Sunday, October 30, 2011

Macy Adventures

farmer's market
BATMAN
Verdun Prefecture - aka my fav. reading spot

MANGO



The second day (Friday), I was super excited because I was not utterly exhausted.  I was ready to head back out and go on another adventure!  So, we took “les bulles” up to the Bastille - which I’ve already done and explained in another blog post but here’s a synopsis in case you’ve forgotten.  “Les bulles” are these beautiful bubble-like cable cars that take you up to the top of one of the mountains on the edge of Grenoble where there are remains of fortifications built during the Middle Ages.  It was absolutely gorgeous because the leaves are changing colors so the views were even more breathtaking than usual.  We also got some fruit at the farmers market, took some pictures at this gorgeous park (Verdun Prefacture) that I love to read in, found Travis by peering into a patisserie window where he was studying, ate lunch with Travis at some Greek(ish) restaurant called Batmans (where the owner insisted that Macy was Mexican), whipped out some delicious fruit at Batmans (including a MANGO – yay!  my favorite fruit!), returned to the patisserie and ate yummy desserts, explored and took more pictures. 


check out the difference in clouds.  so cool!







I was feeling pretty tired at this point, so Macy and I decided to return home.  But, as we were walking to the tram we got stopped by this young man, Jonathon, asking for money for an educational organization.  Macy was annoyed at first, but he was super sweet so we decided to stop and chat with him.  Apparently, he has been in Grenoble for a year and is studying at a local university.  We, and by we I actually mean Macy, asked him about some of the popular bars and got his number!  Score!  Then, we accidentally hopped on the wrong tram.  We got off and took some back streets towards the correct tram stop and stumbled across Baberousse – a bar he had recommended.  Fate!

We finally got home and rested up before we met up with the gang for dinner at a Mexican restaurant.  After dinner I was still feeling pretty good, so I decided to take Macy to a few of our favorite night spots and then head home for an early night.  We ended up hitting London Pub, Plan B, and Baberousse. 



Tequilla Poppers

Pub 2 - infamous London Pub

Pub 1 (sorta - too crowded)
Pub 3 - recommendation from the local!


London Pub was hilarious.  There was a group of boys at the table next to us who were adorable.  They struck a conversation with us and told us they were from Miami.  Complete lies.  They had Irish accents, which we pointed out, and they quickly said that it’s because their parents are from Ireland.  Haha. I’m not sure why they thought Miami would impress us.  Anyways, the whole time we were there we would see them huddle and then they’d come up with some clever small talk to blurt out to our group spontaneously.  It was funny.  (Inside joke – We’re from Tequilla).  Baberousse was awesome – great music and a lot of dancing.  Very cool atmosphere.  By the time we got there I was feeling pretty shitty, unfortunately, so it was just a step in and step out kind of deal. 

The next morning, I woke up to a text from Jonathon.  We had invited him out with us but he never responded.  He said sorry for not responding, he was at another party last night.  He said to definitely let us know when we go out again.  Exciting!  This could be a connection to a group of young French people.  We’ll see what happens!  We spent the rest of the day resting, watching movies, and relaxing.  We sat on my windowsill for a while and just stared at the mountains and watched my neighbor work on his garden (yes, a little creepy – but he was cute and old).  Then, we walked downtown and bought a baguette to eat with the avacodo we had gotten at the farmer’s market the day before.  We also randomly ran into a circus in the park I usually run in – there were camels or chameaux, it was awesome.  Solid day – until the shenanigans of the evening happened that I explained in the post before. 


YUM


might be the best dessert I've ever had
Another couple random tid bits:

-My host parent’s grandchildren were very sweet this weekend.  They attempted to speak English at meal times so Macy could understand since she doesn’t know a lick of French.  Our favorite (Monah?) even shared some of the words she had to memorize for her college English class – one of which was power breaker.  So bizarre!  There was also the most adorable family fight because the 17 year old cousin was going to a Halloween party with her older cousin.  The uncle got super upset about it and ended up wrestling to get her phone.  It was very entertaining and made me miss my family a lot! 

-This morning I was standing alone watching Macy’s bus take off when this man who had been sitting across from Macy and I inside came up to me.  He struck up a conversation and I found out he is from Egypt but has been living in France for a few years.  He asked for my number and I gave it to him.  Luckily I gave him my actual number because he called me right after to make sure it worked.  He offered to give me a ride back to Echirolles.  I said, no and said maybe we could get some coffee later.  I’m glad I talked to him and decided not to be timid because it was a very interesting experience to have a guy be so pushy in his flirting.  I was in a public place so I felt perfectly safe, but it made me think a lot about different cultures and how perhaps his behavior was normal for Egyptian men.  Maybe I will get coffee and try to learn more about him!


-I just sneezed and it didn’t hurt that badly!  Yay!

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