Skiing in the Alps

I went skiing in the Alps for the second time this past weekend. I went with an organization called "AlterEgo" that sets up excursions and outings for exchange students through Lyon 2 (the main university here that most of the exchange students attend; I attend IEP, which is affiliated with Lyon 2 so I am still able to participate in these events). We went to a small ski resort in the alpine village of Arêches Beaufort. It was about a 2 1/2 hour bus ride. I woke myself up at 4:45 a.m. in order to catch the metro in time to get to the bus at Jean Macé, which was scheduled to leave at 6 a.m. It was a bit rough but I mentally prepared myself the night before and was determined not to sleep through my alarm. It's kind of entertaining using the metro at such an early hour because a lot of people on it at that time are just ending their nights of partying. I got some interesting looks as I dragged the ski gear throughout the station, which I had rented from a ski shop in Lyon. Since Lyon is relatively close to the Alps, it's a pretty common base from which to take ski day trips.
 

To my surprise, the bus departed at 6:05 a.m. Knowing France, I was shocked that the bus was on time and that nobody was late. I strategically didn't drink coffee that morning so I drifted into a light sleep for the first hour and half. I woke up to "sunrise", although I didn't actually see the sun rise since we were heading East. It was absolutely beautiful, the sky purple and pink with the mountains covered in snow below. I wish I could have gotten a picture but I was not well positioned to snap a shot. Eventually the bus wound itself up higher and higher, making hair-pin turns with barely a barrier to prevent us from tumbling over into the snow. I was nervous, but it was so beautiful seeing the mountains and the pastures all covered in snow I decided to have faith in the bus driver. Plus, I survived the Amalfi coast in a bus so why not the Alps?

Arêches Beaufort

"In the bleak midwinter..."

Once we arrived at the ski lift we all stumbled out of the bus wondering what we had gotten ourselves into. Many of the students on the bus said they had never skiied before. Fortunately, I had some experience from skiing with my family when I was younger but it's been years since I've been up to Tahoe so I was definitely a bit rusty.

French children learning how to ski = adorable

Since it was all exchange students, everyone was really open and welcoming despite many of us not knowing each other beforehand. I knew an American girl (although not very well) named Katherine and stuck with her and her friend Karli for the day. We were all amateur skiiers and happily stuck to the bunny slopes all day. I was basically relearning how to ski and perfecting my "French fry", but I had no shame and neither did the others. It was really fun. I fell once but immediately got back up and managed to stay upright for the remainder of the day. It wasn't sunny like when I skiied in the Italian Alps but it was still breathtakingly gorgeous being surrounded by snow-capped mountains. Watching French children learning how to ski were so adorable it was unreal. Most of them were better than me too which was funny. It's as if living in or near the Alps, it's an absolute given that you'll learn how to ski perhaps before you learn how to swim or ride a bike.

We had lunch at the little restaurant right next to the slopes and made more friends, including an Australian girl Emily. Emily skiied with the 3 of us for the rest of the day as some of the others were already too warn out. I could feel myself using muscles I don't normally use and sure enough, I was sore for the following two days! Afterwards we sat down for hot chocolate before our bus departed.

During the bus ride back the program directors put on the film "Life of Pi" for us to watch on the mini screens overhead. It was dubbed in French so automatically I was less intrigued (I hate Americans/English movies dubbed in French! One of my pet peeves here) so I vaguely paid attention. I read the book a few years ago and really enjoyed it but it was really difficult for me to watch the scenes in which the animals eat each other. Anyway, we finally arrived back in Lyon around 9 p.m. and after a long day of excitement I returned my skis and headed home to sleep. All in all it was a wonderful day and I'm glad I went on the trip and got to meet some neat people!

My new Australian friend Emily