Friday, July 29, 2011

final week.

Today marks the start of my very last weekend here in Grenoble. I absolutely cannot believe how time has flown by. Today was the last day of CUEF classes, so I'm going to go out with my fellow UMich classmates to celebrate. We are hoping to find a nice new restaurant to try, but knowing us, we'll end up at "The Mist," our favorite spot.

I took a walk through town alone yesterday, and saw so much I'd never even seen before. Its amazing I've been here over a month but haven't even scratched the surface of what Grenoble is. I hope this next week will be full of new discoveries and adventures, as well as plenty of reading and paper writing for my UMich class. I have no fun travel plans this weekend, so I hope to visit the farm market FINALLY tomorrow morning, and do some more downtown strolling. Then, one more week of class and it will be Goodbye Grenoble Hello Paris! Although its a bit sad to be finishing up for good in Grenoble, I can;t say i'm not eager as ever to begin my travels.

I'll start with 3 nights in Paris with some friends, then head to Germany for just over a week to see the lovely Lena and the rest of the Ostendorps. Then for my final few days, I'll head over to Bretagne where I was 3 years ago, to visit and old friend and revisit some cherished places. Until then, I'll have plenty of work to keep me busy.

Au Revoir!

Monday, July 25, 2011

Opposites.

On Saturday I went on my last CUEF excursion to Marseille and Aix-en-Provence, and all I can say about the two cities is that they are complete opposites. 

Marseille is a huge city (2nd largest in France), with a very high immigrant population. It is a port city on the Mediterranean. My first view upon entering Marseille was a homeless camp underneath an overpass. Their were tents set up and mountains of trash everywhere, not exactly the beauty one expects from France. We hated to say it, but we all felt a little bit like we were visiting a third-world country. We spent half of our time at the beach, which would have been nice had it not been for the "Mistral," what they call the wind that brings in the cold water and kicks little rocks and debris at you while you try to bask in the sun. After a brief stay and picnic at the beach, we headed back to the Vieux Port (old port) part of town, which was busy with tourists and vendors selling just about anything the tourist would buy. We weren't sure what to do with our time, so we split into groups of those who wanted to eat and those who didn't. I picnicked at the beach so I went with the non-eaters, and we decided to check out the old part of town. We got sidetracked my H&M and Starbucks on our way. I bought a skirt and a dress, both for 10 euro, and then we headed off in search of this old neighborhood. We finally found it and it really wasn't all it was chocked up to be. Just old apartments, an old looking church, a museum that we didn't visit, and a LOT of dog poop. The French generally don't clean up their poo, and in Marseille it was particularly bad, you have to watch with every step. We finally left Marseille just after 5:30..well that's when we got on the bus. We then proceeded to drive around the city for over an hour trying to apparently get somewhere else, not sure where. The bus was too big for the narrow streets, we ended up backing into a pole and breaking off a huge piece of the bumper, and then we just gave up and headed out of town.

Beach in Marseille
 Old part of town (complete with the characteristic graffiti of France)
 Le Vieux Port

Now that I've drawn a good picture of Marseille for you, you can be assured that since Aix was the complete opposite, it was an absolutely beautiful, tranquil, and clean city. Aix is much smaller than Marseille, and is a very expensive high class city. The Monoprix (grocery/convenience store) was even glamorous looking. There was a little artisan market going on in the middle of the main street where hats, paintings, and other beautiful things were sold. We ate at a nice restaurant (that had a bathroom-the main reason for our choice.) and the service was excellent and the people friendly. We wandered around town while the sun set for a while and then, very content, boarded the bus for home at around 10pm.

Fancy Monoprix (imagine a Meijer looking like this)
 Pretty little fountain in the middle the main street

We finally arrived in Grenoble at around 2 am. The bus made many stops as to avoid forcing the students to take taxis, which are expensive, and the buses and trans stop before 2am. thankfully, the driver was kind enough to take me right to my bus stop because apparently I don't live in the best area for walking alone at night. So I got home by 2:30, but some others didn't arrive home till 3:30 because they had to use more creative ways of making it home safely. Overall, it was an interesting day filled with contrast and new impressions of France. I can say, one day when I have a lot of money and can return to France, I will make a point to stay a few days in Aix, but I will definitely skip over Marseille!

