Well I hope you are enjoying my blogs so far! They are a blast to write and such a good way to look back and remember everything I’m experiencing while abroad, as well as humorous. This weekend was my first weekend in Grenoble and the weather could not be better…blue skies, sunny and not a cloud in sight! Yesterday, my roommate and I explored the town, took A LOT of pictures and really tried to familiarize ourselves with Grenoble. I am still a bit shaky, but I feel a lot more confident in finding my way around town than I did when I first arrived. My mom and I have also been here to Grenoble about 2 years ago too, which helps because there are a lot of landmarks that I remember and am familiar with compared to someone who has never been here at all until they study abroad.

Saturday: I did come across an awesome hang out spot yesterday called ‘The Bookworm Café’, and just as its name implies, it is part bookstore, part coffee shop. Tucked back in a little alley just across the river from downtown Grenoble, it is in an old building that has recently been remodeled... new wood floors, modern lighting - very peaceful atmosphere. It is owned by an adorable French/American couple, so the music and all of the books are actually in English, but the menu, service, and conversation are all in French. Anyway, their hot chocolate is to die for, and I love the fact that I have only been there once and already feel so at home!

Another very unique fact I learned this weekend about Grenoble is that the water here is so pure you can drink right from your own sink and not have to worry about the quality of the water or what chemicals may have been added, it’s 100% pure because all the water supplied to Grenoble comes from the mountains surrounding the city. It’s so pure, I think of it as drinking water from a melted glacier. It is very refreshing and makes it easy to access that I don’t even have to worry about buying water bottles from the store!

Sunday: Today was my 1st grand adventure and the most exciting yet! My 2 roommates and another CEA student took a road trip to Saint Hilaire du Touvet- which is about 25km outside of Grenoble and about a 45 minute to an hour bus ride- to see the ‘Coupe Icare Blanche’. Basically it takes place on the mountain where people (crazy people I might add) on skis with a parachute attached to their back who first ski down the mountain and launch off either a cliff (or ski jump) and then parasail. Oh and did I mention they are all in costume? It was such a spectacle to see! But that is just the beginning…let’s rewind and bring it back to this morning on our way to the gare (bus station) and start with how we almost missed the only bus going out of Grenoble to this town.

So Sunday morning we were actually on time and so proud of ourselves for that too! We made it to the tram station and should have only waited 5 minutes…but the tram was 20 minutes late! Due to this minor delay we made it to the gare at 9h35 for a bus that left at 9h40 and we still had to stand in line and buy our ticket (because you cannot buy a bus ticket in advance..kinda lame, but that’s France) when there was at least 4 other people in front of us. So Aaron and I decided to rush over to the bus to ask the bus driver if he could wait for one minute because our friends were buying our tickets right now, but all he kept repeating to me, with a very stuck up French attitude, was that in one minute the bus was leaving whether my friends were on it or not…rude I know! But the Lord was watching over us because out of the corner of my eye here comes Lexie and Kelly running from the ticket counter to the bus and we made it with 30 seconds to spare!

The drive up to the mountains today was absolutely breathtaking! Again, today was another clear blue skies and sunshiny weather, perfect to see the spectacular views of the Alps! As we were making our way up the mountain, climbing in elevation, I looked down in the valley and could see town after town of French villages and words cannot describe how thankful I was to be able to experience this! However, then we got to the tunnels and I started to worry because once the bus pulled into the first tunnel, the road now became a one way street lol. Our bus driver was honking every few seconds letting cars driving the opposite direction know to stay out of the tunnel until this bad boy made it out. I was so glad to see cars waiting on the other side of the tunnel for our bus and no accidents, yay. Then came the second tunnel. From the entrance to the exit of this tunnel, there were icicles everywhere, on the sides as well as the ceiling. Well as you can imagine, our bus was very large and tall and from the moment we entered that tunnel you could hear the icicles breaking apart and scraping the roof of the bus. It reminded me of nails on a chalkboard and gave me the goose bumps. But that’s not all…our bus was now stuck inside the tunnel due to the icicles as well as icy roads and on top of that, a car didn’t hear the honking and we almost witnessed an accident! After the car came screeching to a stop, they still didn’t understand that they needed to backup so instead they pulled to the side of the tunnel thinking the bus could make its way through. Besides the fact that we were stuck, there was NO way this bus could squeeze past the car. After 5 minutes of our bus and this car flashing their lights at each other, the car reversed, we were unstuck and off we went…whew, thank goodness!

