Grenoble is a city in the South-East of France, in the
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region and the capital of the Isère department.
Located between three massifs of the Alps, the Vercors, the Massif
de la Chartreuse, and the Belledonne chain, its geographical
position and the form of its urbanization gives it the nickname of Y
Grenoblois. It is crossed by two rivers, the Isère and the Drac,
which join there. It has the geographical particularity of being a
town with a singularly flat terrain in a mountain environment.
6th most popular city in France according to the ranking
established by the magazine Le Point ("Where do we live best in
France?", n°689 of January 27, 2005). Grenoble, already organizer of
the international white coal exhibition in 1925, is also known for
having organized the Winter Olympic Games in 1968. On the occasion
of the 40th anniversary of the Olympic Games, numerous sporting and
cultural events were held. took place in Grenoble in February 2008.
Arts, Hi-Tech and Sport are the three words that best
characterize this city of nearly 500,000 inhabitants which combines
the infrastructure of a modern city with the superb setting of the
high Alpine mountains that surround it.
Arts - It is first
and foremost a city known for its writers and artists, native or
passing through, like Stendhal (who hated Grenoble but said that you
could see a mountain on every street corner), Debelle, Hache ,
Hébert... Many museums in Grenoble and its surrounding region
display their works. The Grenoble Museum (located in the heart of
the city, Place Notre Dame and stop of the same name for tram B and
bus) has an important collection of modern works, but also more
classic collections and a park with many statues.
Hi-Tech -
It is then a very active city with three universities (with more
than 60,000 students), an international management school, nine
engineering schools, several public and private research centers,
focused in particular on new technologies (synchrotron, MINATEC,
LETI). Most of these research organizations are concentrated north
of Grenoble in what is called the scientific polygon. It is also not
uncommon to meet Quebecers, Americans, Germans, Italians... whether
they are businessmen and women, researchers or technicians.
Sport - Finally, it is one of the most sporty cities in France,
where weekends are focused on the surrounding nature. Grenoble
provides quick access to winter sports resorts - possible on the
three massifs: Belledonne, Chartreuse and the Vercors - and can be a
stopover towards the larger ones, or even towards the hiking trails
of Belledonne and Chartreuse. We can note 3 high-level sports teams:
Grenoble Foot 38 (Amateur football championship but who wants to
return to league 1 before the end of this decade), FC Grenoble Alpes
Rugby (Top 14, rugby) and the Brûleurs de Loup (Magnus League, ice
hockey). The Stade des Alpes (20,068 seats) is located in
Paul-Mistral Park, to the east of the city. You can see the GF38
matches there. Finally, Grenoble regularly hosts stages of the Tour
de France given its position in the Alps, as well as each year a
stage of the Dauphiné criterium, the second cycling race in France.
By plane
The local airport Grenoble-Isere (aéroport de
Grenoble-Isère, IATA: GNB) . is a good 40 kilometers northwest of the
city. The airport is served almost exclusively in winter, mostly from
Great Britain (as of 2019 there are no direct flights from
German-speaking countries). The onward journey to Grenoble can only be
done by car (rental car/taxi); there are shuttle buses (as of 2019) only
to the ski resorts, but not to Grenoble itself.
It is better to
use Lyon Saint-Exupéry Airport (IATA: LYS) or Geneva Airport (IATA: GVA)
and then take the shuttle bus (from Lyon also with the TGV) to Grenoble
(Lyon-Grenoble: travel time about an hour, Geneva-Grenoble: travel time
about two hours).
By train
Grenoble train station can be
reached from Paris in three hours by TGV. (Attention: from Germany you
arrive in Paris at the Gare de l'Est, but then continue from the Gare de
Lyon.) If you want to avoid Paris, you can also use the TGV from
Frankfurt am Main to Lyon (journey time about six hours) and from there
continue to Grenoble (journey time about an hour).