Thursday, July 21, 2011

adventurous eating.

Clearly the workload in my classes has begun to pile up and I've had less and less time to write. However, today I thought I'd procrastinate and jot down some thoughts before writing my two small essays. The first is that I have become much more adventurous in my eating since arriving in France. I try almost everything-hot, cold things sometimes still give me the creeps to try. I've tried things that I didn't think I could possibly like, for example, cooked red cabbage with ham? It was actually good, not filling enough as the only dish, but tasty. Anyway, here is my promise I've made to myself, don't let me become lazy and break it when I return to the States; I promise to try more things that you cook Nancy! I know sometimes if you think outside of the box and make something new, I am not very welcoming of your efforts, so I promise I will be better about trying things.

Also, I can't let myself forget again how much I love raspberry jam. I realized I liked it 3 years ago when I was in France, and somehow forgot and never really ate it between that time. Now I've rediscovered my long lost love. Speaking of raspberries, there better be plenty left on Grandpa's bushes when I get home!!!

What else do I have to say? Nothing really. Classes are boring this week. Its been cold this week. Finally it didn't rain today, but we had to go to the store and buy more warm clothes yesterday because its so cold in the morning when we leave for class. I bought a pair of loose brown cotton pants and a cardigan with zebras all over it. Its going to be highs of mid seventies for the next 10 days, so says the forecast. everyone is a bit stressed and homesick at this point. One girls dad arrived last night for a visit and to see the Tour de France. We were all pretty jealous. The Tour de France will come through town Saturday, sadly I'll be in Marseille with my program, but I figured, I saw the finish of the Tour on the Champs-Elysees the last time I was in France, and I have never seen Marseille, so it takes priority. hopefully it will be a fun trip!

Okay now maybe, just maybe, I'll get some work done before dinner.
A toute suite!

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Monday: birthday - take two.

Since the first day didn't work out so well, I redid my Birthday today, starting at midnight in France. I arrived home finally and got to see my family and talk to my most wonderful mother, who always makes me feel better. Next I used 4 euro of minutes to call my wonderful boyfriend who had been in a cellular deadzone all day and unable to email me. He somehow missed me telling him I may be out of communication all weekend so he thought something had happened, and was so worried all day. So, misunderstandings were corrected and I slept well having talked to him. I only got 5 hours of sleep, but woke up surprisingly awake. Headed to class with Alexandra (other American here) Today was the halfway point for the program, so we changed our mini course and we also changed our prof for the French class for some reason. Luckily, The prof was great for the French class, and I was pleasantly surprised to find she was also my prof for my new Oral Perfection class. We did a little improv during class, pretending to be trapped in an elevator with another person, and made up identities and had to talk for 2 minutes before the class.

After class, we ate lunch in the park and then went to get money from the atm, poor Chris' card got eaten, but he can go back to get it tomorrow. Then I did some window shopping in a different part of town to kill time before returning to the university at 4pm to get my forgotten bag. I found a great book store, but it was a little confusing. I bought Twilight in French, because I wanted to read an easy fun book that I already knew well in English, to improve my French. I likely won’t start it until my classes are over, it will be a good travel companion. I looked for a cookbook with regional recipes but came up with nothing, so I might drop that souvenir idea, it would be a hassle to translate anyway (since Laura, not me, is the expert at cookbook translation)

When I finally got home after retrieving my bag and nearly falling asleep on the tram and bus, I took a much deserved nap for about an hour and a half. Then I was called to dinner. We had pork chops and a casserole of bok choy? I think. Then they brought out a bottle of champagne and an apricot tart with 20 candles for my birthday! It was delicious; the champagne (not true champagne because of its origin) is from a nearby town (Die-south of Grenoble) and was a sweet variety.

So, although my actual birthday was perhaps a bit stressful and tiring, today made up for it. I have my wonderful hosts to thank for that. Grenoble may not be the most beautiful city in France, or the most exciting, but the people are welcoming, kind, and patient; and for that I am truly thankful.


Alexandra, Mme Cottave, Frieda and I


Sunday: Stressful birthday to me!

