My stinky cheese is stinking up my room

I feel like the past week has been really busy, but when I sat down to write about it I can't really think of what I have been doing... let's see--
I bought a bike! Well, a bike frame. It came out of this pile. (photo cred. to Catherine)

The place I got it from is called uN p'Tit véLo dAnS La Tête. They have all the tools and (almost all) the extra bike parts I need. I do have to buy my new,used, and beautiful bike some new tires which will cost me about 5x what I paid for my bike (which cost only €10!) But I am beyond excited to have it up and running. Also, A friend and I have also been throwing around the idea of biking to Paris in the spring.
here she is!

When I get it all fixed up you'll really be impressed!

Tuesday I went running with a few people from my hall (Catherine, Benji, Manuel)-- we ran along the Isère River (Photo cred. to Catherine)

Wednesday I went to a two hour free fight/ boxing class with another girl from my hall (Manuella). Unfortunately I don't have pictures from that. It was fun, but I don't think I will be going back.

In other news it rained a lot last week, which means it was snowing in the mountains!!!


I feel like my French is getting a bit better, but today I went to a lecture in the city about the Euro, money, debt, yadda yadda yadda is was impossible to understand.
Also, some bad news, yesterday, I found that I'm not allowed to travel outside of France until I get my visa verified which won't be until the end of November :( That puts a damper on my travel plans for our two week break in October.
Good news: I went to Ikea yesterday to get a few things to make my life more comfortable... such as a comforter, a pan (to cook eggs!!!), a bowl (for cereal yummm), and a rug for my bathroom.

France is starting to feel a bit more homey

OnlyLyon

(^ the theatre)
(< us at the basilica)
Saturday morning I had been invited to go to Lyon! The five of us ( L-R: Me, Mariasole - Italy, Charlotte - Belgium, Barbora - Czech Republic, Barbara - Belgium) that were going met at the train station at 9. I bought a pass reserved for people ages 12-25 that gives a discount of 25%-60% on every train ticket bought. The pass is €49 but it is good for a year and we saved %50 on our tickets to Lyon making them only €9.8 each way!
Once we located the metro we bought day passes and headed into the city! After a quick pain chocolat and a peek into the Cathédrale Saint-Jean we took a walk through a street market along one of the two rivers that runs through the city. Next, we hit up the Opera de Lyon which is open to fee tours on Saturdays. After a lunch of bread and baguette we started climbing the city's streets so we could see evvveeerryyytthhhiinnnggg. We took a bus back into the center of the city and visited the Musée des beaux-arts . Then we headed up the other side of the city to see the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière, a large 19th century basilica on the top of Fourvière Hill. Next was the Roman-era Theatre on the Fourvière hill. After that it was time to eat again. This time we decided to spluge on a plat chaud we found a cute restaurant that served food Lyonnais. I got a dish that consisted of salmon covered in some kind of crawfish sauce, cheesy potatoes, a bite of salad, bread, and wine. We were too full to find our way home immediately so we took a stroll through the nightlife of Lyon.
Then it was back on the train and home to Grenoble!

just saying

I took this last night part way up the Fort de La Bastille which is a fort built in the 16th- century. It sits on the northern side of the Isère River and is Grenoble's best known landmark

Alo Grenoble!

Grenoble!!! It took me longer than I expected to find the tram then make my way to my residence hall, but everything worked out in the end. My room is actually quite small but I can see the mountains through my window! Actually, I can see the mountains from literally anywhere in the city.
So far I have managed to find food, buy a cell phone, make a few friends, familiarize myself with a bit of the campus, get the internet in my room (!), and find a place where I can build my own bicycle ( very much similar to Plan B in NOLA)
Monday I was almost an hour late for my first class because I couldn't find the building, but today I was a pro.

Getting there and here

1

I made it to France! Both flights were good. I thought I would be able to sleep on the flight from Charlotte to Paris but instead I watched the new karate kid, always sunny, and ratatouille. I arrived in Paris at 7 am and my couch surfing friend, Jean, met me at the airport. When we got to his apartment, located in a suburb or Paris called Montreuil,  which he shares with 4 (or 5?) people we both took a 3 hour nap. We went with Jeans's cousin to a big flea market so he could buy a mattress for his new apartment. After dropping off the new mattress the three of us went back to Jean's to eat a salad, cheese, and bread.   

Jean and I had been invited to Jean's good friend, Vincent's (also surfed at my house) parent's house for dinner. We met Vincent at his apartment for drinks and more bread and a dried fish snack. When we got to Vincent's parent's place we had appetizers of cheese, crackers, meat slices, spinach bread, cheese wrapped in cooked bell peppers, cantaloupe and dessert wine. Then we moved to the table and had pasta cooked with zucchini and mushrooms and topped with scallops and crawfish, and bread. This was followed by 7 kinds or cheese and more bread and to wrap things up we had a serving fruit and a fruit tart then coffee or tea. By this point I am stuffed and having slept only 3 hours in the past 44 I was falling asleep in my chair (the wine wasn't helping). After dinner Vincent's dad took us back to Jean's where I immediately passed out. 

Today I had to head to Grenoble. Jean wanted to make sure I got on my train so he came with me to the Gare de Lyon in Paris and, because I used and American credit card to make my purchase, I couldn't use the electronic machine to get my ticket so We had to wait in very long lines to get it from a teller. When we finally got it i had about 3 minutes to catch the train. Jean sprinted with me all the way to the car I was supposed to be in. So here I am - on the train the Grenoble, seeing the beautiful countryside sprinkled with farm houses and sunflower fields.