snowystylista: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

I have been meaning to post for a while about the things that you only get to know when living here. There are many, many things about which I could go on and on and so I will try to keep it brief.

The good:

Obviously we came here for the mountain experience and the skiing, both the pace of life and the skiing (although we have been terribly unlucky on the snow front, worst season for 10 years apparently!) and that side of things have been great. I never tire of looking at the fabulous views and feeling free on the top of a mountain.
· The skiing obviously, although you can have too much of a good thing.
· The food, the quality in restaurants and the supermarket never fails to pass the test.
· Great nightlife and après ski in many bars and restaurants.
· Free public transport around the village from 7am-2am. Great not having to use the car!
· Apartment living -1. I love living in a place that takes an hour to thoroughly clean!! You realise you do not need a big house and a garden for two people.
· Apartment living-2. I love having a balcony not a garden. I love not having to do gardening, erm….. not that I ever did!!!
· Apartment living, 3: the best view ever. It is great to wake up to endless mountains from your bed.
· Having more time to do the things I enjoy.
· Giving up my old job.
· Garlic, herb and olive oil stock cubes.
· Patisserie Chevallot. I love that they put their pretty cakes in cute boxes. (www.chevallot.com)
· The mountain echo, so, so bad it is good! (www.themountainecho.co.uk)
· A pretty village to live in (when covered in snow!)
· Salad, always really fresh. Which is weird being on a mountain!!

The bad:

· The French wine, 1: Just does not compare to Italian, Australian or Spanish, the only thing I have found ok is Languedoc, and it is only ok.
· The French wine, 2: In bars it is cheaper to drink wine than non-alcoholic beverages!!! For example, glass of red wine €3.00, diet coke/Perrier water €4.00, fruit juice €4.50-5.00. Crazy!
· The French wine, 3: In bars a more figure friendly G&T will set you back €7.00-12.00, a glass of wine €3.00-4.00, tough for us on a budget (same as above).
· The French wine, 4: drinking far too much.
· The food. Although great quality, it is at a price. Both in the restaurants and in the supermarket, probably at least double the price of the UK. It is saying something when we found it cheap in Italy last month!
· The food, soo fattening.
· The smelly French. Simple. They do not wash. They almost all have BO.
· The frustrating French way of doing everything. Badly, ass about face and backwards, totally infuriating at all times.
· The 3 hour French lunch break, the shops open at 10am, then close at 12 noon for lunch until 3pm! They shut at 7. God knows how the country keeps going???
· French workmanship, almost all electrics are almost certainly a health hazard, everything building related is a hotch potch mess.
· The French obsession with dogs, they all have one. Even up the mountain in the restaurants!!
· Small toilet rolls! Tiny they are.
· Bad coffee, for a nation that drinks so much of the stuff it’s not that good. And expensive hideously obviously.
· Cold water (when minus something outside!!) to wash your hands in the toilets they expect you to pay to use.
· Men. Just everywhere. Just in general.
· The mountain echo, so bad!
· A particular female bar manager (British) that ‘motorboats’ herself in the bar!!!!!!! I have’nt seen, I do not want to see.
· The bubble like feeling of living here.
· Live bands, bloody everywhere.
The ugly:
· Dog’s everywhere equals tons of dog shit. EVERYWHERE. They even provide free bags all over the village to clear up but nobody bothers. It is vile, even more so now the snow is melting and revealing more dog shit from before the snow!!!!! You never notice this when on holiday. We paid €45 for a one course lunch on the mountain one day, there was a pile of dog shit right opposite our table on the restaurant deck!!
· Toilets. Stinking. Disgusting. Dirty. Even in restaurants.
· Paying to use said disgusting, filthy restaurant toilets!!! Even when you have just paid a bloody fiver for a drink!!
· People pissing everywhere. That yellow snow is’nt just the dogs!!
· Seasonaires. Stinking. Disgusting. Dirty. British. Everywhere.
· Paying €5.50 for a tea bag and hot water!!!!
· Seeing a mountain restaurant charging €14 for a bowl of lentil soup!!!!
· Paying €90 for 2 main courses, I desert, 1 beer, 2 coffees, at LUNCH!! I only drank tap water!!!
· The village supermarkets charging 4x the price of the supermarket in the valley to those unable to escape. €4.65 for a 500g box of porridge!!! The same is €1.45 in the valley supermarket. Thank god we have a car. Although almost everything is still double what it is in good old Sainsbury’s.
· French architecture in nearby resorts, eyesores in the most beautiful settings. 1970 was a boom time by the looks of it. Criminal.
· French interior design, again the 1970’s and the 1980’s obviously was a time of prosperity and it is still there as a reminder. Most places have not been touched for at least 20 years. I have seen more hideous apartment interiors than I care to mention. Yellow and red Aztec print in the mountains??? WHY oh WHY????? Orange stained pine, EVERYWHERE. Burgundy bathroom suites??? Bunk beds in hallways!!! Bloody peach and pale jade artex walls, oh & carpet on the walls. Shabby chic? Shabby shit.
· The often rude, mostly arrogant, miserable French.
· The rude, arrogant English.
· Beer swilling girls.
· Driving, the French are mental. They overtake everywhere, blind bends, oncoming traffic. I have heart failure every time we drive down the winding mountain road to Bourg St Maurice!!! I am always amazed that we make it there and back in one piece. They even overtake on the one road running through the village!!!! Crazy!!
So there you have it! There is no more to say.