Hello All!!So as you can see the crocs have made it to the snow.... and lived to tell the tale!
Many apologies for the length of time between blogs, but have been running (and attempting to snowboard!!) all over the place. This sabbatical lark is alot busier than even i thought it would be!
The Alps - further away than you think (especially when driving there) having one of the best snow seasons in the last decade and a place that is full of gossip, scandal and sculduggery (some of that later!)
The main reason i decided to drive there with my very good friend Sharky was a) i was staying in his converted barn come chalet and knew that i didnt stand a chance of finding it unless i roped him in for the drive and b) to take my decks out there so i could spin a few tunes to the masses (the Bodigy hits the Alps). The drive was largely uneventful if a little long, around 10 hours from my starting point in Kent (many thanks Wooly and Jacs for putting me up the night before) to our final destination, a small village on the outskirts of Morzine called St Jean D'Aulps (i really hope i've spealt that right!) It didnt help that it chucked it down with rain the whole way and luckily the snow managed to hold off until we'd made it up the mountain (i thought that the X5 was a plucky little contender in the off road/4x4 stakes, i was sadly wrong...) What people here dont realise is that all the locals that live in the mountains have their cars fitted with snow tyres around the beginning of November before the first big dumps arrive. Not matter how big and heavy your car is, summer tyres render it pretty much unless when you hit the white stuff. By the time we arrived the roads were clear as there hadnt really been any snow for a week or so. That dramatically changed with around 4 feet of fresh powder in the space of about 48 hours.... comedy.
There was a huge upside to all this snow though and that was it would hugely aid my attempts to learn how to snowboard over the next few days. For those that dont know me that well i have a completely knackered right knee, results of rugby, skiing and drinking injuries over the years (and having a slightly larger frame, apparently this doesnt help as my knee surgeon told me in no uncertain terms last week!!) However, according to my learned mountain friends snowboarding is much better on your knees than skiing..... i can say that this is vaguely true. What they dont tell you is that the first 4 days on a snowboard is a bit like being sent to some sort of torture camp. You spend the whole time either on your face or your arse, obviously have nothing to aid you in getting up like you do in skiing ( i had a very kind snowboard instructor who spent lots of time leaping around like a mountain goat and pulling me up the numerous times i found myself lying back on the piste!) The learning curve is a hell of alot steeper though so by then end of day 2 on a board i had just about managed to get it all together, linking a few turns and not face planting even 50 yards down the slope. For those that are thinking of giving it a go (i know the whole gay on a tray thing is a big problem for those that ski) - it really is excellent when you get the hang of it. You really seem to float across the piste and not that i managed any decent off piste action on my lovely Burton (the 100 yards i did traverse between pistes scared the bejeesus out of me at the time) i can only imagine on a big powder day that a board really must be the way forward. Even my new mountain buddies were impressed with my progress, so it greatly saddens me to tell you that my dodgy right knee let me down again. The clunking, clicking and general grinding noises that now emit form it, although not life threatening, are nonetheless not good and so an MRI and probably further surgery beckon (not until i've got this sabbatical out of the way though..... its not that bad!)
Life in the Alps is a very relaxing affair i have to say and i quickly settled into the getting up not quite as early as maybe i should, quaffing a coffee, helping Sharks with a few chores here and there and generally bumming around (i can now see where the expression ski-bum comes from) The other two big events whilst staying over there were my gigs.....
Round 1 - the National..... The best pub in St Jean D'Aulps (i would say the only pub in St Jean D'Aulps but apparently i would be wrong.....) Set up for my gig on the Thursday afternoon and returned for what can really only be described as a night of complete mayhem.... (only trumped by the afternoon we watched England beat France there which really did get a little out of hand... and understandably so!!) It was really quite comedy as you'd think the locals of The National really had never seen a live DJ before (and i know that this really isnt the case) - but throw in a girls birthday, a few too many Jaeger Bombs ( a charming little number consisting of a double shot of jaegermeister dropped into a glass of redbull and promptly dispatched in one... lovely!) and a Bodigy mix of some old school tunes and a few Ibiza classics.... well the rest is history! We had people leaping around like mad things (i didnt know that robotics was making a comeback but apparently it is!), nakedness, love, tears.... all the things that you expect from a Bod Griffiths classic gig.... by the time i was given a lift home in the early hours of that morning i had made a whole bunch of new friends and had the most fun night i've had in a long time.... thank you, you mad St Jean D'Aulps crew....!!
Round 2 - The Cavern Morzine.....Defintely not the only Club in Morzine, but the only one that would take a chance on me and let me liven it up! It didnt help that i broke DJ rule number one beforehand, namely dont go to a gig completely lashed, but somehow a few large G+Ts and a top notch meal with gallons on wine in one of Morzine finer eateries, saw me arrive feeling slightly worse for wear! Then my only two fans decided to amble home (Sharky was blaming the G+Ts, a likely excuse) so i was on my own..... and again a huge night it turned into. The place was rocking, old school and a bit of R n B (i know, i'm not a fan either but whatever keeps them on the floor!) seemed to be the order of the night and other than a touring rugby team getting thrown off stage for a little too much public nakedness (how else are you going to pull the die hard ski chicks??!!) the evening was fantastic. I did have a comedy journey home - my pre booked taxi lady was very much tucked up in bed when i phoned her at 2.30am so i spent 1/2 hour watching a bit of drunken brawling (could have been downtown Yeovil!), sitting in the freezing cold working out who on earth i knew around the world that would be up... (thankfully its the middle of the day in Asia so some people got some rather unexpected calls!!) The taxi lady did eventually arrive thank God or else i really would have been very stuck!
So thats around it really..... i did also spend a few nights downtown Chamonix checking up on my little pad there and catching up with some friends and work colleagues who were staying (thank you for feeding and watering me everyone... its not easy being on the rock and roll!!)
I also have to say that i really have learnt a hell of alot living in a small community up in the mountains with all the ups and downs that that has..... abit like living in a mountain episode of Neighbours crossed with Desparate Housewives (a programme that i was subjected to hugely against my will and bizarrely found myself really quite liking it....!) I grealy look forward to returning at some stage in the summer just so i can catch up on all the gossip!
So next stop Hong Kong for the 7s - i fly in a few hours actually and have had enough of a quiet week for my liver to be upto it i think..... the only thing i am worried about is that i have to find some sort of fancy dress outfit to take with me or else face the wrath of the South Stand....bring on the beers and some champagne rugby.... and no doubt a few tales to tell on my return!!
B
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