Due to lack of internet at our apartment and limited bandwidth at the nearby MacDo, I have been uploading photos in small increments. I oscillate between writing in my red Moleskine and blogging. Grenoble was my favorite weekend yet. Good company with Ian and Sara, and beautiful surroundings. Here’s what I had written in my moleskine during the weekend’s downtime:
Market in the morning. So mcuh cheap, fresh produce! Nectarines, plums – huge bowl for 1.5€, tables of olives. Bought fruit/bread for lunch, Reblochon, vegetables, sausage, pork for skewers, and smore material: Only train to the mountain that we wanted to hike at was at 17h, so decided to hike around the Bastille instead. Took the boules up (kind of expensive, 3.45€ one way) and hiked to the top of the mountain to the other fortress. Hike was only about 30 minutes but we were dripping due to the 35+°C heat. Picnicked at the top of the mountain with amazing views of the city, then walked down on country roads. Took a while, but slalomed through the foothills with sheep and donkeys in the open fields. Wedding was taking place at the top of the mountain and passed about 20 cars on their way up. If we waved, they waved and honked too! Found an antenna with a balloon and white ribbon lost from the procession and paraded it around for a while. Stopped at an Intermarché to replenish water supplies. 2L is only .17€. So much cheaper than Paris. Stuck our heads in the ice cream section for a bit to cool off. Walked through town to get cheap gelato, then chilled at the apartment reading Ian’s “Outside” magazines until he got back from his 90-mile Alpe de Huez climb. Made Skewers and took the boules back up to the bastille. Had a difficult time starting the fire due to very strong winds but succeeded thanks to some cardboard and body sheltering. Fire was big and we were a little scared that flying embers would ignite the nearby dry grass. “Dear Erin, we would like to apologize sincerely for lighting all of Grenoble on fire”. Started with smores because we needed embers for skewers. Special recipe of speculus+darkchocolate+rasberry/regular marshmallows. So delicious. Strategically placed skewers were equally excellent. Spicy sausage was the best I’ve tasted. Good red wine/cheese too. Sat out and looked at what stars were visible in the slightly overcast sky, looked at huge mountains surrounding us that were only illuminated with tiny strips of lights at the peaks where ski resorts are. There were even a couple fireworks from the town below. Wind continued to bring in clouds, so decided to head back down. Hike in dark was aided by Ian’s headlamp and Emily’s cellphone. Walked through some spooky stairways in the old bastille. Took turns taking showers, then went to bed.
Sunday – woke up, had breakfast of Muesli, Oatmeal, and tea (with the cereal). Went to market again, and caught a train to Annecy. The ride was scenic, filled with with surging mountains and deep ravines. Annecy also incredibly beautiful. Multi colored turquoise, deep blue, and dark green (where the grass was). Got to swim around for a bit, but was called back early, as we wanted to catch teh 4PM train home. I am a fish at heart, and swimming around in the lake made me so happy! I’ll have to go to Walden Pond often before it gets too cold to do so when I’m back in Boston. It started pouring when I got out, and we had to sprint through all the gorgeous parts of Annecy to make it to the train. Seriously thought we were going to miss it and have to wait another 1.5hrs. Our train was the one at Quai A, accessible from the street, and we jumped on right as the whistle was being blown. Returned to the apartment to the smell of great cooking! Had fresh pesto (basil, walnuts (Grenoble specialty), parmesan, olive oil, salt, bolognaise, fresh cut tomatoes with mozarella, olive oil, salt. Drank wine out of old Bonne Maman jam jars. Not sure if that’s better or worse than a solo cup, but it was fun and went well with our little carpet picnick. Caught the train back to Paris and continued with work, etc.
