Pictures from the past week

Oh, there's another strike tomorrow. This time it'll be students protesting new work contract regulations. Nobody knows what the extent of it will be, but it probably won't be too severe. Last week, Monsieur Guichard shared a revelation with the class: the Grenoble city administration is firmly in control of the Socialist party, and St. Martin d'Heres and Gieres, sites of the university campus, are two of the last remaining communes in France still under control of... the Communist party. No, I'm not joking. Once I learned that, a giant "Ah, I understand now" sign flashed in my head. The inefficiency, the apathy, the sorry condition of the dorms and classrooms - it's all so clear now! My Contemporary American History prof is rabidly anti-capitalist, but in spite of the collectivist surroundings, the Economist keeps me in Adam Smith's grasp.

Here are a bunch of random pictures from the past week:

Laura, Rachel and I somehow acquired three mugs from Couche-Tard after being treated rather rudely.


If I find who wrote this...


Culprit discovered.


Last week we went sledding in the Chamrousse mountains. The view was incredible.


The sleds went frighteningly fast... I actually ended up hitting a caution net, bending a support pole in half and catapulting over the net into the 'danger zone.' Luckily, my injuries were minimal.


Moi.


Christine and Rachel.


This is what happens when your hat has a five-foot long tail.


Bringing the sleds back up the hill was very difficult because we kept falling through the snow, almost up to our hips. Behind me you can see the net that I crashed into. It drops off pretty steeply right after that.


Beautiful.


For Laura's second-to-last night in Grenoble, we went to Restaurant Bombay and had some of the best Indian I've ever had. I've got to start researching Indian cuisine options back home.


Everyone seems to smile a lot here.


After our meal, we were given a bowl of... this. There's aniseed mixed in and it's supposed to freshen your breath, but it just made our hands sticky.


On our way back, we discovered quite possibly one of the coolest cars ever. The '75' on the plate indicates it's from the Parisian region.


Oasis! We were frighteningly close and I ended up dropping back a few meters because the crowd was so out-of-control. I finally bought replacement jeans, and I'm dreaming of all the cool things I could make from the old ones if I had any arts and crafts skills. If.


(That previous shot was Liam Gallagher, by the way, and this is Noel, his older brother. I think.)


Yes, we were close enough to count Liam's chest hair.


The Souchette slope where I spent most of my time getting acquainted with the hard snow covering the hard ice covering the hard ground.


I don't know how I remained upright long enough for this picture to be taken.


Silvia was really much better on skis than I was on my board.


Rachel's Scottish boyfriend Cameron came to visit for the weekend. I almost had to use two hands to heft that glass, but we had an awesome time -- and I brought back the vintage fall semester scarf. Thanks, Mom!


Watching the France-Scotland rugby match in the Chamrousse (we went sledding again yesterday). Scotland won, much to the chagrin of the cocky French barman.


My camera really can't take night pictures well, but this picture gives just a hint of how beautiful the setting sun lit up the rising sea of clouds.


Last night we had raclette at La Ferme a Dede, one of my favorite restaurants in Grenoble. There's a red-hot iron rod underneath that bronze shield; it slowly heats up the cheese and makes it drip onto the waiting potatoes below. You can then add various meats, bread and salad to create a delicious, gooey ensemble.


On our way back to the dorms, we spotted an entire outfit of clothing abandoned on a corner -- either Frosty melted, or someone was storing their work clothes in a rather hazardous location.