Home » France » Courchevel - now with 1% added fun!

I have never been considered the most observant person in the world. In fact, I am often surprised to learn that the "new" shop I have just discovered on the high street has been there for 5 years and I have been walking past it twice a day all that time, blithely unaware of its existence. So it came as little shock to me yesterday morning when I arrived at Chambery airport that for the first time I noticed that this tiny gateway to the French Alps was surrounded by large mountains, each dusted with snow, and providing what could be the best welcoming backdrop to any group of excited skiers. However, rather than blaming my general lack of awareness of anything outside my own ego, this time I can happily say that I was distracted - if not blinded - by something more stark than several ranges of snow capped peaks.

Courchevel - now with 1% added fun!

Patrick Gatland
2007-04-21 22:10:58

Displayed times (last time: )

I have never been considered the most observant person in the world. In fact, I am often surprised to learn that the "new" shop I have just discovered on the high street has been there for 5 years and I have been walking past it twice a day all that time, blithely unaware of its existence. So it came as little shock to me yesterday morning when I arrived at Chambery airport that for the first time I noticed that this tiny gateway to the French Alps was surrounded by large mountains, each dusted with snow, and providing what could be the best welcoming backdrop to any group of excited skiers. However, rather than blaming my general lack of awareness of anything outside my own ego, this time I can happily say that I was distracted - if not blinded - by something more stark than several ranges of snow capped peaks.

Hair.

As our band of skiers and/or ski holiday enthusiasts slowly made our way to the coach that was to take us up to the resort, we were welcomed by what can only be described as an ode to Vidal Sassoon and all the other stylists that
have forged their way through tonnes of poorly sculpted hair in pursuit of styling greatness. (Very much as an aside, did you know that Vidal Sassoon had to rename his brand in Russia because loosely translated in Russian it reads "have you seen the man who sucks"?) Standing by the coach (clipboard in hand like all persons assuming a position of authority - I think my one connection with the UN taught me that trick) was Mark. Little did I know that Mark was to be our one major contact for the week, visiting us at the chalet, offering up gems of wisdom about the resort of Courchevel and all it has to offer and generally providing bucket loads of amusement for our group. Mark has the hair of a god. The first thing you noticed about Mark when meeting him was his long, flowing blonde locks that were styled to within an inch of being unfashionable but still maintaining that "I'm so cool, my hair is always this 'unkept'" look. With his fringe hanging dangerously to the point of blocking vision in one eye, as we piled on the bus, each exchanging smirky comments about the hair and its
owner, I quietly hoped that he wasn't the one driving the bus up the steep and narrow roads that lead to Courchevel 1650.

Of course you can't condemn a man just for his hair alone and in the intervening hour long bus ride Mark did his best to endear himself to our group. Aside from talking to us on the bus microphone while resolutely keeping his back to us the whole time, in the short ride to our chalet Mark managed to invent a tax that we were all required to pay (a never before mentioned part of the trip) and then bemoaned the fact that he wouldn't get his bonus when we politely told him that we were undecided about which lift passes we needed and so didn't want to buy them from him. After sulking at the front of the bus for a good half an hour (and a few furtive phone calls to his manager) Mark proudly came to us and explained that he was willing to offer us a discount on the price of our lift tickets if we bought them from him. We all thought we had mis-heard him when he offered his 1%
saving on the price. However, by the time he explained that the discount would amount to a whole