Chartreuse

EAP, the study abroad program we are in, has been working pretty hard to keep us liquored up the entire time we are here. We drank the first dinner together and it was almost nonstop for the first few days. This is probably reflective of the lax social rules concerning alcohol in France, but as an American it's still somewhat weird drinking wine with professors and program administrators.

For our first full day excursion as a group, we all went to the Chartreuse region. It is an area up in the mountains near Grenoble, and it is known mainly for one thing, the distilled liquor by the same name.

But before getting us all liquored up, they took us to the monastery where the alcohol was first produced. This was way up in the Alps, which provided us amazing views of the unaltered terrain. The monastery wasn't, as they call it, my cup of tea. The only thought on my mind during the entire visit was, "who is dumb enough to dedicate themselves to a life of silence and solitude?"

After leaving the monastery, we headed to the distillery, where the Chartreuse is now made. We walked through and saw all the pretty, shiny machinery that now makes the chartreuse. All pretty boring stuff. Then we got to try the Chartreuse, which sounds like fun, but it's not. It's pretty much the nastiest thing to ever touch my tongue. Vanessa likes to point out that she was smart and didn't get the Chartreuse, and instead got some fruity raspberry alcohol which tasted pretty good. I think that it was pretty lame, since we're in the Chartreuse region.