check in 7 les Grottes de choranche

these caves are located in the Vercors mountains just an hour north of Grenoble by Bus, the have stalamites and stalagtites... pokey things in both directions. the inside temperature is the same all year long 50°F and the water is about 40°F year round as well. These caves are some of the oldest in the world, with stalagtites that grow about an inch every 50 Years the caves have some that are well over 5ft long, unfortunately what made these caves famous; what made them famous is that durring the second world war the french resistance movement used them as a hide out to escape the italians and then later the nazi? this was used as a refuge for Jewish families... I would like to tell you that is the end of the story and everyone lived happily ever after,But this is France, and even in french cinema endings arn't happy, and niether was the ending for these Familires and restance fighters....
what was really cool about this trip was the water falls (which are Technically off limits) where amazing to play in ...
Song of the post this is an oldy too

Check in 6 Vizille

so this is a quaint little city that dclaims to be where the french revolution started, one of Three. Thats pretty much every little cities attempt to claim fame is some part in the French Revolution, this is a cute little city with access via bus from grenoble in about 20 minutes. le Château de Vizille is also the museum of the French revolution and has lots of paintings and artifacts, in my opinion its poorly curated, but still a cool place to go, because the castle itself is beatutiful. And the grounds of the Castle are also a park which is breathtaking.

a classically french Song

Check in 5 Geneve

so this technically comes chronologically 2nd, this is in no way a fair account of the city because I'm a little annoyed with how this went down.
The City Geneva,Switzerland.
special note the Swiss have 3 official languages unfortunately they are all regional languages. they are in order of use; German, French, and Italian. Genève(french spelling) is in the french sector. Its the host of one of the UN facilities, CERN, and a very annoying train station. So in all honesty this visit was not to see Genève and i will be returning because i got to see neither of the aforementioned. This trip was for my sister's Birthday. Chey was in Genève with Mikkel (her boyfriend) i had my placement test this morning, so i ran from there to the Train, unfortunately it was a TER, slow train (frernch joke TER is Train en retard although officially its transport express régional) so what would be about an hour in a car is about 2 hours and 15 minutes. it was nice to see my sister and Mikkel, but i was not impressed with how rude the swiss were, they honestly were worse than any where else i've been. the food and drinks where good, who'd think to eat at a sushi bar in Genevia, My sister would.
ok so trains going in and out of genevia, are not sncf, and are not easy to use. they cancel last trains... which pisses me off, because it means i got to sleep in the train station, which is open air... not happy but hey what doesn't kill you, makes you famous, or stronger, or something,

chance checking out,
P.S. song of the check in

this is an english song but its sung by french people...

Check in 4 Mount Brison

So, about a month ago I got to meet my host mom's family, and they live in this little village called Mount Brison. Its a quaint little city with a beautiful Catholic church(currently under renovation), and a history museum.

Mount Brison is located in the valley between the alpes and massif central as such this is a great place to do a llittle hiking, and being the former boyscout i am a good hike always sounds fun to me. My family wen up there for this specific reason to find thez boundries on some property they own, luckily i got to meet some more french people, and these are noiehter alpine or parisienne they would be country folk. Needless to say it was fun, trying new cheeses, everywhere you go, and trying some new wines and alchol mixtures was fun.

Also it was alot warmer than it is here in Grenoble haha.

There is also a really cool Museum Called the "Diana" which i highly recomend they offer english on occasion but be ware if you choose to use French they assume you mean educated french and you will recieve a doctoral thesis in french. There is one room with a bunch of really cool family crests and its definately worth a visit i throughly enjoyed this excursion and would recommed others visit it.

