Getting around Chambery

Rain, rain, go away ....

I can't believe this weather! I think it has rained, usually POURED, here almost every day for the last 2 weeks now. Unbelievable. Summer in France and I'm wearing fleece jackets and carrying an umbrella everywhere.
This morning I heard about a legend that if it rains on July 15 (I can't remember the name of this day or the exact date) that it will rain for the next 40 days straight. Well, it seems to be true this year!
At home in Washington we deal with the rain without much thought. It's a little different here. We don't have a car and we get around everywhere by walking or biking. There are buses, but all the places we go are too close to bother waiting for a bus. So today, for instance, I really should go to the grocery store, the post office, and the housing office. But with Brandon gone at school, I'm looking outside and thinking that it's not going to happen today.
Anyway..... I really wanted this post to give you an idea of how we get around here. I'm hoping to regularly post on this blog little snapshots of our life here.

Getting around:
We don't have a car and probably wouldn't use one much if we did. Our apartment is in an awesome location in town. We're quite close to our school (5-7 min. bike ride) as well as 2 really good grocery stores. City park is just a few blocks away, and just beyond that is "Centre Ville" the really neat old part of town with narrow pedestrian streets, outdoor cafes, and gelato stands.

Though we don't have a car, we have nearly the next best thing: a B.O.B double stroller. It's like an all-terrain vehicle in the stroller world and we LOVE it! The girls love it too and they are very happy to people-watch and say hi to dogs while they recline with their binkies :-). This stroller is so sturdy it has shocks and could easily handle a hiking trail if the trail was wide enough. So this is primarily how we get around.
On non-raining school mornings I jog with the stroller while Brandon bikes to school. We drop him off and then go to the grocery store next door and pick up supplies for the day. We end up shopping almost every day b/c we can only buy what we can carry. And though we carry it home in the stroller, we have 5 flights of stairs to haul things up to our place.
When one of us goes somewhere without the girls we use our bike and a backpack. We're definitely getting our excercise here. Which is good b/c about one meal a day consists of a baguette with nutella :-)
The only thing I really miss about not having a car is being able to get out of the city and up into the mountains. They are all around us, calling us to come explore! Someday...
I suppose that's enough for today :-)