Another week of school passed and this time only two classes were cancelled because of a professor MIA. I am dropping one of my economics courses (Industrial and Competitive Economics) because the archaic nature of the French system has pretty much forced me to do so. There is no supplementary reading, no classroom discussion, no syllabus that lets students know where the class is headed, and no powerpoint/chalkboard-writing/change-in-tone-of-lecture to key students in on what is important when jotting down notes. From now on I won't have classes on Mondays which is exciting - as it allows me to take a three day weekend whenever I go on a trip - but I will have three classes on Wednesdays - which is actually a good thing since taking one class a day leaves too much time on your hands.
Yesterday I had a tryout with the soccer team from my Faculty and it went well. We practiced for about 2 hours and 15 minutes with a long warmup. We did some ball movement drills and a little shooting before playing a small sided game that was a lot of fun. The pitch, however, was a whole new kind of beast! The team plays on a synthetic surface for games, but for practice we play on a field that resembles a class petanque court - that is, crushed shale. Needless to say it took some getting used to, changing directions was very difficult and quick movements could lead to a slip at any moment. All in all the session went well and I am going to play a friendly match with the team on Wednesday to determine if I can join the squad mid-season. I also met the coach of the University's team which plays in the Championnat de France, and he seemed enthusiastic about me being here - hopefully if all goes well I'll be able to play for that team, which is supposed to be pretty good.
The big story to report is my adventure in the Alps this weekend. On Friday, January 21st, we walked down to the Rotonde (the quintessential fountain in Aix) where buses pick people up. We met up with our primary chaperone Sophie Degioni who works in the international relations office in conjunction with my primary study abroad coordinator. We hopped on the bus and left Aix at around 7:30 p.m. Unbeknownst to us at the start of our journey we were sharing the bus with the equivalent of an American Fraternity from the Engineering school. In fact, I was sitting next to the president, who was wearing a long fur lined coat with a cricket playing guitar on the back (the frat's logo). He was a nice kid and we talked for a while about a lot of things. However, about 20 minutes into the three and a half hour journey they group busted out a packet of songs that they like to sing and the aisles filled with inebriated and off-key chanting with the songs touching on various subjects from grandmothers to sisters to strangers on the street (all of which were more than slightly sexual in nature).
We made one pit stop about 2 hours in so that everyone could use the restroom. I've come to find that France has a different understanding of bathroom etiquette - men's and women's rooms often share a sink, with private stalls so that there is some privacy. However, at the bus stop there was an open air urinal that one would just walk up to and pee at despite that fact that anyone and everyone walking or standing by can and will watch you. The line for the lady's room was quite long so a congregation of girls had formed on the other side of the building in order to get into 1 of the 2 stalls on the men's side. However, this pack of girls was standing right next to the "pee wall" (since the urinal was nothing more than a wall you peed on with a drain at one side) making it a little awkward to go. When I first walked up there were two other guys finishing up and I was a little unsure if I should follow suit. After looking around confused, and a little distraught, I wandered up to the wall and tried to take care of what I had come to do. Alas, after 30 seconds with the group of girls 15 strong no more than 5 feet behind me I wasn't able to finish the job so I zipped up and, because I didn't want the eyes on my back to think I was a heathen, ambled to the sink and washed my hands. Simon, a german friend who was on the ski trip, thought this was incredibly funny and laughed for 15 minutes about my inability to pee in front of a large number of 12 year old (they were more like 20) french girls before turning around and making eye contact with them all. I saw no problem in my fright, and waited until the stalls had opened to take care of business before the second half of the bus ride.
We got to Praloup late on Friday night and split into two 6 person apartments - one for the girls and one for the boys. After a bit of talking and organizing our things we all went to bed. The next morning we woke up and met Sophie to catch the shuttle to the mountain. There were three Haitian grad students on the trip who had never seen mountains like this before, let alone skied. We made our way to the rental shop and got our boots, boards and skis before hitting the slopes. The Haitian kids took a lesson in the morning in order to get their feet underneath them, but Megan, Sophie and I made our way to the Gondola to head up the mountain. The view from the "teleski" was fantastic - two seats faced backwards and you could see the entire valley which was pretty breathtaking. At the top - about half way up the mountain - I headed out for my first run on European snow. Unfortunately, the weather was almost too nice - sunny and blue skies meant that the snow was wet and crunchy, and underneath a dusting of powder a layer of ice was waiting treacherously (the snow would get very soft in the afternoon and freeze overnight). I did, however, have an awesome time! I skied for two and a half hours or so, hitting every part of the mountain I could. The french don't use chairlifts like we have in America (although they did have a couple traditional 2 and 4 seaters), instead they have these odd rope-tows that consist of a long metal pole with a rubber disc at the end that you can put between your legs and let pull you up the mountain. On a snowboard, however, this is not so easy since you your lower body has to face sideways, while your upper body holds onto the pole and face forwards with the rubber disc hitting you behind your back leg more than your butt. For skiers it's a walk in the park - you just sit back and relax as it pulls you up the hill. For snowboarders, it's a workout and your arms and legs and back and neck and feet and trunk and just about everything else gets exhausted (since some of the rope tows took you from the bottom of the mountain to the top!).
