We went to the Grenoble museum with the kids. They happened to be having a special performance in which a dancer would do a dance in front of a work of art. A detailed description by a docent would then follow. I'm generally a dance philistine, but I thought it was beautiful, and Zoe was transfixed.
more pics:
Earlier in the day, Chloe went swimming wih a friend while I corralled the babies. Zoe read to Alex, and even shared her Babu blanket
Zoe's opinion of the Baja 1000: "DIRTY, DIRTY!". Little does she know that she will be my co-driver in 2026. NB, if you have not seen Dust to Glory, Rent. It. Now. I am watching it for the third time. The narration is bad, but everything else is so, so good.
The Drome is still my favorite area in France thus far, so I was excited to take a day trip to Mirmande, a (you guessed it!) beautiful medieval town, officially listed as one of the plus beaux villages de france (link) in the Drome. We auto-routed it most of the way, so there wasn't much to see until we got there, but the town didn't disappoint. The only problem was that it was really, really, exceptionally cold, and we all retreated to the Cafe Chez Margot in short order. Some photos by our young compatriot from the states, Ian:
and my photos
From there, we drove to Chabillan, which has an impressive, but falling apart keep, more picturesque streets, a very cool looking library where they serve beer, and a whole lot of cats. This cat was in a tree that was not really able to support his weight:
The cafe is under the turret. Not a bad location, really!
The GPS was trying to kill us for most of the day, at one point routing us onto a tiny dirt road, covered in ice and snow that climbed a 15 grade up a hill. It also routed us through countless damn roundabouts on the Departmental roads.
apparently trying to kill us; he was up from midnight until 6 AM this morning and has been "sleeping" similarly for days now. Arghhh!!
The only mildy dicey part of my commute is the roundabout near the autoroute. It's really not an issue normally, as cars are polite and will stop for you when they see you in the bike lane, but you never know. I always assume that they are trying to kill me, and have not had any even vaguely dangerous moments (really, mom!). Anyway, there must be a prefab cement staircase company nearby, because on many mornings I see flatbed trucks hauling them away -- usually in the opposite direction to Lyon. I know this because I give them a wide birth and sometimes stop if I think they might be cutting me off to get onto the ramp for Lyon. Anyway, this morning I was confronted with this amazing spectacle:
It looked like it had fallen off into the roundabout and then been pushed onto the "shoulder" (i.e. the bike lane). I've seen a lot of things in the bike lane that don't belong, but seeing a cement spiral staircase was definitely a first.
We took a short trip to Perouges today. It is just about an hour drive away, and actually quite close to Lyon St. Exupery, if you ever find yourself stuck there. After circling the lot once (tip: drive into the town for the free parking rather than pay to use the lots that are far away from the center). As far as the town goes: what can I say? Perouges is yet another beautiful fortified medieval town with a rich history. I'm not sure how effective the fortifications were against the Archbishop of Lyon, but I can unequivocally state that the cobbles shut down the hordes of invading toddlers today. Zoe gave up on trying to walk on the streets after twenty feet. I saw another kid fall victim to the ruthless cobbles: he was happily walking along before tripping on one of the larger egg shaped rocks and went down with a surprised look on his face, and of course subsequently burst into tears. The stroller was equally thwarted and was basically impossible to push along the streets. So yeah, quite effective against the short of legged! Some photos:
Hanging corn to dry:
We also bought and happily devoured a local specialty cake: Galettes de Perouges. They are like little sugary butter saturated pizza slices. mmmmmm.
I got a chloe pass to go to 7 laux for the morning. It was an absolutely epic day of knee deep powder and no one else on the slopes. Fantastic!
A shameless bit of self promotion at work today reminded me of the time in grad school when a few of my lab mates published in Nature. Over the course of the next two weeks following the print release, that issue would mysteriously find it's way onto the break room table. Even more mysterious: it was always open to the author page! No matter how many times you put it away or flipped to a new article, it would magically re-appear in a prominant place, open to the author list. Also, all the other journals would get stacked on a chair. Who says scientists lack in subtlety?
chloe went to the 7 laux to go boarding today while I watched the kids. Very jealous of the the powder
We went to Saint Antoine l'Abbeye today, which is one of the officially classified "Plus Beaux Villages de France". It's a beautiful small town with a giant Gothic Church and picturesque cobbled streets and alleys.
A few of the buildings had very fancy roofs:
Some more pictures:
Chloe and I had a wonderful meal at le Tour de Sens. As usual, all I had was an iphone to take pictures:
Highlights were the langoustines, scallops, cheese selection from Les Alpages, and the mega dessert plate. Overall, I think the most memorable dish was the pain perdue (French toast): absolutely fantastic, and the best I have ever had. I thought Thomas Keller had it perfected at Bouchon, but this was miles better. It was less pudding like, and somehow more delicate than the Bouchon version.
We took a drive to Pont-en-Royans today. Along the way, we tried to stop at several historic sites, but were thwarted by the signage. Official signs would lead us most of the way to a chapel, for example, and then all of a sudden the signs would disappear. We did eventually make it to the chateau de la Sone, but it turned out to be closed. The caretaker informed us that we could not even walk on the grounds until it was open in the summer. Nice. It does look very pretty though, so I'm sure we will be back at some point. In googling the castle, I found out that it is a hotel, too! Next, it was on to Pont-en-Royans -- one of our old haunts, and the gateway to lots of excellent Vercors climbing. 
We walked around town, and while the park by the river is very pretty, it is apparently the Vercors capital for people to take their dogs to. This wouldn't be a problem if they didn't have the charming habit of letting their dogs shit everywhere and then walk away without cleaning it. As a result, it's a bit of a fetid minefield down there. Perhaps best viewed from afar? Since we had promised Zoe a hot chocolate earlier, we went to a cafe:
then back to Grenoble
