“I just love it here,” he said. “It’s the best.” He blew cigarette smoke through both nostrils, and went on about baguettes in an accent from somewhere in the south of London. He and his mates ordered another round of pints and struggled to coax ill-fitting rental skis into the hotel lift. The English, it seems, have discovered Chamonix and paved the way for Anglophones to come.
And they’re not wrong. There’s something pretty special about the ‘ol French Alps. But the best? I’m not so sure. And so I present a brief point/counterpoint for how great this place really is.
Food
Point – It’s real good. Cheese. Meats. Wine. All of it. France is the birthplace of haute cuisine, and it sings in the High Savoie. We’re tucked in a valley at the confluence of France, Italy, and Switzerland; on the same block you can eat pizza, fondue, and tartiflette. Baguettes are 80 cents, espresso flows like water, and the cheese actually tastes like cheese.
Counterpoint – Mexican food is hard to come by. Sometimes you really need a taco. There are no tacos here.
Point – Tipping for service is not customary. It’s simple, easy, and civilized, and makes for a casual, laid back dining experience.
Counterpoint – You may not see your server for hours, and there’s a real chance they’ll be smoking a cigarette when your food comes out.
Skiing
Point – Chamonix is the patron city of ski mountaineering and modern alpinism. $25 sends you from the valley floor to a big ‘ol glacier at 9,000’. A 20 minute traverse leads you back to a midmountain lodge with beer on tap and live music. The access is unparalleled and the ski lines are very, very real. It’s Disneyland for grown ups, a paradise of pucker.
Counterpoint – “Backcountry” isn’t really the word for whatever it is that’s going on here. There’s groomers on the front side and the Mont Blanc Massif on the back side – terrain that would take a long ride in a bush plane to find in Alaska. But here there’s moguls on the glacier, tracks on every line, and hundreds of people around. Helicopters buzz overhead all day and you don’t need to worry about getting lonely out there. Someone knocking sluff on your head? That’s a different thing.
The English
Point – Chamonix is an international town. You hear French, Italian, Chinese, English, Romanian, etc. on any given street.
Counterpoint – It’s full of British people and they walk on the wrong side of the sidewalk and it really does mess everything up for the rest of us.
Point – In spite of its popularity with the English, not everyone here speaks English. Sometimes what you think you ordered is not what you ordered.
Counterpoint – Because of its popularity with the English, everyone here hates the English. It’s nice not being English.
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