Well, I never thought the time would fly by this quickly for me to be saying this is one of my last blogs before making the journey back across the pond, but it is! This weekend was my last weekend in Grenoble, and even though time felt like it was standing still, looking back, it really wasn’t.



First of all, let’s start with the scavenger hunt my class did about Grenoble. It was the perfect way to start the weekend! In French, it is called a ‘Rallye’. We were broken up into teams and were given a pamphlet with 26 questions about Grenoble. The object was to try to get as many correct responses as possible; it didn’t matter how long it took you as long as you made it back in the allotted time, which 4 hours for what was a 2-hour event was more than enough time! This may sound easy right now, but this scavenger hunt was not only asking you questions about certain buildings and histories of the city, but it was written like a treasure map with clues. So there would be anywhere from 2-6 clues about the certain place in Grenoble and it was our job to figure out where it was, go there, and then once there, find the answer to the question. And of course the questions were very general and vague so you actually had to think about where the places were…and it turned out to be very entertaining and fun. I felt just like Nicholas Cage (well somewhat) in National Treasure hah


Starting out, my team consisted of 2 other guys from my class…1 who is NEVER there (ever) and another who is clueless about the world and will only speak English to me (don’t worry, I speak French back to him). Seeing this, I thought to myself…”Great, we are screwed.” Not only that, but I forgot my cell phone at the apartment. Why did I want my cell phone you ask? Well, some may think of this as bending the rules, but I think of it as an advantage…I was going to use it, in case we were stuck on a question to call my program director and ask for help. And I will have you know that that was his idea…so I was just going along with it, but in the end we really did not need his help at all. Turns out that the guy who is never in class, has lived in Grenoble for over a year and knows basically everything about Grenoble…and let me just say that our team ROCKED IT! We even ended up getting first place! Go us!



The next few days were very hard for me because everyone from my program was getting ready to leave. Lexie (my roommate) was the hardest goodbye just because we connected on so many levels and I will truly miss her, but we will for sure keep in touch and who knows; maybe even make some road trips to visit each other. It felt so weird seeing everyone pack up their room and say our last goodbyes, but doing all this made it that much closer for me to seeing Patrick and coming back home! I , too, have officially started packing and, cross your fingers, but I think I will be able to get everything in my 2 suitcases without being overweight (don’t ask me how, I have no idea!)…yay me!

Besides packing, I spent my last weekend in Grenoble taking in the sites and enjoying the beautiful summer weather. One of my favorite places to go in Grenoble is Victor Hugo Square, which is where I spent my Saturday afternoon. There are many plush trees surrounding the entire square with a fountain of Hector Berlioz in the middle with birds chirping and people strolling through…it really is a great place to relax, people watch and also enjoy a magnificent view of the Alps. This weekend I also made it out to Chateau Sassenage and Chateau Vizille. They are both within an hour of Grenoble and equally as stunning, although I must say that I preferred Vizille. Vizille Chateau is famous for its gardens and let me tell you walking around them was very peaceful, relaxing and enjoyable. Minus the scorching heat ( I am so not used to humidity lol), it was a great experience! Check it out:


As this week is coming to an end, I definitely admit I will miss Grenoble and all it has to offer, but I am equally excited to see my boyfriend after 4 months as well as the comfort of being home! I cannot wait for Saturday when I pick Patrick up from the airport and we start our first ever European adventure together!! We are headed to Bordeaux, Mont St. Michel, the beaches of Normandy and Paris…Get excited for us...it is going to be an adventure of a lifetime!

A Bientot,

Steph

P.S.-We also had a thunderstorm over the Alps this weekend and I was able to see a beautiful double rainbow!

As the semester is starting to come to a close, my CEA group and I went on our last excursion together this past weekend. And not a shabby one at that because we spent it in “The City of Love”, aka Paris! And how was it you ask? Absolutely amazing! For this being my third time here, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but Paris has a way of capturing you in the moment and made me fall in love with the city all over again!


