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Un Bon Voyage
Paul Stilley
Centreville - Grenoble, France
My year abroad in France was more
than just a cultural experience in a foreign country. It was
an eleven month voyage around Europe and its surroundings.
Of course, being situated in the French Alps in an industrial
town called Grenoble, I was in the perfect location to begin
traveling in any direction. Upon my arrival, I was first challenged
with the grueling and almost impossible task of finding an
apartment. Not only is the French real-estate system a collection
of rabid thieves and bandits, its workers are also among the
worst customer service agents known to mankind. Once an apartment
was finally found, my classes began on campus. Being enrolled
in two separate universities, Stendhal and Science Politique,
I was given vacation time practically every month. This does
not go to say that school was easy. The French system of education,
unlike the most American universities, is extremely rigorous
and usually consists of only one exam given at the end of
the term. The exam counts for 100% of the grade. This leads
to two likely scenarios in my particular case: plenty of free
time until the last minute, and exam cramming like I have
never experienced before in my life. On a more positive note,
my free time did not go wasted. Within eleven months, half
of which was probably spent on trains, I visited over twenty
countries and in return, opened my mind to a broader and more
global perspective of the world.
University Campus in Grenoble, France
During the fall, I went on trips
to Italy, Switzerland, Germany, England, and Spain. The best
part about traveling to these places, as well as around the
majority of Europe, is the fact that trains are efficient,
rapid, and most importantly cheap. In October, I went to Munich,
Germany to experience the world renowned Oktoberfest. It was
everything I hoped it would be: a gigantic festival with tents
holding thousands of people each with a liter of the best
German beer in the world. That same month, I also went on
a trip to London. Unfortunately, I missed the train from Grenoble
to Paris, took the next one and had to stay in Paris, woke
up early the next day to find out that Eurostar (the chunnel
train from France to England) was canceled due to a power
failure, took a train from Paris to Lille, Lille to Calais,
took a ferry from Calais to Dover, and finally took a diesel
train from Dover to London. Other than the disastrous journey
over there, I had a great time. Before returning back to the
States for Christmas vacation, I made a quick trip down to
Barcelona as well. It was one of my most favorite cities in
Europe. The art, culture, and food around the area makes the
city truly unique and vibrant.
Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany
When I came back from the States in January,
winter had rolled into Grenoble. I had never experienced wind
chills or biting frost like that in my life. However, on the
bright side of it being an icebox, Grenoble received a massive
amount of great snow for skiing. I went up to the Alps every
weekend that I could to go skiing and it was fantastic. The
mountains were enormous and the ski resorts were extremely
cheaply priced. After a couple of weeks of that kind of freezing
weather, I had had enough and decided to go with some friends
down to Morocco for some sun. Starting off in Casablanca,
we went north to Fes, Meknes, Marrakesh, and the roman ruins
of Volubis. Though we had an amazing time and the food was
to die for, we also had some interesting experiences with
a false tourist guide in Fes and a seemingly innocent group
of Arab girls selling henna drawings. After finishing midterms
in late February, some friends and I decided to rent a car
and drive to Belgium for the week. Though cars are cheaper
than trains, I would not recommend driving in Europe unless
you are European or suicidal. To say the least, European road
systems are poorly marked, beyond confusing, and downright
perilous.
Vista Point from Marrakesh, Morocco
After the trip to Belgium, I returned once again
to France where things went fine as always, even with the
War in Iraq going on. Being an American in a country completely
against our politics was never really a problem. Besides the
protests against the war that occurred daily in town that
brought trams, buses, and trains to halts, the French were
quite passive about the war. While Americans were busy changing
fries to freedom fries, the people I met were mostly inquisitive
and curious, and always seemed to be able to tell the difference
between politics and people. In late April, I went on a trip
to Eastern Europe with a decently priced Eurail pass that
allowed traveling throughout Austria, the Czech Republic,
Slovakia, and Hungary. Prague and Budapest were without a
doubt the highlights of the vacation. Amazingly well preserved
cities, their streets and alleys took you back two hundred
years and revealed a time and culture that most people tend
to overlook when traveling in Europe. When I got back, I've
finished my remaining exams and got a job as a bartender at
a bar is called the "couche tard" (translation in
English: "going to bed late"). It was always jam
packed with people and it was a blast to work there. Besides
the bartender life, I also had to deal with France's wonderful
system of social rights and strikes. That whole month of May,
trains, buses, postal services, administration offices all
went on strike at some point in time. I would be riding on
the bus, the bus will stop, and there would be about 20,000
strikers blocking the street. Even the trash services in town
went on strike! As the hot summer weather began rolling in,
the build up of trash gave me the motivation to leave once
again on a month long vacation with the small amount of money
I earned from working at the bar.
Gothic Church in Prague, Czech Republic
I began by heading down to Corsica with a group
of friends. Though the island is world renown for the most
dangerous roads in Europe (amazing cliff drives that border
the coast on little golf cart tracks that yield to two way
traffic), we nevertheless rented tiny French cars and went
all around the island. Fortunately, we didn't kill ourselves
flying over the unbarracaded cliffs, but we did manage to
rack up 500 euros in damage taking the cars extreme romping!
After the road trip around Corsica, I went to Slovenia and
then head down to Greece. On my way over, I noticed that Turkey
wasn't too far away, and being that our Eurail passes were
valid there as well, we traveled 51 hours on a train to Istanbul.
It was a rip off well worth it because Istanbul was incredible.
I stayed in a luxury three star hotel for ten euros a night
and ate like kings. After Turkey, I went down to Greece, rented
scooters, and buzzed around the islands: Santorini, Naxos,
Mykonos, and Syros. After Greece, I went back up to Italy
to meet some friends in Florence and Rome. This was soon followed
by a long journey up to Amsterdam and finally down to Paris
for Bastille Day to conclude the voyage.
The Blue Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey
There is so much more that can be written about
my year abroad than simply my trips and my adventures. However,
all the words in the world could not describe in full the
insight and personal experience I gained from living, speaking,
becoming a part of a foreign culture. Not only did it open
my mind to a more global perspective, it also gave me a deeper
understanding of the different kinds of people and cultures
that exist outside of the United States. As the capital city
of the Alps, Grenoble was an ideal location to study abroad.
Beautifully surrounded by beautiful mountains and situated
on the Drac and Isère rivers, it was a lively, thriving,
modern city, home to a university of more than 35,000 students,
and more specifically, home to me. Looking back on all my
travels and all my experiences, I can say without a doubt
that my year abroad was a truly enriching and inspiring part
of my life that changed me not only as university student,
but as a person as well.
Vista Point, Grenoble, France
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