BONJOUR! WELCOME TO TREMBLANT!

Written on December 3, 2004, posted on December 4, 2004
[Original Of The Species playing on Archos]

My recent trip to Tremblant was amazing! I probably could spend lots of blogging real estate describing it, but I prefer being able to recount it to people, with all of the different expressive fixings. The more I need to think of how to accurately describe my exciting experience, the more ingrained this memory will be etched. Instead, I'm going to use my schedule of meals as the basis for this blog, because it will still convey certain 'thinking check points' that occurred during this trip.
[ Crumbs From Your Table playing on Archos]
Monday:
I had a certain sense of excitement once I had unpacked and started thinking about what I was going to eat. Why is it that eating is always a hallmark of any experience? Here I was, browsing through the directory of different restaurants found in the hotel service booklet in my room, and my eyes were beginning to bulge. I felt like I was a kid in a candy store with enough money to buy whatever I wanted! Certainly, the fact that the hotel room had a kitchenette made things more interesting, because now I could even consider driving back to the grocery store that I passed on the way up and pick some things up, thereby totally cheaping out. But hey! I'm on vacation. That would be too much work! Besides, it's more meaningful to be able to cook for a group of people, but cooking for one can be quite tedious and then depressing. If I really wanted the experience of making something myself, I discovered that there was a general store within the village that I could pick up groceries from. In most circumstances, a listing of what one eats on a trip is fairly boring. Unless it is coupled with commentary about what thoughts were going on at that moment, thus creating an interesting journal.

Monday
Dinner: $25.31
from the general store
Corona 6 pack
Large bag of Ruffles All-dressed chips
2 bags of Orville Redenbacher microwave popcorn

of which I consumed:
2 Coronas
The large bag of Ruffles All-dressed chips
1 bag of the microwave popcorn

Well, my initial craving was for pizza. Good old greasy pizza delivered right to your door. But I found out that they don't deliver pizza to the hotels because there are no less than 2 "pizzaterias" within the village that make gourmet pizzas. Sadly, I was disappointed because it was Monday night. There was going to be a football game on TV, and pizza would have been the best compliment. So, I decided to stroll over to the general store and see if there was anything that might resemble pizza that I could throw into the microwave (there was no oven, just a stove top with 2 elements). When I got there, it wasn't really a quick stop, because, upon inspection, all the portions were small, and everything was overpriced (e.g. $1.79 for a cup of instant noodles!). I finally resigned that I wouldn't be doing any cooking tonight. So, that is when I picked up the junk food. I don't normally drink beer by myself, but the 6 pack of Coronas looked so charming, and it was going to be something spread out over the duration of my stay. I picked up the other junk because it was within my sightlines. Obviously, nutrition wasn't the main thing that I was thinking about. Hey, I'm on vacation!

Tuesday
Breakfast: $0
From the Ermitage du Lac hotel
Continental breakfast

Can't go wrong with a free meal. And the selection wasn't too bad for a complimentary continental breakfast. I was thinking more nutrition here: grabbed some toast, some omelets, some cold cuts, lots of fruit, a juice and a banana!

Lunch: $15.43
At the Grand Manitou, mid mountain base cafeteria
Large plate of spaghetti with meat sauce
Small bag of Ruffles All-dressed chips
2 soft chocolate chip cookies
Minute Maid bottled orange juice

Once you've been riding for a few hours, you will get cold, no matter how well you dress. And there is also only one place to pee on the mountain that doesn't leave a yellow trail. And, you MUST pass by the chalet-isque cafeteria before hitting the restrooms. You are immediately drawn to the many different choices of food stuffs. It is in here that I realize that there are 3 different food economies at Tremblant. There is the pauper economy where one could totally cheap out, bring your own food and smuggle it into the resort. There is the elite economy, which is the stuff that you find in the village, like at that general store - generally a rip off, but nothing worth calling a lawyer about. And then there is the mobster economy, where you go and get absolutely robbed point blank! You also don't call a lawyer in this situation for fear of being ridiculed for allowing oneself to be so blatantly taken advantage of. But, because there are no other places to go while on the hill, you really have no choice but to get extorted. Oh well, I'm on vacation.

Dinner: $23.00
At Le Forge Bar and Grill, in the village
Poutine
Garden Salad
Hamburger (sloppy joe style, smothered in the poutine gravy with peas)

So I had heard that the poutine at Tremblant was awesome. I love going with word of mouth when exploring. After ascending the cobblestone roadway through the village, I find this place which is a smoke-filled bar and inquire about their poutine. They say it's the best, so I take a seat. In the end, it was alright. Like every other food thing that I have discovered here at the resort, the portions are small and way overpriced. Well, I was putting more hope into the burger that I had ordered that was on its way. Mmmm. Nothing like a nice, juicy burger that I could wrap both hands around and sink my teeth into some nice meat! When it arrived, it was somewhat comical! The plate, which is not an unusually large plate, absolutely dwarfed the burger that was sitting in the middle of it. The burger buns are like the McDonald's hamburger buns - they looked almost kid sized. The entire burger was covered in the same gravy that they used in the poutine, so it was not very inviting to be picked up. When I finally bit into the burger, the meat was very, well, un-meatlike. Oh well, at least I got some healthy components from the garden salad (which came in a small side bowl and had at the very most 5 leaves of lettuce). But, as I finish paying for the meal, I'm no longer shocked. I think at this point, I'm numb and just accept the fact that this is the norm while I'm on vacation.

