Day 17

Wow can't believe it's been this long since I did my last post - it's really difficult to get on the internet so looks like it's going to be infrequently I can write, at least it means I have a lot to talk about! 


It hasn't snowed anymore, weather's been beautiful though, blue bird days for the past week. Went out boarding on Friday with my boss and friend/work colleague, we covered a lot of ground and ended up heading over to Les Gets where the views were spectacular on top of the mountain side.  We could literally see for miles, all the way over to Mont Blanc and areas such as Flaine and Les Carroz, which is where I used to ski a lot. Perfect snow as well, not too icy.


As we don't have a specific change over day in the chalet it means if I'm efficient enough I could be out by 10.30am at the earliest which is great if I want to get in a long day of boarding. Yesterday was absolutely manic though as a whole new batch of guests arrived (20 of them!) so I had a lot of rooms to change...not leaving until 1pm. On the days when I'm not boarding I tend to chill out in my apartment sleeping, watching movies and reading books which is really nice as I have a great view to look at as well. 


Night's out wise I tend to go out Tuesday and Wednesday night's, purely because Wednesday is my day off, so it's okay if I'm hanging! All the seasonaires are out then too, so it's always buzzing. Tremplin which is a resturant/bar at the bottom of the Pleney Bubble in the centre of Morzine  does a really good apres ski evening from 4-8pm every Wednesday where they have live DJ's playing gooood music :) that's always really great to go to, and you can board/ski straight down there. Sunday night is also a good night at a place called Cafe Chaud. It's a great drum & bass/dubstep night which I went to once and want to go back every week too! Admittedly you have to be pretty drunk to step foot in their as it's a bit of a dive, but I swear going to a place that plays good music just makes everything 10 times better anyway. 


Until the next update :) 

Day 4

I've been here 4 days now...and I'm not going to lie, it's hard bloody work! I came out knowing it was going to be tough, but it's a lot more demanding than I thought. This is my daily routine: 

7.30am start: 

Firstly: open all the curtains, clear the lounge, clean out the fire and set up a new one. 

Secondly: Find out what rooms need to be fully changed, then completely clean those rooms, as well as servicing all the other rooms (11 of them) clean the bathrooms (10 bathrooms). 

Thirdly: Hoover pretty much the entire chalet (3 floors) as well as the stairs. 

Fourthly: Make sure you keep ontop of all the laundry.

Usually finish between 10.00 - 11.30am depending on how much needs to be done. 

Back in at 6.00 - 6.30pm:

Firstly: close all the curtains in the lounge, light the fire. 

Secondly: lay the table for the guests.

Thirdly: sort out bread baskets for each table, water jugs, red and white wine only allowed to be laid out just before food is served at 8.00pm.

Fourthly: fold up laundry that has dried, add more to the washing machine.

Then: serve starter, mains and dessert along with in between helping with washing up, drying etc, and obviously clearing away plates from tables.

And Then: Set out coffee, tea, mints, cheese in the lounge

And Then: Clean tables, put chairs on tables, brush and mop the floor, then lay up for breakfast.

And Then: Put away any cutlery, plates etc that needs to go away. 

Finish anywhere between 10.00 - 11.00pm ...after which I usually go down to the bar for a drink and then collapse! 

So as you can see it's a pretty full on job which you have to do 6 days a week with only 1 day off. I can imagine a lot of the time I'll be using that day for sleeping! (hmm, not really on the comfiest of beds which is in the kitchen/living room, might have to complain about that at some point). It's good though that I have a lot of free time between when I finish and when I have to start again...which I can use to go snowboarding, chill out in my apartment/chalet or go into town. Also a plus to working within a chalet is you usually get free accommodation, food, lift pass and a weekly wage. So far I haven't spent any money here. I'm fortunate to have a nice boss, and I'm lucky I get £120 a week, usually it's between £50-£100. But I feel it is well deserved because of the heavy work load! 

I find I adapt quite quickly to my surroundings...which is why it hasn't taken me long to feel settled here, and I'm definitely getting into the swing of things now. I'm quite shocked at how quickly I've picked everything up (fairly relieved about that!). I look around me everyday and can't quite believe I'm working in the beautiful mountains in a foreign country...without a doubt this will be a memorable gap year!