Category Archives: France

Three weeks already?

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Time has positively flown here and I apologise again for not being as up to date as I’d hoped. I’ve been working 14 to 16-hour days, driven to two resorts twice, configured around 40 PCs, sorted numerous laptop and desktop issues, got the office interwebnet connection going, repacked and delivered around 20 PCs… and still somehow managed to get wasted almost every night.

I was driving the minibus (handy for safely strapping unsecured monitors to seats) down the mountainside from Les Arcs the other day and a thought just slammed into me: I am going to have a great time here. It’s the people above all else. It’s like being part of a great gang where everyone helps each other out.

I’m not meant to get fed on my contract – instead I get a private flat so I don’t need to share. But the chefs have said if I’m ever hungry, just to pop by. They’ll always be able to feed me. Resort managers have said they can swing me a half or full day lift pass for their area should I find myself up there fixing a PC or whatever. I know the people who run two of the most popular bars in town and managed to get into one of them last night when they were being restrictive on entry. My boss even bought me a beer the other night to say “thank you” for the time I’m putting in. Hell, she’d virtually ordered me to take some time off when I had worked through my third straight “day off” in a row! As the office is empty for the next week or so (everyone’s off organising training), Di and Peter have invited me over for dinner one night.

I’ve been here for 3 weeks and I feel like I’ve known and worked with these people for months. It’s this kind of “you scratch my back” atmosphere that really encourages you to work hard. The chefs will all have their PCs sorted (personal and business) sharpish if there are any problems. In return I know when I’m low on cash I can get a meal. A long trip to a resort to fix a silly problem will no longer be a chore if I know that for 45 minutes’ work, I’ll get to board for 3-4 hours.

It is hard work, but I’m enjoying it.

Add to that the scenery round here. As I mentioned I drove to Les Arcs – and also La Rosiere – twice this week, and the views were just breathtaking. I drove at very different times of day and the same mountains change so much with the differing light and weather conditions.

All I’m looking forward to now is getting my rental board and having a chance to strap it on and slide down one of the slopes! Les Arcs is forecast to get a metre of snow over the weekend which could be problematic if it causes road closures. We’re expecting 700 staff to get there for training on Sunday! I’m also supposed to be based there as I deliver and set up most of the remaining PCs. Little point in heading there if I’m going to get stuck with no other work to do – especially as the lifts and hire places aren’t open yet!

I do have some photos of the area which I’ll post when I get time. Once the PCs are out in the field, I should have more spare time to work on this blog and I’ll try to find some interesting things to pop up on here. Chamonix really is a beautiful place and I’m happy I’ve landed here for the season.

It’s pushing midnight now and I want to get this posted before we roll over into another month!

Where have I been?

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Sorry to be so “lazy” recently, but I promise that I’ve been nothing such! It must have been almost 2 weeks since I last posted, but I’ve barely stopped. Since I arrived, I’ve had no time off, opting to waive my first day off (I get one a week) until later due to the sheer volume of stuff to be done.

But first… A lot of people have asked what I’m doing. Well, my job title is “IT Coordinator”. The area I cover is centred around Chamonix Mont Blanc in the east of France, where I am based, and extends through resorts such as Courchevel, Val d’Isere, Tignes, Meribal, Verbier, St Anton and the wonderfully-named Obergurgl. With luck I shouldn’t be travelling to the majority of Swiss and Austrian resorts (too far) but I will be visiting almost all the French ones at some point.

My job entails… well. What doesn’t it entail? Arranging ADSL communications (or dial-up where not available). Liaising with the owners of buildings (the company doesn’t actually own any of the hotels – they’re all leased) to see where we can run cables and so on, or plug in wireless kit. Setting up and configuring PCs – and I’m dealing with some dodgy old, battered kit as well as a decent number of new PCs this year.

