I just jumped off a mountain!

We arrived in Grenoble on Friday night and stayed in a hotel that was basically Malta part 2 (aka literally a one-star hotel that shouldn’t have had any stars at all). Instead of rugs for blankets, we had the slight upgrade to scratchy blanket haha. In the morning we got up and wandered the town which turned out to be much bigger than I had imagined, and actually really nice. We took a ride on the Télépherique-Bastille (a suspended cable car) that rode over the river and up to the top of the mountain just on the edge of the city. We had great views of the entire city and the Alps that surround it. There was snow on the mountain tops and it was a crystal clear day- couldn’t have asked for better!

In the afternoon we took a bus 45 minutes out of town to Saint-Helaire de Trouvet where we had made a reservation to do parapente (French word for paragliding). 75 euro later Allie and I were hooked up to a parachute, standing on the side of a cliff/hill with an instructor attached to us. Of course, all instruction was in French, so I was super nervous that I was going to do something wrong and then end up falling off this cliff and dragging the instructor with me. At some point he just said “run” and pointed to the side of the cliff. I just looked at him, shrugged my shoulders, and said ok! We ran and the wind caught in our parachute and lifted us up off the ground. The instructor circled us higher until we were just suspended in the air, pretty much sitting there and looking at the cities below us, the mountains all around us. After a while he let me steer and I drove in circles in the air. At one point he turned to me and said “tu aimes la sensation?” I said, yes! And before I knew what was going on, he was whipping us around in a circle, testing out my stomach for doing flips!

After the initial shock, I asked to do it again haha and then the third time that we did it we were practically flipping. I could honestly see the parachute below us; between us and the ground. It was so amazing (and terrifying at the same time!) but it was so exciting and I would definitely do it again. After landing in a field my body had so much adrenaline that I was just shaking and it took me probably 15 minutes to calm down haha. The sights were amazing and the sensation was like none other. We literally just ran off a cliff and parachuted down 700 meters (2300 feet) like it was no big deal!

I highly suggest parapente to anyone that has the opportunity, and if you can swing it, the Alps in the springtime is simply amazing. There is still snow on the mountains but the weather is in the 70s, perfectly sunny, and all the trees are blooming. Flowers and snowy mountains is such a beautiful combination.