Chamonix Apres Ski Report: 11th January 2012

There are certainly fewer people milling around than this time last week but those that are here are keeping up the good work on behalf of those who have retired to the bench, as evidenced on Friday night. Saturday is arrival/departure day for most holidaymakers and Friday night is therefore the last night of the holiday for lots of people. Attitudes towards this tend to swing from one extreme to the other; either "we're going home tomorrow so best not to get too mangled or we might miss our flight", to "we're going home tomorrow so let's make the most of it and fit a week's worth of partying into one night and we'll sleep it off on the flight". Most people on Friday seemed to be going for option 2.

The plan was to meet in Chambre 9 (the bar by the railway station with the moose's head on the wall), watch the band, then move on and do a little tour of town. We realised this plan was scuppered when the lights came on about 8 hours later and we sheepishly climbed down from the beer soaked tables. If you've not yet been, apres-ski at Chambre 9 is a must. The 4 Swedish guys that make up the band No Limits are unlikely looking rock gods but they can sing, they can play and they know exactly how to get the crowd going! They pack the place out every night without fail, often with hoards of Chamonix residents; most of us have seen them more times than we can remember but still keep going back for more as they are a guaranteed good time. Not many bands can get away with following on from Metallica's Enter Sandman with Eddy Grant's Gimme Hope Joanna, but they make it seem like a natural progression. The sneaky thing about Chambre 9 is that the band play from 5-7pm but just as you are thinking of heading somewhere else afterwards you get sucked right back in by the 2-4-1 cocktails from 8-10pm. What happens after that is usually a blur.

After Friday's bedlam a quieter night was called for. A night with the laydees in a classy establishment. So we headed down the Rue de Moulin and met in the appropriately named Bar du Moulin. This is one of the places that was ravaged by fire a few years ago and has recently been renovated and reopened; I don't know what it was like before the fire but it is now one of my favourite places for a cosy chat with a few glasses of vino collapso. It has the feel of a traditional cellar bar - stone walls, beamed ceilings, etc but is not at all pokey or gloomy. And the staff are lovely! We sat in the lounge towards the back of the bar, which overlooks the river and has comfy sofas arranged around coffee tables. We ordered a couple of bottles of wine and settled in, we were also brought complimentary nibbles of little smoked-salmon-on-bread thingies which were very nice.

After we had shattered the tranquility of Bar du Moulin with our cackling we went in search of dinner and ended up at Le Jekyll. This is a great choice if there is a mixed group of you as it is more of a pub than a restaurant, so if someone doesn't want to eat then they don't feel left out by not having anything. The menu also offers plenty of choice, which is great for me as vegetarians are often neglected in French restaurants. Between us we had a Crunchy Soho burger (crusted chicken fillet with mango avocado salsa, mayo and salad), a couple of Vegemax's (harissa spiked bean burger with aioli, onion rings, molten emmental & rocket) and two slow-braised Guinness & Steak pies. Despite being enormous and accompanied by mountains of chips we managed to polish off the lot and launch into dessert - two caramel affogatos, two Ferrero Rocher bread and butter puddings with Baileys ice cream and one white chocolate cheesecake thank you very much. The whole shebang, including two bottles of Pino Grigio, came to just under 30€ a head.

The live music scene is thriving in Chamonix with bands playing in most bars on most nights of the week. Last night was a case in point when we had the tough decision of whether to head back to the Jekyll for The Spokes, check out The Juggernaut of Rock at Munster or catch The Pistey Boys at South Bar. Being right opposite each other we were able to pop back and forth between Munster and South Bar, the latter of which was absolutely bouncing with enthusiatic/inebriated dancing. The Pistey Boys are well worth checking out and have loads of gigs lined up, you can find out where and when on our What's On Calendar.

Coming up this week we have funk/soul from DJ Sugarleg at South Bar tonight at 10pm, Daisy B at Le Terrasse tonight at 5pm (check her out on Youtube), The Pistey Boys at the Savoy Bar in Argentiere tomorrow at 5pm, Gary Bigham & The Crevasseholes at MBC on Friday at 9pm and much more - check out our What's On Calendar for the full run-down.

On a more family-orientated note, I have just heard that the new outdoor ice-rink in Argentière will be officially opening this evening at 4.30pm. There will be an ice skating demo, hot wine, music etc. Entry is free, although you will need to hire skates for a small fee. The rink will be open daily from 4-7pm and there are late-night sessions until 9pm every Wednesday, when you can skate under the stars!

À la prochaine!