07/02 - I was up at 7 and just about ready to leave when Paul and Tanya arrived to pick us up. Having hurriedly changed my trousers in the lobby, we were off to Les Contamines, a ski resort near Chamonix. The journey only took an hour, during which I was persuaded that I should snowboard with Tanya and the other people in her car, instead of skiing with the others. I hired some stuff when we got there and set off up the mountain in my turquoise trousers and entirely inappropriate jacket. Up at the top Arvinder and Jody offered to teach me for a bit, so I strapped in and we set off - first I was instructed how to do the 'falling leaf', gliding across the slope facing down it, then gliding back the other way. This went pretty well until I was instructed to try toe edge, which involved facing the other way - the problem was not moving like this but turning into it, which I simply could not do. I found it much easier to just go down switch, i.e. change which foot was my front foot. Consequently, after about 20 minutes my right foot was killing me, as it had been angled slightly the wrong way and so I was twisting the ankle every time I changed sides - after a lengthy descent (in which time the skiers had time to go down and up and down again) I adjusted the bindings and all was well. Jody and Arvinder very kindly accompanied me all morning apart from one run I did on my own just before lunch.
When I eventually found the others at the restaurant, I examined my hoody and found that the bottom foot of it was frozen solid, with an inch of hard packed snow on both the inside and the outside as I had been falling over so much. Lunch was a good hearty steak and chips with cheese sauce, which along with a beer made me realise quite how exhausted I was. Afterwards I smashed the snow off my hoody on the wall of the restaurant, stuffed it in a binbag and made my way down to the next lift, freezing cold. We had to get a button lift up for the next one, apparently the enemy of snowboarders as they are designed for people who go uphill facing forwards - I managed to get about 80% up before hitting a bump and crashing down in front of a small child who laughed at me. I couldn't get up the hill to try and get back on the the lift, and so my only option, given that we were short on time by this point, seemed to be to go through the powder onto the red run that the skiers/better snowboarders were taking. The effort of falling and getting back up again constantly soon warmed me up, and due to the layout of the resort I ended up doing a couple of red runs back down the mountain without any major incidents - not bad for my first day, I reckon. I had to be hurried along by Jody in order to get the last lift at half four - I got it at 16:28. I must admit to taking the lazy cablecar option back down to the car, along with the girls, while the others sped off and arrived about the same time as us. I got a lift with Paul this time, stuffed in the back with all the snowboards and skis. Within 2 minutes I realised quite how knackered and broken I was, as various aches and pains surfaced (which have not gone away as I write this on Tuesday).
When I got in I had a meal with my new housemates and my sister - or rather, I was connected via a Skype video link to Bob (and Georgie)'s Sunday dinner back in Clapham. I was given a party hat, like the one Bob is modelling below, and seated at one end of the table while Bob sat at the other. I had a rather sad bowl of pasta & pesto while at the other end they tucked into slow roasted pork belly, tiny birthday cakes and port - I could join in on the cheese course though. I am not sure if this will be happening every Sunday I'm away, but it was nice to see everyone (albeit grainily) and to sort-of-meet Sophie, the new girl in the house.
My first videoconference dinner.
08/02 - I awoke on Monday barely able to move, switched off seven alarms and still arrived late. I learnt some more about what I will actually be doing out here, and ended up staying far later than I intended because our 5pm meeting was delayed by an hour, meaning I didn't make it down to R1 until 7. My various supermarket and quiz plans were therefore in jeopardy, but this wasn't too much of a problem, as I decided to sack off the pub quiz and instead go for dinner with James, Paul & Mike (from yesterday) and Arlo and Alex (from Friday night). We went to La Trattoria, a restaurant which I assume is a popular choice as its number is inscribed on the wall of my office. I had an enormous platter of penne which I barely finished, and stumbled off to the bus, where James and I had a somewhat depressing discussion about reasons why the government should fund continue to fund particle physics, and our own personal motivations for what we're doing. I should add that James had been part of a group showing the provost of UCL around today - he is a vice-chancellor of the UK funding council or something, and was out here to see what the money the UK pays actually produces at CERN. Consequently he had had quite a few beers with UCL academics before coming for dinner, and was in a rather more reflective mood than usual.
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