Day 34 – July 19, 2019

Grenoble

This morning Joyce and I had the chance to work on our slam poem on weather in Michigan. It’s coming along, but I think it’s become evident that I study history for a reason. I can’t compose in two languages now! I think it’ll be fun to hear everyone’s poems. We have new students in our class from Korea, Singapore, and Vietnam.

In the following class we spent the period examining two important pieces of French art. The first was Liberty Leading the People. It represents the Trois Jours Glorieux following the 1830 French revolution against king Louis-Philippe. You can see royalist soldiers laying dead in the streets, members of different classes in revolt, and the symbol of French republicanism (Marianne) leading the revolutionaries into battle. You’ve probably seen the image before, because it is frequently used on textbooks and in modern art pieces.

We also examined The Raft of the Medusa by Théodore Géricault. It represents a real shipwreck that occurred off the coast of France. When the ship capsized the officers fled the scene in lifeboats, leaving poor crew members to die. Over 150 men remained on the ship. Some managed to create a small raft and were adrift with only rum to consume for 12 days. Members of the crew turned to cannibalism during that period and by the time the men were rescued only 15 remained. The artist was criticized for the graphic nature of the work and that he chose to have a black man wave the flag that brought the men salvation from a passing ship.

Today was our trip to the Chartreuse distillery, which meant that the entire UM cohort had to rush to find a bus across town and get lunch in less than an hour. This week the tram stopped working between 9am and 4pm, so they’ve replaced the transport with a bus. However, it is a lot less convenient and is a lot slower. Many of us were late and a few weren’t able to find food, but we all made it on the bus which arrived 30 minutes later than expected. The distillery sits on top of a mountain near the monastery that has existed for centuries. We were told by the guide that only 2 people in the world know the recipe for the Chartreuse liquors, which was just incredible to me. It takes someone 5 years to be completely trained in the art of tasting and controlling the liquor making process, as they use a mixture of 130 spices and herbes. The distillery boasts that they have the longest cellar for liquor distillation in the world. (It was huge, dank, and creepy.) The casks were made of oak from the 1800s, as they find that the older the wood the better. People climb inside them to do maintenance from time to time. We were not allowed to take photos in the cellar, but I wish I could show you the piles of sugar that coated the outside of barrels. It had very obviously built up over decades of use. Our group got to taste both types of the liquor after our tour, green and yellow. Green is 55% alcohol and yellow is 45%. I preferred the yellow.

We returned to Grenoble after our tasting, had some time to relax, and then it was time for dinner. Tonight we started with ripe melon and Spanish cheeses. It was an interesting mix. Our main plate was a Greek dish that seemed similar to lasagna, but was less cheesy. Our after dinner snacks include pasteurized cheese and a pear fruit cup. Over dinner we talked about the differences between France and Italy. Gilbert’s mom was from Italy so he got really into the conversation. He told me that the Italians are really “too Catholic” and wear black all the time to show their devote nature. He argued they use big hand gestures, speak loudly, and are a lot more passionate than the French. Both Janine and Gilbert thought it was funny that the restaurant owner in Italy did not like our group of Americans and raised her voice at us. They told me that Italians prefer the French to Americans.

A group of us wanted to go out tonight, but we got an email from the US State Department that we should stay in because of rioting connected to the Algeria game. I didn’t think anything of it, but as I type I can hear yelling and cheering. There were fireworks over my building, window breaking, and trumpets blaring. I’m glad we played it safe. The trams aren’t even operational tonight because the tracks will be covered with people celebrating.