I had been separated from the group for a while, skiing on my own, when by chance I ran into Sophie at the bottom of the hill. She was on her way to lunch and asked me to join. We wandered over the the Loup Blanc (White Wolf) restaurant and met up with the rest of the group. The food at American ski resorts is quite often the worst of the worst - hot dogs, nachos with glow in the dark cheese, chili that causes several emergency stops mid-run later in the afternoon. Food at French ski resorts is quite the opposite. For 15 euros (a little steep) we got an awesome individual french baguette, a choice of desert (I grabbed fruit salad), a choice of an entree (I got a charcuterie plate with salami and three kinds of ham, but there was also a cheese plate and plate with pate, mustard and pickles) and a main course (I ordered the plat du jour which was turkey in an aromatic sauce served with roasted vegetables, but I could have gotten roasted chicken, steak tartar, steak frites or a number of other things). The group of us ate and chatted and I learned that Sophie's husband owns a small Olivier (olive orchard) and presses and bottles his own oil. I missed the season to help (which ends in December), but told her that if there was every and opportunity I would love to see the orchard and try some of the oil.
In the afternoon we continued to ski until about 5 o'clock. Once we had finished for the day all of the students met up at a bar at the foot of the mountain called Le Bergerie and had a drink and talked. It had been a pretty awesome day - it's not often that you get to ski in the French Alps. Eventually we made our way home and cooked dinner together - simple pasta with either pesto or bolognese - and talked for a long time. A few of us watched a movie (City of God, one of my favorites) and then hit the sack. The next day I got up at 8 with Simon and Michelle (the former a student from Hamburg, Germany, the latter from Bozeman, Montana) and we hit the slopes before the sun warmed things up. The snow was a lot better and the skiing was fantastic. We got separated when I got bucked off of one of the rope-tows about 4/5 of the way up the mountain (I was almost to the top! I'd been riding the fucker for about 15 minutes when I caught an edge and swung off). However, we managed to find each other later in the afternoon and grabbed lunch at the summit of the mountain in a small cabin-cafe with a wood burning fireplace. We had pasta and coffee and enjoyed the unbelievably spectacular view.
After lunch we skied a bit more before calling it a day at 3 p.m. We returned our rental gear and met the other kids for a quick drink before catching the shuttle back to our lodge. We had had to clean the place and leave it spick and span before we could check out, but once that was done we piled into the bus and headed back to Aix.
Overall the weekend was a fantastic experience. I don't know when I'll have the opportunity to ski in the Alps again, especially for free!
The only other news is that yesterday I bought my ticket for the Olympique Marseille v. Paris Saint-Germain soccer match. This is the biggest rivalry in France and is considered the Super Classico here. The rivalry is so strong that opposing fans are banned from game this year (meaning no fellow PSG supporters) because last year the violence was so bad in Paris that the league is trying to avoid any more clashes. I got fantastic seats - for a pretty penny unfortunately - but it's worth it since this will be my first every soccer game in Europe and probably the best atmosphere I could imagine. I am a huge PSG fan, but will swallow my pride for the game and either wear a Marseille shirt (in order to not be beaten up) or something with no logo at all. The game is going to be on March 20, and I cannot wait until then.
That's all for now, more to come as the week goes on!
It snowed in Aix on January 20th - I came here to escape the cold.
View of the mountains from our porch in Praloup
The cabin we stayed in.
Map of the mountain
It was Praloup's 50th anniversary
View from the gondola heading up the mountain
Looking out over the mountains from the summit
View of the other direction from the summit
The valley, ringed by the Alps, was pretty epic
Lunch time in Praloup
Probably the best name for a restaurant I've ever seen - at least if you translate it directly
Up at the summit on Sunday, about to head down the mountain
The summit can be seen in the background, that little cabin to the left is where we ate lunch
You can see how incredible the view was from the cabin/cafe
Inside the cabin at lunch
You can hang-glide from the top of the mountain - that's a glider to the left
View of the resort and the bottom of the mountain
