Travel Notes: Traveling around Europe with my parents - Grad, France and Geneva, Switzerland

May 24

We took the TGV train from Lyon Central Station in Paris directly to Grenoble (referred to as: Grenoble). The journey took about three hours. The name of this city is very long, and it is not as famous as Paris, Nice, Bordeaux and other French cities. Our classmates studying in Grenoble jokingly called it "Grenoble Village". In fact, the name of the university I studied is longer, "University of Grenoble-Alpes". Every time I mention the name of the university to others, they are confused, which is completely understandable.

Grad is located in the southeast of France, close to Switzerland and Italy, in the Alps, on the banks of the Isere River. When talking about Gullah, the first thing that comes to mind is skiing. Its geographical advantage determines that it has very rich skiing resources. It was also the venue for the 1968 Winter Olympics. Every year, the surrounding ski resorts welcome a large number of ski enthusiasts from all over the world.

My fate with Gulla started on August 27, 2016 until now. At that time, my friend and I set out from Beijing to France. After we parted ways in Lyon, I came to this strange city alone with my bags. I was not afraid at all, on the contrary, I was very excited. Unexpectedly, from taking language classes to preparatory courses, to postgraduate studies, and now to doctoral students, I have never changed cities. My classmates said that I was the "nail house" in Gullah. My doctoral supervisor said that I really love our school deeply. After all, I am a dog.

I'm glad that my parents can come and see the place where I study and live in person, so that they won't have a dark eye every day and think of me living in dire straits when they see any negative news in France.

After arriving at Gulla Railway Station, I took my suitcase and went straight to the Vietnamese restaurant I often go to. The owner of this restaurant is very nice and greets everyone warmly every time he comes. He also remembers things very well. Every time I bring different people here, he will remember them. This time I brought my parents with me, so naturally I was a little surprised. This is one of my favorite restaurants. Before the epidemic, I basically checked in every week. Now that the restaurant is closed, I hope that after the epidemic, I can still have that hot bowl of Vietnamese noodles.

Then, after eating and drinking, we took our suitcases and walked back to the student apartment where I lived. I spent nearly three and a half wonderful years here. This room, which is only 18 square meters, has everything I need and gives me a sense of security.

Looking through the photo album, it is difficult to find a photo that reflects the overall layout of the room. I only found this one. This little bear was the most heart-warming gift I received from a friend when I first came to France, and it has always been with me. The three-kilogram rope was stuffed into my suitcase by my mother as an escape tool in case of fire...

After taking a short rest, we went shopping in the city. The weather is a bit cloudy. First, we passed by a park in the city center. There was a small concert going on inside. There was a small table in front of it, and there were all kinds of snacks for everyone to try for free. My dad likes to wander around alone. In the blink of an eye, he is standing in front of this table and starting to taste other people's cheese. Then, he asked people to come over and applaud the singers.

Another enthusiastic couple helped us take family photos, I’m so happy :)

My dad’s stance when taking photos is really amazing. like! I hope you can walk this straight when you usually walk.

Then, we went to have Amorino ice cream.

My dad doesn’t like sweets very much, so he took a bottle of mineral water and posed with us.

After all, it's really nothing special. There are no parks, and Amorino is everywhere. What is there in Gullah? Don't worry, we have "eggs" in Gulla, the kind that can walk, and there are several more.

see it? In fact, it has a name, called "Bastille Cable Car", and it is an important means of transportation to the Bastille Fortress and the city center. Under normal circumstances, we can choose to walk up, which takes about thirty or forty minutes, or we can take our "Egg", which will take us up in minutes. The purpose of this trip is to overlook the night view of Gullah. The viewpoint at Bastille is definitely the best. The picture shows the River Isère captured through the glass as the cable car ascends. The weather was not very good at this time and the light was a bit dark.

I remember during the cable car ride, my dad basically stayed still because he was afraid of heights. Finally reached the top, the wind was still very strong on the mountain.

Enough with the photos, don’t forget what we came here to do. Look at the night view!

Waiting and waiting, finally waited until night fell. So, there is the following

A set of photos of sky gradients.

This last picture was borrowed from a friend. Thank you very much!

May 25

This morning, I had something to do at school, so I didn't have time to spend time with them. My parents decided to go to a nearby park by themselves. Lying leisurely on the lawn.

Although my dad doesn't speak the language, he is very courageous and is always ready to strike up a conversation with the people around him when wandering around.

Last time I heard him say that he got addicted to cigarettes in the park and wanted to smoke. But, there was no fire. How to do it? He looked around, aimed at a group of students chatting on the lawn, and gestured with them to borrow some fire. Yes, he succeeded. Behind it, it expands more and more. One morning he said he wanted to go for a walk by himself. I said don't go too far, just wander around and don't get lost. As a result, he swore that there was no way he could get lost. More than an hour later, I received a call from him saying: "Daughter, where do you think I am...". Even later, he entered the Gypsy camp alone. He said that he felt that the expressions of these people were not right, and then he remembered what I said and ran away. Do you think you are in China? My biological father!

In the afternoon I arrived at the university town where I study. I remember when I first came to school, I looked everywhere for the school gate. Shouldn't such a big school have a door? I couldn't find it. Later I realized that I was thinking too much and there was no way I could do it.

This is a very special moment because I brought my parents to the graduation ceremony of our preparatory class. It has been almost two years since I came to France and I finally got the pass for the major I want to study. I talked to the teacher in charge at noon and they welcomed my parents. In my impression, the teachers were very surprised. They came to shake hands with my parents, and they were a little overwhelmed. They must have rarely met the parents of students in their teaching careers. This time, they were actually parents of students from China. In French universities, no matter what degree you obtain, there is basically no grand graduation ceremony. Everyone can bring something to eat, chat, and then nothing else.

