A Big City Girl in a Small City

Grenoble

After living in a large city for the larger portion of one’s life, becoming conditioned to a certain way of life is inevitable. New Yorkers, and Parisians alike, function at a faster pace with higher stress levels than most other places of the world. I generally forget this fact when escaping urban metropolises. Today, NYU in Paris was kind enough to take some of the students to Grenoble in the south east of France at the foot of the Alps. While most would consider Grenoble a city, I have a hard time understanding the way of life here.

On the streets of Grenoble, there is a sense of idleness. There’s no sense of needing to be somewhere or feeling the need to move quickly. It is slow. I truly want to appreciate this, but it seems indulgent and wasteful. In the various realms I have lived and functioned with in, I have rarely encountered this mentality and usually, I laugh it off.

This mentality is understandable given the beauty of the area. A small city tucked between the mountains, Grenoble is a cross between modern life and fairytale France. Everywhere you look, there are mountains straight of the Evian label lining the vista. It’s a calming force. While exploring the area, I am aware of the inherent beauty of the area, but it’s hard to see the appeal of living here. It’s strange to walk down the street and not get caught in clouds of cigarette smoke or not be able to walk into a store before noon. I hate to sound sheltered or set in my ways, but it seems like Grenoble is the middle ground between pastoral living and city life and the combination doesn’t seem particularly inspirational.

That being said, Grenoble is an interesting place to visit. It is the former home of the Dauphinois and the location of an impressive Bastille perched atop a mountain. There is a large Anglophone population here as well, which provides the populous with various British imports, which seem to permeate the city, and cupcakes. Overall, I’ve found France to be a beautiful and varied country and Grenoble is no different. It is very much an interesting intersection of a more rural community-focused lifestyle and city living.

Location