Check in later,
Chance

song of the post

check in 3 the capital of lights love and france; PARIS

So this is actually my second time I visited Paris, Last time i was jet lagg"ed and sick and didnt get to do everything so i went back for Winter Break and met some side kicks... My sister Jenni and her mom Caroline.... I shall recap both visits here

1ST thing and most important Paris has this thing called the metro making it soooooooooooo easy to get around buy the all day pass its completely worth it, and most stops are conviently named for things that they are near... Dotre Dame is at St Michel/ Notre Dame... its easy I will do my best to tell you where all of the following places are

but now a quick shout out to the worst airport i've ever been in ( and yes this is worse then Evansville Regional, or Li hue international) Charles De Gaulle/ Roissy it's not put together right signs are confusing... even for someone who speaks french. It`s so spread out and is difficult to navigate... avoid it fly into down town (Orlly)

First up on the list of places to go is le Tour Eiffel( Eiffel tower) of course taking the stairs is about half the price as the elevator and you have to take them durring the day... yes it costs to go up but dont ask me to recount prices i'm not very good at remembering. also becarefull there are "street vendors who are always willing to sell you something and tend to be a little bit of a nussance but the vuiew is beautiful and supposedly if you mail something from the mail box under the eiffle tower (south leg) it gets a special post mark ... i'll keep you updated...
eiffel tower located near Bir hakeim and champs de mars metro stops

Second must see visit the Cathedral Notre Dame (Our Lady) metro stop Saint Michelle Notre Dame; what can i say this is probably my favorite place in Paris the inside is beautiful and the towers are amazing i recomend to items hier A.) go into the archives they have some really cool relics that everyone should be able to enjoy, B.) Go up the towers sure its 384 steps ... both directions but its a priceless view of paris and gargouyles so glad i went up this time.
One can't talk about Notre Dame and not go to the bassilica of Sacre Coeur (sacred heart) this is an absolutly beautiful church and conviently located at the top of mount martre...also host of Moulin Rouge... now you see the irony. there is a cable car to the side of the park if you dont want to walk up the stairs but also if you walk up the stairs i'd ball your fists the "craftsmen" here try to hook your finger and then make you buy the bracelet...
Metro Stop: Anvers
logical next place is erotic avenue... MOULIN ROUGE located in the heart of mont martre at metro stop Blanche this is one of the oldest and best known cabarets the world over tickets are hard to get so i havent seen a show either time i was there but its a very ornate building and you can walk around here with little trouble from pick pockets or beggers

the next place is conviently located at a majour hub of the metro L'Arc De Triomphe conviently located above Charles De Gaulle Etoil metro station, is a glorius arch built to immortalize the grand army and thier victory under Napolean, you can go to the top and see almost everything in paris, this is also the thing in the middle of the 16 lane roundabout very fun to watch the cars go around it.

Since your now at the Arch De Triomphe might as well hit the worlds most famous road les Champs Élysée here you can fuind the world head quarters of Louis Voiton and large shops from all of the worlds luxury brands channel, dior, swardosky... its one of the definate fashion capitals of the world also home to Peutgeot AVE and the Famous Citroen building some very cool architecture

now that you're probably feeling dead why not go visit them in the world famous CATACOMBES a very well hidden locationin a green barn next to the lion statue next to the metro stop next to Denfert Rochereau this place is soo amazingly creepy but flash photog is simply forbidden so bring a good light if you want pics...

time for a trip to museum land
first off the louvre, located at metro stoppalais Royal Musee d'louvre, i feel it needs little interduction, cool things to see The French crown jewels, ancient greek antiquities and the new Americas display... also the home of the Mona Lisa but its a very small picture and you cant get close to it.