Back in the hotel room:
Downed 1 Corona

Ah, nothing like a nice cold beer to wind the day off!

Wednesday
Breakfast: $0
From the Ermitage du Lac hotel
Continental breakfast

I start to value these meals more now. Not only because it's the only time of day where I feel like I'm NOT getting ripped off, but I can totally eat nutritiously here. Again, I do the toast with egg (boiled and cut into halves today) and cold cut thing. I also eat lots of fruit and another banana. I have coffee instead. That should give me enough energy before I start riding!

Lunch: $7.88
Back in the hotel room, after stopping off at the general store
2 Mr. Noodles instant noodle
Large bag of Ruffles BBQ chips

OK. At this point, I'm tired of getting ripped off. So I figured, let's try to exact some revenge on this system! I'm going to make my own lunch and enjoy it in my own room, where there's a nice fireplace that I can eat in front of. And boy is it a good lunch! Even though I still get ripped off by the general store (recall what the price was for one cup of the instant noodles?), it's not as bad as a rip off if I stayed on top of the mountain. I eagerly wolf down the food. Things are feeling good - my tummy is full and I'm warming up. But this is probably where the resort has anticipated my frugal attempt at circumventing their scheme. Now I feel SO comfortable that I don't want to put on my soggy snow pants and jacket. The thought of having to walk back out, take the cabriolet up, then take the gondola back into the cold is shouting in resistance and enslaving my body to the couch in front of the cozy fireplace. And it's only 12:30! That means that, even though I've paid for the full day, I would've only ridden for half a day. This thought alone awakens the frugal beast within, and I leap to my feet and back into the miserable cold. Darn you resort! There are SO many ways that they can rip you off. Plus, I left my board up on the mountain.

Dinner: $0 (kind of)
Back in the hotel room:
The remainder of the large bag of Ruffles BBQ chips
2 Coronas

Disappointed that I didn't do well for the rest of the day (which, by the way, ended shortly after returning from lunch - only did 2 more runs when I tumbled hard and banged my knees - at that point, I resigned to the fact that I was really tired from riding in really fresh power all day long) I decided to fill the bath tub and submerge myself in a warm bath. That would be perfect! I could make some coffee, put out the Chinese pastries and chocolate that I had brought and finish reading a book. How therapeutic! Well, I think I made the water too warm because after about 5 minutes, I was sweating like crazy. I started feeling really uncomfortable and finally gave up. What a waste of good, Tremblant water. Wait! Hey, chalk one up for me! I'll get my money's worth in water. Mmm. No, not very environmental, so the sense of victory is short lived. So, I resign to eating the rest of the chips that were left over from lunch, and downing 2 Coronas. Surprisingly, I'm not that hungry, and count it a small victory that I don't allow myself to get ripped off for dinner!

Thursday:
Breakfast: $0
From the Ermitage du Lac hotel
Continental breakfast

It's starting to get too predictable. Toast. Egg (boiled and halved again). Cold cuts. Fruit. The only variation is that I substitute a croissant for the banana. Oh well, it's the last one, so it's not too bad. I don't eat that much more considering my stomach is probably pretty empty from not having dinner the night before.

Lunch: $5.55
At the Grand Manitou, mid mountain base cafeteria
Large hot chocolate
Snickers candy bar

Originally, my plan was to ride the entire day without stopping. But the "I'm wet and need to pee" monster reared its ugly at around 1. So, reluctantly, I stop. I thought I could just relieve myself and avoid the cafeteria. But the desire to warm up some of my partially frozen appendages prompted me to stop. Well, why not? Just for old times sake, let's get ripped off one last time. At least there is something sentimental about this last stint. I'm still on vacation.

Well, the moral of the story is to anticipate food costs when budgeting for a vacation. Otherwise, getting ripped off can really put a damper on things quick, especially in a place like Tremblant. Fortunately, this wasn't the case for me, and I anticipated this, and I must say it is a unique experience considering I am pretty frugal when it comes to the basic human function of eating. Remember, at Tremblant, "Bonjour" means "Hi! Welcome to Tremblant. I'm going to rip you off today!"

Or, perhaps, it's because I'm Asian! (click here for a really funny stand up bit explaining this!)