This week has been a very nice, relaxing week of recovering from my Italy trip. Monday is a public holiday in France, so I do not have school today either! It’s been really fun doing things with my AIFS group and getting homework/projects completed because next week we will be missing a day of school to travel to Paris! I am excited :)
Friday this week our group went to the museum of the Resistance in Grenoble. It was absolutely incredible and very eye-opening. Grenoble was part of the free part of France during WWII (the part not controlled by the Nazis,) so it was a very important refuge for people targeted by the Nazis. The museum of course invoked strong emotions because as you can see in some of my pictures, it went into grave detail of the torture and hatred Jewish people, and others, had to endure under the Nazi regime. It is a crazy part of history, and I still find it hard to believe that humans are capable of such evil, although there are shocking similarities between Hitler and our President today. Grenoble, even though it was in the “free” part of France, did not like all the immigrants coming into their country “illegally,” and there were many people who worked undercover to turn people in. In addition, people still had to wear marks of identification and were still criticized by others in Grenoble—sound familiar? On the flip side, it was also terrible how much violence was invoked on both sides of the battle and how people responded after the Nazis were defeated. We saw in the museum how many people working with the Nazis were shot execution style in the streets for everyone to see, beat up, and had rocks/bricks thrown at them. Now I’m not saying the Nazis didn’t deserve to be punished, but it is amazing to me how much bloodlust humans are capable of. Anyways, the museum was VERY well put together, and I really enjoyed it.
Friday night we then had a happier time at a rugby match. I’ve been to one rugby match at Xavier, but I do not know anything about the sport, so it was interesting to learn and watch. Grenoble’s team is pretty good—they had some players returning from the World Cup as well so that was fun. They won pretty easily, and it was a really great environment. I felt very French watching the game 😁.
Saturday morning we went to another museum (Musée de la Révolution Française) in Vizille, France. It was also magnificent, but the extra cool thing is that the museum is built inside of a pretty chateau and outside the chateau is a wonderful nature sanctuary. There are beautiful gardens, parks, and wildlife. It’s really amazing! I enjoyed walking around the nature more than the museum because that’s more of my thing, and it was super peaceful to just listen to the birds chirping and water running. They also have lots of deer in the sanctuary, so we got to do a “deer lookout” and spot the different species of deer that were around. I think deers are so cute and adorable, so that was fun for me. After the Vizille, I went home and watched a movie for the night! It was nice to take some time to myself.
Sunday I continued my self-care weekend. I cleaned my room really well, called family and friends from home, and caught up on most of my homework. It was a great day to just be productive and re-charge. I did get out of the house to meet some friends for lunch and walk around the centre-ville. I sure am going to miss this place!
Today we went to another museum, yes Grenoble has a lot of really amazing museums, called the Musée Dauphinois. It was cool and fun to learn history about the region. They had exhibits on skiing in Grenoble, the manufacturing of alcohol in France, and the indigenous people of the Alpes. They also had a special exposition on Rose Valland, a woman who recovered stolen paintings from the Nazis in WWII. She is one of the most decorated women in France, and she even received the Medal of Freedom from the US--girl power! The museum was very interesting. I also went for my last run here in Grenoble :(. The weather is getting very cold, and I did not think to bring any of my winter running gear, and I really don’t need to buy more stuff😂, so I soaked in the scenery for one last bitter sweet run. It will be nice to give my body some time off too. I will continue to workout, but just in the warmth of my room😊. Finally, I finished up my homework and I’m getting read
y to eat dinner and go to sleep. We have to make up our missed class tomorrow, so I will need to wake up at 8:30! You have to make up all classes you miss here, even if it’s for a holiday, so that’s a bit of bummer, but c’est la vie! Thanks for following along, I can’t believe I only have FIVE weekends left. The time has flown by!
Until next week,
Rachel