Sunday morning we woke up at 7:15 for breakfast and then headed straight to the beach near our hotel. I went in up to me thighs, but didn't want to go any further because I'd showered the night before and didn't want to have to again. The water was very calm because it was protected in a little harbor. The beach was full of local older men and women getting their Sunday morning swim in. It was a very nice visit, and I just laid on my towel and read my book and listened to music. We headed back to the hotel to pack up our stuff and get ready for the day at 9:30. We left the hotel at 10:45 and headed to Saint-Paul, a little medieval village inland. When we boarded the bus we took seats near the front to avoid car-sickness. Then two came on the bus (late) and told Chris and Katie they had to move because they were in their seats. We told them seats aren't assigned and they needed to sit there as to not be carsick. The woman seemed to think it was funny that we thought we had just as much right as her to the seat. We argued for a bit and the woman just sort of laughed at us and proceeded to put her stuff in the overhead compartment. Chris and Katie finally conceded and ended up in the very last row of the bus despite being some of the first people on the bus. Then, throughout the trip to Saint-Paul, the two rude Iraqi woman sitting nearby proceeded to rudely talk about us in Arabic while we sat right there listening. I won't go into it any further as to not make this post too negative, but the bus seat drama continued all day.



Saint-John was a beautiful little walled village. There were tons of boutiques and galleries. It made me want to quit school and be a painter full time, and open a gallery (after seeing the prices on the artwork there, anyone would be tempted). Despite the beauty, we had a bad experience with the French. We stopped for sodas at a cafe and the waiter was extremely impatient and rude, he literally threw our bill at us. Then later, for lunch we tried to eat at a restaurant but were turned away, because they were too "busy". there were 4 other table there, not even half full, and it was 1pm, LUNCH TIME! We were really getting fed up with the French system for eating out. No tipping means bad service, and the relaxed do-what-I-want attitude shown by the owners and employees makes it difficult to get what you want when you want. They can literally just say no to you if they don't feel like serving you. We ended up just stopping at a sandwich stand and I had a chicken panini.


We left Saint-Paul and headed to Cannes for an hour and a half at the beach. A storm was coming in, the wind was ridiculous. The waves looked like tons of fun, but I didn't want to be cold, wet and salty on the bus, so I opted out. I sat and read again. After a while at the beach we stopped ta a crepe stand and had birthday crepes. then at 5:00 we boarded the bus and began the long trip home. We took the route around the mountains, so car-sickness wasn't a problem, it was just a long and tiring trip. When we finally got to Grenoble it was after midnight. I forgot my bag under the bus in the stress of getting off the bus and figuring out how to get home. We took a taxi, which wasn't bad because there were 3 of us to split it. I got home, thought Nathan had forgot about my birthday, and I was just very tired, stressed and lonely, so I cried for a while wishing I was home on my birthday instead if thousands of miles away.

Saturday: We don't care about tours, just beaches!

Maryel turned 21 today!! We left the hotel at 9:30 and arrived at about 10:00 in Nice, of course the weather was perfect so we headed straight to the beach. We played in the waves, laid in the sun, read our books and relaxed all morning. At about 1:00 we left the beach and had some good old american cheeseburgers for lunch. At about 2:30 we were on the bus again and headed to Eze, a little town which is home to the Galimard Parfumerie. We saved opted out of the tour and saved 8 euro, choosing instead to visit the town a bit. There were tons of little shops and I bought a few souvenirs for some of my favorite people! In one little shop, the owner came over to talk to us, he was curious, like so many before him, why Chris was all alone with so many girls. This man called him the chef (leader). We laughed at this joke again and talked to the owner for a few minutes. apparently all of his aunts and uncles live in Michigan now! What a small world.

Beach in Nice

After 45 minutes in Eze we once again got on the bus and headed to Monaco! When we arrived we were all very hot and only wanted to swim again! so we opted out of another boring museum, and set off in search of a beach. After asking several people we realized that the beach was probably too far to walk to, but we could see down at the harbor, from our position at the top of a very big hill/cliff, that there was a place with ladders to get in the water and swim! So we walked down many stairs and eventually made it. We stayed for an hour or so, jumping and diving into the water and swimming with the fishies. It would have been a great place to snorkel!

