For those of you who have never had an extended stay in a country where the language is unfamiliar (to say the least), the culture is distinct, the cars are small, the streets are small, and the buildings are old - some very old, and where many wars were fought; this may be hard to relate. France is a country with a VERY secular approach to life; yet where traditions based on faith abound. Grenoble is a high technology center with MEMS and IC foundries, research centers, universities, and a 1600 year old baptistry recently unearthed beneath 3 meters of crushed stone and soil. Relics of the stone age are found; and a fort (bastille) built in the 19th century against an invasion from Italy - which never came - overlooks the city with a few remains of a Roman wall at the base of the hill. If you are willing to shop every day, the breads, fruits, vegetables, cheeses, sausages, etc. are wonderful; and you can get no better than to ask the proprietor to pick something out for you. (Just don't try to shop on Monday - the sidewalks are rolled up.) Going out to eat for an evening meal just cannot be done before 19:30 (7:30 PM por Les Americains). Our dinner at a home ended when we pled age and fatigue at nearly midnight. The little International Church of Grenoble where we worship has all of the difficulties of a transient congregation - Nancy and I are the "Seniors" of the group. Three missionary families have been here for years; and they work with both the English speaking assembly and the French assembly. I can hardly describe myself as being conversant in French; but most of the time I can tease out the meaning of written phrases; but can only pick out every third or fourth word (if I am lucky) of the rapidly spoken French.
So, how would I sum up this time? Absolutely wonderful. I am blessed with a wife who is my companion and friend in travel; brave enough to fly 6,000 miles home alone to prep for Christmas; be supportive of the sometimes strange and demanding hours I am working; put up with my sometimes mono-maniacal focus on tasks she does not know of or comprehend; and amuse away a number of hours with reading - since TV is either incomprensible or awful (and that describes the BBC channels) (well, not always :-) ) or in French. Awesome!!!
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Sunday, December 20, 2009
TIF - French laundry - not! 20/12/2009
So, it is bad enough that the laundry machines have all of the instructions written in obtuse, abbreviated French - that the directions are not complete - that they only work using tokens that may be purchased only during the work week when the apartment manager is present - that I only had one token for the one load of laundry I would need to do before flying home. What the machine - nor the English instructions back upstairs in the apartment did not indicate was that opening the door to check on the load after it started would forfeit the process and not return you token. So now I have to get home early enough tomorrow to get another token or fly my dirty clothes back to California. ARGHH!
Nancy had an interesting time in Detroit going through customs on Wednesday. For some reason she misread the form and checked the box indicating that she had more than $10,000 in cash with her. That led to some very interesting questions from the customs agent till they got is sorted out that this was just a mistake. She doesn't look like a drug courier or a smuggler - honest she doesn't. :-)
Nancy had an interesting time in Detroit going through customs on Wednesday. For some reason she misread the form and checked the box indicating that she had more than $10,000 in cash with her. That led to some very interesting questions from the customs agent till they got is sorted out that this was just a mistake. She doesn't look like a drug courier or a smuggler - honest she doesn't. :-)
Friday, December 18, 2009
Quelle différence un jour fait! (What a difference a day makes!)
Today it is snowing - I am told the accumulation is to be 5 cm - two inches; but it looks like more than that already; and it is still coming down. I have to drive 19 km to get back to my apartment; and I have to drive with French drivers on the roads - brrrrrr!!!
Y'all pray for me!
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Annecy and Lyon
First, a bit about Lyon. Nancy's friend loaned her a book - Search for Eternity - based on a boy from Lyon; and the historical base was absolutely fantastic. It recalled and made alive much of what we saw on our visit in old town Lyon. What happened here during WWII was incredible; and now the vists to the Resistance museums are really alive for me.
Nancy decided she would rather jump in the cold Alpine lake that to spend time in the prison utilized through WWII by the Nazis in Annecy. :-)
Now, about Annecy - an Alpine resort city that literally throbs with history. The prison shown above is located on an island in the middle of the town. We visited a chateau that was abandoned as too cold and dreary first in the early 16th century, but was expanded and occupied as a fort by a French regiment from the 17th century till the middle of the 20th century. The lake holds remains from the stone age. We have decided that visitors who join us over here will get at least a day at each of those sites, if at all possible.
Flat Stanley is shown here operating the miniature construction equipment used in keeping the traffic on our street in a great deal of disarray. He can't wait to get back to the states and tell our grandson all of his adventures here in France.
Now, about Annecy - an Alpine resort city that literally throbs with history. The prison shown above is located on an island in the middle of the town. We visited a chateau that was abandoned as too cold and dreary first in the early 16th century, but was expanded and occupied as a fort by a French regiment from the 17th century till the middle of the 20th century. The lake holds remains from the stone age. We have decided that visitors who join us over here will get at least a day at each of those sites, if at all possible.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Yuk!
