The Reunion in Grenoble

With one of the largest conferences in Lyon history taking place the parking garage (all three floors) is full and causing a traffic jam and nearly creates an access problem for our loading of Carol into the car.

We pull into a petrol station desperate for diesel and are treated to a crazy old coot who makes filling up quite entertaining.  He and Carol babble in French during the entire fill up and after; even when CJ is paying.  Who says the French don't love Americans?

We have a wheelchair! Although our GPS lady had problems getting us to the address in Miribel we have a wheelchair for the week. The crowning feature of the city along the Rhone is this statue.

 



Carol spied a restaurant on the banks of the Rhone River packed with locals and we had a good lunch with the pleasant owners providing great ambiance. The food is simple and delicious. That is our car pictured on the banks of the Rhone.

 

 

 

Carol decides we'll drive to Grenoble avoiding the toll road.  CJ is over that plan about a quarter of the way there. Where did all the bloody round-abouts come from in this country?

Didier meets us in the parking garage of our apartment building.  How great it is to be together again.  The apartment is wonderful.  After getting settled we enjoy a couple of hours of cocktails before preparing for dinner. We even have views of the mountains surrounding Grenoble from our patio.

 

 

 

We join the bride and groom for dinner at Restaurant Le Sens. It advertises the food as "cuisine franchise modern". The menu is weird to say the least but very good. Most bizarre was the radish offering.

 

To the Wedding (On Crutches)

Carol is out of the cast and in the dreaded boot. Crossing the Atlantic was quite a challenge for both of us but we survived and are now comfortably relaxing in a beautiful two room, double balcony suite compliments of an IHG upgrade on our "free night" room. We couldn't get the Marriott located in the same massive convention complex to cut us any sort of deal so we used the free night that came with our IHG credit card.

We had an adventure in Frankfurt when at the last minute they informed us that our departing flight to Lyon was parked out on the tarmac.  See the cool gizmo that eventually delivered Carol to the plane through the galley service door.

 

With no wheelchair available at the hotel, we first started taking Carol in on a luggage cart which the staff replaced with one of their office chairs. She went to lunch on the desk chair from the room. Clement has been a dream to work with here at the hotel.

 

Having arrived in Grenoble this afternoon after his own harrowing experience on the motorways, Didier has called to check on us .  Fortunately this evening they are dining at the bride's home and we're certain copious quantities of wine will make him forget about his near death experience.