and so, being in france is kind-of like that. okay, so, some background. i'm going to be in france for the next 2 weeks. i'm located in between voreppe and grenoble, 45 mins drive from lyon.
i wake up every morning to this.. i believe this is part of the alps, but cos i dunno what this part this is, i shall call it 'my alps'.
and my work is about 10 mins drive away from the hotel, and here's a shot of my journey to work.
and of course, this is where i work =)
yes, my alps follow me everywhere i go. and it's really very amazing that the geography knowledge (from 8 years ago!!!!) that was lost over the years' slowly coming back. very slowly though. i look at my alps and imagine how they were formed thousands and thousands and thousands of years ago.. some plate movements, upward motion.. blah. you can actually see the layers in them!there's nothing much to talk about of work. we just get up early in the morning, have breakfast, drive to work, work, have lunch [smtimes we dun eat!!!! =( ], work some more, drive back to the hotel, have dinner, shower, sleep...and...so...on...
i had quite an exciting day yesterday, which is what inspired me to blog really! my workmates' (from the customer site) husband is a rugby coach, and yesterday, they had their end of season party cum fund raising event at the bastille in grenoble. it's actually a fortress built in the 16th century, ok more about that later. so travis and i drove to grenoble. actually he drove and i navigated. i pride myself to be an excellent navigator, yet i still made us go the wrong way a couple of times. i blame it on the french map.
grenoble's a small quaint city, reminds me a little of spain actually. grenoble is at the foot of the alps, about 10 minutes drive the other way from my hotel, and is right by the Isere River i believe.
the isere river by night 
we basically walked around the little place. i think if you don't stop to shop, you can cover the entire downtown in about 30minutes (maybe less).
i had a mint + lime ice-cream (2 flavors for 2euros!) on the way =) oh that is a cool ancient looking church that's standing behind me.. not sure about the hist
we then met our workmate and her husband, who brought us to this little gathering of theirs at their friend's newly acquired apartment.this is what you see when you look outside their window! i so want to live here!
we met their friends and had a good time sipping wine, talking weather, politics, housing/land prices, learning french, chinese and spanish. then we went to the party. we got the chance to take the gondola or cable car up to the party. haha i freaked out whenever the gondola accelerated or decelerated. other than that i'm pretty ok with the heights and more than ok with the wonderful scenery.the gondolas in the distance
as i mentioned before, the party was held in the bastille. which is basically a castle or a stronghold. in this case, it's a fortress built in the 16th century. i'm repeating myself. i dunno whether to be ashamed or not, but this is my first time attending such a party, where people just danced like crazy, smoked like crazy, and played loud repetitive music like crazy. haha =) it was a pretty cool experience, except that i din dare to drink (din like actually) and din dare to dance or be high!the bastille.. looks intimidating huh!
in the bastille! da disco lights!
where the party begins!
the bastille had low ceilings and virtually no ventilation. and factoring in the smoking capacity of europeans, i was suffocating in the building! at one point, i just lost my voice and choked on smthing i couldnt identify, probably the smoke. so every now and then i walked out to breathe.. and from there you can see the city at night..
the road on the left is apparently the longest road in europe. and the bright light's from the easter fun-fair!
i had a good time, despite not really knowing anyone or the language very well. haha.. looking at this bunch of friends hanging out, i can't help but imagine what it would be like if i were back home right now.. mabbe eunice and i would go stalk verypoisonouslady at sheesh wat was the name of the club! haha but mostly, i think i'll be sipping coffee/tea eating tau-huay having suppers going ktv cycling at ecp bbqing chaleting with my loved ones =) *hugs* miss you all!more pictures here!
oh yah! happy belated bday ong! got my sms?
