Family Visit

Snowy Grenoble

This last week was absolutely fantastic. I got to spend time with my family, catching up on 6 months worth of news, hugs and stories while showing them a little bit of France. We started in Grenoble- they got in on Sunday. We didn't manage to do anything Sunday because they all refused my advice of staying up to beat the jet-lag and so the tour of the town really started Monday.

Atop the Bastille

We took the eggs up to the Bastille, where we played in the snow and enjoyed the view. And we walked all the way down, slowly and with lots of snow ball fights. And that night we went and had dinner with my host family. It was such a fantastic evening! We got there at 8 and didn't leave until around midnight- but it only felt like an hour. We were served a delicious Grenoblois meal (gratin dauphinois, walnut salad, Chartreuse and Walnut wine) and the conversation never stopped. This meant lots of translating for me, and a constant insistence that everyone please talk slowly. I had to keep telling my dad to stop with the jokes, they're hard to translate and I was already really tired. I think I did well though- proving all that tuition money has gone towards an actual skill. And the night as a whole was quite a success, lots of laughs and a general understanding despite the semi-language barrier.

Sunset on the bridge

The next few days were relatively relaxed. We walked and talked and ate (a lot!). I showed my parents both the Musée de Grenoble and the Archeology Museum, which they enjoyed. We ate at quite a few interesting restaurants and found places in Grenoble I had yet to explore. 

And then early Friday morning, we were on the train to Paris. A few RadioLabs and half of Skyfall later, we were smack dab in the middle of Paris, and it was freezing. I hadn't anticipated the weather this last week and therefore did not properly pack or dress. We really only had half a day in Paris, but I tried to make it work and I think they saw enough to want to visit again. 

Notre Dame de Paris

 I showed them my Paris: the 16th (where I lived and my favorite boulangerie), the Eiffel Tower, Invalides, the quais of the Seine, the 6th and 7th, the Louvre & Musée d'Orsay (just the outside) and Notre Dame. I wish we could have gotten a little more done in terms of sightseeing, but when it's that cold, it's hard to enjoy yourself. So we also spent quite a bit of time in cafés warming up, or cherishing the two minutes of warmth within any shop we could stop in.

The view from our hotel room

Our hotel had a pretty great view. I especially enjoyed it at night. After all the monuments and churches, my dad, brother and I went to dinner at a tiny little restaurant we found at the end of little street we were staying. Naturally, this was after a stop by the Eiffel Tower to see it light up. It was called Café Mars and it was a fun night. There were maybe 10 tables in the whole place and we learned that the chef was from San Francisco of all places. We ate lots of interesting things (including squid ink risotto and fish eyes for me) and enjoyed our last night together.

They left very early Saturday morning, too early for me. I went back to bed after their departure, and ended up spending the entire day at the Musée d'Orsay. I spent hours strategically going through each and every room in the place. It was perfect. I made the mistake of booking my train back rather late though and so I had to cope with the cold as I made my way to the train station.

Now I'm back in Grenoble. Already missing them and back at school.

The whole family in Paris (Christmas card 2013)