Le rugby

In true organised and thoughtful fashion, Bel had planned a whole itinerary full of activities for my trip. Today we had a much needed lie in, and then headed to see how Grenoble's Christmas market compared to Lyon's. Again, stalls full of stuff that you'd actually want to buy - so different to Winter Wonderland, London's only real Christmas market, where the only good thing is mulled wine but it costs £6 and is served in a thin plastic cup which means if you're not wearing gloves you get an extra gift of third degree burns.

We had a specTACular lunch of a baguette with jambon cru and cheese which was scraped off giant wheels of melted raclette cheese. Amazing. 10/10, would recommend to a friend, would eat again in a second.

In the evening we headed out to watch a rugby game with Issy's friends Liv and Laura. Grenoble's local team lost to Montpellier but it was so much fun, and a really beautiful setting (note the moon in the top left corner). We then met some more of Bel's friends for dinner at an Italian resto by the river. It's so nice to witness first hand what lovely friends Bel has made and how much fun they've been having. Errr, when she's not studying that is. (I don't think mum's going to read this but just in case.)