Software installs, network configurations (LAN and WAN), hardware maintenance, purchasing, system builds and repairs, tuition, security, documentation, backups (implementation as none exists), server build (again, none exists… yet), inventory, database design for said inventory…

And that’s just the simple stuff. On top of that I have to muck in with other work as required – at the airport on transfer day, inputting accounts details and so on. Somehow I have to fit in some snowboarding. Talking of which, the weather was *WOW* last week, with around two feet of snow dropping over 24 hours. Since then, though, it got mild and the snow’s all gone apart from the mountain peaks.

And talking of them, I have to say "wow" – what a view. The town is surrounded on all sides by magnificent peaks and a blue-tinged glacier which looks amazing – frozen part-way in its flow down the mountainside. The whole place is lovely, and I’ve always been a mountain person. It’s superb around here.

The flat I’m living in is a little petite, but cute. And warm, which is important. WA Assett remodeled my bathroom and its amazing, hallway with two bunk beds and a front room with a fold-down sofa bed. The kitchen is tiny but I’m only cooking for one (or will be once I stop getting free food) so shouldn’t be a problem. I’d rather swap the dishwasher for a washing machine though! It would be much more useful. As would an English telly – everyone speaks French on mine for some reason.

The people I’m working with are great. Hard workers, hard partiers, friendly, helpful, welcoming. I felt part of the team by the end of my second day. I guess being able to out-drink most of them (except Charlie the chef, but she’s from Yorkshire) kind of helped.

It’s not the cheapest place to live, but with my main living expenses covered (rent and utilities) it could be worse. The pay is lousy (I could have taken a job as a driver with another company for £200 a month more), but this is more of a challenge and way better on my CV. Plus I knew from the start where I would be living and that I’d have a place of my own. And I get to become the BOFH of an organisation for the first time. I’ll get into the techie stuff another time, or on another blog.

So, here I am. In France for 6 months or so. My contract finishes on May 23rd and I’m already coming up with plans of what to do after that. Download and Graspop likely feature, as does Iron Maiden at Twickenham on July 5th. Well, I can’t get to any live music while I’m here and already know I’m missing Linkin Park in January!

Right now, I have to head off to attend a meeting with the big cheeses. More about what I’ve been up to when I get back, possibly tomorrow evening.

Here we are again..

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Sat in an airport, tapping away on a laptop and waiting for a flight. I seem to recall doing this a lot over the last year and a half, though this should be the last time for the next half-year. This time, I’m in Edinburgh airport with a choice of three extortinately-priced wireless signals, so you’re waiting until I get settled in Chamonix before you have a chance to read this!

Getting through security was fun. Despite my best efforts involving a set of bathroom scales and a double-hernia, it turned out that my baggage weighed 23kg and therefore I was asked to “remove some things” from it. The question of what to actually do with those things wasn’t made clear. As my laptop bag was full of… well… laptop, I couldn’t physically fit anything else in it. My daybag was packed inside my hold baggage, so that came out and I ended up stuffing a book and all my underwear in it.

I strapped the two smaller bags together, re-weighed my knicker-less hold bag and it came in at 19.7kg. I have 3kg of pants and socks with me. Good grief. Luggage deposited and boarding pass in hand, I walked upstairs where I was stopped before the security gate by a chap telling me I could only take one piece of hand baggage through security.

Great.

Only he turned out to be really nice and argue my case with the two equally nice (and incredibly lovely, beautiful, friendly and helpful) ladies at the checking desk. Not that I’m being nice to them simply as they let me bend the rules, oh no. Their argument was that, with my laptop and hard drive removed, my day bag would fit into my laptop bag were it not for the rigid support strips on the back.

As soon as I heard one ask the other “how nice are we feeling today?” I knew I’d be OK. As ever, the rule in an airport – be polite, friendly, and not afraid to beg. These people can treat you with deserved contempt if you’re a prat, but they can also bend the rules slightly if you’re a nice person who’s just having a bad day.

Once through the x-rays machines, I resisted the temptation to pick up a Nintendo DS (£85 – genuinely cheaper than anywhere else) and instead just parked my bum and drapped the old laptop out.

