GRENOBLE – www.grenoble-tourisme.com
Grenoble often offers the best of two worlds. Dramatically situated amid soaring massifs – the Vercors, Chartreuse and Belledonne mountains – and within sight of the Alps’ highest heights, it still delivers mostly mild weather given its low elevation. Recognized as a center for cutting-edge industries like biotechnology and nanotechnology, it is also set in such rich organic surroundings that nature is a key part of people’s lives. And despite its superlative sports history – 2018 marks 50 years since hosting the 1968 Winter Olympics – it promises relaxation and low-impact holidays to satisfy anyone in need of ease.
Fun Facts
Some historians date the start of the French Revolution to the Day of Tiles (Journée des Tuiles), a revolt that took place in Grenoble on June 7, 1788.
Grenoble has the second largest English-speaking community in France, after Paris.
Significant Site
Vieille Ville: historic center filled with cobblestone streets and picturesque squares
Extraordinary Exhibit
Musée de Grenoble: renowned for its extensive paintings collection, but also sculptures and antiquities
Delectable Delights
murçon de la Matheysine: local boiled pork sausage with aniseed flavor
Bières de Sassenage: a beer brewed at the Brasserie des Cuves is called Sacrebleu, the first European blue beer with a 100% natural color
Legendary Local
Jean-Claude Gallotta: dancer and choreographer who, after years as director of Centre Chorégraphique National de Grenoble, started his own company, Groupe Émile Dubois
Also in the Area
Parc Naturel Régional du Vecors: France’s very first regional natural park, a protected area to the west of town consisting of forested mountains frequently enjoyed for hiking, spelunking and skiing
Parc Naturel Régional de la Chartreuse: a regional natural park to the north of the city that includes hiking trails, winter resorts and La Grande Chartreuse, the head monastery of the Carthusian religious order (there is a nearby museum)
ski resorts: in the foothills of the nearby Belledonne mountain range southeast of the city are two ski stations: Chamrousse and Sept-Laux
Access from Paris
by road: about 5 h 15 min (357 miles) via A6 autoroute du Soleil
by train: about 3 hours by TGV from the Gare de Lyon
For more about what to see and do in and around Grenoble, including on the “Passion for gastronomy & creation” itinerary, visit www.topfrenchcitybreaks.com