Chapitre Un (continued) : La vie en ville

L'arc de Triomphe

Confession # 1: I bought the book Neither Here nor There by Bill Bryson before I left.  The book is a funny account of the author's trip across Europe.  If you aren't familiar with Bill Bryson, I recommend you read something he has written.  Anyway, I got the book because it is by Bill Bryson, because it is about Europe, and because Meredith got a Bill Bryson book to read on her flights to Australia last semester.  But, alas, like my dear friend Meredith, I read about 10 pages on the plane and then opted for the in flight movies and an old copy of Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts.
Tonight, by chance, I picked up Neither Here Nor There again and read through chapter 4, which happens to be about Paris.  I thought about his experiences and how they compare to my own experiences, and realized that one passage really jumped out at me: 

"I know Baron Haussman made Paris a great place to look at, but the man had no concept of traffic flow. At the Arc de Triomphe alone, 13 streets come together. I mean here you have a city with the world's most pathologically aggressive drivers ... and you give them an open space where they can all try to go in any of 13 directions at once. Is this asking for trouble or what?" (44). 

Now, I'm not in Paris but it appears that no one in France knows how to drive or plan a city.  The latter may have something to do with the fact that the downtown of Grenoble was built in the 1600's, but still.  I'm not very used to cities in the U.S. or Europe, but it seems to me there are certain places in US cities where you just can't drive.  This is not true in France, unless the traffic cops are really slacking.  For example, cobblestone paths approximately 12 feet across full of pedestrians and cafe tables - no problem, French cars are only 6 feet wide.  Not only do they drive and park where they please, they drive fast and park inconveniently.  And despite what Drivers-ed-Denis drilled into me, "Rule of the road # 1, someone stops, someone goes," rules of the road need not apply in France.  Someone might stop, and 6 others might go.  Or maybe everyone stops at once, then all go at the same time.  Ils sont vraiment fous!

le tram

However, I have found the public transportation here to be delightful!  I've never had the occasion to use public transportation regularly, since it doesn't really exist where I live.  Here in Grenoble, they use a system of trams and buses.  There are 4 tram lines which go through the busy parts of town, and the buses branch out into the surrounding neighborhoods and areas.  Although I found it somewhat confusing at first, since I oriented myself to where my house is I have found it quite easy to use.  The Von Trapp's street runs between two bigger streets, so I can turn left or right out of my driveway and take bus 31 or 34 into town, or to another stop where I can take the tram to the University.  I feel quite confident using the system now, and I feel really cool because I look like I know what I'm doing.  Except for the first one or two times, when I looked like a nervous, paranoid American.  But despite what you may hear about the French, I have found them to be quite nice.  On Monday morning when I was taking the bus into town for the first time, I was obsessively checking the map to make sure I got off at the right stop.  The man sitting next to me must have noticed, because he asked what stop I was going to.  It turns out he was going to the same one, and made sure I got off alright.  Along the way he asked if I was a student and we had a nice conversation, so Merci Monsieur!