- On the 15th November I boarded the coach to Val D'isere, so excited to embark on my adventure. The fact that I would be living and working with all the other people that boarded the coach was slightly nerve wracking yet also great.
- We started the 6 months with training week which would give us all the skills a chalet girl would need to fulfil her role (i probably shouldn't call it chalet 'girl' as it could be presumed sexist - many men do take on this role - but for the sake of this blog which is called 'chalet girl shenanigans', please bear with me.)
- Training week was great, we were shown the recipes we'd be cooking, the cleaning products we'd grow to love and customer service skills that would become extremely natural - we also managed a few nights out which was great for getting to know my team.
The reality:
The name of this blog post says it all, nothing could prepare me for what was about to happen. And don't get me wrong, its not that I haven't enjoyed every single minute, it's more that there are little words to explain a chalet girl's life.
So last Wednesday my first guests arrived. I was apprehensive but excited. I wanted to get started. The penthouse chalet I was working in (not sure how I swung that!) looked great and all it needed was guests. I'd made a cooking timetable so I knew I could be on track for the day and felt like it could all go well.
So what went wrong first? - pork was delivered instead of chicken which meant my timetable I was so relying on was disregarded and we had to do a completely new set of recipes. The pork dish also happened to be the same dish I'd managed to slice a part of my finger off whilst making an asian slaw to go with it: slightly bad connotations.
My guests arrived! They were part of a 50th birthday that were taking over a few chalets. I even had someone famour as one of my guests, who I idolized when I was younger, but due to confidentiality I cannot tell you who. So I introduced myself and there it all started. Though they decided to go out for dinner instead of having my cooking which deflated me slightly. So I helped out my friend Sam and the evening went smoothly. I say smoothly: we only just managed to get the food out on time to a high standard with 2 of us, which set off alarm bells to the fact that normally it would be one!
The next morning I was impressed at my ability to cook 4 boiled eggs, 2 fried eggs, 2 scrambled eggs and 2 bowls of porridge with tomatoes, bacon and croissants. Not bad for a first breakfast!
It was quite clear at that point that these group of guests were party animals. They drank better than a group of university students, visiting all the Val D'isere bars and clubs. I was impressed. However, not so impressed when I had dinner ready for 8pm and only 2 turned up at 8:30 for it and the rest at 9:30, with them all either wanting just the starter or main or dessert. But I did it and they seemed happy with what they received.
The next day was pretty much the same however, by evening meal I was feeling exhausted, coughing and aching all over. Luckily I had someone else helping me as I don't think I'd have got through it otherwise. I got home after my shift and called my manager almost in tears. We decided that a trip to the doctors was needed. Oh life.
The doctors seemed to be situated in a grandma's living room, which was adorable. I was diagnosed with tracheitis and given antibiotics which meant I got saturday off. I was told by my manager that's all I could have off as chalet hosts can't chop and change, so as my next guests are staying for 2 weeks, I'd have to take 2 weeks off which was not an option. So i'm powering through, all drugged up.
The unfortunate side of being ill is that I couldn't say good bye to my guests which is sad as I felt I had let them down - I wanted it to go so well.
What about skiing you ask? - so another reality. I managed to ski for 2 days going over to Tigne and skiing on the glacier which was great! But my new ski boots were super painful so I went to sure foot to ask for their advice - and i've now spent 95 euros on some miracle inner soles. My illness also overtook me which meant I've slept in my free time rather than skied.
But today is a new day, with new guests and hopefully it will go smoother. I just need my immune system to man up!
It really can only get better.
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