A breath from a nouveau riche Russian in France smells of Cognac.

A Russian breath does not smell of cheap Vodka anymore. It smells of expensive liquor like Cognac. At least this was what a Russian mother with expensive clothing, was drinking straight out of the bottle as she and her family were supposed to board the airplane in Grenoble in France on their way home from a skiing holiday.

A friend of mine she was bothered by the breath of a Russian on one of the ski busses going up and down the valley in Val D’Isere. These busses can become quite full and you get people a bit closer than you sometimes would like them to be. The breath from a glass of wine does not bother most people, but this is traditionally not what Russians drink.

We have been in Val D’Isere for 3 years in a row now and this is the first time a different kind of tourist entered the ski slopes and ski shops of the very nice mountain town.

I personally have worked with Russians for many years and I strongly believe that a normal citizen of Russia is just like any normal citizen of the world. Russians are individually different, just like Norwegians are individually different. In my opinion there is though no doubt when you see a Russian in Europe; she is rich, she drinks differently and she has no respect for others. This might be how she has learned to behave in a communist system; if you have money and power, you treat others like shit and you have no respect for any time schedule. Others will have to wait for you. This is how the Tsars have behaved and this is how the communist leaders have behaved towards their people during the years.

There is nothing wrong in wanting to buy most of what is inside a ski shop in Val D’Isere. It is just strange when this happens. It is awkward when you go into a shop and all the sales persons are busy with Russians. It is also entertaining to see what clothing style the Russians have. Why is it that people with a lot of money don’t have a sense of style? Why do Russian women with a lot of money wear too much make-up and jackets that are in the brightest color of pink that you can imagine? Why do Russians wear a lot of fur, not standard fur, but expensive fur? I understand fur is warm when you get -40 or -60 degrees Celsius, but still. Russians stand out in Europe, why do they stand out?

There should be nothing wrong in standing out. Scandinavians are easy to spot in Val D’Isere and so are the French. The French like expensive clothing also, but the French have style! Scandinavians are practically dressed; most of us don’t have much money within our country, but are still travelling abroad because we want to ski!

There should be nothing wrong in standing out when it comes to clothing, but I think it is very much wrong when the airport ground personnel have to ask individuals in the tax-free shop if they are going to Moscow! The crew at the airport were struggling for over 30 min to get all the passengers aboard. It looked like the rich Russians did not want to board the plane until their names were called over the intercom. Even then they were still heading towards the tax-free shop and still opening their bottles of Cognac to make not one taste, but also a second taste of the newly bought bottle. Not from a glass, but straight out of the bottle! A drunken homeless would do this, not a woman in expensive clothing! It just doesn’t fit; nice clothes and a homeless’ way of doing things.

Norwegians have a way with drinking as well that does not fit the European way. We have though become better since the 70’s when we started travelling by charter planes to Europe. In the 70’s the Russians were still not allowed to travel abroad. Probably Russians will get into the European drinking habits also, after a few years. I am happy that Russians can join us skiing now and I am sure that a place like Val D’Isere loves it.

Welcome to the Alps and see you next year also!