Hey there everyone.
Well I am briefly back in the land of communication after borrowing a laptop for an hour (with a regular keyboard – not a crazy French one where all the letters are in the wrong place). I then have plans to go up to the next village and try and get internet access on their one computer and try and download this off a usb keycard and send it off to you all. With all the dramas it will take, I hope you are as pleased to hear from me as I will be if I get the whole thing to work!!!
So…when you all last heard from me by email, I’m guessing I was heading off to France with Dom to start our chalet host ski season, and I was going to try my hand at snow boarding (or surf as they call it here) and learning some French. You will be pleased to know that all has gone to plan!
Dom and I LOVE it here. Wow. We have really landed on our feet! We turned up and were amazed how beautiful all the landscape was. The tiny rural village we are living in (at the base of a lift to the main (still quite small resort) is really cute and quaint (even if some of the buildings – for example the one that we are living in, are pretty much falling down) and very French. Pretty much every shop owner or locals we have dealings with speak zip-zero English. This is pretty cool but made a steep learning curve at the start (and even now still as I’m only up to tape 2 out of 10 in the series!!!)
Our bosses, Mel and Col, are also really cool and laid back. We have dealings with them on a daily basis and they seem pretty happy with us which is awesome. The other 2 couples (aussie and british) that work for them are great too. We all get on like a house on fire and are all pretty similar minded. We 
live with the english couple (nick and julz) in what we affectionately call ‘the dungeon’. It really is as bad as it sounds but it’s warm, so we don’t really complain that much. Heat is all you need round here…Never mind the hilarious floral fold out couch concoction we sleep on or the fact that our clothes don’t fit on the shelf our room has, (they are easier to get to on the floor anyway). Or the kitchen – with an oven that doesn’t work and a tv that doesn’t go – it makes a good stand for the newly purchased waffle maker though!!!
All in all though – we can’t complain. We are already planning a potential season next winter with the same company. All 3 couples seem pretty keen to stay on!!! We have even managed to get ourselves a summer job in france – working as English tourist information personnel at a campsite in South Brittany for a company called Matthews Holidays. Apparently it is better money than ski work, beaches galore, hardly any work to do except when the guests change over and afternoons off. How are we ever going to go back to regular work!!!
On to other things, Dom's skiing has come on in leaps and bounds since arriving here, especially after Col our boss, took him out with his boots undone and no poles to sort out his ‘monkey arms and wide stance’. I’m trying to get him to start snowboarding but he won’t have a bar of it. The start of the season was rough for me – after my 4 days on the board before arriving. However after going out with awesome skiers and getting to practice everyday, it has done wonders for me. I can now board any piste (groomed run) on the mountain and am having a bit of a go off-piste too when there has been a good powder dump. Awesome fun, but soooo tiring and painful. I am now the proud owner of a snowboard and…wristguards, a helmet and but pads. Ha ha. You can laugh all you want but the but pads are the most brilliant thing I’ve ever bought!!!
Unfortunately though, my boarding has taken a bit of a sideline. Guttered! A month or so ago my foot started getting soooo painful boarding that I have had to give it up for a while. A physio has recommended the season off, but I’ll wait and see. So…as well as learning to board this season, I have learnt to ski!!! I have to admit here that is more fun than I thought it would be and I have improved pretty quickly at it, much to my relief!!! Had thought I’d be back on the learners slopes for weeks and weeks!
Anyway, I don’t doubt that I have bored you long enough so I will finish there with plenty more to say but I’ll save it for another day. Just wanted you all to know that I’m ok over here and sorry for not being in more contact with you all.
Lots of love, Claire and Dom xxxx
