Grenoble's Greatest....

So here goes... as promised !
(in no particular order or ranking)



Friends/Acquaintances (Well, this one is surely rank #1)
People i met in Grenoble/France have all enriched this experience in several ways, big and small. I would not have made it without some of them (they know who they are) . Others taught me important lessons in life, even though they may not know it.


The mountains !

The Isere river, no matter how many times you hear the story of the 8 drowning students.

Sadistic tram drivers who refuse to open the tram door when they seeing you running towards one.

Wine and cheese !

O'Callaghan's and the saturday night crowd, even though it meant bumping into project managers from Schneider.

The Coke vending machine that never worked, below the telepherique station.

The telepherique and La Bastille !
(and the view of the Mont Blanc massif to the north-east)

The Chartreuse (the mountains and other things that go by the same name !)

"Grenoble. Ici, Grenoble"

Food !
(yes, all of it !)

Druid's and his awesome playlist...

Alliance Francaise, Monsieur Thomas, his map of France, and his 'par coeur' discourse on the origin of Kir.

The winters. Waking up to see the sun rise over the snow-covered mountains had it's own charm.

Travelling.... everywhere !

Attempting to ski...

Place Grenette and the wind that threatens to deposit you at Victor Hugo.

Saying 'bonjour' and 'merci' to the bus drivers everyday !

My neighbourhood boulangerie "Les gourmands disent".

Strangers asking you for cigarettes !

Monaco and how it tastes "like a dream"!


These are a few things that i am going to miss... I'm sure there are others, and i'll realise it only once i'm gone. Will report back.

I think this blog is going to move in a new direction now. I am inclined to start writing about my return to India, shocks i encounter, and how previously 'normal' things may not seem so normal anymore.

Stay tuned !

So Long, and thanks for all The Fish

In about 10 days from now, i would have given up my apartment and will be ready to go out one last time with friends in Grenoble. 18 months have flown past in the blink of an eye, and as i said to Malene the other day : all good things must come to an end !

I remember how and when i arrived in France.
http://lifeingrenoble.blogspot.com/2006/08/so-this-is-it.html

I remember who and what i was at that time, and how my thoughts, perceptions and myself have changed over this period of time. When i first arrived here, i knew it would be a life-changing experience, and i couldn't have been more right ! It has been one hell of a roller-coaster ride, and i enjoyed every bit of the highs and took lessons out of the lows.

Life in France has been different and truly enriching. I guess when you stay out of home, especially alone, you tend to look at things with a certain benchmark in your head. For me, that benchmark has now moved. It may not be good to expect the same things again when i relocate again, but what's the harm in trying to change yourself if you cannot change things/people around you?

I will miss Grenoble dearly ! This place has been my home for the past year and half. I have been happy to come back here each time i travel, glad to hear the familiar sound of the tram when i get off the train. Some people have not understood this when i explained it, but in this town there is a certain warmth and character that i am yet to find elsewhere.

I took some friends out for a drink one evening last week, and as we raised to toast, everyone asked me to list out what i loved most about France/Grenoble. Obviously it was impossible to list out right there, since there is so much. But i promised to write about it in my blog. That list will soon be here...

The "Motherland"

After 5 months of delay after delay, i finally took the TGV to Paris last week and applied for my Visa to the UK. The company payed (for everything, since it was a business trip), and what more, i got the visa on friday 25th and flew to Leeds on sunday 27th. 3-day stay, to return on wednesday 30th to Grenoble.

So away i went again, flying from Lyon to Amsterdam (i've lost count, honestly !) and then Amsterdam to Leeds. Both tiny aircraft. The first one as small as the Milan-Lyon flight i took on the way back from Greece, where one could feel every small air pocket and the descent felt like the pilot was dive bombing the airport. The second one was small too, called "KLM cityHopper"... So you can imagine !

Bumpy landing at Leeds !!!
The pilot warned us that there was a heavy wind blowing across the airstrip, and did we feel it ! It was the roughest landing i have ever experienced, the one where you really have your heart in your mouth and when it's over you realise your jaw is locked. The pilot promptly put us down with a thud, and then missed the runway exit to the terminal ! He braked hard, and when he started drifting to the right, i had a bad bad bad feeling. Thats when i realised he was actually making a U-turn on the runway, cuz he had missed the exit ! Either way, hats off to him for even landing that plane, i'm sure it wasn't easy !

Passed through immigration, where i got my first whiff of the "English".
"How long would you be staying Mr.Srinath?" with a thick accent ! I wanted to point and laugh, but i had to control myself...

Anyway, exchanged some Euros to Pounds (and noticed that there are probably 10 different varieties of 20-pound notes !!) and booked a taxi to the hotel. And even as i was doing that, there was a big commotion in the airport. Out of nowhere, a man of south-asian decent (read : indian/pakistani) was screaming "ooh maa, ooh maa" (yes, in hindi), and the cops were all over him. The general public obviously was convinced that he would blow up anytime, and were all shell-shocked !
Welcome to the "Motherland" (ref: Russell Peters)

My taxi driver greeted me with a "Are you alright?". For a moment i thought he meant did anyone get hurt with the fiasco in there... (more about this later !)
He turned to be very very talkative (in a nice way). In the 15 mins ride to the hotel, we discussed the following:
1) Where did i fly in from? What do i do in France?
2) Leeds Airport is on top of a hill, thats why the wind !
3) Indian Independance and Partition (touching upon Bangladesh too)
4) The floods in Leeds 2 weeks back
5) Kashmir
6) Why he didnt become a pilot
7) Curry and where you can find the best on in Leeds (place called Akbar's apparently)
8) How i should call his taxi company for the ride back, since all the others are "stealing".

The next 2 days was mainly work, sorry i cant speak much about that. Although i must highlight a couple of things about the general environment in the UK.

Everyone wears a tie at the Schneider plant in Leeds !!
Everday !!

The English always greet you with "Are you alright?". The first time someone asked me that, i wondered what was wrong. You know, I hadn't been hit by a truck !!! And then everyone was asking me that, and i figured that is just the way they greet each other !!!

The funniest instance was when the guy who was organising my visit actually said to me "You speak good English, where did you learn it?". I really wanted to laugh, but i did tell him that it was thanks to 400 years of his ancestors' presence in India.

I think the Security check at Leeds Airport needs a separate blog entry... more about that later !