By bus
Le
Flixbus operates some long-distance bus connections to Grenoble. There
are two long-distance bus stops in the city. Flixbuses stop at Gare
Routiere Grenoble and the Grenoble long-distance bus stop
(Condillac-Universités), 1408-1430 Rue des Résidences near the tram stop
of the same name.
On the street
Coming from Geneva via
Chambéry on the A 41 or from Lyon on the A 48. The A 49 leads via
Valence on the Rhône to the Mediterranean.
The route that
Napoléon Bonaparte used on his return from Elba to Paris is now passable
as a kind of themed route. It runs from Cannes to Grenoble.
By
bicycle
Via the Voie Verte des Berges de l'Isère from Valence along
the Rhône and the Isère to Grenoble.
By tram and bus
Grenoble's public transport network is made up of
four tram lines and 26 urban bus lines. In 2007, it recorded 74.3
million trips for 57.9 million trips. The most popular bus lines are in
order 1,32,13,26 and 31. Line No. 1 providing a north-south connection
between Grenoble and Claix with a frequency of 4 to 05 minutes during
the week. In addition to the tram network, four bus lines are active
after 9 p.m.
For the tram, equipped with two different types of
trains TFS and Citadis, it is unsurprisingly the busiest line A with
87,000 trips per day.
line A: from Le Pont-de-Claix to Fontaine
line B: from Grenoble (Oxford stop) to Gières
line C: from Seyssins
to Saint-Martin-d’Hères
line D: from Les Taillées - Universités to
downtown Saint-Martin-d’Hères
line E: from Fontanil-Cornillon to
Grenoble (Louise Michel stop)
By taxi
Need a taxi for your
trips in the region:
Taxis Grenoble Marillet Logo indicating a link
to the website 53, cours de la liberation, Logo indicating a telephone
number +33 6 11 088176 (day), +33 6 14 269545 (night)
Taxis
Grenoblois Logo indicating a link to the website 14 rue de la République
(Maison du Tourisme), Logo indicating a telephone number +33 4 76
544254, fax: +33 4 76 515566
Taxis de la Banlieue Grenobloise Logo
indicating a link to the website, Logo indicating a telephone number +33
4 76 541718, fax: +33 4 76 544575
Cab Alpes Taxi Logo indicating a
link to the website, Logo indicating a telephone number +33 685 692328,
email: cabalpestaxi@sfr.fr
By car
Apart from a few black spots
during rush hours, traffic is rather fluid on the main roads which
bypass the city. However, parking in the city is not easy; there are
almost no free parking spaces left north of the main boulevards
(Vallier, Foch, Joffre).
It is advisable to use park and ride
facilities outside or at the entrance to the city and to use the tram or
buses. Packages are offered for families. For more information, contact
SEMITAG (Transports de l’Agglomération Grenobloise). Various parking
lots are also available near the town for those who wish to use their
cars.
By bike
Although surrounded by three mountain ranges,
Grenoble is one of the flattest cities in France. A large number of
cycle paths exist, and a real effort has been made on this point by the
town hall for around ten years. In 2007, the cycle network reached 280
km of roads designed for cyclists. In addition, the presence of numerous
green marker signs facilitates this type of movement.
Several
bike rental points exist. You can rent a bike at Grenoble train station
or on the university campus. In 2008, the park had 540 bicycles.
Maps of cycle paths are available in different locations: Grenoble train
station, Tourist Office, metro-bike.
It is possible to travel
along the banks of the Isère and the Drac on a large part of these
rivers.
The Bastille: superb view of the city and surrounding areas from this
old 19th century fort overlooking the city from 264 m. Every year,
600,000 visitors go to the Bastille. There are 3 possibilities to access
this site which allows you to see the three branches of the Y
Grenoblois:
You can use the only urban cable car in France (the
bubbles) to reach the summit. In 2011, more than 300,000 people chose
this option.
It can be accessed by car from the town of La
Tronche via a small, steep, steep street.
