Bittersweet

Here's a little snapshot of where I'm at now. I have:

ONE full day remaining until final exam week starts (with 4 exams to write).
FIVE days until final exams are over.
FIVE and a half days until Jess and I leave for Marrakech, Morocco and most of my friends leave Grenoble.
TEN days (or just over) until I land at the Edmonton International Airport.

Every day that passes seems to be bittersweet. I'm looking forward to going home and seeing my friends and family again but everytime I think about it I am countered with the thought of leaving France and all of the friends I've made who have become my 'away from home' family. I hate the thought that I might not see some of them ever again. I'm sad that the time and effort I've put into these relationships might be 'all for not' if we struggle to keep in contact, but at the same time I'm excited to have new friends across the world, whom I can visit, as well as new travel opportunities.

I'm a little bit scared to return to Canada. Scared that it will feel different, for the adjustments I know I will need to make and scared that I will feel like I left part of myself or my heart in Grenoble. Even a little bit scared that I will settle back into my 'normal life' far too easily and not let myself be challenged by the things I've learned and what I've experienced.

No matter the mish-mash of things that I'm feeling I am certainly going to try to enjoy my last few days in Grenoble and in Europe in whatever way I even can. I write this with a sense of frustration because I wish to be living this week to the fullest and doing everything I enjoy however, the need to study for finals is a huge hinderance on my ability to follow through. Unfortunately, that means that my next 4 days will be spent in little contact with others, cooped up in my apartment, trying to pack as much knowledge in as my brain can currently handle. It also means that you should consider this my last blog post until I land on Canadian soil, or at least until I return to Grenoble (for 6 hours) after Morocco and before my departure from Europe.

Oh and with all this stuff going on its even more exciting when the thought comes to mind that there's actually only 2 weeks left until Christmas!! (just a little bit excited)

Until next time.

Ski Day!

It's on my bucket list to ski in both the French and Swiss Alps and on Saturday I was finally able to cross one of those off my list :)

I found out mid week that a couple people from my class were planning to head to Deux Alps to ski/ride for the day and I jumped on that like a fat kid on cake (or like Dania on a pain au chocolat). I brought most of my ski stuff to France since it was always my intention to make it to a mountain before I left and just had to borrow snow pants from someone. Luckily that worked itself out quite easily. Unfortunately, I came for the wrong school semester to ski because the ski season really only started last week and its still "low season." But either way I was determined to get out on the slopes even with my impending final exams and papers.

It had been snowing/raining for the last week solid and I completely lucked out because Saturday was just gorgeous weather and the sun was shining ALL day. No snow to blind us but super fresh powder from all the snow that had fallen the night and days before. Many of my classmates had never actually skiied before, or at least not much, so I ended up skiing by myself for the morning. This was perfectly fine by me and I still thoroughly enjoyed myself. Put the earphones in, gloves on and I was set to discover the French Alps.

Well the sad thing was that since it is still "low season" only 1/4 to a 1/3 of the lifts and runs were open since most of the snow had yet to settle and avalanche warnings were high. The guy at the rental shop (yes I had to rent gear which was a frustrating change from using my own) had actually given me freestyle skis accidently so I just stuck with them and decided it would be interesting to try them out. Different skis, powder and high altitudes led to a fun but challenging day of skiing. Not only that but after hitting up numerous black runs, which took me a while to get through, I discovered that the European rating system is different than Canada and the black runs I was taking were actually considered double blacks in Canada and the red runs here are what we consider 'black diamonds'. Plus, I was soon informed that the altitude was much higher than Canadian mountains and we got up to about 3000m above sea level. Boy, did that ever make me feel better about my skiing. For the morning I had just determined I had just gotten super out of shape since last season or that the freestyle skis were so much harder to use since it was taking so much more energy to ski the slopes than usual.

Ultimately the day was awesome; hanging out with friends, eating tasty, wood oven pizza, skiing in powder and discovering a new mountain. My only regret is that I wish I was here to experience the Alps to their fullest, for the whole winter. I guess the Rocky Mountains will have to do until the next European adventure!

