Grenoble seemed quiet after the bustle of Lyon and some of the other stops we had made travelling through southern France. It is after all a ski resort and we were there in the middle of summer, but what a great little city. The metropolitan area boasts a population of 700,000 but there are only 160,000 in the actual city. Due to its size it is advertised as the capital of the Alps and we assume the population would grow quite noticeably during the ski season.
We learned that the town had hosted the 1968 winter Olympics. It is also the resort where Formula One driver Michael Schumacher had the skiing accident which put paid to his racing career.
Most of the infrastructure from the Winter Olympics has remained, but the weather, when we were there, made it seem a little farfetched. The northern summer had really caught up with us and we were experiencing day after day of 34 degree highs and 22 degree lows. There were signs of snow in the Alps but it was too far away to give any relief from the heat.
Our motel unit was without air conditioning but we were able to charm a fan from the receptionist to help reduce the heat in our unit a little.
Our “home” was only 600 metres from the train station and 30 metres around the corner was a local tram stop where for the princely sum of $NZ7, we were able to buy all-day tickets to travel round the city.
It was a great way to familiarise ourselves with the area and take in the sights.
Our first venture into the city involved a very helpful local, who insisted that we should walk with him. His destination was the railway station we had walked from the previous day but he was interesting and very informative.
We took the cable car (affectionately known as “Les Bulles”, the bubbles) up to the ancient Bastille. The cableway is 700 metres long and rises 266 metres to 482 metres above sea level, from the centre of the city. The cable car was built in 1934 and was one of the first urban cable cars in the world. It gives quick access to La Bastille — a military fort, built in the 19th century on a hill, that shares its name, and overlooks the Grenoble metropolitan area.The temperature was about 5 degrees cooler at the top and added to the breeze on the day, we were quite comfortable.
The city has a very diverse economy that is not dependent on the ski industry. The only place in France that has a greater English-speaking community is Paris. Many hi-tech international companies are based here, with the mountains and the wonderful lifestyle a huge attraction for staff.
The city also has a very cosmopolitan education system to cater for the students from these families, many of whom although intending to only stay temporarily, become permanent citizens.
We celebrated Sue’s birthday when we were in Grenoble. It was a Sunday and not much was happening in our off-season resort. It was about seven weeks since we had left Gisborne, the town was quiet and we were missing everyone at home. We didn’t realise it but we were homesick. We had travelled so far, and were often so well entertained that we had not experienced it before. However, the homesickness disappeared the next day, when we caught another train, this time to travel from Grenoble over the Rhone Alps to Torino (Turin) in Italy.
We were in another country, and ahead of us were a whole lot of exciting, new places to see, people to meet and things to experience.
