Chartreuse Anyone?

Just a quick post compared to the others but I wanted to mention a neat place to check out if you ever come to the Rhone-Alps area of France. After finishing two major group presentations last week, Jess, myself and Charlie (a friend from the UK) headed to Voiron, France on Wednesday November 24th. We did not pick this small town at random, rather it is home to the Chartreuse caves, unique to France and to this area specifically. So alcohol, plus the cheap train tickets of only 5 euro, were essentially what drew us to Voiron for the afternoon.

Voiron was only a 15 minute train ride from Grenoble but there was not much to look at while there, other than the Chartreuse caves. After some cafe au lait at a local shop to kill the time (since things are closed from 12-2pm) we headed down the road to the caves. Luckily, entrance was free (important for us poor students) and we enjoyed our tour, which ended with a free tasting!

Chartreuse is a liqueur made by the Cartheusian Monks since the 1740's. To create the flavour, alcohol is mixed with 130 different herbal extracts and aged for years. It ranges in alcohol content from 40-55%. Most people don't realize there are so many types of Chartreuse as restaurants and bars in Canada tend to only stock the green (55%) version and it's quite expensive at that. During the tasting we had the chance to try the green and yellow Chartreuses along with Genepi (a liquor featuring local mountain flora). In addition, there is Chartreuse VEP which is aged longer in oak casks, Liqueur du 9eme Centenaire and Chartreuse 1605. Lastly there is the Elixir Vegetal de la Grand-Chartreuse which is the original version/discovery of Chartreuse. Historically it was thought to lengthen people's lives but now you can actually find it at the pharmacy and mix a drop or two with water or sugar in order to help with digestion.

I ended up learning a lot and enjoyed the day of relaxing away from school and homework in general. We picked up some regional wine on the way home to finish off the evening with a hot dinner and glass of red. Always makes my day. Okay so I guess this wasn't such a quick post after all...

Au Revoir

So I'm intending for it not to be this long between posts while I'm in France because otherwise you will only see 4 or 5 up here. I just haven't had much to write about lately. My life has been going on as usual, however I have spent the last month ridiculously busy trying to see all my friends before I leave. In addition to those extra plans I am running errands and had added numerous items on my to-do list of things to get done before I leave. Combined, those things have made for an insanely busy, and pricey, August.

I woke up this Sunday and reality hit me hard for a moment. I had just been crazy excited all the way to this point and it finally hit me that I will be across the globe, away from my friends and family, the conveniences I'm used to, my car and English...until Christmas. It didn't scare me or make me less excited but it definitely created a moment of apprehension. After that I kinda stopped counting down the days until I leave since I looked at my to-do lists and the number of days and sat wondering how the hell I was to get everything done...especially since I work my full time job during the day until Friday the 27th!

Thankfully, my lists are finally getting shorter and I'm starting to get excited again.

I can't wait to:

1) Find an apartment and make it my home
2) Explore my new locale that is Grenoble
3) Live in the mountains!
4) Live somewhere where the average December temperature is 5 above
5) Travel to other countries on the weekend
6) Pay 3 Euros for a bottle of wine
7) Plan all my trips once I get my school schedule (hopefully including Egypt, Oktoberfest and, Spain and Switzerland...at least)
8) Live in Europe
9) Become fluent in French again
10) Enjoy the fresh pastries and cheese that France is so well-known for

Things I'll miss (some already mentioned):

1) My friends
2) My family
3) My car
4) My own bed
5) My full closet selection
6) Having an income
7) My cell phone and being able to text people without an international fee
8) Using Canadian Dollars and not having to constantly convert currencies in my head
9) Being fully understood in English
10) Smoke free restaurants and bars

As for my next blog, I leave way too early on Sunday morning so I won't be writing again until my feet are on French soil.

Au revoir mes amis!