France was an absolute blast! As soon as I returned from the Peloponnese, I began to prep for my journey- washing clothes, quick trip to the hospital and packing! Wednesday finally arrived and I was off. On my first leg, I was unfortunately seated in the middle between two people- a super burley, wide older man and a super fashionable middle aged woman. What differences, right? It wasn’t too bad, but my leg space was mildly invaded by the man on my left. After 2 hours we arrived in Switzerland. The view just before landing was amazing and the Swiss Alps were just breath taking. I had a short layover before heading to Lyon as my final stop. I arrived in Lyon and immediately went to search for the bus that would take me to Grenoble where my love Jessica would be waiting for me! It was an hour bus ride, but the scenery was amazing. The sun was just setting, so I snagged a nice picture of it. There was a man on the bus who kept staring at me even though I was sitting behind him. I’m often glared at more than usual by minority men in Europe- something I took notice to a lot more while in France. Maybe it’s the golden brown skin or long head of hair? It was weird at first, but by now I am so use to the staring I didn’t give it much thought after a bit.
The bus finally arrived and there she was! My beautiful darling Jess was sitting in the station waiting for me. She just had surgery from appendicitis so I had to be gentle when hugging her, otherwise she would’ve been crushed! I was so excited to see a familiar face. We’re both at the 2 month mark, so it was refreshing to be with someone who knows me in and out. We began our journey to her house via tram. There was not a single moment of silence. Right away we started chatting about our different experiences and just enjoying being with one another. After a 45 min tram ride, we arrived to her neighborhood. It was after 8 and the house was waiting for us to start dinner. Upon entering the house, I met her host mom, Nicole, and host dad, Robert. I also had the pleasure of meeting two of her good friends from her program, Molly and Hannah. They were actually the ones who cooked dinner. One word: yum. I miss home cooked meals, especially since I cook most of my meals here in Greece. They do things quickly in her household. Plates are cleared after each course and no time is wasted before dishes get started on. Literally. They would wash dishes during dinner! So weird. Very different from Greece. Jess says it’s just their household that functions that way. In any case, the dinner was superb and just what I needed after all my travels. Both Jess and I were exhausted so it wasn’t a super late night. We chatted a bit more than crashed.
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| swiss alps! |
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| sunset fresh off the plane! |
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| cute home. |
The next morning we had to wait for her nurse to come and clean her wounds. The first guy was a total hottie ;D After that, we headed to the tram stop to begin a day of shopping and exploring. We both really wanted to get some boots, so she took me to a store she thought I would like. When we didn’t find ones we had liked, we decided to grab lunch before trying again. Hello creperie! I opted for a non-crepe dish and Jess went with a crepe. It was good, but way more pricey than I’m use to in Athens. After we finished, we again attempted to shop. It’s tough staying on a budget! We looked around some more and decided we needed sweet crepes to up our drive. Yummy Nutella and banana #ftw. Jess showed me a beautiful church and courtyard, then took me to the most incredible view of Grenoble. It was right off the river and the views were insane. We went on a bridge to snap some photos and enjoy the wonderful weather. We both decided we wanted to nap/rest so we headed home. Before we hopped on the train, however, I saw a pair of boots I just couldn’t resist. Success! Once home, we got a nice little surprise of none other than CREPES! Her host aunt made us mini crepes and tea for a snack. So many crepes. Post nap we watched my favorite movie, The Other Sister, then ate dinner. Again, so yummy. Guess what dessert was! CREPES! Bah, what a crepe kind of day. We finished the day with a wonderful skype session with our lovely Amilia.