Of course we saw the Eiffel Tower (and we actually saw a guy proposing to his girlfriend here!! It was the most romantic thing I’ve seen in awhile)

Notre Dame

The Louvre

L’Arc de Triomphe

 and the Champs Elysées


But we also got to explore a different aspect of the city that I had never experienced before. The first not so touristy thing we did was visit the famous cemetery, Père Lachaise. This cemetery is massive, I’m talking many, many acres, but the cool part about being on the grounds is who’s buried here. Some of the most famous and well known are Jim Morrison, Oscar Wilde, Fontaine, Molière and Delacroix. And our group found all of their graves. Oscar Wilde’s grave was the most unique, in my opinion, because of all of the “lipstick” kisses on it. I guess it has become a tradition that when you are at his grave, you give him a kiss. I did not do this, 1. because I did not have lipstick, and 2. because, do you know how much bacteria is on that grave? Gross! I did, however, blow him a kiss, which I think is the next best thing.

We also explored Chinatown, which I actually never knew Paris had. We ate at a wonderful Chinese restaurant and got to explore Chinese grocery stores and shopping. There was even a McDonald’s with Chinese characters instead of English. The Jewish quarters were also something I enjoyed exploring. We ate at one of the best falafel houses in that area and experienced the wonders of Jewish bakeries (well I didn’t, but just the smell of those bakeries was to die for!).


Le Grand Palais was another one of my favorites. The building itself speaks wonders!

I could have walked around the entire perimeter and been satisfied, but we did go in to see the art of William Turner, and the first thing that came to my mind when hearing his name was Orlando Bloom’s character in Pirates of the Caribbean hah, but it turns out that he was an impressionist painter.
His art didn’t “wow” me, but it was still very well done and somewhat interesting to look at. We didn’t spend a lot of time here because everyone in my group pretty much felt the same way about his paintings as I did, so after the Palais, we walked up the Champs Elysées towards L’Arc de Triomphe. Our walk was very peaceful and it was fun just observing my surroundings and taking it all in. The weather for us was perfect as well! It was supposed to rain all weekend (which would have been miserable), but the sun kept shining, which made for a wonderful trip!




Some other places we visited:
Le Pompidou

I definitely could have spent a few more days in Paris- there is so much to do and see, but now I am fully prepared and ready for when I do return with Patrick in a few weeks! Look out Paris, I’m coming back!
And with only 2 more weeks of school, I am slowly preparing for my trip back to the States and getting more and more excited and anxious. Patrick comes in 17 days and our big Europe adventure will begin! We are hitting up Bordeaux, the Normandy coast, Mont St. Michel, Paris, Lyon and of course Grenoble. It is going to amazing! Check back soon for more updates. Can’t wait!

Au Revoir,
Steph

"Let's go to Switzerland for the day! Sure...okay, it's only a 2 hour bus/train ride! Let's do it!" And that is exactly what we did this past Saturday… And despite the 6:20am departure from the gare, it was wonderful!

Our first stop was the United Nations Headquarters of Europe in Geneva, Switzerland. The first thing that caught my eye you ask? Well that’s easy…this giant wooden chair, called ‘The Broken Chair’, in the middle of the Place des Nations. This 39-foot chair surprisingly is not a 4-legged chair, but 3 and a quarter legs. The fourth leg is broken off leaving shards of jagged wood, yet still remains standing without tipping over. It is such a unique public statement that you can’t help but wonder what the importance, the significance of this chair is. The answer: it’s a symbol of the fight against anti-personnel land mines. It is quite the sight to see in person let me tell you!


On our way to the main entrance of the UN, Lexie, Karlee and I ran across a patch of daffodils and had to stop and take some pictures…we are such girls!


Besides the UN, do you know what else originated in this city? The Red Cross! Right across the street from the UN actually, they have the International Red Cross Museum. We did not get to tour there, but it definitely is on my list of things to do if I ever go back.

