So when are you leaving? Have you seen Annecy? It’s only an hour or so drive from Grenoble. It’s one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen. The lake is crystal clear and used for drinking water, and it has the Alps as a backdrop. It also has an old, historic part of town that is so charming it doesn’t seem real. It’s like Disney built it.
On one side of the lake it’s one of the priciest real estate areas in France, we were told. Think summer vacation homes for the wealthy. There’s a 3-star Michelin restaurant there we didn’t try because money!
We’re leaving Grenoble on Monday morning, going to Paris and flying out on Wednesday morning. As a Christmas present to my son we are going to Disney Paris on Tuesday. Tomorrow my wife is skiing and after that we are packing and cleaning, so I think our chance to travel has expired.
I’m from an eastern region, one of those places called “Little Siberia” you can find in any country.
I’m living in Paris, and I can probably see pipes and a wall from my window when the sun reaches it an hour per day!
That reminds me…not looking forward to returning to a cold winter. The temps here are still getting into the 40s F. back home there is the potential to have days with the highs in the negatives.
Not originally, but currently. It can be damn cold. I would like to move someplace where winter isn’t 5 months of the year. Sometimes it isn’t that bad, but it can be.
Thanks for sharing your trip @robc04. You look like Ed Helms!
I’m very envious. I went to France a lot as a kid, since my Dad got training there, so sometimes we lived there months at a time. Sometimes in Paris, sometimes in Bourges. When we lived in Bourges (in central France), we would take the car every weekend and try to visit a different Chateau every week. Nearly every decent sized town in France seems to have a Chateau. Some weekends we would visit several Chateaus.
I recognize your pictures of Chambord, so I’ve been to that one! I was probably your son’s age, so this trip is going to stick with him the rest of his life. He’s a lucky kid. :)
We were all lucky to be able to do this trip. Sounds like you had some great experiences too!
My computer monitor seems so big after gaming on a crappy little laptop for 7 months. I just installed Kingdom Come Deliverance - my first action PC game in a while!
My girlfriend tells me that when she was in France and tried to speak French, in the north they replied in French as though she were fluent, in the south they replied in English, and in at least one memorable incident in Paris she was yelled at (presumably in French).
Our experience during the 80s was very pleasant. I was a kid, but my Dad knew some French. I learned enough to order my own meals at a restaurant. (Steak with fries, and ice cream with no cream on top, every day!)
Our experience was that if you spoke a little French, people were very helpful, both in Paris and in central France (we lived in Bourge for a few months).
Mine too. I’d apologize in French for not knowing too much. In Paris so many people spoke some English it was ok. In Grenoble it was a little harder. A lot of the people there study Italian as their 2nd language since Italy is on the other side of the Alps.
