Turin, Grenoble
The morning air was crisp as we left the AirBnb for the city center. The city was quiet, it seemed like everyone was still asleep. Coffee shops were covered by iron gates and church doors remained closed. I enjoyed seeing the buildings we had passed the night before. There was a church with beautiful mosaics, a wonderful decorated clock, and several museums along our route to the Shroud of Turin. We had left early in case there was a long line to get in.
Fortunately, we were able to walk in without a problem. Some of the girls had to put on t-shirts because tank tops were not allowed. The sides of the church were full of smaller alters dedicated to saints. One was dedicated to a local man who was in the process of becoming a saint; I was surprised because I was able to read the Italian signs that told about his life and the miracles he had preformed. Behind the church’s alter there was a huge glass window, which I later discovered was attached to the royal palace. The shroud was displayed to the left of the main alter in a glass case with thorns surrounding it. I learned that it is revered because many believe it was used to wrap the body of Christ after he was taken from the cross. I think it was important for my friend Jillian to see.
Nearby was the local open air market. I’ve never seen any market as big. There were so many fruits I didn’t know what some of them were. There were vegetables, fish, cooked dishes, toys, and more. Jillian and I split a bag of cherries, black berries, and some very tart red berries that I do not know the name of. We all met up and ate them together under the Roman ruins. Ryan shared some olives, Tara shared some peaches, and we shared our cherries.
After all of us had had a chance to enjoy the fruits we headed back through the main square to find a spot to have a coffee. I got a cappuccino and a plain croissant. I don’t think I’ve ever had coffee that tasted as good. I was amazed. It differed from France because you went inside to order, then paid inside after you had eaten. In France you would have either paid at the table or at the counter when you ordered your food.
Once we had enjoyed our snack, the girls walked across town to the cinema museum. We had all purchased tickets for the panoramic lift and we got to go up earlier than our ticket time. It was gorgeous. We were able to see the entire city. I walked around alone because I needed some space and I was surprised when a woman offered to take my photo. She did a great job (pls enjoy my shameless pic promotion here).
The museum itself was really unique. I think I can only compare it to the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame that I remember visiting as a little kid. There were about 3 floors open to us, but it looked like there were several more exhibits under construction that would open soon. There were sections with props from horror movies, Star Wars, sixties sitcoms, and art films unknown to me. We were able to take some fun photos around the museum and we each got some cool glamor shots. Throughout the museum there were a lot of props and pictures from American films. I saw a bodice from Marilyn Monroe, French posters for The Fly, and original costumes from Batman movies.
By the time we left the museum we were famished. We found Ryan and ended up splitting up for lunch. Ryan, Jillian, and I went our own way and found a hole in the wall Italian place. Jillian and I started with the “menu” so we got to choose a pasta dish and a meat dish. We all got to be sternly talked to by the owner, an older Italian woman, in a mix of French and Italian. She knew we didn’t know the language and was clearly more than irked. For the rest of the meal she sent out the waiter who was a lot younger and spoke excellent English. After the entire ordeal, I chose a meat sauce pasta and got meat balls. Let me tell you, I have never had pasta so good *Italian food kiss*. Jillian and I also decided we’d split a bottle of wine so it’d be a little less expensive, however we did not realize that the restaurant brought us the good stuff, which cost us a solid 14 euros. We also did not realize that it was 13.5% alcohol until we started giggling after our first glass. Whoops! To top off lunch, we all got tiramisu (I still like my dad’s better). It was an amazing lunch, but really expensive.
Ryan, Jillian, and I left lunch overly full, but in good spirits. We wandered across town to see the royal palace of the Savoy family. If I understand correctly, they were originally French but then took over this portion of Italy. We got into the palace for 2 euros each, checked in our bags, and went on our way. I loved the palace, but thought it was a lot less ornate than the Louvre or Versailles (which is to be expected). One of the first rooms we stopped in had a huge altarpiece that was back marble. There were white angelic statues all around and we discovered there had been a huge fire there that had burned all the marble black in the 1700s. As we entered that room we heard beautiful organ music and peeked through the huge window at the back to discover it was connected to the church were the Shroud of Turin was housed! The music was coming from a wedding ceremony taking place below! It was a once in a lifetime moment. The rest of the palace was gilded, had huge lighting fixtures made of crystal, and several rooms of weaponry. I was moderately creeped out because one room had at least 10 taxidermied horses similar to Napoleon’s that we saw in Paris.
Exhausted, we walked toward the bus station and decided we’d spend the rest of our time hanging out and enjoying some drinks. We grabbed mojitos and were given some free nachos along with them. When Jillian went to the bathroom, an old Italian woman came out of a mysterious door, spoke quickly to me in Italian, and disappeared. It was really strange. We left after our first drink for some gelato. I did my best to order in Italian and got my order across! The patron and his wife asked me if I was a French student and told me I had an accent. I told her in French that I was actually American but I was studying in France for the summer. They were thrilled that I had tried my hand at their language and I went on my way.
As we ate we continued toward the bus, discovering one of the buildings we had passed by the day before was an old prison. We had hour passports checked as we entered the bus, we chose our seats, and settled in. Outside our windows we saw fireworks going off in smaller towns in France for the Bastille day that would occur the next day, I was sad we couldn’t stop to watch them. It was the longest bus ride of my life. I was so so thankful when we arrived in Grenoble at midnight.
Mary-Est-En-France 