Paris, Je T'aime

Good news. Remember when I said in my last post that I was quite saddened knowing I wouldn't be travelling again until after finals? Well that didn't last long and I was actually able to skip town again this past weekend and head for the marvellous city of Par-ee (Paris for you English speakers who didn't catch on)!

I definitely lucked out on this trip. I spent only a couple days lamenting on my lack of future travels when I got an invitation from my friend Charlie to see the Australia vs. France international rugby game on Saturday November 27. That fact in itself had me quite excited and it just topped it with a cherry when I found out that the game was at the Stade de France in Paris. Yes....I was a happy camper. Then Jess decided she was going to come along to explore the city for the weekend also! So we did what we've done best and got online to check out the train schedule and book hostels. We managed to snag on right by the Montmarte area just down from the Sacre Coeur basilica.

Since we had both already visited Paris on touristy trips (4 years ago for me) we decided to spend another long-weekend just relaxing and wandering...boy do I enjoy brief moments of that lifestyle in the midst of the rushed craziness of my usual life. We arrived Thursday evening and searched out the nearest Starbucks. Vitally important since we are so lacking in Grenoble. We then spent the night wandering around by the Moulin Rouge and checked out maybe going to a show....89 Euro?? Didn't happen. The cold was a bit of a shock since we'd been enjoying the mild temperatures of Grenoble, and walking around all day outside just aplifies the "chilled to the bone" feeling, so it was time for the ski jacket, toque and definitely shoes with socks!

Friday we hit up Starbucks again for a "Latte Caramel Noisette" (their Christmas special we don't have in Canada) and headed to Centre Pompidou. We voted against seeing the museums and instead just enjoyed the "modern art" architechture and went out in search of another Starbucks. We checked out the Sorbonne (only from the ouside due to security) and walked around the Latin Quarter in the afternoon looking in quaint bookshops and some jewlery stores. It was then that it started to SNOW....we were quite excited since this was the first snow of the season and we're in the romantic city of Paris....lacking men of course but that's okay. Our evening finished with a giant Indian meal and relaxation at a "tea house" near our hostel.

How did we start Saturday you might ask? Take a guess. Starbucks. I'm tellin ya, you gotta take what you can get while it's around because deprivation sets in fast when small cups of instant coffee are the only thing around. We met Charlie there since he had to come on a later train and took the afternoon to see the Tour Eiffel and walk along the Seine river, enjoying the fall colours and the sun that decided to finally peek through the clouds. We ended up at the Champs d'Elysee where we got to experience something Canada is missing. A Christmas Market! They have little log cabins set up along the avenue selling crafts, scarves, waffles, crepes as well as food stands with giant woks of tartiflette, paella, hot wine, etc. It was a feast for my eyes and my stomach! All the trees were lit up with Chrsitmas lights and there was a ferris wheel, merry-go round and slides that were entertaining the children. It was picturesque and even better when Jess and I went back Sunday to see it in the dark. Saturday night we headed to Charlie's hostel for dinner, beer and cards and off we went to the RUGBY GAME! We had managed to claim the last 2 scarves for that rugby match earlier in the day and were pretty excited to show our colours while cheering on the Aussie team. Of course they whopped France's ass 61-16 final score. Definitely tops as one of the most awesome moments in my life. To end the day, Charlie and I met up with Jess and two girls we met at our hostel (one from Germany and one from Australia) and checked out an absynthe bar that had a definite punk atmosphere.

Sunday was our last day in Paris and we decided to get some much needed rest....which really, was a stupid plan because you never really get a good sleep in a hostel. Either way, we stayed in bed until 10, had a lunch from the grocery store and spent the rest of the day just going back to buy some things we wanted and chilling at...Starbucks. Like I mentioned previously, we also went back to see the Champs Elysee all lit up at night and headed to the train station for a 1st class trip home (they were all out of the other seats....we're too poor for that usually haha).

Needless to say the weekend was an absolute blast and I got lots of fresh air, no matter how cold it was. I quite enjoyed getting my full caffeine fix (as you can see based on the 5 or more visits) and spending time with friends. A la prochaine fois!

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...

