Fumeurs

So I know Europeans have a million bad reputations in the US and one of them is that they all smoke like chimneys, right? In the bigger cities I’m sure it’s more prevalent, but then again if you go to NYC in the states you’ll feel like you’re smoking a giant cigarette yourself. Grenoble isn’t really all that bad. If you go to a bar or a restaurant that isn’t separated you’ll more than likely smell like it, but almost all the restaurants I’ve been in have a rather distinct smoking and non-smoking section and government buildings are all smoke free. Even out on the street there aren’t a huge number of people smoking. I think part of it is because Grenoble is really known for their outdoor activites (hmm… could it be because they’re in the middle of three mountain ranges and have two rivers running through town?) and a lot more people here are health concious. Three things about smoking here though. It’s very social and totally random people will start a conversation with “Avez-vous un cigarette?” and even if you don’t have one, sometimes it was just a way to say hello and meet you. A LOT of people roll their own cigarettes, you can buy the papers and the tobacco separately and roll your own. Seeing as I don’t smoke, I don’t really understand if this is better or cheaper or what, but I haven’t seen anyone in the US doing it. Lastly, and Claire you’ll love this as much as I do, the French do not mess around about smoking. There are no tiny little notices that say some random “Surgeon General” suggests you not smoke or anything… No. There are GIANT stickers, and I mean like take-up-half-the-package-of-cigarettes/tobacco HUGE stickers, that just say “Fumer tue” in big bold letters so that it ends up looking like “FUMER TUE”. The translation of that is simply “Smoking kills”. I like that.