Where else?

After basketball practice this evening, I walked to the tram stop with two Chinese guys, Lee and Bo. I took the tram for two stops, and then disembarked at my dorm. I walked in, sweaty and tired and lugging my backpack -- and was somehow persuaded to go out on the town. I went with two Swedish girls (Leena and Isabelle), an English girl (Rachel) and her Scottish boyfriend (Cameron, and a South African girl (Alexia). We started off at the Bukana Pub with a couple of pints -- I must've impressed the owner with my French, because he offered me a job and asked me to work next Monday, Halloween. I declined -- because I want to go to Germany/Prague -- but told Alexia, and we talked with the barman and he happily enlisted her. As we were getting ready to leave, I took our empty glasses up to the bar and all six of us received a free round! We strolled over to the Couche-Tard (The "Sleep Late") and enjoyed a couple more pints and another round of free drinks as Cameron treated everyone in an attempt to get rid of his euros. We all bonded quite nicely and met some interesting Brits and an Italian along the way. The Couche-Tard closed at 2am, so we poured outside and debated whether to head to a nightclub or call it a night. The fresh air helped us come to our senses and we remembered it was a Monday evening, so we walked to the FNAC (like Best Buy) / McDonalds area near the Victor Hugo tram stop and caught a taxi. We combined all our charm and won the cabbie over -- he pulled out a bag of marshmallows and gave us his last four marshmallows, didn't charge us the "4th person fee" that taxis usually charge and gave us a discount on the final fare (around 3 euros ($3.60 USD) apiece. Amazing.

Where else could I enjoy a night out with such a diverse crowd? Where else could I plan a trip to Prague with Swedes? Where else could I get offered a job in a foreign bar? Where else... but Grenoble. The city is slowly starting to redeem itself...