Have you missed me in the past few days? Adjusting to my new life in Fontainebleau has taken a while. Sorry for my absence.
Last Wednesday, 15th March, it was Henry's, Thomas and Mariam's 28th birthday. So why not spending a long weekend skiing in Chamonix? Guess what: Henry's family, the De Boyssons, own three chalets in Argentière, Chamonix. Three incredible chalets, by the way. And what's the best use for two of those chalets during his birthday weekend? Definitely hosting his INSEAD crew: over 30 of us!
Between Wednesday and Saturday morning, Henry, Thomas, Mariana, João VB, Stef, João J, Zé, Miguel, Helena, Chantal, Marcelo, Vlad, Tony, Shai, Molly, Dimitri, Rodrigo, Paulo, Laurent, Joe, Laura and a friend, Alessandro, Consti, Gesa, Gerasimos, Robert, Jean Jacques, Mariam, Gorda, and me drove to Argentière. At some point, Henry's parents and one of his sisters came as well. Imagine how big and comfortable two of the chalets had to be in order to host all these people...! Each chalet had an incredible living room with fireplace, a modern open kitchen, plenty of bedrooms and toilets, a cinema room, sauna, and storage for skis and boots. Gorda and I, the only engaged couple in the group, got the master bedroom of the second house. Henry's parents got the one of the main house. Not a bad deal, uh?
So what was the weekend all about?
The first dinner was cooked by... me (at least partially)! I did the first fondue of my life, following Paulo's and Henry's instructions. Thankfully, the guys had already grated, and all I had to do was dosing the garlic, butter and wine, carefully melt the cheese, and add kirsch. Doing that for over 20 people was quite a challenge, but a successful one. The fondue was accompanied and followed by quite a few bottles of wine, nice music and some dancing around the couches and fireplace. Needless to say that Gorda was there as if he's spent the entire year with all my INSEAD friends. My life is so much easier because he is such an extrovert...!
Friday was our first ski day in one year. The crew had plenty of good skiers, the sun was out, the snow in the morning was unexpectedly good. Could not complain about anything! After a late lunch still at the slopes, we barely skied. The snow was starting to melt and the food at lunch was too good. Also, we could not get to the après ski too late and I still wanted to workout. By 6 pm, after going grocery shopping for the 30 of us, we went to Chambre 9. Chambre 9 is a really fun and crazy bar in Chamonix. We danced on the tables, Helena danced on the crowds, Laurent kissed a girl after all of us shouted at him to do so ("Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!), Gorda publicly proposed to me for the second time, Henry made a speech... Oh man, we had fun! Even more so, the dinner after that was hilarious. There was almost 40 of us, as some friends met us there, and we were all in a tiny private room at a burger place (or should I call it a cave?). I had to do the order for everyone myself as the waitress was too confused - Momma Marta, they call me. I don't think I had ever had a dinner with so much singing, shouting and laughing. Thanks Zé for leading all of that.
On Saturday, the weather was pretty bad but we had booked a place in the famous cabin up Les Grand Montets for 10 am, so we decided to try to ski anyways. What happened was that we did a good black slope, full of bumps and fresh snow, without seeing much more than 2 meters in front of us. That slope is famous for its view but the only thing we managed to see was the black sticks signaling the way. Guess what? By 11 am we were having coffee at a restaurant, and we only did one more slope before going back home. The chalets were so nice that no one really bothered to spend some time at home. I worked out, went out with gorda for an unhealthy lunch and some rugby watching on TV, and then we chilled for the rest of the afternoon. It is recruitment season at INSEAD, so us (consultants) have been spending quite some time helping others out. Between reviewing cover letters and CVs, giving tips for interviews and doing a few assignments, it was time to cook dinner for the group. Again, dinner was great (now with Maman, Papa, and soeur de Boysson), and drinks were fun. Again as well, Gorda played a main role entertaining the crowds.
On Sunday, we had a lovely last day of skiing. We managed to ski Les Grand Montets with visibility this time. Such a nice slope...! At some point, Gorda had to leave to Geneva, where he would catch his plane back home, and I went with Miguel to Chamonix to meet two Portuguese friends for a late lunch. After that, we had a quick shower, packed, and started a long trip back to Fontainebleau.
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