Almost every group of adventurers has to have a mission or a Holy Grail: something to provide a direction for their wandering.  If my brothers and I were one of those groups, then our European Grail would go by the name of Jason Weeks.

We caught the train (after much difficulty and distress) down to see Jason in the humble village of Grenoble in southeastern France.  This leg of the trip was a bit out of the ordinary for us for a couple of reasons:

• We were going to see someone that we already knew, who spoke the language of the local tribesmen.
• We were going to stay with Jason’s family* in their house instead of the usual randoms in a hostel.
• Grenoble isn’t an intensely touristy place, and between that and having Jason as a tour guide we were able to experience more of the off-the-beaten path French scene than we had been able to otherwise.

Boom boom pow!

Our French Family

Jason’s family (the Peyronnards: mom, dad, and two daughters) was both brave and extremely nice to let us stay with them for a couple of nights.  We essentially covered the floor of Jason’s bedroom with extra mattresses and turned the place into a relaxation den for our post-exploration activities (sleep).  Jason’s family didn’t speak much English (with the exception of dad), so we got the rare opportunity to learn some French without worrying about annoying everyone else around us.  Jason’s mom also made us some fantastic lasagna and tiramisu for dinner one night that left my head spinning for days.

As a token of our appreciation, we made a pile of fruit pancakes for breakfast on the morning before we left.  Pancakes are apparently much less common in Europe that the southeastern US, and I think that they liked them, although we Americans ended up eating the vast majority of them in the name of freedom.

Grenoble in Action

Jason gave us a pretty impressive list of things to do for our short stay in town.  We didn’t get to most of them simply because we ran out of time (and the weather was less than awesome), but we did get to do some pretty Frenchy stuff.  Before doing anything else we went to see the school that Jason spent the entire past school year studying in, which was comfortably small and pretty modern-looking.  I always find it a bit strange to finally see something that’s been a major part of a good friend’s life while they were in a different place — almost as though their life had been moving forward while you were apart.  Grenoble was not short on these types of experiences.

Crepes

These things are both one of the Frenchest and most delicious foods that they make.  I’ve had these back in the States, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that French crepes are (for once) actually way larger than the American version.  Woohoo!

The Bastille

The Bastille is a castle-y fort arrangement on top of one of the mountains surrounding Grenoble.  We got to ride some “bubbles” up to the top to what would have, on a clearer day, been a spectacular view of the city.  The view was still pretty great, and believe it or not we actually ran in to some of our old Australian roommates from a hostel we stayed in a week before!

Enjoying the sunshine at the Bastille.

Tea

This was pretty chill: we went to a tea shop (yes, they make those…think coffee shop with less coffee and more tea) and ordered some delicious tea and scones.  What else did this shop have in store for us, you ask?  Well, it was also a used bookstore where you could go to sit down and read anything that they had (and walk away with it for a modest price if you liked it).  What a great idea.  I ended up buying a book called Before the Beginning that helped me pass many a-train ride.  By the way, that book was incredibly interesting for those of you with a slight to intense interest in cosmology — I’d probably rate it as the best & most approachable science book that I’ve ever read.

Mobster pizza

If my family is known for anything (which we may not be), then it would be our ability to put away obscene amounts of food when we turn our polite switches off.  Jason, having being roommates with both Mac and me, was well aware of our disability and took us to a place called Pizza Street for dinner one night.  Not only is Pizza Street a good deal on food, but the density of pizza restaurants on this strip of road also defies all normal economic laws.  There was, quite literally, nothing but pizza restaurants for blocks and blocks on end.  Talk about a fantastic situation…we ended up eating & talking in the restaurant for a long time to wrap up a fantastic day.

* “Family:” noun, the people you stay with while studying abroad.