Okay, brush it off and move on. We weren't going to let this minor snafu ruin our good moods. So onto France! We can see the gorgeous mountains up ahead and we're climbing higher and higher into them. We go through a magnificent tunnel, the Mont Blanc tunnel, which brings us across the border. We hit another tollbooth which was to be expected. However, this toll was for the use of the tunnel we just went through and the cost was 50 euro! Now maybe we shouldn't have been surprised by this but we had never driven to France before and hadn't talked with anyone else that had so we didn't know there was a tunnel, much less a fee of 50 euro to use it. Okay, no biggie. We can still have our great weekend but we may need to go to less extravagant dinners? We were determined to remain positive and trust that everything would work out.
Driving down into the town of Chamonix was breathtaking. It was everything I imagined a quaint, French mountain town to look like. Small, narrow streets lined with hotels, shops and cafes. There was snow everywhere which gave us the hope of some good skiing for the next day. We checked into our hotel and headed out to a micro brewery I had found online ahead of time. The vibe at the brewery was similar to the vibe you would find at any pub in the States only the bartenders and waiters spoke French. But we heard Italian and English spoken all around us as well. We had our first fantastic burger since moving from Minnesota. So delicious!
The next morning we were up bright and early to start our day of skiing. Keep in mind that this is my 3rd time skiing in Europe but before moving here I hadn't skied in a year. And those episodes usually lasted for about 4 hours before I called it a day and headed for a cocktail and some lunch at the lodge. Skiing in this manner once a year did not make me much of a skier. Furthermore, the snow in Europe is not the powdery, fluffy snow that the Rockies are known for. It's heavier and wetter, making the slopes nice and fast for those that prefer to ski that way. I'm sure it comes as no surprise that these sorts of conditions are not my preference.
Well, I lasted until 1pm. I went down every single easy hill they had and those were not easy to my standards. Nick spent most of the morning hanging out in a snowbank waiting for me to catch up. While I spent my afternoon in the lodge drinking wine and sampling some tiramisu, Nick hiked up some ridges and went snowboarding down various trails. He had a lovely afternoon and we were both upbeat as we headed out to find our village chalet, our new hotel for the night.
I put the address into the GPS and off we went. We were staying in a village further up the mountain where the roads are practically on top of one another as the homes are built up the side of the mountain. We seemed to have found our chalet and Nick pulled into a snow covered parking area. However, we determined that something was very wrong when as soon as he put the car in park, one side of the front of the car lurched forward. Getting out to view the situation we found that the passenger side front tire was hanging over the edge of the lot. Oh dear. This could get interesting. The first thing we did was go up to the chalet to check in and then figured the innkeeper would help us. But it turned out that we were at the wrong house! But this kind, French gentleman came out with a pick and a shovel and helped Nick build up enough snow under the tire to get the car back on the road. Whew!
But we still needed to find our chalet. The gentleman thought it was a house further up the hill. A restaurant we eventually located thought the same. We did eventually find the chalet and yes, it was WAY up the hill. And the only way to get to the front door was to walk up that snow covered hill. At this point we're thinking that this chalet idea is for the birds and that we should just go back to Chamonix
The views from all the rooms were gorgeous and we decided right then and there that we had to figure out some way to live in this little village and have a home like this! Everything was just perfect. Except for the fact that I had read the confirmation e-mail incorrectly and our room was twice as much as I thought it was going to be! At this point there was so much money spent outside of the budget for this trip that I couldn't even think about it.
The following day I had reservations at a spa in Chamonix for a day of massages, pedicures, steam baths and a leisurely lunch. Nick was going to ski in a different area of the mountain that was known for expert skiers. Definitely NOT an area I need to be going.
So we fire up the GPS again so I can find my spa but for some reason the cigarette outlet in the car doesn't seem to be working with the GPS cord. Nick jiggled it around a little and after a scary spark the radio, clock and cigarette lighter no longer worked. Clearly it was just a fuse issue but we really didn't have time or know of anyplace to find a replacement fuse. I had a spa appointment to keep!
I found my way to spa after several wrong turns, one of which took me down a very steep incline that I had to back out of. I'm not an expert at driving a manual so the poor clutch took a beating as I attempted to back out from the incline. The smell was so terrible that I thought I had ruined the clutch! So now I was late and I may have damaged the car. I fought back tears at this point but realized I needed to stay focused so I could find my way to my relaxing massage.
I do in fact make it to the spa, check in and get into the massage room. My masseuse doesn't speak English but that didn't really matter to me at first. I just wanted to lay down and let go of all the tension from the drive there. But I will say that it's much nicer to have a masseuse that speaks English because there were areas that needed more or less pressure and I wasn't able to effectively communicate that to her. Secondly, the pedicure portion of the visit was a bit strange. I have never received a pedicure while I was still laying on the massage table. I can't even describe in words how this was managed but at any rate, it was awkward.
After my pedicure my plan was to sit in the steam room for a bit, shower and then have some lunch at one of the adorable cafes lining the streets. However, my plan was foiled when I got back to the locker room and found a message from Nick. The visibility on the mountain was so poor that he had to stop snowboarding. He was sitting at the lodge just waiting for me to pick him up. So there would be no steam room and leisurely lunch for me.
My spa experience sort of put me over the edge and by the time I saw Nick I had a holy meltdown about how not relaxing our weekend had been. It was quite the scene in the ski lodge parking lot. Me wearing flip flops to allow my toes to dry, sobbing about this being the worst vacation ever and poor Nick hugging and patting my back. But after I cried all that was left to do was laugh! We laughed all the way home about how our goal of rest and relaxation turned into stress and tears. And we had plenty of time to talk about it on our 5-hour drive home without a radio!
While the weekend was far from what we had hoped it to be, we still loved the area of Chamonix and all that it offers. We plan to go back again before we leave Italy and it will also be a destination we would come back to once we live in States again. It really is so gorgeous.
And we learned some valuable lessons as is so often the case when you travel. We'll check on the route details so we know how much various roads will cost us. I'll read my e-mails more carefully. We'll be A LOT more cautious when we exit on the Autostrata and I'll be better prepared for my next European spa experience.
The running joke between Nick and I now is, "Honey, let's just get out of town this weekend for some rest and relaxation". Then we just chuckle to ourselves.
We were so preoccupied with our little calamities during the trip that we didn't take nearly enough pictures. And we didn't get a very good one of us together but it's the only one we have so I'm posting it here. The next time we visit Chamonix our experience will be different and we'll take tons of photos.