 Monaco

At about 7pm we headed over to the Monte Carlo, to see the ridiculously lavish lives of those who visit there. We saw plenty of Bently's, Rolls Royce's, Lamborghini's, Ferrari's, etc. We went inside the lobby and looked around for a bit. then, since we had nothing better to do with our time there we sat on a bench and made up a game we called "Rich or Not". We examined each person who passed and decided if they were rich (i.e. "Hes nerdy rich, like software and computers" or "shes definitely a gold digger") or not (like us, just tourists).

Monte Carlo

We finally got back to the hotel, took much needed showers after a day full of salty swimming, and headed out to celebrate Maryel, Olivia and my birthdays. We had food and wine at a little restaurant, when we left there it was just past midnight, so we headed to another little place to have a cocktail we'd heard of called the Monaco. We figured it was a good thing to order since we'd just visited Monaco. Apparently it is made with beer, grenadine and lemonade. At around 1am we returned to the hotel to get some rest for another long day ahead of us.

Friday: Bon Voyage!

Today I had no 8:30 am class, so I had an extra 2 hours to pack for the weekend and sleep in a bit. It was the last day of my Civilization class and the two hours could not have passed slower. Finally we were done, and we had just 45 minutes to wait until our departure for la Cote d'Azur! I ate (and shared) some of the snacks and fruits Mme Cottave packed me, and my PB&J because none of the school cafeterias were open. At 1:30 we left Grenoble and began our long journey south. We took the Alps route on the way down, boy was that traumatic! Several of us became pretty car sick from the curvy mountain roads. 

At about 4pm we stopped in a little city called Sisteron to eat. We asked around at a few places and found it utterly frustrating that cafes in France don;t serve food at all hours. Most places were only serving desserts and drinks at the time. Maryel and I gave up on cafes and walked down to the crepe stand, and bought the chocolate gaufres we'd been craving since the night before. Before leaving, I decided I'd better find a bathroom. We found the public W.C. easily...using it was the difficult part. I wish I'd taken a photo, but this self-cleaning contraption was frightening. You wait until the light turns green to enter, then once you enter you cannot open the door again until you are done. I went in, got confused and opened the door for some Moral support from Maryel. Then all of a sudden, the toilet seat starts to lift its self up, and scary noises started. I ran out of there, knowing the place was self-cleaning, and not wanting to be trapped inside during the disinfecting hurricane. I waited for the light to turn green again, and stepped into what looked like the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. Anyway, I can now say that I would rather pee in a stinky port-a-potty any day rather than experience this mean clean machine.

After 8 long hours of travel (counting 2 long stops) we finally made it to our hotel located in a little town outside of Nice. We had our typical meal of pizza margherita at a cafe, and one of the older waiters and Chris if he was the banquier (banker) because he was having dinner with five ladies. He is constantly the lone male in our group, because out of 16 U of M students, there are only 2 boys. We laughed at the joke and finally we headed to bed preparing for the long day ahead of us.

Thursday: Le Quatorze Juillet- France's National Holiday

Today, I slept in a bit more than usual. After breakfast, I watched the military parade in Paris on the television with Mme Cottave and Stephanie from about 10-11:30. Then I got ready for the day and left to meet friends for lunch. Dowtown was deserted, clearly everyone wanted to enjoy their day off at home. I had salmon on pasta with a creme sauce for lunch, and then May, Chris, Maryel and I set off for Chris' house. We were supposed to go swimming or hottubbing, depending on the weather. It was cold, but when we arrive we learned the the jacuzzi was broken, so we watched Will and Grace episodes on Chris' computer for a while, and then all headed back home for dinner.

After dinner I met several U of M students for the fireworks in the park. We sat in the grass on my beach towel, it was truly a beautiful show. The most interesting thing though, was that the live entertainment consisted of a band whose lead singer sounded Irish, singing old American songs such as Route 66...at the fireworks for the French National Holiday? Peculiar. Afterwards, Maryel and I coined the expression "I could go for a gaufre" which is a waffle. We tried finding somewhere that would be selling them, but nothing was open nearby since we weren't downtown, so we gave up and all headed home early.


Wednesday, July 13, 2011

IT ALL ENDS....2 days earlier in France.