We finally made it to St Hilaire du Touvet and boy were the views to die for! Everywhere you looked the ground was covered in pure white snow that sparkled like crystals when the sun hit the ground just right. We got dropped off right in front of this old historic church next to the gondola. We had no idea where we needed to go, but decided to go explore the church grounds and see what we could find. We did stumble across a man who was getting ready to “fly” off the cliff and begin parasailing down to the base of the valley so we did a little cross country hiking action through the snow to watch this guy parasail.


But we were determined to see the crazy costumes and parasailing down the mountains, so we decided to hike back up to the main road and figure out where we needed to be. We first trekked up another little hill which led us to a cross country skiing/ snowshoeing path, but no coupe icare. After about an hour of searching (I mean how could we miss it? This town was so small I could see everything from where the bus stop was, but obviously we were having some troubles), we finally heard a voice over a loudspeaker and voila! we found it-it was being held at the Saint Hilaire du Touvet ski resort. And let me just say that I did not have on the proper attire for a day in the snow, especially during our hiking excursion lol My pants up to about my knees were covered in powered snow and my boots were losing insulation quickly (but at least I was wearing boots). I think I need to invest in a pair of hiking boots..

I was hoping we didn’t miss the festivities though when we arrived to the ski slopes because everything was supposed to start at 10h (now probably about noon), but the event I wanted to see didn’t start until 14h..perfect! We decided to grab a bite to eat at the only restaurant on the mountain and hopefully warm up. To our surprise the restaurant only allowed people who were ordering off of their expensive menu to sit inside, so we were kicked to the outside! Luckily, the sun was out and felt so good.. The heat from the sun made such a difference in my body temp it wasn’t even funny- thank you sun! We enjoyed our cheap lunch outside on the patio, while watching the skiers come flying down the mountain as well as some of the parasailers getting into their costumes and getting ready to wow the crowd with their uniqueness. Finally, it was 2 o’clock and we started hiking up one of the ski slopes to see the event, which I thought was pretty cool because I’ve never actually done that without skis. There was a small crowd at the end of the track but I pushed my way up to the very front so I could see everything without someone blocking my view.



The coupe icare lasted for about 30 minutes or so and every few minutes there was parasailer after parasailer coming down the mountain in extreme costumes!! There was a group of people who actually made bikes that hung from their shoulders pretending to be bikers from the Tour de France. There was also another group of skiers who were dressed as the Pirates of the Carribean as well as doctors. There were people with garabage sewn onto a one piece ski suit with balloons hanging from their backs to guys wearing a cape made solely from beer boxes. I’m so glad I got to experience this unique show and it is something that I will not forget!!

Monday: Today was my placement exam for the CUEF! I had to be at school at 8h30 and let me tell you it was hard waking up; my adventure in the mountains yesterday wore me out! The test was comprised of an orale conversation with one of the professors and a written and listening section. I placed into A2.6. The levels range from A1-C1, with C1 being completely fluent and the highest anyone placed in my program was level B1.5. I am a little upset about the level I placed into because that is considered advanced beginner and I know I am at least an intermediate level French speaker (which is the B1 level). I do not know what happened, I’m thinking it was my orale exam because I messed up a few times because I was nervous, but I am going to find out tomorrow when I go to class. This is not okay!

Anyways, after my exam, I went to the CEA office to meet Patrick, and he had great news for me- definitely cheered me up. He found a gluten free store here in Grenoble!! We weren’t sure if it was going to be open today because businesses in France are normally closed on Sundays and Mondays, but this store, called Ginseng, opened at 15h, yay I couldn’t wait to see what they had! The store is located right in the heart of Grenoble off of the main Place de Victor Hugo. We got there right as it was opening and boy do they have a lot of gluten free products- I was in heaven! They had cereals, freshly baked breads, cakes, muffins, cupcakes, crackers, cookies, different types of flour, baking ingredients, chocolate, etc, etc. I had to control myself in what to buy! Oh and they also had lactose free milk. I decided to try a loaf of bread, frosted flakes, some rice crackers and chocolate chip cookies. I’ve only had the bread so far, but mmmmm it was so good, even better when I put on nutella and toasted it!


I can’t wait to start school tomorrow so check back for more updates of my first week of class soon!

A bientot,

Stephanie