After a few après-ski drinks and a trip to the supermarche to buy some drinks and a selection of food for dinner we suddenly realised the time and made a mad dash for the last bus of the day (7pm) back to our apartment in La Praz, Just making it we all jump on, mighty pleased that we didn't have to waste our valuable drinking money on 'Herve' our very special taxi driver. The bus was pretty full with an eclectic mix of various inebriated holiday makers and of course 'US' the very sensible local-types...
Off we trundled, having chats with a hilarious group of English girls and generally having a great time pretending to be seasoned locals and giving advice on the local hotspot drinking venues. After about 15mins on a very steamed up bus, it suddenly dawned on us that we hadn't passed our stop and that we didn't actually realise any of the names of places we had passed; it was shortly time for our new (slightly crazy) friends to disembark when we coyly asked if they knew where the Les Praz stop was... the very amused response was that this particular bus didn't go there, in fact it was going in completely the opposite direction!!! Just before the other girls left, one of them who was semi-paralytic but with excellent French asked the bus driver how we were going to get back there and the answer quickly came back with the fact that we had to return to Chamonix where the night bus system started at 10:30pm.. (It was 7:30pm at the time...)
Sounds simple enough, other than the fact that our bags of shopping would have to attend a very packed pub with us... on we drove expecting for the bus to take a circular route returning straight back to Chamonix centre...Surprise, surprise this was NOT the case!
Our bus driver had a half hour coffee/cigarette break at the furthest point from town and we were not allowed to stay on the bus during this period. So like a bunch a school children we followed her into a VERY local haunt whilst she told the bar stuff, much to their amusement what a predicament we were in. A few drinks and various phone calls later we were still defeated as the most successful call we had made was that a taxi could be with us in an hour...we decided to stick with the bus...
Popping down to the toilet I then return to find the bar empty and the barman saying "too late, l'autobus already gone..." jacket and wallet gone from the table a brief flash of panic takes over as I wonder how on earth I might get home and if I can still remember my igloo building skills from the snow survival course taken years previous. Much to my relief I then used the limited (and rather pickled) brain power I have left to look out the window and across the road and see the bus still there, running across the road and jumping on the bus to see a very amused group of faces staring back at me, not only were my friends laughing at my brief flap but infact the whole bus were wetting themselves with laughter as the driver had relayed the story to ALL the new passengers. Feeling slightly embarrassed we decided to keep our heads downs and crack open some of the wine brought nearly 3 hours previously at the supermarket.
Off we trundled, having chats with a hilarious group of English girls and generally having a great time pretending to be seasoned locals and giving advice on the local hotspot drinking venues. After about 15mins on a very steamed up bus, it suddenly dawned on us that we hadn't passed our stop and that we didn't actually realise any of the names of places we had passed; it was shortly time for our new (slightly crazy) friends to disembark when we coyly asked if they knew where the Les Praz stop was... the very amused response was that this particular bus didn't go there, in fact it was going in completely the opposite direction!!! Just before the other girls left, one of them who was semi-paralytic but with excellent French asked the bus driver how we were going to get back there and the answer quickly came back with the fact that we had to return to Chamonix where the night bus system started at 10:30pm.. (It was 7:30pm at the time...)
Sounds simple enough, other than the fact that our bags of shopping would have to attend a very packed pub with us... on we drove expecting for the bus to take a circular route returning straight back to Chamonix centre...Surprise, surprise this was NOT the case!
Our bus driver had a half hour coffee/cigarette break at the furthest point from town and we were not allowed to stay on the bus during this period. So like a bunch a school children we followed her into a VERY local haunt whilst she told the bar stuff, much to their amusement what a predicament we were in. A few drinks and various phone calls later we were still defeated as the most successful call we had made was that a taxi could be with us in an hour...we decided to stick with the bus...
Popping down to the toilet I then return to find the bar empty and the barman saying "too late, l'autobus already gone..." jacket and wallet gone from the table a brief flash of panic takes over as I wonder how on earth I might get home and if I can still remember my igloo building skills from the snow survival course taken years previous. Much to my relief I then used the limited (and rather pickled) brain power I have left to look out the window and across the road and see the bus still there, running across the road and jumping on the bus to see a very amused group of faces staring back at me, not only were my friends laughing at my brief flap but infact the whole bus were wetting themselves with laughter as the driver had relayed the story to ALL the new passengers. Feeling slightly embarrassed we decided to keep our heads downs and crack open some of the wine brought nearly 3 hours previously at the supermarket.
Twenty minutes and quite a few empty bottles later we finally stumbled off the bus back into central Chamonix, called a taxi that was going to take an hour and slipped into the original après-ski bar we had started in to wait...
So much for a chilled, detox night at home with a lovely home cooked meal. All I can say is that there have been lessons learnt...
1) Always check where buses are going before getting on
2) Never act like a local when you aren't (especially if you have the capacity to make a complete tit of yourself)
3) Alcohol does not help (whatever people say) especially when trying to make a decision.
We live and we learn...
So much for a chilled, detox night at home with a lovely home cooked meal. All I can say is that there have been lessons learnt...
1) Always check where buses are going before getting on
2) Never act like a local when you aren't (especially if you have the capacity to make a complete tit of yourself)
3) Alcohol does not help (whatever people say) especially when trying to make a decision.
We live and we learn...
The self-catering apartment we staying in was Chalet Praz, 50m away from the cable car station leading up to the Flegere ski area 5 mins drive from Chamonix centre.. It was booked through the very helpful Bigfoot Travel Company.
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