An Au Pair Out And About Special- Haute-Savoie Region & Chamonix Valley

Winter in Paris has been cold and dry. The skies are grey, the rain comes down hard, and even the chicest Parisian is running into the nearest shop to protect their cashmere scarf. As I have mentioned before, things have been quite stressful with the family for a few weeks, and I needed a break. Luckily I had pre-arranged with the family to have a week off while the kids spent the first week of their holidays with Mamie and Pappie in Biarritz.

Many people would no doubt choose somewhere hot & sunny for a break away. Good choice. However I have always been a fan of cold weather holidays and I needed some physical exercise (there's only so much cardio running around after the kids can give you). So I headed south-east, for the fresh air and exercise capital that is the French Alps. Specifically I headed for the Chamonix Valley - home to the first Winter Olympics.

When things go wrong

If you read a lot of au pair blogs you may well have the impression that working as an au pair in France involves a lot of sitting in cafes, drinking cafés noisettes and occasionally swanning around a museum looking profound. Certainly, this is true to an extent, we do get to do this. But we also work really hard and, as far as jobs go, it can vary wildly from life enriching experience to a living nightmare. Just like any other job, how bad it gets will vary depending on your office (the house), your boss (the Host Parents), your coworkers (the kids), and your contract. However, suffice to say, when it gets bad it can get really bad.

You may have noticed that the blog has not been updated much recently. That is because my experience has been going through one of these difficult times. Consequently I have not felt motivated enough to write much and I have felt even less motivated to go out and experience things in a worth writing about. But this blog is meant to be an honest account of my time as an au pair, and I guess the best and most honest thing to do is tell you about how bad things have been.

Odyssey Salon de The and Crêperie

Take a walk under the gothic spires of Notre Dame, stroll along the banks of the Seine - how chic. How Parisian. But take a right, and head down Rue Dante, and suddenly everything changes. No more Gothic spires, no more chic designer shops - it's wall to wall nerd heaven. Bandes dessinées, les figurines, truc de cosplay - its all here. Since they released The Force Awakens, the world has gone Star Wars crazy and we have had about 3 months of Star Wars Mania. If you still haven't had enough Star Wars, Rue Dante is where you can go to get something to satisfy your hunger. Let's take a trip to a galaxy far, far away and Odyssey Salon de Thé & Crêperie