Ski the Alps? Why not?

My last weekend in Europe, before my brief return home, saw me against visiting France. This time I was in the snobby country’s second biggest city, Lyon. After a strenuous one-day workweek, I met Cleighton in the city where he was spending his third semester of business school (apparently you can study abroad in grad school). He had two finals Friday morning but it did not take much convincing to head to a pub for some pints after I had dropped my stuff at his place. We found a pub hosting a trivia night and settled in for a solid night of French beer and games. The questions ranged from popular culture to world history, making the contest quite difficult; however, not to excuse our bad play, we did get one fuck yeah America moment. The group next to us was comprised of a fat Frenchman, an old Englishman, and two chicks who made Lori Beth Denberg look like Heidi Klum all taking the trivia night too seriously. After they only half jokingly accused us of trying to cheat off them (we had given up and were betting rounds of beers on the answers between ourselves at this point). Sometime we said prompted a snide comment towards our intelligence as Americans, assuming we didn’t know the answer to a question regarding our own history. Who are the only two presidents to receive the Nobel Peace Prize while still in office (excluding Obama)? I said we were only sure of one but that we felt confident about the second, Wilson and Teddy Roosevelt, respectively. After they made sure to inform us that our answers were only incorrect but very outdated, the announcer read off the correct answer. The look on thief faces was priceless when the abovementioned leaders were announced.

The next day, while Cleighton was lost in a world of academia, I explored Lyon. The city is gorgeous with impressive architecture lining the two rivers that split it in two and, of course, a plethora of stunning churches. The most impressive of which was the Notre Dame de Fourviere, situated on top of a hill with a commanding view of the city. The walk up was taxing, though a Roman amphitheatre served as a great break/picture opportunity half way up, but worth the hike. The basilica provided a picturesque view of the city as the cloudless day set the background for a perfect day. After a little down time, we got back after it that night, ensuring minimal sleep before we headed at dawn the next day to the Alps for a bit of skiing.

The five o’clock wake-up and subsequent two and a half hour bus ride were all a haze but I awoke hours later to one of the most breathtaking views I have ever seen. The base of the mountain we were skiing was already at such an altitude that all we could see around us were mountain peaks and clouds below. Words cannot do the view justice. Skiing the Alps is just as amazing as one could imagine and my DJ Tiesto podcast only added to the constant rush of adrenaline I felt all day. Conversely, trying to ski through a cloud was not as awesome as we thought it would be. Asides from being surround by complete whiteness, which was surreal, it requires a slow pace to accurately and safely navigate the trail. An experience for sure and hey, how many people have skied through a cloud? It was an absolutely incredible trip and a fantastic way to conclude my first three months in Europe.