Well, my gate’s just been called now, so off I hop. Next stop, Geneva.

*** later ***

I am now ensconced in a hotel lounge in Chamonix on wireless which I have access to 24/7. Sadly, no wireless in my dinky little apartment even though the McD’s I’m above has free WiFi, so I have to walk a whole 3 minutes to the office to get online. But seeing as I have a key, this isn’t going to be a problem!

The flight was more or less on time, and Vlad drove me to the resort from Geneva airport. I’ve spent the afternoon being supplied with door codes, keys, a phone and meeting people. They’re a friendly bunch and good company – I’m really looking forward to working with them!

My apartment, as I said, is dinky but OK. I need to ask them to put some proper curtains up as I want to use the double sofa bed in the lounge rather than the bunks in the hallways. The curtains at the moment are flimsy net ones that just don’t stop the light – or give any privacy at all! I might also ask if they (or I) can put a proper shower fitting in. The one in my (nice) bathroom just dangles from the bathroom tap and I like to stand right under a shower when possible!

The weather is crisp, but not quite snowy as yet. It’s lovely outside, though I seem to be the only one walking around in a t-shirt…

Tip (kinda) – What I have found out about France

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I’m English. By law that means I’m supposed to hate France, insist that all the people are rude and tell you that Paris smells of stale pee and vomit with half-digested snails floating in it.

Sadly, I can’t. Because it’s great.

From Nice through Monaco (yes, not France, I know) and all the way up to Metz and Thionville in the north, I’ve met nothing but hospitality and politeness. OK, some people are rude – but certainly no moreso than back home. And sure, not everyone speaks English. But why the hell should they? This is France!

Some things I have noticed are worth pointing out for curiosity’s sake. Like every person I met who spoke English was afraid to speak it in case they got embarassed… usually over their accent. Very few thought their English was any good as they sometime (rarely, in all honesty) had to stop and think of words.

Let’s look at these points. A French person will speak English with a French accent. The same way Americans speak it with an American accent, an Aussie speaks with an Aussie accent and a Geordie speaks it like it should be spoken (not biased at all, honest guv). As for lacking a vocabulary, I know people at home who have to describe things they don’t know the words for. Let’s face it – English is huge. Anyone who can enter into a conversation with me and understand what I’m saying as well as make themselves understood is – in my books – “advanced”. Most I know have rated themselves as “intermediate” on Couchsurfing.

The further north you get, the more cheese becomes part of dinner. In Nice, it was served as a side dish before dessert. As you approach Luxembourg you find that cheese is dinner. There are restaurants where the entire menu is cheese-related. I’ve been told this is because it’s colder in the north so they wolf down cheese for energy. I’ll stick to chocolate.

Also, and I’ll get shot for this if anyone reads if before I cross the border, much as I’ve enjoyed the cheeses here (and I’ve had more variety in 4 weeks than in 33 years), good old very mature cheddar still rules. Of course, there are 400+ cheeses in France and I’ve probably only tried 15 or 20. Maybe they have a cheddar-beater. but I doubt it.

Cinemas pretty much always show films as “VF” (Version Français) if such a version is available. Arthouse cinemas are an exception and usually show films in whatever the original language is. Look for “VO” on regular cinema listings for “Version Originale”, as long as you don’t mind French subtitles. There’s a lovely old picture house in Nice which shows almost everything in English.

If you visit and stay with someone, expect to eat late in the evening. I was always used to eating dinner around 6pm at home. The French usually sit down at 8pm or later. Mind, they also have a late lunch which helps.

If I have a complaint about France it’s the way the shops remind me of England around 25 years ago. Almost everywhere is closed on a Sunday. Many places close for lunch as well – for 2 or 3 hours. Check the details of any city you’re visiting as some have a local “half day” as we used to back home when all the markets closed at lunchtime on Wednesday. In Metz, for instance, a lot of places are shut on Monday morning.

