Thursday 6 July 2017
I had made up my mind that after class I
would go to downtown Grenoble and buy a backpack. I had brought my duffle bag
with me to Malory’s the weekend before and it was a pain to carry around
because it only has a thin strap. The backpack for school also has thin straps
because it’s more like a purse and it doesn’t hold much, so I figured before I
went to Lyon it was time for a serious backpack. I texted Katrina and Kayla
before I left campus to see if they wanted to get some lunch first. Katrina was
tired and had a lot of homework so she went straight home after school, but
Kayla decided to come with me.
I really wanted to try this vegetarian
restaurant I had seen downtown, but when we saw the menu inside, it just didn’t
sound filling enough. All they sold were smoothies, and juices. So we decided
to go to Bagelstein instead because Kayla had never eaten there before, and I
already knew it would be good. We ate our bagels in a park and Kayla was
telling me all about the family she nannies for, and how she also works at a
French/English immersion school. That’s what she’s going to school for is to be
a French teacher.
After Bagelstein she decided to come with
me in search of a backpack. I thought I’d just walk until I saw a luggage
store, because I’d seen lots of them around town when I walked before. We found
a few, but they were really bad quality and they were really expensive. Kayla
thought the mall would have better options and I remember I’d walked past a
mall with an H&M, not quite in the center of town but close so we made our
way there.
They had store in there that is just like
REI. I
found the type of backpack I wanted, but it was just as expensive as the ones
in the city center, but at least I knew it was a much better quality.
We were both getting hungry again, so we
stopped at a crêperie nearby and I had my first sweet crepe in France. For some
reason I kept comparing it to donuts in my mind, which is weird because crepes
don’t taste anything like donuts, in fact they’re 10 times better than donuts,
but anyways, that’s what my mind kept thinking of was donuts, and how this
crepe with caramel and chocolate sauce was so much better.
I caught the bus home and walked during
another upper 90’s heat wave. When I got there I felt dripping wet. It’s so
humid here I couldn’t feel dry, I just felt sticky, even after laying on my bed
spread out and letting the fan blow on me. I texted Mike and finished my
homework and then it was time for dinner.
Helene has a friend named Florence who
came over to dinner tonight. She is Belgian, and speaks English and French, but
she asked me which I preferred and feeling a bit more confident I asked her to
speak French, because if anything I will learn more while I’m here. She was
very sweet and said she would speak slowly and use simple words so I could
understand. I felt really awkward because I’ve always eaten inside the kitchen
with Helene at a small table she keeps in there, but tonight was so different.
She asked us to sit down in the living room and offered an aperitif. I thought
that meant alcohol so I said I would just have water. Then Helene explained it
was Gaspacho, basically blended vegetables. It was not the greatest, drinking
blended vegetables that came from a carton, but it was kind of refreshing.
Florence and I played the getting to know you game where I learned she has 2
sons, Hugo 16, and Ethan 14 years old. I think she’s divorced, but I thought it
might be rude to ask her to clarify on her marital status.
She’s very smart you can tell, but also
very nice and pleasant. She’s a veterinarian and when I asked her what kind of
animals she treats, she said everything, cow, horse, dog, cat rabbit, pig.
Which seems crazy, I wondered if she lived in the country, but I didn’t ask.
We moved to the table where Helene brought
the first course, which was cantaloupe. After that we had a big White Sea Bass,
served cold atop a bed of lettuce with carrots boiled eggs and tomatoes from
Helene’s garden. It was delicious. The fish was so tender and flaky. I’m going
to have to say it was even better than the fish I had in the restaurant in
Paris. Helene had also made a sauce, it reminded me of the yellow sauce that’s
put on chicken cordon bleu, but she had added fresh basil leaves from the
garden to it. We put it on our fish and little fingerling potatoes and it was
delicious. The next course was cheese, but we were all so full we both
declined. For dessert Helene had made a fruit salad with apricots, peaches,
strawberries, and gooseberries. This was very interesting. I didn’t even know
gooseberries were a real thing. I thought they were made up in fairy tales. I
tried saying that in French, but I don’t think I explained what a fairy tale
was very well. With the fruit salad Florence had brought a dessert pastry, I
will have to look up the name (they’re called Tuiles) because I can’t remember
it anymore. It was very good though, it’s made with butter, almonds, flour and
a little sugar and then spread very thin, thinner than a crepe and then when
it’s cooked they take it off the pan and lay it over something curved so it
gets a nice bend in it until it curls. They are crispy and very delicious.
After dinner Helene asked if we wanted
coffee or tea and once again I declined because I didn’t want to drink anything
that would keep me awake, plus I was so tired since I’d been up since 6 am and
it was now past 10 pm. Helene explained that they were having Tisane, which is
basically herbal tea. She brought out several small dried branches with leaves
she called Vervene which she had picked from her garden. This was the tea we
were having. They were both telling me it’s so good, it helps you sleep and
it’s good for digestion. So I had some, and it was very good. It had a lemony
woodsy flavor. After that I really was very tired, and so begged to be pardoned
from them so I could pack my things to go to Lyon. They were very nice and
understanding.
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