can be. Playing with cheese, food and fire. Things parents rule out. Dinner was like a playground. It was just perfect. After a 5 hours Raclette, We off to these clubs that I had no idea of – Terrace, Soulfood, Cantina.
for a late night clubbing scene. that's my Chamonix. the 1st day always do an impression, always. and Danny does party like a rock star.

Next day, I found my orientation like an ant. It’s so strange to see everyone walking around like robots in their ski outfit, carrying their skis and boards. It looked quite cool actually. I guess this was the first time I'd been to a proper ski resort. Now, I know how they look like. One thing I realized as well was everyone disappeared in town till 6pm everyday. They were all up the mountains. Except me. A snow hater. So I was thinking, what the hell I can do if I don’t snowboard? Instead of waiting for a week learning snowboarding with Dominik, I spend some good money, booked a 4 days group snowboarding session. I somehow convinced myself, if everyone talks about skiing even before winter comes, there must be some magic in it and maybe, just maybe I am missing something real fun big time in life. and Carol, stop that avoidance habits! never tried, never too hard!
Hot instructor shit classes.

This English blonde chick, well, she was not those hot blondes though, with her boyfriend were just annoying like hell. Not her boyfriend hurt his back, then was her binding broke or she got shaky legs that she could not slide down at all. Paying for 4 days of classes to do everything on my own! Great deal! Well at least those 200euro got me in gear and made me went up the hill. Snowboarding is hard, especially for people scares of slope badly, like me. I dislike slopes like how I dislike triangles, and how I got freak out by butterflies. I was very geared up though. I got my fat ass protector, helmet and wristguards. I should be safe. I fell into my head, my butt though. Am not so good at it. I felt the same damn pain that went all the way from my lower back straight to my head same way like 3 years ago when I broke my coccyx in my Paris apartment. I thought am going to be paralyzed from now on. but well, lying there for another 20mins figuring my pain, I stood up and tried again.