Grenoble with my French Family!

Two weekends ago I visited Grenoble to see my grandmothers brother (Pascal) and his wife Martine. I was a little nervous going into the weekend--my French is not as good as it once was (it never really was that good anyway) and it was the weekend before my Italian finals, so I was already a little stressed. But I am so glad I went!



My Sleeper Cabin...my bed was on the left!

I left Thursday evening, on a night train to Dijon Ville, France, where I was planning on buying another ticket for a quick train to Grenoble in the morning. Easy, right? Wrong. France ended up getting hit with a pretty big snow storm, so my already 12 hour train ride turned into a 15 hour train ride, forcing me to miss my connection, and beginning one of the longest days of my life! I was blessed with a good family in my sleeper cabin--a group of 5 Italians on their way to Paris, who were very conversational and funny. That helped. Also, a gentleman I met while getting increasingly annoyed with train security (after they said it would be a half hour to the train station, 2 hours later we were still sitting on the tracks...) who spoke Italian and French and was able to help me onto a train to Lyon (and then I would change to Chambery), which was absolutely amazing. Of course, things couldn't actually go as planned, again, because at Lyon I was stopped because of MORE snow, with more and more trains delayed and cancelled. By the time I made it onto my train to Chambery, I was still working on getting ahold of Pascal, and because my French is so bad, he couldn't understand a thing I was saying! Thankfully, a girl sitting across from me spoke French and English, so she was able to talk with him on my behalf. Once I got to Chambery, the snow was still so bad that I had to take ANOTHER train to finally get to Grenoble, since Pascal could no longer drive on the roads that far to get me. What time did I finally find Pascal and Martine at the Grenoble train station? 6 pm Friday. Twenty four hours it took for me to finally get there.

EVERY TRAIN WAS LATE.



All was forgotten, however, when I was able to sit down and eat a real meal with Pascal and Martine. A real meal! One that wasn't based around pasta, or cous cous (a specialty of mine now...), with a main course, cheese, and dessert, a.k.a. so exciting! That night, Pascal brought out old family photographs, and I was able to see pictures from when I visited them when I was barely three years old (with my parents of course). It was actually a lot of fun to look through. To top it off, I was able to use Pascal's free long distance to call my step-mom on her birthday, which I'm pretty sure she enjoyed.

The next day, we all went with Nicolas (Pascal and Martine's son) and his girlfriend to Annecy, a small town about an hour by car away from Grenoble. Annecy is easily one of the most awe-inspiring, beautiful places I have been (and that is saying a lot). The Alps frame the most picturesque lake, and with the snow having just fallen, it was out of a storybook. We ate lunch at a great restaurant, where I ate pate and other foods that I'm not all that interested in actually knowing (I would rather not...), and we went to a Christmas Market where Martine bought me the cutest little stuffed lion that is filled with lavender and can be heated up in the microwave. So sweet! All in all, it was an amazing day.



Annecy, France



On Sunday, we walked into Grenoble and went to the local market. It was gorgeous out, and reminded me so much of Vermont! The Mountains are literally right on top of the town, which was pretty intense, and the snow and slight chill just made the sunshine feel even better. That afternoon, I unfortunately I had to leave, after such a short time visiting! I left at around 2 and arrived back in Rome around 10:30 the next morning, just in time for three classes, and an Italian oral presentation to start off the week.

Forty-four and a half hours I spent travelling to see my family, and I don't regret any of it--it felt so great to finally "meet" them (despite having seen them before). Now I desperately want to go back! It's my mission to practice my French so that I will be able to actually talk with Martine (who doesn't know as much English as Pascal, and Pascal doesn't know a huge amount of English to begin with), and really spend time with them. They are such great people! Also...they had coca cola in their fridge--if it had been Diet Coke, I never would have left!

Me, Martine, Nicolas, and his girlfriend, in Annecy!