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Published: August 7th 2007
Moooooo
(Emma's photo) This is from the agricultural market we found in Grenoble.Today we got up around 8am. I took a very short run to get the blood flowing while the girls and Jonathan had breakfast. Emma, Eliza and I had gone out for the obligatory chocolate chip breadsticks and pastries. We got dressed and walked across the Rhone to the T-1 tram line and took it to the train station to catch a 10:24 train to Grenoble. The scenery changed from meadows of sunflowers and cows to some spectacular mountains as we approached the French Alps. We didn’t really have any big agenda on our trip to Grenoble, but a friend of ours, Susan, had spent a semester there in college (21 years ago she claims) and it seemed like a nice day trip for ourselves. We had armed ourselves with the bare minimum. We carried Eliza in the Ergo backpack which has a little pocket that held two spare diapers and wipes. Jonathan carried a small day pack that zips off one of our pieces of luggage. This contained a long sleeve shirt for each of the girls, Jonathan’s large camera and an extra lens, Emma’s camera, a water bottle and snack. We later learned that we should carry
Lunchtime
Another pretty spot for lunch, this one in the flower garden in Grenoble. at least two water bottles and ended up acquiring one along the way.
We got a map at the train station and headed in the direction of the one thing we knew we wanted to do. We ended up at the Jardin de Ville where we happened upon a nice agricultural market. There were all sorts of animals for the kids to pet, which they really enjoyed. By this time it was lunchtime, so we found a sandwich shop and got sandwiches and parked ourselves in this lovely flower garden for a bite to eat. After lunch and some pigeon chasing we made our way to the funicular. Unlike the two in Lyon that are on the ground and travel via tunnels, this one is very James Bond-like and is suspended high in the air across the L’Isere river and up the mountain to the Bastille. What a ride! The kids loved it and we will now be seeking out funiculars around Europe
Once at the top we had stunning views of Grenoble and the Alps in the distance. We hiked around and saw a lookout point (what appeared to be) not too far away. The kids
Funicular
Amazing ride over the city and river up the mountain to the Bastille. were game so we hiked down to it, stairway after stairway after tunnel after stairway. It was an amazing walk upon the ledge through all of these ruins and we finally reached our destination. It was at this point that we realized we should have brought another water bottle. The sun had grown hot in the late afternoon and everyone was pooped. However, with the promise of ice cream at the top there was no complaining on the 376 steps back up to the top!! It was terrific and the kids were very proud of themselves. Satiated with some ice pops we rode the funicular back down (my hands over my eyes!) and headed for the playground we had seen earlier. We had seen a few churches around town but thought the kids needed some down time. Emma and I went to the local grocery store and picked up supplies so that we could have dinner on the train ride back to Lyon. We got peanuts, bread, nutella, two cheese, salami, wine, and apples. After an hour of playing we meandered back to the train station.
The ride back was made even better by the particular compartment that we
Bastille
Here is a view of the lookout tower we hiked to from the top of the Bastille. 376 stairs one way! got on this particular train. We were in the middle of the car, almost portioned off by glass and there were two large wrap around seats around a table. It was almost like having our own big car to ourselves. We were able to spread out and have dinner and then for dessert nutella/banana dessert-wiches (a favorite flavor combination). We got back into Lyon at 7:45 and Eliza fell asleep in the backpack on the way to the hotel (she hadn’t had a nap all day and yet still did marvelously). Once we got home we left her in her clothes and put her in bed and then Jonathan got the big girls ready for bed while I packed up the apartment. While brushing Emma’s teeth her tooth came out! She wants to save it for the tooth fairy in Belgium, so we will transport it home with us. Her big tooth is already through so she won’t be a jack-o-lantern for too long.
Tomorrow, Paris again!
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