Blogs from Grenoble, Rhône-Alpes, France, Europe - page 3

Tuesday, June 16 By the time we woke up Tuesday morning, Pierre and Christine were already in the garden working. Over breakfast we decided to tackle Charmant Som, which is one of the peaks in the Chartreuse, and the historical Abbey of Chartreuse. The heat was getting pretty bad this week, so before we left for the mountains we stopped off at the local sports store and bought shorts for Tiffany and the girls. I first discovered Charmant Som when Pierre took me there several years ago. A very steep hiking trail takes you to the top, where a cross marks the peak and you can see views stretching across the valleys below. It's no easy hike though, because the mountain must be at least a 30% grade upward and the trail can be very rocky, ... read more

Monday, June 15 Monday was our first day in the Rhone-Alps region of France. Grenoble is in a valley practically surrounded by high mountains with snow at their peak even in June. Pierre technically lives in the suburbs of Grenoble in a little town called Brignoud. From Brignoud it's easy to access the many hiking trails in the summer and ski resorts in the winter. When you step out of Pierre's house, your eyes are immediately drawn to the immense mountains at your doorstep. With so many mountains it's no wonder that Grenoble hosted the winter olympics in 1968. If you listened closely, you might even hear the "Hills are alive with the sound of music" floating on the breeze. High in the Alps For our first outing we decided to go high in the mountains ... read more

When we checked our email today, we had heard back from the family of Joshua's friend Zack Schaller, who lives in Switzerland. His father, Steve, said that we might be able to arrange to get together as they are just across the border from France in Switzerland, not far from Evy's friend Sandy where we are heading next. Steve also shared some details of a trip that they had made which included going to Vimy Ridge, the WWI battle field where so many Canadians had died. At first, we thought it sounded like the battle field was close to the town of Verdun, and we considered going there after our next near Strasbourg. After some research though, we realized that it was in fact closer to the town of Arras which is North of Paris in ... read more

With the rain still pouring down, none of us was in a hurry to get up this morning and we got a late start to the day. Checking our email responses to questions about accommodation, we have found some likely choices and will have to book today. After a rather leisurely morning, we got back down to school work in the afternoon. With our rather intermittent internet connection, we were constantly moving our antenna around to get a signal. Later in the afternoon, we seemed to get this problem solved and were able to get the emails from places to stay and then to book place in London and Paris. I always feel a sense of relief when we get the next step of this trip planned, replacing the dread that we will not be able ... read more

With less than a week to go before we leave, we still haven't figured out where we are going to stay in the big cities of Paris and London. Evy and I began our day with a trip to train office where we found out some details about trains North as well as trains from France to England. We also went to the book store where we tried to find an English language travel guide to France, but without any luck. Back at the apartment, we shifted though the email responses to apartment queries and responded to a few of the best ones. We spent the afternoon doing school work (we have a lot to do over the next month or so) and Benjamin took advantage of some paints borrowed from Tsetse's to get an art ... read more