ZACH’S POSTCARDS FROM MEGEVE

06 Sep ZACH’S POSTCARDS FROM MEGEVE

Looking down at town of Megeve, France

Today was the first day of school, but I forgot my camera and so could  not take any pictures. I promise will get some on the blog this week.

School here in Megeve starts at 8:30 a.m. and goes to 4:30 p.m. and is less than a 10-minute walk from our house, but Alain drove me there today. Next week I will take a bus to and from with my younger French brother Nicolas.

I have three hours of math, two hours of science, and two hours of history. I am also taking French and either English or Spanish, maybe both. It is a block schedule so classes are long. School is hard because I do not speak French yet, and so I have no idea what anyone is saying, but that is kinda okay because some of my classmates speak English. Everyone  wants to help me so I get by. Also the math is stuff I have already learned, so it is easy to do, and so I don’t really need the teacher to explain things. Regardless, I will continue to learn French and hopefully be able to speak pretty well by the end of the month.

Editor’s Note: Last January, Telluride Inside… and Out visited Megeve, located in the Haute-Savoie department, Rhone-Alpes region, southeastern France. The town started its development as a ski resort in the 1910s, when the Rothschild family began spending winter vacations in the region after becoming oh so over  the Swiss resort of St Moritz. Modern-day Megeve is considered among the most beautiful upmarket ski resorts in France, indeed, in the world. And with good reason. Even more than Telluride, Mageve offers extensive downhill options for all levels of skiers and boarders: 111 lifts, 219 slopes, totaling 445 km. The region has no huge hotels, and for the most part, there are no mass market boils on its face. (However – egads –  when we were there, we spied a MacDonald’s at one end of town.) The core of Megeve is a charming medieval village with narrow cobbled streets, but the wake up call signaling you are in the here and now are the numerous high-end designer boutiques flashing brand names like Prada and Hermes. Over the years, Telski, Town of Telluride and Mountain Village honchos have talked about the possibility of an alliance with Megeve in the form of a “sister city” relationship. So far, no dice. But an ambassador went to Megeve anyway, thanks to two ski coaches, local Caleb Martin and his friend, Richard Gay (in Megeve). The pair decided an exchange would be a great idea, so  Zach Nunn is now staying with Clement Cabrol’s family – Alain, Cathy, Camille,  and Nicholas –  before Clement travels to town to ski moguls with the Telluride Ski and Snowboard Club. Clement will be staying with the (remaining) Nunns: Randall, Debra, and Skyler. Zach plans to spend a year in Megeve and we have made our webzine available to him for regular little stories, so his family and friends can follow what he is up to – and other young people might be inspired to seek out a similar adventure.  The above is one of Zach’s “postcards.”