17 Dec 2023

It’s only one more week ‘til Christmas.

I haven’t watched Love Actually yet. Or the Nightmare Before Christmas. I’m starting to wonder if I will. Maybe you can have too much of a good thing. After all, there’s so many new cheesy Christmas flics available on Netflix now, wouldn’t it be more fun indulging in a fresh 90 minutes of trashy love story?

Why don’t people make Adventure Sports Christmas films?

I just watched a documentary about three gal pals bike-packing and ski-touring through the Dolomites. Not one of them had a meet-cute romance. There were no spoiled princesses losing their memory in a skiing accident, only to be taken in by a poor-but-kind family that they fall in love with.

It’s disappointing. I feel like there’s a huge gap in the market.

Of course Christmas movies aren’t the only important part of December. There’s also the Christmas eating.

I had a “work” Christmas Dinner this week. Thirty four members of the Ski Locker Cowork Space in Chamonix gathered in a cosy cabin up the mountain in Les Houches, to stuff our jolly faces with french wine, french cheese, and french bread. There was even an adorable French dog who’d visit every so often, hunting for slices of cured ham.

Chris, one of the organizers of the night, stood up, and made a little speech. He asked everybody in the room to take a moment, to turn to the person on your left, and share something you were grateful for. It was a wonderful way to kick off the dinner.

Or, it would have been were it not for two major problems.

Firstly, when everyone turns to their left, it leads to everyone being ignored by the person they turned to. Secondly, the waitress interrupted to come and take everyones drink orders. In the end, very few people shared anything.

So, what have I been grateful for?

Well, first of all, the cost of medical care in France. The only time I’ve ever had to pay for healthcare was when I bit a hole through my lip surfing in Canada on holiday. I had eight stitches in my mouth, and it cost me £1000. So, when I signed up to have my knee scanned with a very large and loud MRI machine, I assumed I was in for a similar kind of bill. Not cripplingly expensive, but hardly the ideal pre-Christmas expenditure.

Of course, they don’t tell you how much it is in advance. So when, after waiting for an extremely long hour, the receptionist called my name and told me I’d be paying for two scane not one, my heart dropped a little further. To make things worse, I was about to miss my bus, and they only came every hour.

Except it only came to €125.10.

Praise the lord! Miracles do exist.

And I made the bus too!

Secondly, I’m extremely thankful my knee doesn’t require surgery. No damage to the meniscus or ligaments. Just bruised bones. It still could be a long, unknown length of time to heal, but at least I’m approved to gently wander the mountains in the mean time. I’ve had to cancel my winter hut trip for fear of pushing myself too hard, but I feel 80% confident I’ll be ready for my summer adventures. Assuming I’m sensible in the mean time. Dolomites here we come!

Thirdly, I’m grateful for those magical friends who always manage to make me laugh every time I speak to them, regardless of how far away we are from one another in the world.