Week 1 & 2: The French Alps

My last day of work was on Friday. As I was waiting for my uncle to get back from his holiday on Sunday I had to stay till Tuesday to go and drop my stuff at his place in Reading. So I spent the weekend just doing washing, packing up and relaxing. I suddenly realised on Sunday that it was the first time in about 4 months that I'd had 2 days off in a row. I bought myself a backpack last week so I was trying out different ways of packing it and figuring out what to take. It is a 60 l backpack and designed for women so is quite comfy. However it surprises me how little it actually fits in it. I have been ruthless with the bare essentials but even so it still bulges! Anyway I left on the train on Tuesday morning and got to Reading in the afternoon where my uncle picked me up. My flight was on Wed at 8am. So I decided to go straight to Gatwick airport and sleep there as I did not want to fork out £50 for a night in a hotel. I felt like I was in the movie The Terminal as I walked around the airport in the middle of the night looking for a couch to lie down on. I found one but it happened to be next to this woman who snored very loudly. Added to that was that there were constant announcements on the PA system and the fact that I didn't want anyone to chav my bag. So I hardly slept. I was surprised how many people actually slept at the airport!! Well caught my flight alright and met the guy at Geneva airport. He was holding up a board with our names on – it was so cool – I always wanted someone to do that to me. The others were there waiting already so we got in the minibus and came straight here. We are in a town called St Jean-de-Sixt in the French Alps. The place we are in is a small hotel run by an English family. We are staying in the hotel rooms in the main house – I have my own small room actually and its quite lovely but rather cold. It is really picturesque here – just like I imagined with all the wooden chateaus nestled in a valley with the mountains all around.
The chalet we are doing up is just next to the main house and it is basically going to be the staff chalet for the winter. So today we had to scrape and sand the floors as they had removed the old carpets but the floors were all fluffy from the carpet backing which was stuck fast to the floor. The work can be quite tiring but rather fun. There is even a TV room and a gym in the hotel so we shouldn't get bored. And there are so many walks to do in the area. Should be a good few days.

Well, in the last few days we have sanded some doors, windowframes and floors. We have brushed all the outside wood on the chalet, sanded most of the balcony, shutters and painted bits and pieces, which doesn't sound like much but each of those things has been a huge job in itself. 3 of the people left after one week but then we got some new people: 4 new Aussies and a Canadian. We went on a couple of walks to the nearby bigger town called La Clusaz and the other nearby town called Grand Bonnard. We went on a bit of a hike to the top of this mountain. We went on a day trip to Annecy, a beautiful town set by Lake Annecy with all these little canals and flowerboxes everywhere.
The weather was really great the first week – t-shirts and shorts during the day but much cooler in the evenings. This week has been cooler with a lot of rain and some snow (at higher altitude) in the last couple of days – I can see it on the top of the mountain outside my window.
The work has been pretty tiring at times but I have really enjoyed being here. Getting to know everyone has been quite cool and playing Pictionary, Jenga etc with them was great. Have been introduced to a British comedy called Spaced.
I have such good memories of my time in the Alps. I can really picture the quiet coolness and fragrance of my room, and the smell of sawdust on my clothes. When I think about it now I must have taken the awesome beauty of the mountains a bit for granted. They really were breathtaking.