It was finally time for our tour of the UN. Our tour was actually in English because the French tour wasn’t until the mid-afternoon, but to be honest, I am glad it was in English because I learned so many new facts about the UN that I found fascinating! (Don’t worry, I will not bore you with all the details). For starters though, can you name the 6 official languages of the UN? And even more interesting, what are the top 2 languages used? I always thought that out of the 192 countries that are part of the UN, that they each had their own translator to translate speeches, etc. into their countries language, but that is not true! The translator will only translate whatever is being spoken into one of the official languages, which are: English, French, Spanish, Chinese, Russian and Arabic (English and French being the top two- yeah French!) So whoever the countries representative is must know one of these languages.


The tour lasted about an hour or so where we were able to see a UN conference room, the General Assembly room, the Peace room and the Salle des Droites de l'Homme et de l'Alliance des Civilisations as well as the gardens (well from the window- they don’t allow tourists to go outside because the property is so large and it would create security risks).


My favorite room was the human rights conference room. This room was by the far the most unique of them all, with the speckled ceiling of colors and the meaning behind this piece of art is also quite intriguing. At first this ceiling was very controversial because it was so bright and colorful and not what people wanted. But as the artist explained the reason behind his masterpiece, it started to grow on everyone. There are so many colors and different shapes and objects because when people think and even discuss human rights, we all have our own opinion and views- we see issues from many different angles. This assembly must come together and think what the best option is for the country, but they have to remember that everyone has different opinions and they do not know what the other person is thinking or feeling on a topic. The colors and shapes represent this because from one angle you see one color, but from another angle, there are different colors and shapes but unless a person sees the ceiling from those different angles, they have no idea it’s there. Something to think about for sure…

After our wonderful tour, we headed to the town for some lunch right on Lake Geneva, with a fabulous view of the jet d’eau (water jet in English). This originally was made to relieve water pressure from old pipes in the old town, but now, it not only does that, but it also was made into a tourist attraction.


We also walked through the jardin anglais where we came across the flower watch (so clever!) and a beautiful gazebo.


Then up to St. Peter’s Cathedral, which overlooks the entire city! And after, we walked through a market (not that exciting), but before we headed to the train station, the trip would have not been complete without buying some Swiss chocolate (Toblerone to be exact)! And that my friends, completed my trip!

P.S.- anyone wondering what the significance of my album title “Smoke on the Water” is? Well, when Deep Purple was at the Montreux (a city also on Lake Geneva opposite Geneva) Music Festival, there was actually a fire in Geneva and they could see the smoke on the lake, so the band decided to sing about it and what do you know? “Smoke on the Water” became a hit!* This fun fact was contributed by my lovely mother, who knows everything and anything about music! Love her!

P.P.S- Nothing related to Geneva, but today I was running around the track by my apartment and because none of my roommates were home I took a small sack with water and my house keys. The track was dead with a few people rollerblading, but that was it. No one was sitting at the benches in the middle of the track, so I put my bag underneath the bench and started my run. I noticed this guy sitting on the bleachers taking a break from rollerblading who kept looking at me, but I just thought that he was doing so because my face was really red or I was wearing a shirt with English on it, I don’t know. As I am coming around for my 12th lap and final one I might add, I see him making his way to the benches. I kept an eye out for what he was doing because my bag was there and as I was rounding the corner of the track I look back and I see him picking my bag up and opening it!!! I turned around and raced over there yelling at him (in French) “What the h*** are you doing?! That is my bag!” And he responded, “Oh this is your bag? I was looking to see whose it was.” HAH Yeah right! He saw me putting my bag down and I knew he was planning on steeling it if I wouldn’t have seen him. I snatched my bag out of his hand as aggressively as I could and shower him who’s boss! And not only that, but I was shocked because this guy was like 50! But because of this, now I will have to find another way to transport my keys when running because I am not going to leave my bag alone again!

And get excited!! Paris with CEA next weekend and Vizille chateau this weekend! Only 4 more weeks until Patrick comes to visit too!

Until next time,

Steph