Inbetween

After a marvellous long weekend things headed downhill for a bit. I had woken up on the Saturday morning Jess and I left for Annecy with a sore neck. This had happened before and was only because I had slept funny...the kink worked itself out by the end of the day. But that was not the case this time. In fact, by the end of the day, the pain had moved into my left shoulder and I had a hard time sleeping that night because it was becoming so painful. This pain continued throughout Sunday and Monday where I got extremely fed up and went to buy some strange muscle relaxant from the pharmacist and hoped the misery would soon be over.

By Monday the pain had not dissipated, the relaxants hadn't helped and by the end of the night the pain was in my mid back as well (on the left side). I had determined I would call the doctor in the morning. I had been trying to avoid having to visit a health practicioner because I really didn't want to have to deal with emergency health insurance while travelling but there's only so much pain one can handle. And it's a good thing I called the doctor because by Tuesday evening the pain had spread around my side and into my chest, surrounding my lungs, and making it very painful to breathe. Let me tell you that it is one of the scariest things to feel like the breath is being taken right out of you and I was preparing myself to have to go to the hospital. I couldn't even lie in bed without being in distress and had to pace my room for an hour an a half before I could even try to sleep. At this point it was painful to laugh, cough, walk and now breathe. It had gone too far.

I made it to the doctor the next morning. It was a little different from Canada in that when I called the doctor I reached him personally, not a receptionist. When I arrived at the office I just sat down and waited until the doctor came and got me himself. He brought me into his office which was a wooden desk with papers all around and I sat down and explained what was wrong. Then he took me behind a curtain in the same room to an examination chair to check my breathing/pain, etc. At the end of the visit he gave me the perscriptions (as doctors normally do) but then gave me a bill which I pain in cash and he put into his desk drawer. So strange. At least I knew the forms were legit and I would get reimbursed, somehow, but it was definitely a different doctor experience.

Ultimately, the doctor didn't really know what was wrong so he just perscribed me with some drugs he hoped would help. I actually had to ask about potentially seeing a physio or massage therapist or a chiropractor. He said to try the drugs and if they didn't work by Friday to come back and he would refer me to see someone. They ended up helping and now the pain is gone from my back but I can still feel residue in my shoulder in neck. At this point (20 days left) I will just wait until I get back to Canada and see my massage therapist so I don't have to worry about reimbursement for emergency treatment here in France.

Annecy

After Venice I only had to make it through 3 days of classes before it was the Armistice Day long weekend. It was so strange to experience this holidays without seeing every second person walking around wearing a poppy on their jacket. However, I remembered the soldiers just the same and enjoyed the time away from school. Jess and I didn't have another major trip planned since travel was expensive at this time due to the long weekend, but we had decided to do some local exploration and check out the town of Annecy, France only an hour train ride north-east of Grenoble. It has been under either Swiss or French control for the last 100 years so has much influence from both cultures.

Annecy already had the reputation of being a beautiful town and oh did it ever live up to those expectations. First, the weather a balmy 16 degrees on Saturday November 13 and the sun was shining on us all day, reflecting off the turquoise-blue Lac d'Annecy and the snow capped mountains. We were able to walk around without our jackets off and bask in the sun's rays as we walked along the side of the lake watching the rowers, kayakers, playful children and just enjoying the amazing day we were given.

Our day mostly consisted of wandering around and exploring but we did discover a gelato shop with at least 30 different flavours to choose from, some tasty cookies, the old part of town and Le Chateau at the top of the hill (which ended up just being a museum inside that was not as interesting as we had expected).

I was glad we were able to get away for even just the day but it was kind of depressing when we returned to Grenoble since I realized I had no other trips planned until after finals, which was over a month away. In retrospect I lucked out because it didn't stay that way for long. But thats for another post, another day!

Venezia!

Somehow I manage to stay a month behind in my posts but I promise you I will be caught up by the end of this coming weekend.

