Une Bonne Journée
The neighbourhood just below our hotel is a pizza lovers paradise. The entire length of the street is lined with pizza restaurants, I reckon for every 5 people in Grenoble there’s a pizza joint. As a pizza shop owner, you’d really want to work on your special; the competition would be intense and I’m guessing a ham and pineapple just wouldn’t cut it.
I mentioned yesterday that before 9, the city centre of Grenoble is yet to wake up, with shutters tightly clamped and just a handful of people out and about. They really aren’t morning people! The bells in the old clock tower chimed for 11am and still most of the shops were shut. They seem to open around lunchtime but curiously close again in the early afternoon and then reopen later in the evening. There’s a very small, easy to miss, window of opportunity to go shopping so it’s a great way to save money!
Speaking of money, you require some if nature calls and you need to avail yourself of les toilettes publique. The only way to avoid the need to ‘spend a penny’, is to go into a bar or restaurant, buy something and then earn the right to use their facilities. Well, Rossco was in desperate need of a loo this morning and with great urgency, ushered me into a bar and issued a decree: “I’m busting, buy some Cokes”. It was well before lunchtime but the little local was filled with guys drinking wine and enjoying one another’s company. They all knew each other and at one stage, one of the other customers popped behind the bar with his backpack still on his back and asked me if I’d like a wine. Just a tip for anyone travelling to France and wanting to quench your thirst with a Coca Cola… make sure you order Cocas, and not Cokes. You’ll end up with something entirely different if you request the latter!
While Ross shot off to find the toilet, I asked the waiter for “Two Cocas Zero s’il vous plâit”. He looked a bit worried, revealing regrettably that he only had full-sugar Cocas in stock. Before I even had a chance to say that was OK, the back-packed guy left his white wine on the table, scooted back behind the bar and after a rummage behind the counter, produced a couple of Coke Zeros. “Voila!”
It was such a cute little bar and everyone was so friendly. After we’d finished, I went up to the bar to pay, only to be told that he only accepted cash. Neither of us had come out with our wallets and were intending to use Apple Pay. We had absolutely no cash and no cards to even go to an ATM. I showed him my phone and asked again if I could pay with my card but he vigorously shook his head and said “no cards”. Uh oh. What the heck were we going to do? The next minute, maybe as a result of seeing the panic in our eyes, the gentle publican reached over the bar, held my hand and said in his broken English, “Zees ees OK, you donn worry.” The smiling gallery of friends in the bar nodded along as if it was a collective decision to gift two strangers with Cokes and send them off with well wishes. We were shocked and touched at the same time. Of all the bars Ross could have chosen to relieve himself in, we definitely picked a good one. We vowed to come back with the money later today.
Earlier this morning we found an authentic little French crêperie where we broke our fast with some deliciously warm crepes. After a quick dress rehearsal, Ross ordered his coffee entirely in French, surprising the waitress, that he knew what to say, and surprising himself, that she actually understood him! The coffee was good too! We had a great FaceTime with 3 of the kids over breakfast, which was lovely.
Eric, Maisy’s host dad from her exchange, had sent us a warning that a storm was brewing. The meteorologists here in France are uncannily accurate. Eric sent through the warning from the weather bureau saying the storm would hit at 4pm and there would be a short burst of lightning and thunder, followed by some heavy rain. Ross decided to laugh in the face of the forecast, seeing the sky was still a nice shade of blue, and headed out on a run. His first port of call was the little bar, where he surprised and delighted the gentle publican by settling our 2 Coca debt. Sure enough, just as the bureau had predicted, the clouds closed in just in time for their 4pm appointment and there was a huge, punctual thunderstorm.
While Rossco was out running in the rain, I ventured a few metres from our hotel, to the deceptively good Dauphinois Museum. Originally a convent, the museum had been used to house and hide troops in WWII and house 140 people deemed “notoriously suspect” (including some monks and a priest or two) when used as a prison following the French revolution. Now, the building is a fabulously interesting art gallery and museum with diverse exhibitions, including a 3-D, light up map of all the European Alps, a whole smorgasbord of interactive cow bells to ring, a very ornate chapel housing a somewhat creepy, modern art installation that involved baby girls’ dresses being strung from the ceiling. I also really loved the artwork in the garden that looked like dragons burrowing into the grass. It was all very cool.
Tonight was our last night to spend time with Maisy’s exchange host family, from 2022, the Merlins. We had a very special and delicious dinner with them all at a restaurant (L’Escalier) we had gone to when we were last in Grenoble 12 years ago. We couldn’t believe it was still there and the food was just as good as we’d remembered it to be. They are absolute legends and it has been such a pleasure to get to know them all. Eric should think about diversifying into the tourism industry as he is a fountain of information when it comes to what to do and see in his hometown. He has been sending us links and things to do since we got here and he was coming up with more as the night wore on. He’s worth a thousand brochures! Would you believe of Maisy’s school friends from when she was on exchange, was our waitress. What a small world!