Today was a great day! My 8:30-10:30am French class whizzed bye surprisingly fast, and for my 1:30-12:30 class we visited a museum on the resistance and deportation in the Isere region during WWII. After my morning classes, I went by myself to the school cafeteria, because I didn;t want to spend a lot on lunch. I'd brought a hunk of baguette, my jar of PB and my raspberry jelly, so I made myself a sandwich, and bought a yogurt and an apple for just 0.85 euro, I also brought these mini chocolate Cracotte things that I bought yesterday at the store. They are like the big Cracotte crackers I brought home last time, but small and they have chocolate inside. For those who don't know, a Cracotte cracker is a bit difficult to describe, it is a multigrain cracker that is relatively flavorless until you add butter and jam or Nutella, I'd say the texture is somewhat like a combination of shredded wheat and rice crispies...weird to imagine if you've never had it.
After my makeshift lunch, I waited in our building for the afternoon U of M class and was finally able to check my email using the campus wifi. I hadn't been able to check it since yesterday afternoon because my internet stopped working at home. I had a few emails from a disappointed Nathan because I'd missed our skype date. The U of M class was fun, everyone was in a great mood because...HARRY POTTER CAME OUT TODAY!

Yep, that's what the title of this entry is about; the final part of the Harry Potter series made its debut 2 days earlier here in France (and I believe the rest of Europe?) than in the US. Needless to say I have some jealous friends back home. After class, the whole group of U of M students headed to a theater we knew would be playing it in English, and shelled out 9.60 Euro on the 3D version (the money I saved at lunchtime makes up for it!) It was fantastic,well worth the cost. Its sad though, this is the end of an era for our generation, we grew up with Harry Potter! I decided after the movie, our generation is going to nag our children to no end saying "You have to read them, the Harry Potter series is a classic!" until they finally give in, then they will be like "Wow mom you were right, those books were really awesome!"

That's all for now, I've got to get some work done so that I can fete, fete, fete all day long! (fete=celebrate) Tomorrow is the French National Holiday, and I may not be a French citizen, but I am supposed to be learning about French culture and tradition, so if that means I have to observe their holidays, so be it. ;)

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

things that I miss:

Decided it had been so long since I last blogged that I should do a second today! Although I'm having a blast here, here are the things that I miss:

 Nathan! Why did we think it was a good idea to be 5371 miles apart! We'll cut that down to 1453 once I return to Michigan, thats practically nothing right? Miss you :)
 My kitties! Tori and Oreo, but he isn't as easily photographed. I wish I had them to snuggle with at night!
 My Family! Especially my mom and dad, but everyone else too of course.
PB&J and other typical american foods. Although I could have a taste of America through McDonalds if I wanted, that sounds disgusting. I miss the classics like pb&j and of course my moms cooking (and my own cooking). I was craving this so much last week I splurged on the 3.50 euro tiny jar of PB and made a crunchy peanut butter and raspberry jelly sandwich on baguette. So worth it, I'll be bringing these for lunch some days.

Hm, what else? Air conditioning, but more so just screens on windows, because it isn't awful hot when the window is open at night, but the mosquitoes get in and eat me alive! Cereal for breakfast, yes believe it or not, the bread fiend Melanie Jackson is SICK of eating baguette and butter with jam for breakfast. It only keeps me full for an hour or two and then my tummy grumbles during my 4 hours of class each morning. Cereal always fills me up long enough to wait for lunch. That's all I can think of now, so I guess it could be worse!

sun, snow, swim, shiver...all in a weekend

This weekend was a busy one, so I'm going to let my photos do most of the talking.

Saturday we visited Annecy, which is a little mountain town very close to Geneva, and home to France's purest lake. The city is sometimes called the little Venice of France because of the canal that runs through the entire town. Upon arrival we stopped for a delicious and fancy lunch, we then toured the Palais de l'Ile which was a prison in the middle ages, and finally we went to the lake to relax and swim.


 A very friendly swan
 Veal wrapped around mushrooms, with potatoes, green beans, pea pods and fried polenta squares
Maryel and I with our wine and macarons 
 I finally had a tiny French coffee! 
Which is the equivalent of an espresso shot and requires a lot of sugar.
 Trying to escape my cell in the prison!


 Maryel and I by the lake
 Water slide!