May 26

Grad is adjacent to Switzerland, and there are many buses or trains to and from Geneva within a day. We caught the earliest train from Grad to Geneva so we could have more time to visit, and took the last train back to Grad.

Lake Geneva is very big. We walked around the lake, and a few runners passed by from time to time. It was very quiet.

There is the largest artificial fountain in the world. The height of the water column can reach 140 meters, and the amount of water staying in the air can reach about 7 tons.

The sky is still gray. I remember the last time I came to Geneva with my friends was in early January 2017, and the sky was blue.

There is a special sculpture in the square in front of the Palais des Nations, which is a chair with broken legs.

After visiting these must-see attractions, what’s next? Buy a watch! After all, this is a country that is big on watches, so it makes sense to buy a watch as a souvenir. Don't think too much, we don't have money to buy a Rolex, it's just a popular brand, and each of my parents can buy one. The watch seller was very enthusiastic and helped us choose for about an hour. He also gave me a discount because of my good French. The price was agreed upon, paid, and left with the tax refund form. Because they come as tourists, they can get a tax refund. In fact, we paid the price after tax refund. We only need to hand in the tax refund form when going through customs. If the tax refund is unsuccessful, we will need to pay the money back. However, an accident happened, and the place where I thought I could get a tax refund suddenly closed. Seeing that there was not much time left before the return trip, I had no choice but to give up.

It was early summer, and I suddenly decided to eat cheese fondue at noon. After all, this is a specialty of Switzerland. Not much time, it was hard to find a restaurant nearby that had cheese fondue. So, I asked for help from the policeman who was standing not far from me. He said in surprise: "Are you sure you want to eat cheese fondue? It's summer, I think you should give up..."

Okay, let's go home. The return journey took a bus from Geneva to Annecy, and then transferred to the train back to Grad. You still have to take the bus, and you can see many different scenery on the road. On the way, we met a police officer who got on the bus to verify everyone's identity. By this time, my dad was already fast asleep, and the police officer finally let him go.

May 27

Today we will visit an authentic French home. The place where we are visiting is a small town called Tullins, about 20 kilometers away from Gullah.

Before receiving my parents, GG's parents searched for a lot of information to understand Chinese people's preferences. They were very attentive. Let’s visit the yard first.

What greeted us at noon was an authentic French meal. A rough estimate of the meal took about four hours. Let’s see what we ate!

The first is foie gras, which will be very greasy if eaten directly, but it can be relieved by eating it with bread.

Then there is Pissaladière, which in Chinese should be called sardine and scallion pizza? What are these names? It’s so hard for me to translate them... This is an authentic Nice dish, topped with sardines and a few olives.

. Next is the salmon and fish roe cookies, the black ones are the eggs of the roundfin fish.

Now let’s look at what to eat for the main course. First, we have an outdoor barbecue.

Did you think we were done? not at all. We haven't tasted the stinky cheese yet. Speaking of cheese, it has all kinds of flavors you can’t imagine. At first, I didn't like food very much. However, now I am really obsessed with cheese, but I eat it selectively. As for what they are called, sorry, I never remembered the names of these cheeses.

Usually cheese is eaten with baguette. Baguettes are like steamed buns or naan for us northerners, and rice is indispensable for southerners. It's so hard that it can be used to hit people, and it can also be used to punch out bags. Just chew and chew, it's very chewy.

Finally it’s time for dessert, oh my god. It felt like my stomach was so full that I couldn't stand up anymore.

The first dessert was baked egg whites filled with cream. It is baked with egg whites and sugar, and is decorated with some almond slices. It is very crispy and melts in your mouth.

The second dessert was macaroons.

We are curious about every dish.

cheers!

Thanks for meeting.

In the afternoon we visited the wine cellar of Chartreuse. The Chinese name is nettle wine or Chartreuse. It is produced in Chartreuse Monastery and is a famous specialty of Gullah. The recipe for this wine remains a secret, and only two monks from the monastery have the recipe. It is said that these two people will not travel together to avoid accidents and the loss of the secret recipe.

It’s another fruitful day. Tomorrow is the last day of our stay in Gullah. We decided to go to the mountains to have a look. After all, the mountains are the soul of Gullah.

May 28

Early this morning we drove up the mountain to Saint Hilaire du Touvet. The weather is still a bit cloudy and a bit cold on the mountain. However, the scenery is so beautiful, I feel like I am in wonderland.

The unique geographical and climatic advantages attract many gliding enthusiasts every year. Here, we met a middle-aged couple who were also gliding enthusiasts. They took the initiative to chat with us and explain the gliding process. The aunt was holding an e-cigarette in her hand, which she said helped her quit smoking. So, my dad became very interested in this. Then there was a discussion about whether e-cigarettes can help them quit addiction.

No, there is another one.

Here’s another photo with my mother.

For dinner, we decided to have Indian food. I thought it was okay before, but this time due to a mistake in my choice, I can only say that I have never eaten Indian food since then. I remember the boss said as soon as he walked in the door, "If it's not delicious, you don't have to pay for it." As for me, when I was paying the bill, I told him honestly that a certain dish was not very tasty, and the boss actually gave me free money for this dish. Although it's not that delicious, the picture still needs to be uploaded. Readers, please take your time and take a closer look :)

In the next travel post, we are going to Greece, so stay tuned.