Esprit Ski - Training - Days 1 & 2

Week 1:


Day 1 / 2 (1st / 2nd December)

Leaving Fleet, Hampshire at 6pm on the 1st, After a 2 Hour delay, stood in the cold downpour of rain, watching others coming and going, and even one of the other coaches crashing into a rather expensive Bently that was parked, and also hitting a Pay & Display machine, thus breaking one of the windows of the coach.
It was rather nice to finally get onboard the coach in the warm and dry

Started talking to some of the others on the coach, finding out which resorts they were going to, Eventually finding some going to the same resort as myself, L'Alpe D'Huez

After 3 and a half hours of driving on the motorways and being stuck on the good old car park otherwise known as, The M25.

We finally reached Dover and proceded towards the Ferry, boarding around about 10.15 pm

With a rather uneventful Ferry Crossing of around 90 minuites, using the time to get a nice hot drink, a quick nap (as I find it hard to sleep on coaches) and getting to know the other Ski-Seasonaires

Upon Reaching Calais at around 11.30 pm (12.30am French time) we made our way towards the french motorways.
(From this point onwards, all times will be French Times for ease of writing, Unless Stated)

We drove on till around 4.30 am, at which point we stopped to fuel up and have a break, then continuing onwards through the dark night, Finally stopping for Breakfast at around 9.30 am, after seeing a rather beautiful sun rise through the mists

We then carried on driving through the morning, most people on the coach going back to sleep, some staying up to watch a DVD on the coaches onboard DVD System.. I finally managed to get about an hours sleep during the journey, Waking up to the beautiful start of the French Alps, the sudden mountains rising up from the flat french plains, with the odd castle dotted around on the cliff edges, the quaint little french villages in the valleys

The closer we got to the resort, the smaller the roads got.. with the sharp bends, small tunnels, and steep inclines made the journey a little more interesting, but alas.. seeing only tiny ammounts of snow on the mountains

Finally arriving at the Les Arcs Resort, around midday, we Lugged our bags upto our rooms, which are rather comfortable, then trying on our uniforms to check for fit, we then wondered around the Hotel for a few hours, getting to know our bearings

We then went to meet up with our Managers in the Hotel Reception, upon meeting them, we were briefed about the plan for the week

After that, we had a welcome seminar with some of the Area Managers, along with the OverSeas Directors and even the CEO of the company

Once that had finished, we had a little time to chill out, then into Dinner we went.. with a rather interesting mix of french cullinary delights

Once dinner was out of the way, we were able to get on the internet, unfortunately, as there are so many people here, we are only allowed a 30 minuite slot

So I will be updating this as much as I can, but for now, Its goodbye from me