Bastille

Today we only had class in the morning, so the rest of the day was perfect for exploring the town a little bit more. I went with some friends to a little cafe to have some amazing pizza and salad. A large percentage of Grenoble is actually Italian, so I was told that I had to try pizza at least once. After today's experience, it will definitely not be a one time thing. The thing was absolutely incredible. We then hung out in one of the parks for a little bit, met up with some more people, and then decided that we wanted to go up to the Bastille, which is the fort overlooking Grenoble on one of the hills. Since today was so hot, we decided to ride the balls (pause for immature giggling...yes that's actually what they call them) to the main fort and walk up another hill/mountain to another section of it. I was of course sweating uncontrollably, but the view was spectacular. With gorgeous mountains all around and a quaint town below, we could have stayed up there forever. No words or pictures could ever do this place justice. After the climb down, we stopped at a little place for some gelato that was, like everything else here, unbelievable. No joke, it actually tasted like I was eating a mango, just in a creamy/frozen form. All in all, I have to say this was my kind of day.

Gilbert!

So I finally figured out the little man's name today (I was getting worried there for a second). It's Gilbert...which only adds to his adorableness! Apparently Gilbert has a house in the countryside (about 30 minutes from town) that he has been restoring for the past 5 years. He told me how old it is, but unfortunately if the number is above about 30, I have no idea what it is when spoken quickly. Regardless of my inability to comprehend dates, it is easy to tell that this thing has been around for a VERY long time. We left around 10 in the morning after breakfast and met Janine's daughter Crystal and her husband Emanuel and their kids Oscar and Elliot for a picnic in the yard. It was quite lovely. Too bad I can't understand anyone. Everyone is extremely nice and tries to make conversation, but it quickly crashes and burns when they say something with great enthusiasm and I just stare back blankly with absolutely no comprehension. Feeling like a complete idiot for the next month is going to be quite the experience. Even something as eating cheese was difficult. Shouldn't be that hard right? Well apparently there are certain ways to eat certain cheeses and usually I just watch to see what everyone else is doing, but when they hand me the platter first, this strategy seriously fails. I don't even know how to say "I don't know what to do". So again, more blank staring. Awesome. I just hope these lovely people don't get too frustrated with me. I actually start class tomorrow morning, so I'm sure having some kind of direction will be helpful instead of me just pulling three year old words out of my cloudy memory.

My temporary home

Grenoble :)

I have now arrived in Grenoble and am currently sitting in my adorable bedroom in an apartment in the very center of town. This morning we went to the Musee Rodin because it was the only one with workers not on strike, and it was absolutely amazing. I thought the only statue I was really going to be interested in would be the thinker, but the entire collection was incredible. The fact that I wasn't swimming through people like at the louvre also helped. After we finished the museum, we took the metro back to the hotel, grabbed some lunch for the train at the open air market, and then got our things ready for the trip to Grenoble.
The ride was about 3 hours from Paris, which wasn't bad at all, especially since all of us are exhausted from walking so much in the past few days. The extended sitting time was definitely welcomed. I considered sleeping to shake off the last of my jet lag, but the countryside was too beautiful to pass up. Town after town of orange roofed houses and quaint churches peppered the green and gold hills, accented of course with little herds of sheep. Needless to say, it was quite lovely. The last 15 minutes or so of the trip I started to get a bit nervous about meeting my host mom, but as soon as I saw her, I wasn't scared at all. She is the most adorable little woman and is so nice and welcoming. She has a little man friend whose name i missed in the fast paced greeting at the station, and he is beyond adorable as well. I'm not sure if he lives here or not, but he told me that he has a house in the country that we may have a picnic at on sunday. At least I'm pretty sure that's what he said. Neither of them speak any english of course, so my brain was fried within the first 5 minutes. If this doesn't expedite my french learning, then nothing will.
After I unpacked, Janine took me around the town a little bit to show me where the tram station is and where the main square and park are. Hopefully I remember. My sense of direction has not exactly improved with the jet lag. Both Janine and her little man are making dinner and told me that they like to eat lots of vegetables because there is a large market every morning in the square with all kinds of produce. This place already sounds too good to be true and I've only been here a couple of hours. Tomorrow we take our placement tests and then have a walking tour of the town so hopefully I'll have a better lay of the land by that point. I will also try to get some pictures along the way.

Bonjour from Paris!

So my European has officially begun and I arrived in Paris, France Monday morning. This update is going to have to be relatively short because I only payed for a little bit of internet time, but I promise pictures will happen as soon as the connection is free. We have already spent two very full days in the city complete with a climbing of the eiffel tower, a visit to versailles, and a boat ride on the seine. Tomorrow we are going to visit notre dame as well as the louvre. The weather hasn't been the best, so I hope it warms up a bit since I decided to ditch the long pants hours before I left. That's all for now and I'll try to be more detailed when time is on my side.