Des Vacances

Always good to start with a picture.
Here: nice view of Ardèche

Not really sure how often you guys are checking my blog but it's been a while since my last post, sorry about that, but at least there is a bit more than usual to write about! First of all, I've managed to open a bank account! There is a bit more to it here than what I'm used to…. (I don't have a card yet, nor any money in my account). I've had one very nice weekend exploring more of Ardeche with my bike.

That hill in front of me is where I usually go biking.

That is a really big bird that flew right over my head and nearly made me fall of my bike...

Also I went to Lyon on a gathering for the international students arranged by AGERA (Alliance des Grandes Écoles Rône-Alpes Auvergne). Before I spent another weekend biking in Grenoble, where the mountain tops are now covered in snow!!!

Lots of international students, I seemed to be the only norwegian tough...  

Not sure if taking pictures while riding a bike through the city is a clever thing to do, but you can see the snowy mountains. Winter is coming!  (sorry, could't help myself)  

In addition to all this I've also been on vacation!  Contrary to the practice at NTNU we actually get "Høst-ferie" here, or "Tous Saints" as they call it. Kathrine came to visit and we started the week in Lyon exploring the town as super turistas and trying out the bouchon lyonnaise, the food typical for Lyon. Which is pretty heavy stuff, but also very good. So it was probably a good idea to head south before we got too used to it.

Place Bellecour med statuen av Ludvik 14. og i bakgrunnen Basilique de Notre Dame de Fourvière og "lille eifeltårnet" som jeg ikke husker hva heter…. *

Lyon by night, med elven La Saône.*

Toppen av Forvière*

Meg og utsikt over Lyon fra Forvière, til venste for hodet mitt ser dere "Le Crayon" eller Tour  Part-Dieu som det egentlig heter.*

Et lite lysglimt i en av de mange traboules, en slags tuneller/snarveier gjennom/under husene, som Lyon er kjent for.*

Husbåter på Le Rhône i fint høstveær.*

After a couple of hours on the TGV and the TER we arrived in Banyuls wednesday evening, and woke up the next morning to bluebird and 22 degrees. We also tried some fine dining at Le Fanal (Michelin star!!), luckily they have some set menus that even students can afford once in a while.

For Halloween, we went on an excursion to Coullioure, where the kids go trick-or-treating in the shops, shouting "Des bonbons ou un sort".  They also had a Halloween-party in Banyuls that evening. They do love their loud music down there, it's not just for the tourists.

Think I prefer Coullioure in  the fall when there are fewer tourists and a bit more space at the beach,,,

Can't finish this post without saying that the first of november I went for a morning jog and then for a morning swim, and it was lovely!

Kathrine has gone home and I started the week with an exam. But yesterday we turned on the heating and it's kind'a nice being inside listening to the wind, drinking a cup of tea.

À Bientôt!

* Seem to have written some of the captions in norwegian.

Another week in Valence, another weekend in Grenoble, (forgot to publish this one before the weekend…)

I've been doing the same trip in Valence for quite a while now. It's super convenient and for me it's really nice to see how I'm progressing with my biking. But I thought I'd try to get some photos from new locations, so you guys won't get too bored.

So this is the ruins seen from below

So this was an afternoon trip in the middle of the week, not too many people up there, but quite a few donkeys...

And this time the donkeys were back

I've taken pictures of the ruins before, but I'm not sure if they've shown that the path is actually going though the ruins. Because it does :)

Inside the ruins...

Then there was some biking through the forest. Not so easy taking photos while riding a bike, on a single track path. But I am getting better at the biking part, less and less walking, more and more biking!

The track ends at a nice little view point.

Valence

Towards Ardech

The biggest news this week is that I've changed the pedals of my bike to automatic ones!

Which went pretty well :)

village of Romage (I think)

coffe break at the bastille :)

Until sunday, when I had a little tumble…

Also had a close encounter with the gears...

Nothing very serious:) I'll keep on practising.

À Bientôt!

Happy days!

So, didn't get around to writing a mid-week post, but it's been a pretty sweet week! I've managed to squeeze in four trips with my bike since my last post and I'm pretty happy about that. But before I go on showing more scenic photos, here's a little glimpse of my everyday life. Or not everyday, this  is a day I started late.

Quiet morning

By now it's getting pretty dark in the mornings. It kind of looks like fall outside, the leaves are changing colour and so on, but it doesn't really feel like fall yet. First of all, it's too hot! It can be a bit crisp in the mornings, but nothing worse than an average summer day back home. Second, not enough rain! I'm not saying I miss it, just that this doesn't feel like fall… But I'm enjoying it!

Finished early on Friday,
decided  biking would be a good idea

Saturday started of with a bit of yoga, all this biking does make your muscles kind of tight. Followed up  by a trip to "Le Marché". Must be one of my favourite things in France, so much better than the supermarket.

Market in Valence

Getting fresh baguettes, or as in this case flutes, from the Boulanger is also pretty high on the list. Returned chez moi with, hopefully, all the fruits and vegetables I will need for the week to come, along with fresh bread, honey, cheese (not so fresh, might actually have been a bit mouldy!) and semi-dry dates (seriously good).

