First Days: Hiking and Adventures

Salut!

A Park in Grenoble

It's time to update the blog for the first time from in France. Please note, dear readers, that this text was written a couple of days ago at the hostel in Grenoble. Now, I'm already arrived safely at my campus residence in Lyon, though there were small bends along the way. But about those bends you will hear later. This time, you will have to be satisfied with only reading about my holiday in Grenoble.


Let's get to the point. Instead of unnecessary words you will probably want to rather hear what has REALLY happened here. Because normally a lot of things happen while getting to know a new city, I decided to share with you only a few highlights. Because time is money, I tried to save yours by dividing this text into sections, each with their own headlines, so you may read only the part of which you are interested in.

About the Language


I arrived in Grenoble on Wednesday night. I spent the day in aeroplanes and also at the airport in Stockholm. Because nothing special happened at the airport, I will jump directly to Wednesday evening, when I went to the centre of Grenoble by bus from Grenoble-Isère airport. After climbing to the bus I managed to buy my ticket "à Grenoble" and sat on the bench. I sat there satisfied with my success of finding the right bus until I noticed a blue sticker that was attached to the window next to me. It said that the place in which I was sitting was reserved for the persons with a wheelchair. So, during the whole ride I felt guilty about sitting in this place, even though there wasn't even half a wheelchair in the bus. My pain was even prolonged because a Swedish girl, who was in the bus, had forgotten her skis at the airport and we had to go back and get them with the bus still full of people. At least I learned a new word. Wheelchair, "fauteuil roulant" or the rolling chair.

Stunning views of the city

One can learn new words in many ways. I got to know the next novelty as soon as I arrived at the hostel after using a tram and my own feet. I asked of the nice hostel receptionist about hiking tracks in Grenoble. He told me about the options, and then began to talk about "rockets" with which one could climb up to the mountains even at this time of the year. The curious look on my face revealed very quickly that I had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. So he asked me if I knew what "raquettes' s are. When I replied that I did not know, he pointed at his feet and told me that one could walk on the snow with them. So he was talking about snowshoes!

Although I have learned new words, speaking the French language still causes great pain and sometimes even irritation. Speaking is slow and clumsy, and pronunciation horrible. I have to also ask people to repeat the phrases, simply because I do not understand. "Quoi?" (What?) Is my favorite word. In order to avoid repetition I also use the word "comment?" (How?) Still, there has also been some encouraging encounters. In he first evening there were two German girls at my hostel room, who had been on an Erasmus exchange somewhere in France. They encouraged me to speak, even if it is difficult, and said that in the beginning, they hadn't got anything out of their mouths. Now they spoke French very well. With the native French speakers it is more difficult to talk, because they speak so quickly, but I guess that will also get easier through time.

About the City

Näkymä hostellin ikkunast

A French woman, who spent one night in the same hostel room with me said that Grenoble is quite similar to other French cities. There is nothing interesting out there. I venture to disagree, although I have to admit that I don't have a strong local knowledge. Still I think that the city of Grenoble, surrounded by mountains, contains a huge beauty and charm. This is confirmed by the very fact that one can see the mountains just by looking out of the hostel room window. Downtown is really flat, just like a pancake. The mountains, however, create a great setting and make the city unique.

A local education centre for future lawyers

Yesterday I was circling all day long in the center of Grenoble. I went to the tourist office to get a route map for the city's main attractions. However, I added to the route a few loops of my own. The centre is traditionally European with its narrow streets and squares that can't be accessed by cars. During summer days I could have rested my feet in one of the many parks, but the weather took its toll, since it's not that tempting to sit on a bench on a cold winter's day. Instead, I sat down for a moment in a couple of stunning churches in order to warm up my limbs.


Perhaps the biggest attraction in the city, the cable car, was unfortunately closed. So there was nothing else to be done than to climb on foot to the Bastille fortress, the ruins of which stand above Grenoble, at the altitude of about half a kilometre. At la Bastille one has a spectacular view of the city and the mountains. Definitely a place worth visiting.


The opportunities for shopping at the city centre are reasonable. However, the shops are all around the centre, so it may take some time, if one wants to find some particular boutique. There are some bigger shopping centers on the outskirts of the city. I didn't go to any of those, so I don't know whether they were any good.

About Hiking

Small obstacles along the way

Since one could see the most important parts of the centre in one day, today I decided to go hiking. Although the man at the hostel's reception had recommended the use of snowshoes, I decided to survive without them, because I don't have these shoes even in Finland. Neither did I want to rent them now while in Grenoble. So I decided to stay on my hiking trip below the snow line.

Beautiful landscape along the way

There were a lot of route options. The day before I I had acquired a map from the tourist office and visited the "Maison de Montagne", or mountain-guiding center to ask for a suitable route. I had asked for a route that would take me about five hours. I started hiking and about half an hour later I had already walked a quarter of the route recommended for me. The mountain guide clearly didn't believe in my capacity or skills. Because I didn't want to shorten my hike to two hours, I designed a new route, which was easy with the map I had received.

Reitit oli merkitty hyvin maastoon

The original route recommended by the mountain guide rose to only about 500 meters, but I added a 937 metre high peak to my own hike and climbed up there. After I had come down I continued my journey through cute small villages. Although the route wasn't that scenic, because it was quite foggy everywhere, at least I did a great deal of sports during the day!  

About the Culture

Näkymä Bastillelta

If you have ever wondered why the French are so slim, even though the country is known for its astonishing food, I finally found the answer. This applies at least to Grenoble. The people here do amazingly lot of sports. While climbing up to the Bastille fortress there were tens of men and women running past in their sports outfits. And you must believe me, when I say that the route certainly wasn't the easiest in the world, because the whole way the rise was quite steep. If something keeps you in shape and burns your extra calories, then it's that hill. But this is not enough. For when I was coming down the stairs I saw a man who was walking up the stairs with wood (or metal) stilts. An incredible performance.

Vesi virtaa vuorilta

Of course I have to also write about the food. It is so sweet. One just can't get bored with the self-made products of the boulangerie-bakeries. Yesterday I ate a lemon pie. Tomorrow I will have a tarte tatin for a dessert and the day after ... Fortunately I have a long time to taste all the sweet products,, so no need to eat them all at once. Savoury dishes are of course a different matter. One can eat them more without a worry. Because this is such a broad subject, I will leave it to be better dealt with in the future. I will probably post an own blog text of this topic, when I'm more familiar with the local selection of food.

Finally, I will still introduce you to one of the most important characters of the French. It is the pride of their own language. This can be seen for example in the fact that all movies are duped French. Today I went to the cinema to see the movie Mission Impossible 4. It was in French, of course. It was funny to watch Tom Cruise speaking French, the little that I understood the language. Even more amusing, however, was to listen to our own son, Samuli Edelmann*, talking in French. This movie jumped immediately to the list, "the films I have to watch in their original version, when I get back to Finland." For your information too, the movie was good. Samuli had an important role to play and he acted very well! So I really recommend that you will go and watch the movie.

*For those who don't know, Samuli Edelmann is a Finnish actor slash singer, and very famous in his own country. I hope that a role in Mission Impossible will be his breakthrough and that he will be seen also in other Hollywood movies in the future.