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| chickens in the yard. |
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| bunnies. |
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| first day out. |
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| st. andres church. |
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| clouds! |
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| quaint. |
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| first bridge. |
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| fave spot. |
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| miss these colors. |
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| more crepes! |
Friday was another beautiful day. Again after waiting for the nurse, we headed back into town. This time we were going to ride these mechanical ball shaped things to the Grenoble Bastille. Before we made it up though, we hit up the farmer’s market for sweet fruits/veggies then we ran into one of Jess’ friends from her program named Travis. He was nice and we all went to eat kebabs at a place called Batman’s. It was here that we met the owner who, when he saw me told me, “You’re Mexican”. I was kind of thrown off and when we continued to say we were all from America, he responded (pointing to Jess and Travis), “You, yes” and then to me, “You, no”. Bah, thanks for telling me what I am! NOT. We tried to explain that I was mixed with Native American as well as Latin American roots, but he wasn’t having it. It was interesting and mildly upsetting for him to immediately label me the way he did. It’s not uncommon in America for people to judge by looks, but it was just annoying that he continued even after I explained my roots. We left there and separated from Travis. At last we were on our way up in the bubbles! Everything was beautiful and so incredible to see. We spent about an hour there, then decided we needed some rest before dinner with Jess’ friends. Before we hopped on the tram, however, we made a cool friend named Jonathan. He was talking to people in order to raise money for this program he works for, but looked like he was failing. I had initially tried to avoid him because I don’t particularly like to say no, but I could see he was struggling so decided to stop and chat. We stuck up a friendly conversation that included names, where we were from and what we were doing in Grenoble. He had been there for a year so far, so I thought he was a good person to ask for places to dance/drink. I asked for his suggestions and decided that since we were pretty much buds, we should get his number. So I asked. He was more than obliging and excited. I told him that with Jess being here until December, it would be nice to have a contact into the younger crowd in Grenoble. Win.
That night we ate at a Mexican restaurant (fitting right?). A few of her friends came out with us and that was nice. We had some tequila poppers as well as margaritas. So yummy! After dinner Jess showed me her favorite pub called London Pub. We also made a swift entry into Plan B- so offensive. They had shots called ‘Abortion’. Gah, so wrong. We then went to the bar that Jonathan recommended to us. It was playing great music. Jess began to feel crappy, so we called it a night and headed home. I had a nice night.
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| farmer's market. |
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| craving mangoes forever. |
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| fountains=everywhere. |
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| baby-sized coffees. |
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| bubbles. |
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| view from bubble. |
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| heading up. |
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| awesome. |
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| best friends. |
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| yellow! |
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| bastille. |
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| hey, grenoble. |
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| barberousse! |
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| london pub. |
We spent Saturday being bums. This included laying in bed most the morning, watching movies and a quick little walk into her neighborhood shopping center. While there, we bought desserts and a baguette. We sat in a park eating avocado (bought at the farmer’s market) with the bread. It was nice to sit and have chats about life. It’s awesome to see the ways we’re growing. I’m so blessed to have her in my life. We then headed home with a quick trip to the store for Jess to buy me millions of airport snacks. Before we arrived home, Jess showed me the park where she usually runs. There was a random circus going on, so we got to see some cute animals and enjoy the wonderful sun setting in the clouds. We watched Bridesmaids after dinner and waited for 9:30 to roll around for my departure. I had a 7 a.m. flight the next morning, but since it left from Lyon, I had to take a bus the night before since there wasn’t one that left early enough the next morning to get me to my plane in time. PROBLEM: I read the schedule wrong and thought the last bus left at 11…when in reality the last bus left at 9! We looked for every possible option: trains- all were gone and like the bus, none left early enough the next morning, taxis- cost an arm and leg. We had hoped that when we told her host family what had happened, they would offer to drive me in the morning since they had a car. When Jess explained to them what happened, there was no such offer. We were both really upset because we thought they would offer since I had limited options. Her host dad instead insisted that my ONLY options were to pay for a taxi or switch my flight to later in the day when I could take a bus to the airport. It was frustrating since host families, in my opinion, should support their kids. This wasn’t the first time they had failed Jess, so she was disappointed. Luckily her real parents are freaking incredible and came to our rescue. Her dad managed to get Swiss on the phone to switch my flight to a later time. Thank goodness. I am so grateful for them. In the midst of everything, Jess and I kept positive and made a list of everything positive from missing the bus: more time together, no waiting in the airport for 7 hours, an extra hour due to daylight savings ending and of course a snuggle session.
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| view from jess' window. |
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| marshmallows. |
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| amazing. |
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| puff puff. |
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| host parents. |
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| jess stuffed my purse with snacks for the airport. |
We woke up the next morning, hopped on the tram and began my departure back home. We made the bus with time to spare so we grabbed a quick croissant and a final chat session. There was a cute guy looking at us in the bus station, who after I boarded the bus began to talk with Jess. I found out later he’s Egyptian and been in Grenoble for 2 years. Another connection for her. Score. All in all, my trip to France was splendid. I was able to spend time with one of my best friends, rest, EAT and meet some new people. I’m grateful for situations that challenge me and even more grateful to have such wonderful people in my life. I was happy to return home to Athens though :D
