CEA CAPA Education Abroad in Grenoble, France

My time abroad in Grenoble was with all certainty a highlight of my life. The experiences I had there learning about the local culture, studying at a high level, exploring the city and the alps, eating delicious food, and travelling beyond the city limits are those that I will cherish for the rest of my life. I grew significantly as a person abroad, facilitated by the support that CEA CAPA provides and simply becoming embedded into such a unique and limitless new world. Grenoble's central location within Europe as well as the developed transportation system allowed for further travels throughout the rest of Europe with incredible ease. I would highly recommend this program to anyone, especially those who are intrigued by nature, good food, travelling, and French culture.

The CEA CAPA provided me with one of the greatest five months of my entire life because of everything they had to offer with my program, including visits to famous sites, trips to museums, and excursions to other cities. They also had such an amazing support system when it came to helping make sure we were all accommodated and satisfied with our experience throughout the semester. Moreover, the academic uniqueness of European culture made the experience all the more special because it provided an extensive hands-on approach to learning that put a fun twist on higher education.

I had an amazing time studying in Grenoble, France! The pre-departure team in the US was extremely helpful with answering every single question that I had. My advisor responded quickly to all of the numerous questions that I asked her. The onsite staff with CEA CAPA was extremely helpful as well! The two-day orientation was a great way to see Grenoble and learn how to navigate the city, and they were great at recommending good restaurants! I chose to stay with a host family, which was an incredible experience! Getting to see how French people really live is a unique experience that I would recommend to anyone! My host was so kind with teaching me new French vocabulary and cooking me excellent dinners every night! Also, the classes at UGA were very helpful and engaging. The weekend excursions with CEA were also a really fun way to see parts of France that I would not otherwise see! We had a tour guide for two weekend trips who was very fun and informative! I could not recommend this experience enough!

I studied in Grenoble for a semester and I cannot recommend it enough. I found the city and the courses I was taking to be perfect for what I was wanting to get out of my study abroad experience. My program was the French Language and Culture program, so all of my classes were in French at the B1 level. I thought the teachers were excellent and made the French immersion very accessible and were always happy to help with any questions or clarifications, and the students at the university were from all over the world, so it really made me have to use French to communicate with almost all of my classmates (I was the only American in my class, but this was not the case for other CEA CAPA students in the same program who were at different French levels) and I feel like I progressed a lot during the semester because of it. Grenoble is also a great city because it is pretty walkable and the tram system can get you pretty much anywhere in the city or the suburbs. Many places, such as restaurants, cafes, museums, the ski companies, transportation companies, etc. in Grenoble have student discounts (from what I understand this is the case in all of France). The location of Grenoble makes it easy to travel to other cities and countries at a decent price, too. I was able to travel multiple times to Switzerland and Germany because of the proximity and low cost, and while I didn't get a chance to go, Italy is also very close. If you like adventure and nature especially, I think you will be able to find many things to do in and around Grenoble, such as hiking, skiing, snowboarding, bouldering, and paddle boarding. The city also feels very safe; I never had any incidents of being in danger or anything bad happening, and neither did anyone else on my program.

Grenoble is a huge university city with 1/4 students being international or on exchange, so the opportunity to meet new people and try new things is huge. Grenoble is especially known for being a sporty city, so if you are into any outdoor activities it is also the place for you. I was able to learn French and communicate from being there and fully immersing myself. The CEA CAPA excursions, staff, and activities were so fun and very well planned out. I participated in every single activity available, and it was just truly the best 4 months of my life.

My experience in this program was unique because I was taking all my classes with other BU engineering students but was still a part of a broader program with CEA CAPA that included students from different schools studying different subjects. I really enjoyed studying in Grenoble in particular as I didn't know much about the city before going there and I think getting to experience French culture in a smaller, less touristy city really added to my experience. Despite being a smaller city, there are still so many restaurants, museums, and other places to explore in Grenoble and I recommend taking advantage of all of them and truly immersing yourself in the unique culture Grenoble has to offer.

I never expected spending a semester abroad to impact me on a particularly deep level; after all, my family travels as much as we can, so I figured it would just be a much longer version of that. I was in the rare position of being the only person in my particular CEA program, but not my location. This led to my developing three distinct groups of friends during my time in Grenoble, each amazing in its own distinct way. My friends from uni were a group made up of locals, the children of prominent international business-people, and long-term study abroad students. In short, they were the best and most interesting drinking buddies a girl could ask for, because where else will you get educated on Tanzanian ideas of respect and Taiwanese street style at the same time?
My CEA group felt, in a way, like home. They were all amazing, sunshine-y people who just made me feel at home during our weekly meetings with Patrick, the greatest program coordinator out there!
And to end it all, my host mom. This woman works night at day to keep her business afloat, supports two kids in collage, and yet finds the time to just sit and talk about life for two hours with a foreigner struggling desperately to keep up with her language. I cannot say enough positive things about my host mom, and about her many incredible friends that she was gracious enough to introduce me to.
The location might have been a selling point for me, but what really ended up having the biggest impact was the confounding range of people from different backgrounds I found myself happily surrounded by,

I loved the city of Grenoble, France and the CEA program so much that I decided to stay an extra semester by sudying abroad for a whole academic year! I fell in love with the French Alps and in Grenoble you can see the mountains off of every street corner. It's the perfect size city with a huge student population and lots to do. It's easy to get around with the tram and it's also all walkable. Grenoble is set in a valley so the winters aren't that bad and it rarely snowed. The CEA program made the whole process so easy and I never had any worries or issues. They take care of everything from housing to excursions. Patrick, the program director is the best and is so dedicated to all the students. He was the first to show us around the city and knows so much about French culture. I loved our weekly FACE meetings that were relaxed and engaging. My first semester I stayed with a host family and the second I lived in a residence hall with other international students. They both were amazing experiences and in great locations in the center of town. I was close to the river that runs through Grenoble that I'd love to run along and I always felt safe because there are a lot of locals who run, ride, or walk the path. Grenoble is a very safe city in general and I never once felt unsafe. I attended Grenoble Ecole de Management which is a small international business school and I met so many wonderful people there and learned so much. I could go on and on about my time in Grenoble and all the travel I did around Europe (13 countries!), but it overall changed my life and was the best year ever. Grenoble feels like home and I will surely be back soon.