Leaving Grenoble

It is going to snow a lot, so I bought some really warm boots.

Géant Casino's holiday sale.

Last day in Grenoble, Germany tomorrow.

Almost all of the european students have gone home by now. I have been doing laundry and researching things to see in Germany for the past two days.

From the laundromat.

Road leading out of campus.

Same road but looking other direction.

Part of the residence.

Campus main-street, big groccery store ahead "Géant Casino".

Monaco

We went to Monaco for the day.  Drove there in the morning, and drove back at night.  The landscape is very barren and rocky.  Monaco is also built on the side of cliffs and large hills, so nothing is flat and the city/country has had to expand upward.

I was not that impressed by Monaco.  It is hilly, small and crowded; not a city for the claustrophobic. If you have a few million lying around, go to Saint-Tropez, you will be much happier.


Agrandir le plan

Voyage à Nice

Well... I went to Nice in October, but I have neglected to finish explaining my Fall break.

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Once again I encourage everyone to interact with the map.  It is the same google map that you normally get... just trapped in a smaller window on my blog.

We arrived late in Nice, having come from Marseille.

Our car in a small alleyway in front of the hostel (auberge de jeunesse in french)

The local church in the district.

Lunch the next day. Bought at Monoprix (groccery store). Baguette, cheese and ham on the Mediterranean beach.

Welcome to the French Riviera.

It is very "posh" indeed.

Don't know the function of the building, but pretty nonetheless.

The main square in the city.

Another view.

Went back at night for a campfire.  The pictures are blurry because the phone can hardly take dimly lit photos.

On our depart to Monaco

2nd time skiing

Unlike Saturday, today (Thursday) was icey. They haven't had new snow since last weekend so there were a lot of times that the skiis would not catch.  Also because of the ice, the straight-aways were not smooth and thus I got a lot of chatter and movement.  But I have since moved from the bunny-slope, to the green hills, blue hills and now the red hills.  All that remains are the black back-country trails which have cliff drops and usually start on the very peak of a nearby summit.  However, I don't expect or desire to ski at this level.

Here are pictures of green hills.  I do not have pictures of the harder ones because I did not want to take a chance of breaking my camera-phone.  The best part about the skiing is definitely being completely surrounded by the alpes.

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Skiing in the Alpes

I went skiing in the Alpes. It was awesome.  However, my phone was burried deep in my backpack and the battery died by lunch time because I forgot to recharge it.

So... I am refering you to another American's blog who spent the day with me, and a functioning camera.
(Click the blue link to read the story)

Genève, Suisse: (Geneva, Switzerland)

Went to Genève on Sunday, after skiing on Saturday.  The trip was 2 hours by train.  I brought bread and ham for lunch, the 7th Harry Potter book (version française) for entertainment.  We went for a Christmas market which turned out to be closed on Sundays.  So we went to the tourism office and got a map with important sights to see.  Genève was different than I thought it would be.  There was not a lot of food or cultural areas.  In fact we ate at McDonalds and got coffee at Starbucks.  The city appears to be very financial and government oriented because it is the headquarters of the United Nations, the Red Cross and many other civil rights or humanitarian organizations. Overall though, definitely worth a day-trip.

Agrandir le plan

Got peanut butter and snow!

My French peanut butter

Place Victor Hugo

View from the window the night of the second snow

Forging a trail out of the dorm

View from the tram ( note the bumper-sticker at the bottom "have you validated your ticket?" )

A report on a meal, a museum, a snowday and a hike. An explanation to come soon also.

The first few photos are of the Grenoble WW2 museum.  The museum details the lives of the Grenoble inhabitants during their occupation by the Nazi's and Italian's.

The last few photos were taken just before the first snowfall while on a hiking trip.  

Then it snowed later in the week (2 weeks before the date of publication on this blog).  The snow did not stick.

The cafeteria is only open for two and a half hours a day.  But the food is really good when you do eat it.

Nazi poster encouraging French men to work in armament factories in Germany, "You're family will be happy".

The announcement posted in Grenoble to inform the inhabitants that the city is free from Nazi occupation.

Leaving the museum, the Préfecture de l'Isère is just ahead.

Place Victor Hugo, typical Wednesday afternoon.

First snowfall

A look at the fortifications on the mountains during the first snowfall

An ancient fortification East of Grenoble

A view from the top of one of the smaller mountains.

A view from the other side of the same mountain as the one in the photo above.