After market snack

Saturday afternoon  I headed for Grenoble to do some biking and meet up with some friends. Had my first flat, actually had a nail though the tire. A bit of a hassle there, luckily I did have an extra tube and pump etc. As my tires are normally tubeless I now need to do some serious googeling to figure out how to fix this. However, the tube has been working fine the whole weekend. Also had my first Raclette saturday, I don't know who came up with that, but it is great!! 

Sunday morning, early-ish start

Had a really nice ride today with Fred and Lou(?), a girl Fred met biking. He said she was pretty good, "Elle roule bien". Turns out she is a world champion in mountain bike orienteering…  Think she could go just as fast uphill as downhill if she wanted. My legs are gonna be so sore tomorrow...

Can't have a post without a pretty view

But I've had a great week! And I've managed to write a post about it as well. Yeey!

À Bientôt!

 

 

Starting to get the hang of things

So, starting to get used to being in France, going to a french university and in general blend in with all the french people. This unfortunately means that I tend to down prioritise the blog, but I honesty think that is a good sign!

2nd language course finished!

Second language course finished and I've gotten a diploma for the first one:) I only had morning classes this week, but BIE (Bureau International Étudiants) served free breakfast (baguettes, pains au chocolat, croissants and juice), so it wasn't too bad. Saturday I had breakfast at the  boulangerie, I only went to get bread, but missed my pain au chocolat and it sounded nice with a coffee as well...

Breakfast at the boulangerie

Språkkurs nr 2!

Since I'm already signed in at the university, my language course number 2 started with a day off  :D Can't  say that I got the most out of my day off, still a bit affected by that cold, but I'm pretty happy with what I achieved:

Super chilled weekend...

Helmet from the Middle Ages
(you con kind of see my face in there)

Very nice BBQ on Saturday, even if I left quite early, still not a 100% well. Sunday was another calm day. Visited the musée de l'ancien évêché with Pip and a couple of german girls that has arrived in Grenoble this week. (Everybody is returning from their holidays now, suddenly there are so many people on campus!)

Germans enjoying the view
from the museum balcony

Had crêpes after our visit to the museum, but as usual I ate mine before I could remember to take a photo, but it was really good :)

À Bientôt!

Last week of the (first) language course

Wendesday was a good day! First our teacher brought pains au chocolat and macarons :) Both on my top ten list of French foods..

My french class and teacher,
eating pain au chocolat and macarons

Holiday in Turin

Museo Nazionale del Risorgimento Italiano

This weekend I decided to join in on one of the trips arranged by cuef. A bit embarrassing that I've known about the trip for three weeks but I didn't make the connection that

Turin (said with a french accent) is the same as Turin (english) and Torino (norwegian)… However, I didn't manage to sign up for the trip in advance so, got up at six o'clock on saturday and crossed my fingers, hoping there would be room in the bus. And there was! So we drove through the Alps, yeah.. through the Alps, through a tunnel, a very long tunnel and suddenly we were in Italy!

La poste

Had an other go at getting my packets from La Poste, still no success… They feel it's still "temps estivale" or summer time and close at 17.00 and I was'n there until 17.03! Wish me luck tomorrow for my third attempt  :)

Weekend!

It's been a pretty quiet weekend, but I've had the chance to try my french on some frenchies! Turns out they speak on a constant fast forward and they use slang. Such as meuf for femme. Which complicates things a bit….

Real french people

Weekly update :)

So that is how long I managed to keep updating the blog every day… But there isn't that much going on anyway. After the "Discover Grenoble" rally on friday everyone were asked to write a text on the neighbourhood we liked the most. So decided to go back to get some inspiration and encountered another french version of the cappuccino.  This version is coffee with with light milk foam on top..  Think I prefer the whipped cream version from down south, this was just a bit weird.

Dîner à la France (?)

Violà! I've made my first dinner in France. It's been a bit too hot for dinner so far. (The french seem to find this concept a bit odd, but the russians totally agree.) And what did i chose to make for this important first meal you may ask. I guess the photo kind of blew the surprise, but its "Pølser og Potetstappe"! Just like home :)

Une petite balade

Yesterday I bought a tour guide with hikes that are accessible by foot or public transport in the area around Grenoble. So today I want for a hike :)

Blogg in progress

As I hadn't signed up for any activities, today turned out to be a pretty chilled day. Went for a walk down to Town with Mark (German guy, working on a doctorate) where we visited the archeological museum. It's an old church/cloister with skeletons all over. They had a really nice audio guide and I understood quite a lot of what they said. ( I chose the french version ^^)

scary skeletons!

 I have now posted twice in one day, guess I'm kind of hooked on this blogging. We'll see how long it lasts ...

Første uke i Frankrike

Da ble det blogg tross alt. Tror det er en grei måte å holde familie og venner oppdatert på uten å spamme ned facebook sidene til alle jeg kjenner. Vi får vente og se hvor ofte jeg kommer til å oppdatere, men tror jeg skal klare hvertfall en gang i uka.