La vie à Grenoble

Skiing the French Alps, Soirées and Annecy

I did laundry today. Very exciting I know. It was however nice to know that I was being more energy efficient. I don't know why we don't dry our clothes outside more in the US.

My Dryer.

This was all in all a very exciting and jam-packed week. Work was good, I made lots of progress analyzing data and getting samples ready to be tested. Now if only I could start writing my actual paper. Feel free to bother and pester me to make sure that I've done it. Thanks.

French Alps

On the day of the election here in France the Chamrousse ski resort was offering lift tickets for 1 Euro if you presented a voting card. The weather was beautiful and my coworkers had an extra voting card for me. This meant that I only paid for the ski rental and was able to ski in the French Alps. I wasn't nearly as bad as I thought I would be considering I haven't skied for at least two years. Unlike the US, most people here ski, not snowboard. Little kids were zipping down the mountain at top speed and I did the best I could to stay out of their way.

My coworkers.

Denis and I getting ready to ski.
You can see the city of Grenoble in the background.

The alps were "incroyable" the mountains here have a very distinct, rugged look to them. They look wild.

Concert

Focus.

Ivan, my roommate, plays violin in the local symphony. His concert was this week so I along with his girlfriend and friend went to watch him perform. Before the symphonic portion of the concert a french women's choir sang four songs, two of them in English. I could not understand a word of the english songs. It was good to see what it's like to be on the opposite side of the stage for once. I've been in choirs where we have often sung in French, German, or Italian and had no idea if what we were singing sounded correct.

The concert was wonderful, a very professional group, and Ivan did a great job soloing for two difficult Bach pieces. It was however also interesting to note that the French group did not seem to appreciate the audience as much as an American group would. The conductor barely smiled or bowed during the applause.

Brazillians and the Local Hospitality

Strangely enough, I have been meeting many many Brazilians here. It of course helps since my roommate's girlfriend, Danubia, is Brazilian. They were kind enough to invite me to their Caipirinha party last Wednesday. Beforehand however I had a videochat meeting with my advisor back in Seattle. It was the first time that we had met since I left Seattle and I had lots to say. The meeting went very well, so well in fact that I wanted to do a little celebrating and since no one was around I journeyed out into Grenoble in hopes of getting a beer. I stumbled into the local watering hole where I met some intensely stereotypical french people. Smoking, too much makeup, hats, wine, mustaches, the works. They took a shining to me and we whiled away the afternoon attempting to communicate using a melange of broken french, english and sign language. Four people bought me wine that afternoon. I got home in time for the Caipirinha party where there was French, Portugues, and English being spoken. It was difficult for my wine-logged brain to speak in French but I managed ok.

Then on Friday there was a Brazilian cineclub soirrée where they showed French and Brazilian movies and had shots of Cachaca. Three people bought me beers that night, I don't know if they think I'm poor or my accent is cute or the people here are just nice but it has been amazing to me that warmth and hospitality of nearly everyone I have met. Although, I must say the beer here leaves much to be desired.

HTC Afterworks

There is something here in Europe called Afterworks. From what I understand, companies throw parties and only invite a few people in order to generate hype and get consumer loyalty. HTC hosted one in Grenoble (Thank you Sandrine and Denis for getting me in) our name was on a list and we were immediately greeted with swag and free food. There was champagne, wine, cheese, duck, foie gras, tuna tartare, salmon, and a huge array of desserts, and it was all free. HTC was also giving away free phones, didn't win one though. Secretly I was hoping I wouldn't win because I would have had to go up and say something in French, daunting.

HTC Afterwork Party. Very little alcohol was involved in this picture.

Annecy

The town of Annecy is a beautiful city in the Savoire region of France. It is located about an hours drive north of Grenoble on lac d'annecy. Denis, Sandrine and I journeyed there for the afternoon to see what all the fuss was about.

Annecy.

The bridges and canals of Annecy.

The city is very much like a tiny French version of Venice. There were canals and waterways everywhere. They are known for "mountain food" which seemed to mostly consist of lots and lots of cheese, meat and potatoes. The city was much more touristic than Grenoble. I heard more English walking down the street than my entire time in the streets of Grenoble.