Shopping and museum

We went to the new (and mysteriously deserted! woo!) Caserne la Bonne shopping center to replace my climbing shoes (blown out toes after a year of good usage) and pick up the new and much anticipated Petzl Grigri 2. After much debate, I started using the much maligned GriGri 1 nearly six years ago, and have never looked back. I'm excited to see whether this new device lives up to the hype. The Grigri 2 is not even available in the states yet. I guess proximity to the Petzl mothership in Crolles has it's advantages! Near the register, I had the idea to have Zoe try on child harnesses, which seem to vary considerably in their adjustability and comfort. Although the Petzl was probably the best in terms of ease of donning, it was a bit too big. The CAMP was a total disaster: I can't believe anyone buys them. The Fixé Apache was the clear winner: lots of adjustability and quite easy to get on. Time for some winter first ascents of alpine North faces with ZZ! YES!

After emptying our bank account at Vieux Campeur, we had lunch at Paul, which was simple, but excellent



Next, it was time to buy some clothes for Chloe and myself. Zoe assisted us by running around the store, and periodically opening the curtains to the changing rooms so that the whole store could see us in our underwear. Thanks, Zoe! Next, we went outside to the central garden. They have some nice reflecting pools with bridges over them, and more importantly, a playground! The playground is elevated, and has all kinds of exciting activities for kids. The most significant of which, is of course, the Big Slide:


From the playground, you are surrounded by new buildings. Many of them have sparkling penthouse apartments with rooftop gardens. Still more are currently being constructed, which makes me think the recession (la Crise) is hopefully hitting Grenoble a little less hard than in other places.

After dragging Zoe away from the Big Slide, we drove to the museum.

We bought memberships for the museum last year, and like our National Parks Pass, we have made excellent use of them. It is easy to do, however, because they are only eighteen euro per person, per year! Compare that with the prices that you have to pay for museums in the Bay Area. A day at the Cal Academy will set a family like ours back $60 -- a privilege of the middle and upper classes? I know that the museum does a few things to improve access for people who can't afford it, but they seem pretty small ( nine lines in the prospectus on this, compared to pages on the environmental design), especially considering the fact that it received 150 million USD in public money. Anyway, we love the Grenoble Museum, and are happy to be members, even if it seems like there are not very many other members! I have never seen anyone else show members passes, and I get the feeling sometimes that even the cashiers are surprised when we produce our member cards.

After walking around the museum for an hour or so, we walked down by place Notre Dame, to buy florentines and tartes aux noix at Bourbon