Destination: Grenoble, France

Known as “the capital of the Alps,” Grenoble is picturesque just about anywhere– in fact, it’s known for having views of the mountains– ominous and sublime– wherever you are in the city. Seriously, no matter where you turn, you get views of the Alps in the distance!

Grenoble had been on my list of places to see in France for a while. The thing was, I’d been hoping to visit earlier this month with a friend, since it isn’t too far from the Lyon region where I’m based. However, the weather forecast didn’t look so promising, especially for the weekend that I’d hope to make the journey. We ended up postponing the trip, although I hadn’t known when we would be able to go next time, depending on the weather.

It wasn’t until last Thursday that my friend brought up Grenoble again, while we were having lunch. She said that the weather forecast looked promising that upcoming weekend– “partly cloudy,” as it read. While not perfectly clear and sunny as ideally expected, we decided to go that Saturday. I hadn’t expect to do anything that weekend, but I was glad for the *semi-spontaneous* decision to go otherwise– after all, it beat staying at home the entire time!

We booked our Flixbus tickets (about 18€ round-trip) and boarded the 8:45 bus on Saturday morning to make the two-and-a-half hour journey to Grenoble. Along the way, my friend and I chatted amiably while admiring the hills from the window– there was a substantial morning fog, and we hoped that it would clear up once we arrived towards midday.

Upon arriving at the gare routière de Grenoble, we set out towards the Isère, a river whose source stems from a glacier in the Alps, again not too far away from Grenoble. We took a stroll along the river, where we got our first taste of the looming mountains with the Bastille, a hill with a fortress of the same name. There were the famous les Bulles, or bubble-shaped cable cars which took passengers to the top of the fortress, from which one could get lovely views of the city with the mountains behind it. Weather was chilly (and still foggy), although it wasn’t too unbearable– I can imagine that it’ll be deathly freezing once December rolls in!

My friend and I chose to explore the historic center of Grenoble first, as well as getting lunch before ascending the Bastille later that day. We wandered through the narrow, cobblestone streets, stumbling across a cute square where a weekend marché was going on. After a moment of indecision of where to eat, we settled on a creperie where I got a hearty potato-onion-ham galette smothered with Reblochon, which is a regional cheese. We spent about 45 minutes inside the restaurant for lunch, as well as staying warm from the outside chill, before we left to continue our visit of the city.

After lunch, we headed directly to les Bulles. We chose to do an aller-simple just for the experience of riding the cable car– we would later descend the hill on-foot. It was 5,60€ one-way and we clambered into the small, spherical compartment along with four other tourists (who were Russian, I believe?). Admittedly, it was a rather tight squeeze during the ride up, but it nevertheless offered even more lovely views of the Isère and colorful houses along it. We also saw the Alps directly in front of us, which was absolutely breathtaking and, as my friend told me, “gave her goosebumps” (and not from the cold!).

We arrived at the Bastille, where we spent some time taking photos of the views from all corners of the viewing point(s) and admiring the scenery. Unfortunately, the fog didn’t clear at all, so the views of the mountains far away were hazy– despite the lack of clarity, it gave off a mysterious atmosphere that in itself was gorgeous as well. My friend and I also tried pointing out the various peaks and mountain ranges from the place signs at the viewing points, to see if we could spot them in the foggy weather.

From the viewing point, we also noticed some indents in a nearby cliff– apparently they were caves, known as les grottes de Mandrin. They were accessible to the public, so we headed there to check them out. There wasn’t much to them besides going under the rock relief; we ended up taking a long flight of stairs down and out of the caves before winding back at the Bastille near the restaurant and souvenir shop. I bought a postcard from the latter, and then we made our descent to the foothill in the city center– it was about an hour walk, but thankfully, it was all downhill, so it wasn’t nearly as tiring as it could’ve been if we’d hiked up otherwise.

Arriving back at the base of the hill, we decided to head back into the historic center to wander around some more, as well as visit the Place de Verdun, a wide square that is bordered on all four sides with the préfecture, le palais de l’Université, le Tribunal Administratif, and a museum dedicated to mountaineers (since the Grenoble region is known for mountain-climbing and skiing). We did just that, as well as had a small pause at a random salon du thé where we ordered the famous tarte aux noix grenobloise, which is essentially a regional walnut tart. A friend had recommended it to me, and I was really glad that I took it– the tart was heavenly! With its shortbread crust and soft-caramel filling, its taste reminded me of millionaire’s shortbread (which I also love) and it was the perfect way to pass the afternoon with.

Close to 16:30, we decided to make our way back to the gare routière, since we had to catch our return bus at 17:15. It was already getting dark as we walked through the busy shopping center, where Christmas lights and market stalls were already installed. We made it to the station where we took the bus back to our town, getting in around 19:30 and ending our visit to Grenoble.

Although it had been a short visit (no more than six hours), I found Grenoble to be absolutely beautiful– the views of the mountains certainly make it so! I hope to return to it in due time, especially on a less-overcast day to get the full views of the snow-capped Alps in all its glory. We’ll have to wait and see!

 

— Rebecca