I did not feel like updating this blog. I don't know how, via text, to stick my tongue out and blow a bronx cheer. (At myself.) Monday was not a very nice day. It was raining; the view down the stree was blocked by a van and a car parked illegally at the corner, and the nice frenchman driving my way came very fast out from behind the van just as I pulled in to the street. We bent a fair amount of metal, but no one was hurt. Then my phone would not ring the rental car road service number. Monsieur's phone had a nearly dead battery. The French police did not come because no one was hurt. The car accident report that was supposed to be in the car was not there. No one would answer the phone at the rental car service desk until after 9:00. They did not fax the report and instructions to the local car rental office as they said they would.......................I finally did get to work around noon. I wll not post a picture of the car - it was driveable to the rental agency, and the replacement seems to be behaving well.
O.K. It is still a beautiful area and we are still enjoying it.
O.K. It is still a beautiful area and we are still enjoying it.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Turkey Day and Lyon
Lyon – Turkey day without turkey.
I did have most of the day off on Thanksgiving Day – that is, after spending the morning e-mailing out responses to Medica, then driving to Lyon. Nancy and I stayed in a wonderful hotel that was built into the shell of four 16th century houses in old town Lyon. We managed a walking tour on our own for much of the afternoon, visiting a church started in the 12th century, on the site of a church from the 6th century, and where early Christian missionaries had been arrested. (The amphitheater where they were pitted against wild beasts was only recently discovered under the houses in the silk district of the town.) The church has an astronomical clock that was started in the 13th century and finished in 1598. The striking of the clock begins with the crowing of a rooster, marching of a Swiss guard, an angel greeting Mary and a dove descending upon her, while an angel beats a drum to the sounding of a hymn with bells. Very impressive! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyon_Cathedral ) We saw two Roman theaters built in 15 BC that were excavated after WWII.
Walking back to our hotel, we came upon a steep long staircase – which Nancy joking asked if I could climb up in 2 minutes. I looked again, accepted the challenge, and started a jaunt up the steps – only to find there was a turn, and we could only see half of the staircase. Undaunted, I continued – although I did pause for breath a couple of times. After climbing back down, I noticed my legs signaling a bit of overload, so we stopped for coffee before going back to the hotel. (I knew I would pay for the 250 step jaunt later, but was still glad to have done it – I needed the exercise.)
I dressed and joined the Tronics execs and board for dinner at 8:00, and we took off for the restaurant, which appeared to be around the block behind the hotel. It was – up another set of stairs going up the same hill!!!!. I did not jog up this time. A week later, my calves have recovered from the abuse of running up 250 steps and then climbing a similar climb a couple of hours later.
We had a guided walk the next day that gave us much more insight into this truly ancient city – continually inhabited since well before Christ.
I did have most of the day off on Thanksgiving Day – that is, after spending the morning e-mailing out responses to Medica, then driving to Lyon. Nancy and I stayed in a wonderful hotel that was built into the shell of four 16th century houses in old town Lyon. We managed a walking tour on our own for much of the afternoon, visiting a church started in the 12th century, on the site of a church from the 6th century, and where early Christian missionaries had been arrested. (The amphitheater where they were pitted against wild beasts was only recently discovered under the houses in the silk district of the town.) The church has an astronomical clock that was started in the 13th century and finished in 1598. The striking of the clock begins with the crowing of a rooster, marching of a Swiss guard, an angel greeting Mary and a dove descending upon her, while an angel beats a drum to the sounding of a hymn with bells. Very impressive! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyon_Cathedral ) We saw two Roman theaters built in 15 BC that were excavated after WWII.
Walking back to our hotel, we came upon a steep long staircase – which Nancy joking asked if I could climb up in 2 minutes. I looked again, accepted the challenge, and started a jaunt up the steps – only to find there was a turn, and we could only see half of the staircase. Undaunted, I continued – although I did pause for breath a couple of times. After climbing back down, I noticed my legs signaling a bit of overload, so we stopped for coffee before going back to the hotel. (I knew I would pay for the 250 step jaunt later, but was still glad to have done it – I needed the exercise.)
I dressed and joined the Tronics execs and board for dinner at 8:00, and we took off for the restaurant, which appeared to be around the block behind the hotel. It was – up another set of stairs going up the same hill!!!!. I did not jog up this time. A week later, my calves have recovered from the abuse of running up 250 steps and then climbing a similar climb a couple of hours later.
We had a guided walk the next day that gave us much more insight into this truly ancient city – continually inhabited since well before Christ.
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