Thursday, October 2, 2014

Getting Caught Up

           I was naive to have thought I knew anything about France really before moving here. I arrived and like any other person was excited to touch French soil but in the airport of Charles de Gaulle I wasn't immediately overtaken with culture shock. It did however set in overwhelmingly in the first week. I realized that my small attempt to acquire a base in the French language through the program, Rosetta Stone was helpful but no where near enough to help me understand what the hell was going on.
           After meeting my wife Eglantine, I obtained an unquenchable thirst for wanting to come to France. Eglantine received an opportunity to work at a research lab in Grenoble, France on a one, possibly two year contract. She was weary at first but with a gentle American nudge I was able to convince her that that was the best opportunity for the both of us. So yes, I take the credit for getting us here however without my wonderfully beloved, it would not have been possible.



         The picture above was taken from the front patio of Eglantines parents place in the Department of Drôme. Like counties in the U.S.A., France is broken up into Departments and Regions. See if you can find the mummy in the rocks. Hint: his/her feet start from the top of the tree on the left. The lovely dirt patch in the bottom of the picture is the garden where that have food all summer and autumn long. It is full now and I plan to take a better picture soon.

Back to my story!
         We got to stay with Eg's parents for our first month here while we searched for an apartment in Grenoble which was over an hour away. I was so taken with the beauty of where her parents lived that I wasn't sure that I wanted to move to a city. That changed when I saw where Grenoble was located. It is smack dab in the heart of the French Alpes and is unique as far as cities go. Yes, it is still a city and I prefer not to live directly in it but the history of how it became is very cool! In Grenoble you are surrounded by what are the Four Massifs: The Vercors, The Chartreuse, The Belledonne and The Taillefer. Mountains in the states are cool but the Alpes are all too special. So much character and charisma speaking from them as if they were playing lead roles in some geological theatre special. I was only getting a small glimpse of the region upon arriving in Grenoble but I knew it was special.
           We searched and searched for apartments in our price range in the city itself and found rien! (Nothing). Nothing that suited us or made us comfortable. They all had one thing that was kind of cool and something completely different that was awful and made no sense. Views of brick walls and graffiti but a cool bedroom or kitchen. Views of the mountain but with a sink in the middle of a bedroom with a kitchen that was completely falling apart. It was like this for awhile. Frustrated and worried that we wouldn't find what we were looking for or something that just didn't scare us. It was like this until one night back in the Drôme I decided to do a search on the internet for apartment in a Chateau (Chateau is castle in French). I did this search as a sort of joke and partly out of desperation of hoping there was something perfect hiding from us. Well, there was! Chateau d'Uriage of Saint Martin d'Uriage had two apartments available in our price range and is located at the base of Chamrousse, one of the most popular ski mountains in the Belledonne. The best part is that it wasn't in the city at all but just 20km outside which was a perfect distance to still be able to relax after the work day.



So yes, we found what we were looking for and we took it. Located in the region of the Rhônes-Alpes in the department of Isère I have began my journey. How about that? I came from California in a little dump in East Palo Alto and upgraded to a 13th century chateau...not bad.

Eglantine and I have been here for about 6 months now and have had fun, been depressed, been optimistic, been frustrated and been uncertain. We have both had to adjust and grow and continue to do so each day. I have been having a huge learning experience in getting acclimated to a new culture and language. We are trying something new together and I hope that we continue to do so to grow as a couple and get in tune with ourselves. It has not been easy and probably never will be but it will always be new and exciting.

I found myself a job at the Café Leffe in the center of the city (Centre Ville) working as a server. My language learning has accelerated immensely and will continue to do so especially because I finally start my French classes tomorrow! I am required to do about 200hrs and it will be every Friday for 6hrs.

Place Grenette: I work where you see the Monte Carlo. The picture is old and all the restaurants are different as well as the people ;) but the buildings are the same





Well that was a lot for me to post for my first ever blog. If I forgot anything I am sorry but hopefully it will show up somewhere else and later on. If you want to keep up with me I am going to try and do a weekly update (possibly more) so you should subscribe or whatever it is to follow my posts. Hopefully this wasn't too much to read all at once and that I didn't ruin any productivity for someones workday but I am glad you read at all :)

Much love to all my family and friends!
Mom, Travis, Gavin and Dylan love you guys so much and miss you too and hope that everything is super great!  Gros, gros, gros bises!

Please hit me up with questions for more information or of anything that you would like to see like pictures and such. 

Au bientôt du monde!
Cameron

2 comments:

  1. Well done! You might be in competition with Travis for being the writer in the family! I loved reading this and look forward to hearing more and more.
    You have no idea how much I miss you...knowing I can't just drive down to the dump in Palo Alto among the car alarms and gun shots to see you whenever I want or need to is suckish! Yes, that's a word.
    I'm so very proud of you guys -- keep your heads up and remember to enjoy every step of the journey! You're making wonderful lifelong memories!
    Love you to the moon and back!
    Mom

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