Here

I’m finally in Grenoble. It took a long time to get here, but the journey was pleasant, and I’m loving my home now.

The airplane over here was not bad at all. I sat next to another university student from Monterrey, Mexico, and we talked almost the whole plane ride (in French, English, and Spanish). Miguel came to France to go backpacking with his brother. He told me that his parents told him he was going four days before, so he just grabbed his school backpack and came over. I wish I could prepare that fast!

From the Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, I took the TGV to Lyon, then from there to Grenoble. My ride on the TGV was probably one of the best experiences I’ve had. The TGV itself is really cool. It goes fast. Really fast, hence grand vitesse. However, you can still see all the countryside out the window and have a bit of time to admire it. 

The view from the TGV is really spectacular. I saw a ton of big rolling hills with little villages spread throughout and a lot of farms with cows, horses, and sheep just outside chilling in the sun. Cluny was one of my favorite places we passed. It’s pretty much what you’d picture when you think of a fairytale village. As I got closer to Grenoble, the landscape become more mountainous, and the cities got a bit more industrial. 

I met my host mom, Sylvène, when I got off the TGV, and she is even more fantastic than I thought she would be. She’s so welcoming, and she’s very relaxed and just a happy person in general. She drove me through town and pointed everything out for me so I could get my bearings, showing me some really great restaurants near her apartment and some of the paths that I can take to get to the campus. After spending a little bit of time unpacking my room, she took me to meet her sister and brother-in-law who were equally as nice. We sat on their patio with some really good beer and talked for a while. Then Sylvène’s sister drove us home after showing me the campus where I’ll be studying. It’s a really neat campus; the architecture is pretty modern, and the buildings are spread out. However, Sylvène told me that it’s one of the only campuses in France that’s laid out like that; most universities will have their buildings scattered throughout the city. Much later, we had dinner with lots of bread and cheese, then fruit for dessert while watching Grey’s Anatomy in French. 

Random observations: 

When I was at the airport and couldn’t understand all the directions perfectly in French, people would automatically speak to me in Spanish, not English. I’m glad I can manage all three! Actually, most people I’ve met here so far don’t speak English at all.

People that brought rolling suitcases struggled to get them on the train. I was really glad I brought a backpack instead. A lot of people have them here, too, so I didn’t look strange or anything.

The public transportation system here is amazing and very green; it runs just on electricity. Some people do have their own cars, but I haven’t seen SUVs.

There’s a really cool supermarket in Grenoble called Casino, and you can find everything there. They have a bunch of little stores inside the shop, like pharmacies, clothes stores, etc. The carts that they use to go shopping have to be paid for before you use them. You put a coin in a slot on the cart in order to unchain the cart from the others, and in order to get your coin back, you need to re-chain your cart. This prevents people from leaving the carts out, hitting cars. Why don’t we do this in the US?? Also, everyone brings their own shopping bags. Otherwise you’d have to pay for them at the store.

The weather here is amazing so far. It’s not too humid, not too hot. The temperature is the kind that would let you choose between shorts and a t-shirt or jeans and a long-sleeved shirt and still feel comfortable. 

The mountains surrounding the city are beautiful, and they still have snow on them. There are some cute little towns on the mountains, too. 

I love this place so far!