5 pounds of Cheese! (3/10: Les Arcs 1800, France)

After the rest of our drive, we get to Les Arcs around noon. We can’t check into our room until 5pm, and our ski passes aren’t valid until tomorrow. Nicolas grabs his stuff, buys a day pass, and goes snowboarding – the rest of us wander around for a while, get the lay of the land, have lunch (gallets & cider), after we head to a bar to watch a rugby game (Wales vs. Scotland – part of the Six Nations tournament that I also saw a game of in London). Hang out there until around 4ish, and then we’re able to get into our room and get unpacked, rent our gear, etc. I also finally get start in on my 4th book: "Open Society: Reforming Global Capitalism" by George Soros.

For dinner we go to a place Michel has been raving about since before we even got to France. What they do is take a round of a cheese called Tomette, and basically melt the cheese inside the rind, slice of the top, and serve it straight up with bread, meat, etc. So, we get to the restaurant, and they don’t serve it anymore. Michel is disappointed (bordering on upset), but we settle for Raclette, and proceed to eat about 5lbs of cheese. I’m not kidding. Raclette is the name of the cheese, and dinner consists of giant block of the Raclette, some bread, cornichons (small pickles), and plates of meat. I think in the US you'd have to sign a waiver of some sort before they'd be allowed to serve you this meal. The Raclette goes under a burner lengthwise to melt it, and you use a scraper to scrape the melted cheese off and on to your plate. Dinner is just pure, unadulterated cheese.

At some point during dinner, Pierre disappears. I figure he’s just gone out for a cigarette, but turns out he’s sick and has gone home. We’re down to three. After dinner we go to a bar called Ambiente, where Nicolas falls in love with the bartender, Alice, who barely speaks a word or even smiles at any of us. Around 1, we decide we’re done with the bar, and head over to Apokolypse, which is the nightclub in the village. Actually, we get sidetracked. There’s an arcade on the way to the club, and they have a multi-player racing game that none of us able to resist. So, 4 games later (Michel won twice, Nicolas and I once each… but I swear, on the last game – when we were tied at one win each – they teamed up against me just so “the American” wouldn’t win. Bastards.). So, to the club.

At 3, Michel comes over to me and says, “we’re leaving.” I finish talking to some girl, and Michel and Nicolas are nowhere to be found. I’ve been ditched! I head back to the apartment, but I’m locked out. Of the building. Luckily our room door is right next to the building door (on the 3^rd floor), so a combination of phone calls and banging on the outside door gets Pierre to come let me in. However, Michel is the only other person there. Nicolas is still at the club. So, grab keys, and head back to the club. We’re down to two. I get back inside, and find Nicolas sitting on a bar stool, facing a wall, head resting against the wall. He’s fast asleep. I wake him up and suggest going home, but, he wants to stay. Guh. I’m ready to go home. So, we struggle through the last half hour or so (club closes at 4) with some liquid assistance, and then finally head home.

I’m pretty sure we woke Pierre and Michel up (by jumping on their beds) before they were able to corral is into our beds, and down for the night.