Intimitatea, OSHO

     "Sa fii autentic inseamna sa ramai fidel fata de propria fiinta. Cum sa ramai fidel? Trebuie sa tii seama de trei lucruri, sa le respecti cu sfintenie. Primul, sa nu asculti niciodata de nimeni, sa nu asculti ce ti se spune. Asculta-ti intotdeauna vocea interioara, ce ai vrea sa fii, altfel iti vei irosi toata viata. Mama ta vrea sa fii inginer, tatal tau vrea sa fii doctor, tu vrei sa fii poet. Ce e de facut? Bineinteles ca mama are dreptate, pentru ca, din punct de vedere financiar, e mai bine sa fii inginer. Si tata are dreptate, pentru ca meseria de doctor e o marfa buna pe piata, are o valoare de piata. Poet? Ai innebunit? Nu esti in toate mintile? Poetii sunt blestemati. Nimeni nu-i vrea. Nu e nevoie de ei; lumea poate sa existe fara poezie - nu va fi nicio nenorocire daca nu exista poezie. Lumea nu poate sa existe fara ingineri; lumea are nevoie de ingineri. Daca esti necesar, esti valoros. Daca nu esti necesar, n-ai nici o valoare.

Dar daca tu vrei sa fii poet, fii poet. Poate ai sa fii cersetor - bine. Poate n-ai sa te imbogatesti din poezie, dar sa nu-ti faci griji din pricina asta, pentru ca altfel ai putea fi un mare inginer, ai putea castiga multi bani, dar nu te vei simti implinit, nu vei avea nicio satisfactie, vei tanji mereu, fiinta ta interoara va tanji sa fie poet.

     Am auzit ca un mare om de stiinta, un chirurg caruia i s-a acordat Premiul Nobel, a fost intrebat: "Cand ti s-a acordat Premiul Nobel, nu pareai prea fericit. De ce?" Chirurgul a raspuns: "Eu am vrut mereu sa fiu dansator. N-am vrut din capul locului sa fiu chirurg, si acum nu numai ca am ajuns chirurg, dar sunt si un foarte bun chirurg si asta e o povara. Voiam sa fiu doar dansator si am ramas un dansator ratat - asta e durerea mea. Ori de cate ori vad pe cineva dansand, ma simt foarte nefericit, trec prin chinurile iadului. Ce sa fac cu acest Premiu Nobel? El nu poate sa devina un dans pentru mine, nu-mi poate oferi un dans.""

     "Asa ca vreau sa-ti spun urmatorul lucru: accepta-te asa cum esti. Este cel mai greu lucru din lume, intrucat intra in conflict cu educatia ta, cu cultura ta. De la inceput ti s-a spus cum ar trebui sa fii. Nimeni nu ti-a spus ca esti bun asa cum esti, toti ti-au introdus in minte diverse programe. Ai fost programat de parinti, de preoti, de politicieni, de profesori, iar ideea a fost una singura - sa te imbunatatesti, sa te perfectionezi. Nu conteaza cine esti, trebui sa alergi dupa altceva, continuu, fara odihna. Invatatura mea e simpla: nu amana viata. Nu astepta ziua de maine, ea nu vine niciodata. Traieste astazi!"

     "Cand te indragostesti de o persoana, persoana aceea ti se pare frumoasa. Iubirea introduce ideea de frumusete, nu invers. Insa rar se intampla sa gasesti o persoana care sa se potriveasca intru totul cu tine. Iar daca ai norocul sa o intalnesti, viata e un cantec. Atunci exista doua trupuri si un singur suflet - acesta este cuplul adevarat."

Our dreams, their inspiration. Val Thorens, France

I couldn't find a more suitable title for this post as this one. And I really felt it that way. The French did it again! We dreamed and they created a place exactly like in our sweetest winter dreams. I was not an avid ski person until I put my feet on this winter land which seemed out of a ski film scene. Les 3 Vallées is the world's largest ski area, it has 600 km of pistes accessible for ski, 372 downhill ski pistes, 167 ski lifts and 1,512 hectares of maintained pistes...oh là là. Voilà.

I have to be honest with you: I was a little bit afraid of this sport that I've tried before and I actually never took it seriously, maybe because I was too lazy to wake up at 7 am during vacation, it was too cold or too expensive, I was frightened of all the falling, of all the "what if" I am not good enough of it or...worse, I didn't have the right pair of pants. Girls, do you remember these questions: where are my ski pants, did I lend them to you? :)))

But this year I wanted to be different, I wanted to learn how to ski and that was enough. So I took 6 days of ski lessons (3 group lessons and 3 private lessons) in Val Thorens and I am the queen of the green pistes and the joker of the blue ones, eh, not all of them but the difficult blue ones. Next year I am sure that I'll be even better. Step by step.

                                                                       On greens

                                                                     & on blues :)))

What makes Val Thorens really special is that it's not only the highest resort in Europe with stunning views of the beautiful mountains and wide, long slopes but it also exceeds in other areas such as great food, live music on the pistes and countless possibilities to enjoy your time after skiing: cool après-ski (try La Folie Douce), husky dog sledging, fun slope, snowmobiling, nice bars, cosy restaurants, para gliding, spa, the highest zip line in the world (accessible to skiers only) etc.

Les 3 Vallées is shinning again and this time in your plate. It is the mountain area with the most Michelin starred restaurants recorded ever. No, I didn't try any of them, actually I never tried a Michelin starred restaurant (yet, I have this on my list!), but I can recommend you two very good restaurants from the bottom of my heart.

The first one - Les Chalets du Thorens - is right on one of the pistes. I was completely surprised to see that they even have a sushi bar in the restaurant. Who ever ate sushi on the slopes? I surely did. They served a variety of traditional Savoyard specialities, seafood, Italians pastas and delicious French sweets. Eating their exquisite food I was thinking that I ended up somehow in the Ratatouille movie. I'll let you have a look at my photos, but please don't drool over the computer :)

What do you think?

And the second recommendation is in the resort this time: Face West Cafe. Try here the dessert, Tarte Tatin chaude, hmmm, I totally forgot to photograph it, I was to busy to indulge in the sweetest and finest tastes.

Editor's choice: stuffed pumpkin with tomme de Savoie, oyster mushroom and parsley  

And since we are in France, all the talking is about or around food. Trust me, I lived there over too years and there were very few times when I could get out of the house just for a drink, without having dinner or at least some amuse-bouche near by... So, another place to buy food for home or to have it with you in the room is this one, La Ferme de Thorens.  

I do not eat meat, but I saw in their shop all kind of sausages with nuts, herbs, cheese and so on.

                                                             
                                                       My favorite cheese: tomme de Savoie

And now let me introduce you to the Vitruvian...pig :) 

Tips:

- if you don't live in France and you don't have internet access on your cell and you can not stay too much without internet, when you book a room in Val Thorens, ask about wifi. They usually do not provide wifi in the rooms and they don't have internet access in every building. You can buy a pass available in Val Thorens for a whole week, but it's not worth it since it's too expensive: 25 euros. 

- 6 days of ski with group lessons at SkiCool : 171 euros

- ski pass for 6 days: 218 euros

For any other details, feel free to drop me a line.

À la prochaine!