Grenoble: Home Sweet Home

I'm here!  After a very intimidating--but ultimately easy--journey, I made it to Grenoble.  Everyone keeps telling me that Grenoble is very small, but for me it seems huge.  The downtown (centre-ville) is about ten times the size of Oxford.  So many restaurants, cafés, and shops to explore!  Right now the "soldes" are going on, which is the month-2 month sale that goes on in France twice a year.  This means I'm going to get all my shopping in now and then I can be a properly layered, dark-clothed French girl.  

I'm living with a middle-aged couple, Geneviéve et Christien, in their apartment building about a 6 minute bus ride from centre-ville (this is much closer than most of the other students on my program).  They have a 22-year-old son, but he has his own apartment.  They have two cats, one is very fat and old and I have not yet seen it move, and the other is seven months old and curious and apparently cost a lot of money.  I'm very lucky to have internet at home because some of the students don't.  I also have a big bedroom with a double bed and my own bathroom (true luxury!)  The shower will take a serious adjustment though.  So, you go into the bathroom and there is a toilet, a sink, and a faucet with a shower head thing (one of those ones that's on a cord and doesn't attach to the wall).  So there's no shower curtain, or bathtub or anything to distinguish the shower from the rest of the bathroom.  Which means when I shower, I have to hide everything that isn't waterproof.  I'm sure I will forget about the toilet paper some day and drown it completely.  

My bedroom has two big beautiful windows with an incredible view of the mountains.  Grenoble is completely surrounded by mountains, so there is a wonderful view wherever you look.  The picture behind the title is part of a picture I took that shows the view from my bedroom.  I'll post more pictures of stuff as soon as I figure out how to make blogger upload my pictures (it's not working ... any suggestions?)

We had our first intensive French class this afternoon and tomorrow we have two hours in the morning and two in the afternoon of the same thing.  By the end of the week I'm sure I will be an expert.  À bientôt!