I am not sure how to sum up this week in the best manner possible. Everytime I try to think of a way to sum it up I keep thinking of a melange of the words cauchmar and brilliant. Cauchmar is the French word for nightmare. Brilliant is the term that my new British friends use to describe anything amazing. Let me explain.
Our first guests arrived on Sunday. As I am partaking in a hybrid role, I am also a Resort Rep. This means that I take off for the Geneva airport at 5 am with the rest of the representatives from the various resorts. I then pick up my 50+ people from the Chalets in Courchevel 1550, 1650, and 1850 and I do my best to make sure they get to their respective homes. The first transfer last week, the only one that I have done, was extremely thrilling but also sickening. I did not realize that I get car sick on winding roads. As I was standing up part of the way while dealing with forms and lift passes, while at the same time trying to remain my balance while my bus driver Auguste drove up the curvy roads as though he was in a rally car race, I was pretty sure I was going to loose my lunch on my first guests of the season. I also had a moment of shear panic when I convinced myself that I had left two guests at the rest stop. There is a rest stop that is halfway in between the Geneva airport and Courchevel that all buses stop at. As we bring in numerous customers to them every week, I fortunately receive a complimentary bag of chips, baguette sandwich and water. Last week the woman even gave me a bar of chocolate free of charge. Once we arrived in resort I took a moment to kiss the ground and realize that I hadn't gotten sick on any of the guests. I then quickly helped unload the luggage and place them and their gear in their respective vans. More worried about getting everything done efficiently, I took off my Esprit bag and placed it a bit in front of the bus. I told Auguste, the driver to stay put as I was unloading. Unfortunately, he didn't feel like hanging around and drove right over my bag. My beloved Sigg water bottle exploded, as did my chips, and everything else. Luckily my iPod made it. I would have cried otherwise. It was quite a scene. I think it set the precedence for the remainder of the week.
After having worked till midnight on Sunday I was toast. I was convinced that the week was going to get better. Unfortunately the week was followed by numerous nuisances that I would have loved to have avoided. Our oven broke on the second night. Anyone who has ever run a restaurant, knows that this means. Its a fucking disaster and you might as well close up shop. What else? Oh, the hot water boilers broke. Apparently Patrice and Jos have been waiting for this elusive part for over a week now and it has not arrived. As the boilers are missing this integral part, 3 out of the 70 people are able to get a warm shower before it starts spraying ice. You can imagine how annoying that is after a long day in the snow. You can also imagine how many guests I had to talk to and offer my condolences. What else? My assistant chef is full of shit and cannot even manage to cook a microwavable meal. Although he is nice, I have informed the higher ups that if he isn't out, that I am walking. I am not interested in adding "management of a kitchen" to my roster of things to do here. A chef should be able to cook and should not be asking me what goes in the meals. He should also not be trying to figure out what dairy free and gluten free meals are. He spends more time trying to explain slavery to my wait staff during dinner than he does ensuring that the meat is thoroughly cooked. It is a nightmare. Luckily my head chef is amazing and managed to carry the weight the entire week. Unfortunately, he broke his collarbone yesterday during his first day on the slope and is now heading home. Thus, this week has been a bit of a disaster. I figure though that we might as well get all of this out of our system as this will ensure that the rest of the season is flawless.
The reason I say that this week has been a mix been une cauchmar and brilliance, is that even with all of the shit hitting the fan, I have managed to get in about 2 hours of skiing each day. There is something to be said for being on the slopes. I get out and manage to forget the complaints, the asshole guests, or the broken ovens. After the first day of hell, I loaded up my iPod and hit the slopes at 2pm. All I have to do is walk across the street, go up a 2 minute escalator, and I am on the slope. I had toyed with the idea of just staying in bed and sleeping through the day of hell. I assumed that the snow had all been tracked out by 2 and that it would not be worth it. Luckily, I persevered and went out. Most of the snow in 1650(where I live) was untracked and it turned out to be the best thing. I felt like a new person after that and as though I could deal with any and all.
Today was our staff day off. I slept till 11 am and then all 10 of us hit the slopes. The ski area is by far the largest ski area I have ever seen. This area beats Ischgl and Chamonix numerous times. Once it starts snowing, I dont think I will spend the entire day repeating a run. I have managed to make my way into the boy circle, a team of 6 dudes who can rip it up. The style that the brits ski is different than the style I am used to in the states. 6 out of the 10 staff here are all phenomenal skiers. What I like most about it is the fact that you would not know it. They dont talk about how good they are, they just do it. I love it.
After a couple of hours on the piste I came home for a well deserved nap. I headed out to dinner after with my roommate Emma and we ended up at the Boullotte next door and quickly found ourselves partaking in the best apres ski ever. As all of the seasonaires in Courchevel have Thursdays off, everyone comes out and gets lit. There is a live band that is absolutely brilliant. All of the seasonaires were wasted and rocking out in their gear. The band started playing random Irish Christmas songs at the end of their set. Before the last song, they had everyone count down from 10 and we all celebrated New Years. I think the band was more wasted than the audience. Being part of that made me realize yet again why I am here. Even though ovens break, chefs suck, hot water can be non-existent, and guests can blow, it is all worth it. Being here and being part of this is brilliant.
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