Claire: Grenoble, finalement!

Hello!
So after all that moving and planning and flying, I have arrived. Grenoble has surpassed my expectations, both in natural beauty and bureaucratic headaches. From the moment I arrived I have felt very welcomed here – my new French roommates welcomed me at the door with homemade moussaka and wine – but the list of things I have to mail to the government to satisfy their visa requirements is incredibly long. I have also discovered some fairly silly hassles such as trying to prove that I have a place to live in order to get a bank account, when in fact it is necessary to have a French bank account to rent an apartment! Thankfully the teacher who I will be working with has helped me to find a lovely apartment for the first few weeks with some of the university students here.

I love France already for so many reasons, one of which being their sense of an adequate amount of holiday. I have an incredible 8 weeks of paid holiday in my 7 month contract (yes, really!). Also I find the people to be quite friendly and patient with my stumbling French. I have been surprised at their generosity and willingness to help – I always thought the French were supposed to be aloof!

I have just returned from a walk with my roommates up to the Bastille, and after a wonderful dinner of ‘tartine” which is basically brushetta but with lots of different options for toppings. I had one with mango, chevre, and raisins.

Below are some photos of my first week here. This city is incredible – ringed by mountains, and I also had the chance to go up to a little town called Autrans this weekend, which was high up in the mountains and very cute. I particularly like the first picture of my roommates up on the Bastille, where you can get a sense of how the mountains loom over the city.
The lovely view from the BastilleWeekend in Autrans, a little ski village nearbyAn interesting building project around the corner from my apartmentMe and the river Isère

3 Responses to “Claire: Grenoble, finalement!”

  1. Eric G says:

    Hi there, i came accross youre blog via Google. I am english and recently moved to Grenoble. It made me smile the loop “no bank account – no appartment” “no appartment – no bank account”. I had a similar experience. Anyway, i was wondering if you found an english speaking doctor. And if so, how; since it seems to be illegal to publicise anything about doctors in France. If you can help i would be grateful for an Email. Eric.

  2. claire says:

    Hi Eric,
    Sorry I cannot help you much! I have not been sick and have not needed to fing a doctor yet. Somehow I am not surprised that it is so difficult…good luck searching.

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