Sunday we took our first CUEF excursion to Chamonix, a mountain town very close to Mt. Blanc, the highest point in Europe (15,744ft or 4,808m). We took the cable car up to Aiguille du Midi, which is 3832 meters up. The cost of the cable car was a little ridiculous (35 euro) but well worth it. Unfortunately it was cloudy sunday, so our view could have been better, but I can't complain! After coming down we explored the quaint little touristy town for a few hours, and then headed back to Grenoble, exhausted.

 Our cable car
 Halfway there, waiting for car #2
 Ahhh!! Cold, scary, windy!
 Proof
 In a cloud




 Not sure if its readable, but the sign under the window says "Chez Melanie" which means "Melanie's place/house"
 Aww, family photo ;)

So, hopefully these pictures describe my weekend better than any words could! They were very different, but equally wonderful trips, though if I could go again, I would choose Annecy, it was incredibly beautiful and relaxing. This week should be a fun one, since the 14th is the French National Holiday and we will ahve school off. Then Friday afternoon we leave for Cote d'Azur, so I'll be very busy today and tomorrow trying to get a head start on my homework!

Thursday, July 7, 2011

hugless in the country of petit bisous!

Something that I realized yesterday, when I was feeling a bit lonely, is that I haven't had a hug in nearly 2 weeks! Its very depressing, because I am used to getting lots of hugs! Here in France, where the greeting of choice is a kiss on each cheek, you'd think I wouldn't be longing for physical contact. When I mentioned this to my friends today, Maryel sweetly put her arm around me and said "Aww, Melanie do you need a hug!?" I have great friends here, who are very caring, but I sure do miss my family and friends back home.

So if you read this, obviously you care about me to some extent, send me your cyber hugs, I certainly welcome them!

(p.s: a "petit bisou" is a little kiss)

seatless toilets and other frustrations

The last few days have been tiring and a bit stressful. Not that I'm not still having a blast, but, being in class 4-5.5 hours a day isn't the greatest the most fun thing in the world. Adapting to the change in schedule, and the 8:30 am start, has been difficult. yesterday mt alarm didn't go off, and I got up less than 10 minutes before I had to leave, I made it though, in perfect time to catch my bus! My classes are fine, just long, each of the CUEF classes are 2 hours, and my Monday/Wednesday class with Patrick is 1.5 hours.

The other stressful thing, was the sign-up for CUEF excursions. There was a misunderstanding as to which excusrions were covered in our program fee. anyway, we ended up having to pay for the 200 Euro for Cote d'Azur, but the rest of the excursions we chose were covered. So the plans for the next few weekends are more concrete now. This weekend we will visit Annecy on Saturday, with the U of M group. Then Sunday we will visit Chamonix, for a view of Mont Blanc. The following weekend, we will visit Cote d'Azur with the CUEF excursion. We will depart early Friday afternoon and return Sunday evening. We'll be staying in a hotel by the beach, and i believe we will visit Cannes, Monaco...and who knows what else. The best part is that Maryel's birthday will be that Saturday (the 16th) and mine and Olivia's will be Sunday (the 17th)! So we are hoping to have a fete and celebrate Saturday night, on the beach or elsewhere. I'm very excited; what better way to spend my birthday!? The next weekend, we are going to miss the Tour de France coming through, because we will be in Marseille, but I think that will be worth it, and I saw the end of the Tour the last time I was in France. Also, a week from today is the French national holiday, Bastille Day, so we will not have class, and will be able to participate in the celebration. I believe there will be fireworks that night! So there is a lot to look forward to in the coming weeks, so hopefully the fun weekends will get me through the boring weekdays spent in classrooms!

Lastly, I'd like to share a photo of the public restrooms here. Most don't have toilet seats, and some are just holes in the ground that can be flushed...it is awkward, but I figured anything this awkward should be shared! :)

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

new classes!

This week we started our CUEF classes, which is the French university for foreign students. Yesterday we took a placement exam and chose our "cours a option" (2 courses of our choice, 2 weeks each, 1 credit each). I chose the civilization course and the oral perfection course because the first is more about contemporary France, and sounded like less reading, and the second sounded like a fun way to improve my speaking skills, which is what is most important to me. I'm not a French major, so French literature courses and writing courses aren't really useful, I mostly want to know how to speak French well, and to understand the country better.

