Strikes, nuts and nutcakes

Three weeks, and we're on our second strike ("greve").  The first was at Lisa's school one Tuesday.  Some of the teachers took a strike day.  It took a good bit of the day for them to figure out, but then Lisa called  to say she'd be out at 2 (that's what cellphones are for, apparently, so she wouldn't have to waste the final 3 hours in school like she did the first 5 hours). But when I got the the school at 2 the guard wouldn't let the kids out because the guard has to check their agendas and they still had classes scheduled.  Hmm, did the school guard not hear about the strike?  So the directress came down and give permission  (possibly there were forms and signatures involved) for the kids to leave school "early."  All except Lisa. Apparently her 4 o'clock teacher was here, so she couldn't leave.  She had to stick around and even got the benefit of a 2 hour class. Poor Lisa. A strike and she still has to go to school for the whole day while her friends went home early.

We have been notified that this Thursday David's school canteen workers will have a "greve". In honor of that special occasion they will partly relax the "no bag lunches" policy.  I say "partly" because the kids won't eat a bag lunch at school, but will eat them on a "picnic" in the park. So a strike at David's school and he will still have to go, and eat outside in January, too.

Speaking of food, The local specialty here in the Grenoble are is nuts (noix), mostly walnuts. There is even a local appellation controlle (like they have for wine regions) for nuts. http://www.grenoble-tourism.com/372-aoc-certified-grenoble-walnuts.htm So they make a lot of things with nuts. We've had wonderful tarte aux noix (nut tarts), pain aux noix (nut bread), but the REALLY big specialty here is nutcakes.  I had one for dessert tonight.  Scrumdiddlyutios!!!   So I guess the moral of this post is: "When life gives you nuts, enjoy the nutcakes!"... especially over the wonderful 1 or 2 hour lunch break we take every day.

    

Grenoble Take 3

We moved into our 3rd place this weekend. This should last us for the rest of our time in Grenoble. We are renting this apartment from a professor. It is next to the main cathedral on Place Notre Dame in the very heart of town so it is in a 200 year old building. But the apartment is freshly renovated and very cool.

Work?

We are here on a study leave, which means we are primarily here for research. I gave a talk last week to the Marketing area. At times we even come in to our office! (Our host, Carolina, the Marketing Department, and the Ecole de Management were so great in setting us up and getting us space.
But I find the surroundings are so nice they are even a bit distracting...

 

Especially compared to my view back home...

More 'splorin' to do

We have been enjoying exploring the town and especially some of the cultural "stuff" like museums. Last week we went to a museum of local culture. This week we walked to the archeological museum. It was primarily an excavation under a church to reveal the old crypts and artifacts from Roman times. It was not a subject that would normally hold much interest for us. But it was very well done, with those listening devices linked to projectors, but, as Lisa said, "Kinda creepy."

Weird things in the 'fridge

Shopping is great here. Fruit and vegetable markets are amazing, but you kinda have to know where and when. We probably visit a boulangerie or patiserier twice a day for some amazing bread, exclusively white, and great pastries. Then we round out our foods at the grocery store. That results in some familar looking essentials in our fridge...

WAIT... What's that bottle?  Deb just brought home a BOTTLE of coq au vin!

As you might expect, the jar of coq au vin turned out to be OK, but nothing amazing.

On a clear day...

Grenoble is set in a valley among the French alps. After yesterday's snow, the sun came out to an amazing view. Here is the view from our front windows today (with a telephoto lens, but still...).

 

 

And here is the view from our back windows...
The contrast between the historical French town and the surrounding mountains is pretty cool.

Of schools and snow...

David started school on Monday at Houille Blanche.

It is supposed to be bilingual, but mostly it's French with some English instruction. But that'll work too. M, T, Th and F he goes from 8:30 - 4:30 (except for the 2 hours between 11:30-1:30 which is lunch). Bag lunches are not allowed! Starting next week he will spend those 2 hours eating a 3-course lunch in the attached school canteen.

We're hoping he will learn things that we haven't taught him, like using a fork, or at least to use it for some foods such as mashed potatoes. There is no school on Wednesday. And Fridays in Jan and Feb involve skiing (only 20 minutes from here).

Lisa's American school...

schedule varies, starting at 9 (Th and F at 8) until 5 or 6 (M), except for a half day Wednesday (9-1). On M, T, Th and F, lunches are from 1-3 hours in a cafeteria. They're supposed to be 4-courses, but Lisa doesn't tell us much other than she hates it (on those occasions when she talks to us at all).

Today was our first snow. It was pretty, especially from our university office on the 7th (8th) floor

The snow made travel at ground level a bit slower, but still do-able. And, despite the snow, the outdoor market by David's school was open this Tuesday again.

I thought I'd shop there after lunch, but it was all packed and gone. :-(

Architecture

I've been admiring the architecture around town. Lisa, our 13-year-old daughter, hasn't said anything about liking the town to us, or letting on that this trip is anything other than a complete tragedy that is ruining her life. But she has quietly been posting some great shots on Instagram. I wish I could link you to hers, but here are some of my own photos...

The rhythms and habits of life in France

A morning stroll to the boulangerie...

"Bon jour, Monsieur..."
"Bon jour."
"Quatre pain a'I chocolate, s'il vous plaît"
"Merci, au revoir, Monsieur..."
"Merci. Bon jounee."

 

Grenoble Take 2

Today we moved into an apartment for the next 3 weeks. It was the first place we saw, too expensive for long-term, but OK for shorter-term. It is just on the other side of the train station from where we were our first week and has a great view of the river. There is not as much retail as there was near our hotel, but there is a boulangerie/patisserie, and a small store on the block. It's a 5-minute walk through the train station to our office (if we ever go in...). Here are some pictures...

Paperwork!

We're making progress on our paperwork. Debra registered Lisa at school on Tuesday; there were lots of forms and photos. We're in process on bank accounts; Deb started Wednesday but there are a couple more forms due (certificate of residence, then they mailed a certificate which arrived Friday but we weren't there to sign for it, it would have been at the Post Office on Saturday, but she updated her address with the bank, and the registered letter arrived Saturday morning). Deb and I got our University IDs Thursday; it only took about 10 minutes. I got David's certificate of admission Thursday (that he passed his English exam). Today we got our certificate of residence for our temporary apartment which we need to finalize the bank account. Also we used it to register David for school with the mayor's office; they gave him a form that he can attend school, and a form for his school canteen lunches (though we still have to figure out how to pay). I think there's light at the end of the tunnel!

Overall, there's probably twice as much paperwork as in Canada, but people are so much more efficient. And everyone likes to predict how long things will take. The school said, "you should get the canteen form by Thursday" but when we registered at the mairie's office (the next day), they said the following Monday. So maybe they're not exact.

Some firsts -- Lisa's first day of school and les soldes (sales)

Lisa just left for her first day of school (in France) today. She'll have the last half of Grade 8 here.

Meanwhile Debra was off to try to open a bank account. A couple rounds of paperwork so far, but making progress.

Then both girls went off to the first day of sales. French rules (laws) prescribe sale seasons at specific 2-week periods in the winter and summer. This year (2013) the winter sale season opened today (Jan 9) and continues for 2 weeks.

Deb has been eager to supplement her limited travel wardrobe with some chic French fashion. So she headed out to try her hand at the sales. Would there be nasty looks, thrown elbows, or black eyes? It was just so crowded that they ended up just buying a coat and some school supplies and ran out like a bunch of North American chickens. Buck, buck...