I took a trip to France...

Two weeks ago, I did some experiments at a synchrotron in Grenoble, France. I'm kindof amazed, now I'm doing Big Budget Science. Anyways, I most certainly brought the knitting. When things were working, I was running around the experimental hatch and was very busy, but when things were not working, there isin't much to do but peer over the shoulders of the people that run the place, and, you guessed it, knit. When the beam was down for about a day, I went to town, snapped a few photos, and hit the LYS for Noro Silk Garden, which isin't readily available in Germany, and when it is, it is quite expensive, about 1.5 times the price in North America. So here are a few photos of the town...
It is very pretty, near some very big mountains. There is a castle up in the mountains, so I took a cable car up there to check it out. Here is a view from an archway on the mountain-top castle
(it's called the Bastille)...
I went down the trail, to see if I could see the synchrotron from the mointain top, and I managed to find it. This is were I did my experiments...
The big red arrow is pointing at the synchrotron ring. I believe my beamline is 1/2 an inch to the left of the arrow, very very close to the freeway. So what did I get to see on my way to and from the artificially lit and constant temperature and humidity hatch?
The buildings were a cross between 90's modern and 50's bunker, as you can see in the photo above. This is where I slept, on the inside it is totally a bunker, but on the outside there is a lovely view.

Cheers,

Ivanova