Today was out first day of class. I placed into the B1+ class, which means I am about intermediate. We had this class from 8:30-10:30, and it is basically just a typical language class. I like the professor, and I have quite a few friends from U of M in this class. From 10:30-12:20 each day we have our course a option. I'm in the civilization class now, and in two weeks it will switch to the oral speaking class. When I got to my civilization class this morning our professor told us we were going to leave and take a tour of Grenoble! So that was great, instead of sitting in a classroom for 2 hours, we got to walk around the city seeing beautiful sites, and hearing about the history of the city!

Dinner has been much livelier these past two nights because there are 3 french students staying with us now. they know Madame Cottave well it seems, I take it they have stayed here before, so they tease her and joke around a lot. Anyway, it is time for me to do the rest of my reading for tomorrow.

A toute suite!

Monday, July 4, 2011

le week-end!

This weekend was busy, and they are just going to get busier. I had no time to write until now, so here goes: Friday through Sunday, I'll try not to ramble.

Friday: A night on the town turned a night at our usual cafe.
Several of us wanted to explore the nightlife of downtown Grenoble and visit a few bars. However, with a combination of the winding streets of Grenoble, the unfamiliar appearance of everything at night, and the fact that it is really difficult to distinguish a bar from a cafe or restaurant made that nearly impossible. We stumbled upon one bar, saw that cocktails were 9-11 euros each, and opted for wine, which is like a substitute for water here. We split a huge bottle of Rose between the 7 of us and only had to pay 3.60 euro for the equivalent of about 2 1/2 glasses each. Leaving that bar wasn't a brilliant choice, because we wandered around town trying to remember which windy street the London Pub was on, until we finally gave up and went to our cafe, nicknamed "the mist" for the misty fans they use on hot days. By this time we had only 45 minutes until we had to leave in order to take the bus home, which stops at midnight. So we ordered crepes and gaufres and had a lovely midnight snack!

Mon crepe beurre sucre (butter sugar)
 Maryel's Nutella gaufre (waffle)

As a newbie with the Noctibus system, I of course missed my stop...and then the next stop, and finally got off in a deserted, sort of scary area and decided to run and speed walk home with my finger ready to dial 17 (like 911) at any moment. Won't let that happen again!

Saturday: Relaxation, forced procrastination and interesting experiences.
I slept in until 10am, woke up, had my bread and an apple for breakfast and went back to my room determined to be productive. I signed onto Ctools (U of M's course website) and realized the site was down, it said it would only be until 5:20 am (11:20 here) So I waited and cleaned my room. Then at 5:20, when it still wasn't working I read that sometimes they have to do maintenance until 7 am, so I waited and found other things to occupy me. By then it was time for lunch, I met Maryel at "the mist" and we shared a pizza (again, I know, not creative, but it is so good!) She offered to email the reading to me if it was still down. It was, so by the time I got the email it was nearly 4pm and I was tired and not feeling at all like reading. So I just read a few pages. Dinner was at 7, afterward I met a few friends at the internet cafe and printed some of my readings so I wouldn't have to read them on my computer. Then we all went together to a huge park for "Silence, On Danse!" Which is a silent outdoor discotheque (nightclub). We rented headphones, our drivers licenses as collateral, and listened as the DJ's played a variety of dance songs to hundreds of people, in silence! Of course the French like old American songs too much to not sing along, so it wasn't completely silent. It was a very interesting experience though, and I am glad I went.

Freedom-George Michael

Me, Suzanne, May and Maryel
 The stage with the DJs

Sunday: A day in a Medieval Village
We spend Sunday in St. Antoine-l'Abbaye, a tiny medieval village near Grenoble. The architecture was very beautiful, and I will have many photos to show upon my return, but here, I really want to display our amazing lunch, and maybe one photo of the Abbey.

Our yummy salad with strange little hollow ravioli things on top
 
Pork in a sauce,
Gratin Dauphinois (regional specialty-Au Gratin potatoes),
Tomates a la Provencale (tomatoes cooked with breadcrumbs on top) 
Delicious cherry tarte in vanilla creme sauce
L'Abbaye!

It was a wonderful weekend, spent in the most wonderful places, with the most wonderful people.