Week 3: French Food and Skiing

I had a rather boring 3rd week. Highlights: I got health insurance and I got a French bank account a debit card (the concept of credit doesn't exist here). It was a long, annoying process for both of those things so I'm very relieved.

Food!
If you've ever been to France you should know that the food here is perfection, always. I've never had a bad meal in all the times I've visited this country. The baguettes and the croissants are addicting. The cheese: the stinkier the better.
     Each region has its own specialties and the Haute-Savoie region of the Alps that I live in has some good ones. All involve cheese, potatoes and cured ham (prosciutto) in a variety of ways.
     One night, after a long day of skiing, a group of Adam's friends gathered to eat something called Raclette. There's a special Raclette maker which has about 8 small shallow bowls and you melt a piece of Raclette cheese until its liquid and then pour it over boiled Raclette potatoes and then eat it together with a piece of prosciutto or salami. Its amazing. Its so popular even Dominoes advertises Raclette Pizza.
     Next new amazing dish I learned from my new German friend. You take a soft cheese called Mont D'Or, which comes in a wood bark bowl, scoop out the middle and fill it with minced garlic and white wine. Stick it in the oven and also pour that over Raclette potatoes when its all liquidy. Yummy.
     There's also Tartiflette. Which is like a baked casserole of au gratin Raclette potatoes, cheese, and cured ham. As you can see, lots and lots of cheese in all these dishes. I love cheese. If you try cheese in France don't smell it, just eat it. Like I said, the stinkier the better.
     Then one night we went to a restaurant and got something called a Potence. It looked like a medieval torture device, short, thick iron stick with spikes on it, each spike with a big chunk of duck meat. Hanging over a pot of french fries. Its set on fire to cook then all the juice from the meat drips onto the fries. Then you get dipping sauces for the fries. Probably top 10 best dinners I've ever had. I love duck, but only in France, its just not as good when I've ordered it in the US.
      Food mistake I made: don't try to save money and go to the grocery store and buy cheap grocery store brand baguettes and cheese. Not worth the money saved, you gotta go to the little patisseries and fromageries (bakeries and cheese shops)

Skiing
I'm learning to ski. I figured I should since I live in the Alps. I've gone every weekend since I've been here. You can see on my Facebook all the beautiful snowy mountain pictures I've posted. I bought all the equipment at a second hand ski store for under 200 euros. 
    Our first week we took the Ski Bus and the bus got stuck in the snow and we had to walk a couple km in the snow uphill with our gear, hitch hike with a car full of German guys, and we didn't get out on the slopes till 3pm. The bus got stuck at 9am. This 3rd weekend, I skied at a different location and on the way back on the Ski Bus it was the same driver that got us stuck! I was surprised he still had a job and that I made it back to Grenoble in one piece.  
     I only ever truly skied once in the US, in Lake Tahoe last year. It was a nice resort with a big lodge at the base and one at the top and places to sit and relax and lockers to keep your belongings. I've also seen the resorts in Breckenridge in the summer. Very nice. Well, I'm learning this doesn't really exist in France. Yes they have ski resorts but not like the ones in the US. There isn't really anyplace to sit and relax when you don't feel like skiing, no big lodge, unless you go to a cafe but then you have to buy something and sometimes they're very small and cramped and crowded. There are also no lockers. Unless you have a car or a hotel room there you must bring a backpack and ski with your belongings on your back. Also, the little cafes are not heated, like the rest of this country, there is nowhere to go and get warm.