And so the story continues. After returning from Monaco I spent only 10 days swamped in midterms and group presentations/reports before Jess and I whisked ourselves away to Venice, Italy on Thursday November 4, 2010. We had both visited Italy on previous trips to Europe but my cities travelled were limited to Rome, Pisa, Florence, Naples, Sorrento and Capri so Venice was one I wasn't going to miss out on a second time around. Not only that but we managed to get our flight tickets for only 100 euro round trip and a hotel reservation for a hostel price of 20 euro a night! We definitely scored a deal. However, we spent the whole week leading up to this trip not only anxious about our school work but anxious about another French strike. Seemingly, Air France (our airline of choice) was planning a strike of their airport staff for the day we were planning to leave as well as the day after. To top it off, French transport unions had decided to strike the 3 days after which included the day of our flight home to Grenoble. Well weren't Jess and I just soooo pleased.

In the end things worked out fine and although there was only one Air France rep working the counter at the airport, it wasn't very busy anyways so we made it through and the planes still flew the skies. Luckily, the French transport unions actually shortened, or limited, their strike the following days so we were able to make it home (barely) but that's another story for later.

Jess and I quite enjoyed our 5 day weekend in Venice. It was a bit warmer than in Grenoble (12 degrees) but the sun was nowhere to be found. I heard later on that intense fog is pretty typical of Venice for that time of year but it did add a mysterious feel to the city on water. We voted against doing the super touristy things so Jess and I spent lots of our time just wandering around, shopping, and eating gelato and pizza. Of course we visited the Piazza San Marco and the Ponte Rialto but our favourite turned out to be the island of Murano or the "glass island." It was so easy to spend a whole day there just admiring the hand blown glass art and far to easy to spend our money on unique glass jewelery.

We had a project to submit online while we were in Venice so it was the first time we took our laptops on a trip and I would never do it again. Travelling on weekends has acted as our relaxation time and escape from the craziness that school brings and bringing our laptops and having access to email just didn't provide us with that same freedom. However, homework did NOT stop us from enjoying wine in our hotel room and picking up a delicious pizza (flat crust with roasted red peppers, eggplant, zucchini and cheese) to-go from the local Restaurante Palladio up the road...YUM, YUM!

We managed to avoid rain all weekend except it caught up to us our last night there. We were quite a sight running around the main island with our shoes soaked and broken umbrella in hand trying to find our way and duck into stores whenever possible to stay some kind of dry. After a tasty meal we decided to check out a live show about Venezia at the Teatro San Gallo. It was actually very interesting to learn all about the history of the city and how they became known for the strange masks and stories, although it would have been better had we seen it at the start of the weekend and knew more about the things we saw along the way. Either way, our last night was a good one and we tried to head to bed by 10pm since we had to get up at 4am the next morning to head to the airport....early morning flights were only our choice because we still had class to attend that day.

The airport story (long story short): Jess and I were informed only a day before our flight that there were no busses that actually ran to the airport early enough to get us there for our flight at 630am (since we were staying in Malcontenta which is outside of Venice). Thus, we had to figure something else out and were advised that the best idea would be to bus to one of the train stations and catch a taxi from there to the airport, which was still going to cost us 30 euro. We weren't happy about that but we were informed that there would be taxis at the train station at that hour and they were more reliable then hoping the busses would run on time. Boy was THAT a wrong assumption! We made it to the train station on time only to find out there were no taxis. After some waiting, panicking, then imagining of the worst case scenario and the amount of cash we might have had to dish out to get home for classes, a taxi waiting for a reservation at a hotel across the street called in another taxi for us. By this point we were running out of time and had about 45 mintues before our flight was going to leave. I feared for my life as we flew down the dark, slippery roads at 110 km/hr in a 70 zone but the amazing driver got us to the airport in 7 minutes (a supposed 15 minute drive). We made it through check-in in time but boarding had started and finished while we waited through the security line up. We heard "Spillett and Steingard" paged not one but three times before we cut in line and sprinted to our gate, panting and getting a dirty look from the gate attendant.

Of course we made it home safe and sound and off to class that afternoon but boy were we already worn out from the day by the time 7am rolled around and we had classes until 8pm that night. No....we didn't end up making it and skipped the last hour and a half of marketing. You try paying attention to a class you've already taken after that kind of day!