When I found out we were moving to France, I pictured walking or biking everywhere… or at least hardly ever using my car. Yea, right. If I’m going somewhere, I’m going in my car.
Monday, I decided that we don’t live so terribly far from Kaitlyn’s school and that I can certainly walk there and home. I’d never be able to walk there in the morning, because it would mean leaving the house at about the time Kaitlyn is normally dragging her tired tiny hiney out of bed! I don’t know what came over me Monday afternoon when I figured I could walk there to pick her up in the afternoon. Hello? Common sense? Not home, thanks. It took me about a half hour to get there. It’s all downhill going. Coming home, I had to stop halfway up our street to find my breath (it was beyond simply catching it) and to have my head examined. I forgot to look at my watch when we left the school to see how long it actually took me to push our big huge stroller and Kaitlyn straight up our street. I have no idea how far that walk was. I got home just before it got dark out, so I’m guessing it took me between 45 minutes and an hour. Ok, so that’s not the greatest idea I’ve ever had.
Today, I found another, better, alternative to driving. At least to driving into downtown Grenoble. I’d asked another ISE wife if she wanted to go downtown so she could show me a hair salon she’d found out about and, of course, eat. She said sure we could take the tram. ( http://applications.semitag.com/Lignes/PLAN_A.pdf) She’s something of a pro at it, her three kids take it every day to and from school. I’d been a little afraid to give it a try alone, since all the maps and signs are in French… let alone the potential problems getting a ticket and having it stamped properly. The ride downtown was really a breeze. Pay to leave your car in their version of a park-and-ride lot, that buys you round trip tickets for all the people in your car. Then hop on the tram (admittedly, I’d have probably hopped on going the wrong way without help) and downtown is just a few minutes away.
Once we got down there, we bought sandwiches from a shop without any tables. The sidewalk became our own personal cafe. Then she pointed out the salon plus some other cool looking stores. I’m going to have to go back when I have a little more time! We didn’t even get to wander into the antique district. This discovery could be dangerous!