“Isn’t that a wine?” I mused. 🤔

I had heard of this town but to be honest, didn’t know where it was in France so I checked the map when I was in Annecy and saw that it’s quite near – only an hour and a half drive. However as this is a virtual tour, a quick search online and….voilà

Je suis arrivée à Grenoble!

Grenoble is the largest town in the Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes prefecture at the foot of the mountains. Those who love doing outdoor activities up the mountains like hiking, skiing, cycling would love it here.

First I take a walk around this town to take note of what I’d like to do. Usually when I travel, a stop at the local museum is always a must to learn about the history and glean some interesting facts about the place.

I find out that it’s the centre for science and research and home to many Nobel prize winners. It is home to the European Synchrotron, a particle accelerator that is used in scientific research AND which we (near our home) we have one too – the only one in the southern hemisphere AND where I used to work in-between jobs at the reception desk some years ago. (I wrote about my synchrotron experience in this blog).

Here’s some information about the ESRF and what it does.

However this time around, I decided after my walk to head up to the hills. You can take a cable car up the mountain to go see the Bastille Prison.

Before going on the cable car, I decided to take my drone with me in my back pack and fly it up there to get a birds 🦅 eye view of the town.

The Fort de la Bastille up high in the mountain has terrific majestic views. It was France’s version of Alcatraz I’m sure (well, you could see the entire town so no wonder it was important for the defence of the town).

A tiring day but a wonderful one. Time to eat and have a beverage at the (second) oldest cafe in France Le Café de la Table Ronde.

And it’s history here…(in French)