Don’t skip places if you’re driving around. This goes for Italy as well. Stop at every town you go past, even if only for ten minutes. And once in a while, go off the main roads and follow the “route national” (equivalent of our windy B-roads). There are many hidden treasures down there I’ve found on foot!

Definitely, definitely brush up on your French or at least get a phrasebook. It’s just polite – and necessary in some places. Most people under 25 will speak passable school-level English is pressed but surely it’s your job to speak the local lingo? This won’t be a problem anywhere touristy though. Tourist information people – even in the rural areas – often speak good English as well. If you’re anywhere near the Swiss border around Geneva, you’ll come across a lot of English being spoken. It’s virtually compulsory if you want to work in Geneva as it’s such an international city.

And don’t just stick to the likes of Paris, Nice and Strasbourg. Visit Metz, Nancy, Besançon… there are many towns which get little in the way of tourism and you have no idea what you’re missing out on.

Metz – not an alcopop

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OK, Metz isn’t an alcopop any more but it used to be. In the UK anyway. It tasted of flat lemonade and I think it had vodka in. Anyway, this is not that Metz. This one is much older and still here, and a good thing too as it’s another place well worth a day or so of your touristy time and a roll of film.

I strolled into town and the first major building I noticed was the huge railway station. It looks positively ancient, but is apparently only just over 100 years old, built by Germans when the town was under their control. Metz has changed hands a few times over the years! It’s a fantastic building with a cathedral-like structure and related carvings on the front.

Out front is a very impressive flower display. If you pop into the station there are some stairs which lead to a balcony on the front so you can get an aerial view of the layout below and see the shapes made by the various plants. Pretty cool. There’s a video of the view on YouTube.

My hostess picked me up from the station and drove me to her flat where we had some dinner and I collapsed for the night after repairing her laptop. I had one day to be a tourist the next day and, with Laurène as my guide, wandered the (rainy) streets of Metz. We stopped at tourist information for a souvenir map where I was informed that there are several walks around Metz. All of these are marked by golden triangles in the ground which guide you on your chosen route. The map had information on each place along the walks.

Most of the buildings are made of a yellow stone, from the cathedral to the shops. It’s a local stone and makes the city look like it’s under a permanent street lamp. The aforementioned cathedral is the first thing we saw and it’s pretty much into the “huge” category – apparently one of the largest in France. Like Nancy, Metz has been spending some cash on restoration and cleaning. The cathedral is spotless in the areas where they’ve finished and the work seems to be continuing. Very impressive, very tall, very well decorated and with some lovely stained glass windows inside. As ever, I’m not remotely religious but it amazes me what people can build when they put their minds to it. Even if the building takes them 200 years.

From there, we found a park and some fountains which reminded me – on a smaller scale – of some of the Italian ones. The rain came down and we scurried into a shopping mall where I browsed through a book shop. A curious French hobby is collecting hardback comic books. Some of them look fantastic, though they’re not cheap at around seven quid for a 40-page story. There are thousands of these things and I wish they were in English so I could curl up and read through them!

As the rain eased, we headed for a pub where we’d arranged to meet Patricia and Lionel, two more couchsurfing hosts from the city. Patricia took us to a nearby pub where she seemed to know all the staff and regulars (good girl!). We enjoyed a couple of drinks and a good chat before Patricia had to leave. The remaining three of us finished our drinks, I admired the paintwork in the lavatories (very curious – cartoon willies jumping off cliffs) and we set off to see the city by night.

And what a sight. All the major buildings are lit up beautifully allowing for some great photos. The Temple Neuf which sits on bank where two parts of the river rejoin after flowing around an island has to be seen to be believed. The cathedral is also, obviously, lit up. A shame they had to build houses and shops in Metz as there’s no complete view of the building from a distance!

Lionel kindly drove us back to Laurène’s where we had a late dinner, watched some American TV shows in French and I unfolded my couch once more.

Again, I have had a great time and met some wonderful, generous people. Thanks to you all for making this visit even better than I’d hoped!