Mussee d'orsay... not an art person and especcially when the artists are trying to be cdomplex silly impressionists so i didnt enjoy it but if you like art you might like it
Metro Stop MUSEE D'Orsay

Last but not least on this world wind adventure... L'Hôtel Des Invvalides... Metro Stop Invilades, this is the army museum and the tomb of napolean its a really well curated museum with large explanations in french and smaller ones in multiple weapons, and did i mention napoleans tomb this might be my favorite museum i only got to see the one display but if i get the chance you bet i'm going back
a few side notes:
most parisiens speak ennglish... not willingly but they do so go ahead and try it if you dont speak french
most museums are free if you are a resident of the european union and under 25... thank you French Visa
paris is a beautiful city so enjoy

song of the week: Ambiance À Lafricaine by Magic System http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBhGTI9YIME

Check in 2

so i lied, i'm not in paris i'm still in Grenoble but i've been reflecting over my time here in france and thought i'd tell you about this little citty i've fallen in love with. Its called Annecy and its in a department called Haut Savoie, in the Rhone Alpes Region, It's called "the Venice of the Alpes" because it was built on a river delta and lake and has many charming cannals, like Venice, Italy. This is one of 3 remaining contenders to host the 2018 Winter Olympics( munich and pyochang, south korea are the others) this little city is about 30 minutes by slow train from Genevia or about 2 hours by TER(slow train) from Grenoble. and I definately love it even in winter; i'm told spring is the time to visit so i can see going back to this place, it is so charming and thier are a few must sees,
1.) th'e chateau/ Museum of course this is france and all the great castles are now museums and this once was the capital of the kingdom of savoie so go visit you'll really enjoy it and there is a cool exhibit on the life in the lake Annecy
2.) there is a candy shop called "la Cure Gourmande" i'm talking about a candy shop so you know its some good candy.
3.) this is france and as such every city as a cathedral and most of them are called notre dame ( and you thought it was only in Paris) and Annecy is no exception but the one in Annecy is especially beautiful and is lookated right on the quai
4.) wonder around the quais a little bit you'll see some really cool bridges and passage ways as well as some amazing arcitechture


ok and since i obviously would prefer that Annecy host the Olympics then munich or pychang i'm going to give reasons why its a better choice
number one ... FRENCH ALPES france has hosted the second most winter games and over all games hosting in 3 cities in the Rhone Alpes Region Chamonix 1924, Grenoble 1968, Albetville 1992 so obviously the French can host the games, not to mention no french hosted olympics has ever been boycotted or had a major crisis;
REasons not to pick Munich: Germany has hosted 2 times Berlin 193-, Munich 72, to say the least niether of these games ended favorably, durring the Berlin Games the Head of state threatens to kill an american competitor (Jesse Owens) becauise a Black man beating an Aryan didnt fit his ideology, and i dont think the world has for gotten the Tragety of The munich games, and the loss of 13 israelis(if you have watch munich it'll catch you back up to speed)
reasons not to pick south Korea, uhm they are in the middle of a never ending war and especially right now if you hand them something with out handing something to the north all hell will break loose so i hope the IOC makes the right decession.

Song of the post oui mais non mylene farmer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVb8dBQ7jKg
this is the highest paid performing artist in france and is going into her 3rd decade of performin

again if you have any questions or comments i'd love to hear them.
checking out of the check in,
Chance

check in one

so i've been in france almost 2 months now and thought; i should start ablog about all the stuff i've seen. I'm an American spending the semester in the capital of the alpes Grenoble France. where i live with the family Le Grand. I have had an absolutly wonderful time Grenoble is a lot like a smaller Seattle (where i live in the US), From being surrounded by mountains to having a major medical research university and a spot in the french tech industry. other cities i've visited i will write about later, but they have all been so great. the French people are much nicer than they recieve credit for, especially here in Grenoble. the only thing lacking from the " capital of the alpes" is some snow back home they're getting buckets here its colder and windier but wouldnt you know its also dryer my lips are hatin it... tthough on the bright side the drinking age helpes with being cold haha
in each post i'm going to include a song thats on the radio alot here this time its gregoire's soliel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1bY3lU4jj8 give it alisten and look at the story and you can figgure out what hes singing about even without understanding french

my next post will be from paris, or shortly after returning , where i will be going on spring break for the second time, also where i will be meeting up with my sister and her mother


ALSO IF AT ANY TIME YOU HAVE QUESTIONS I4LL DO MY BEST TO ANSWER THEM

Ciao check in complete,
Chance