You can go up there via
two pedestrian paths. One starts from a park called Jardin des Dauphins
and the other from the Saint Laurent archaeological museum in the
district bearing the same name. This last access has geological totems
and allows you to take remarkable stairs if you wish (only for the most
athletic). Otherwise, a very wide and easy to climb path remains
possible. Note that these two starting points are approximately 1 km
apart at the bottom of the hill and meet a few meters below the cable
car arrival station. Both routes give the possibility of using the
fortifications, but each has its own particularities. A curtain wall in
the upper third of the hill allows you to go from one route to another.
Arriving at the top, two restaurants welcome visitors. In summer two
other small shops are open (drinks and souvenirs). As you exit the cable
car, you will find the geologists' terrace on your left. Below this
terrace, accessible by stairs, is the Bastille Art Center (see museums)
and on the central square of the fort, the Musée des Troupes de
Montagnes (see museums) inside the casemates themselves. of the fort
built between 1825 and 1830. All the construction work on the fort, the
Rabot citadel and the two branches of fortification lasted 23 years,
from April 16, 1824 to February 27, 1847, in a context where the kingdom
of Piedmont-Sardinia was still threatening for Grenoble.
Finally,
it is possible to access the summit terrace of the restaurant where five
flags fly. All the places described in the Bastille are accessible to
people with reduced mobility from the lower cable car station.
1 Musée de Grenoble, place Lavalette, +33 476 63 44 44, email :
musee-de-grenoble@grenoble.fr – Museum presenting paintings from the
13th to the 20th century, sculptures and a basement collection of
top-notch Egyptian and Greek pieces, including, in particular, the mummy
of the prophetess of Antinoé with his funerary accessories including an
ancient lute, one of seven listed in the world. Art museum, created in
February 1798 by Louis-Joseph Jay, it was initially installed in the
episcopal palace, then in the premises of the Central School (current
Stendhal high school), in the museum-library place de Verdun from 1872
and finally in its current premises covering an area of 18,200 m2. An
annex of the museum sometimes exhibiting drawings or exceptional
exhibitions is called Tour de l'Isle. Built at the very beginning of the
15th century, it served as a town hall for the consuls of Grenoble, as
well as premises for the university, then as a military premises
integrated into an arsenal since the beginning of the 17th century.
Since the museum was installed on the site in February 1994, a glass and
steel walkway has linked these two buildings built six centuries apart.
A 16,000 m2 wooded park at the rear of the building and decorated with a
dozen modern sculptures completes the museum outside. In 2008, the
Journal des Arts ranked this museum in 16th place out of 370 French
museums. A classification established according to criteria of
attendance but also dynamism and conservation.
2 Musée
Dauphinois, 30 rue Maurice Gignoux, +33 4 57 58 89 01 Logo indicating
prices Free. – founded in 1906, it presents exhibitions (partly
permanent) on different themes of a local nature in the walls of a
former 17th century convent. Located on the first foothills of the
Bastille, it is accessible by car from a porch on the Quai Perrière or
on foot via the Montée de Chalemont, always from the quays (7 to 8 min).
Between 50,000 and 60,000 visitors visit the museum each year. In 2008,
the Journal des Arts ranked this museum in 151st place out of 370 French
museums. A classification established according to criteria of
attendance but also dynamism and conservation.
Grenoble was already settled by the Celtic Allobroges. In a letter to
Cicero, the place is first mentioned in Roman times in 43 BC. Mentioned
as Cularo. The city wall was built in 286 under Emperor Diocletian. It
was over a kilometer long and contained 38 towers. In 377 the city was
renamed Gratianopolis after Emperor Gratian. In the 14th century the
name changed to Greynovol and later to Greynoble, which ultimately gave
rise to the current name.
Grenoble has been a bishop's seat since
the 4th century; In 879 it came to the Kingdom of Burgundy and with it
to the Roman-German Empire in 1033. In 1242 it received city rights. The
university was founded in 1339. In 1349, Grenoble and the entire
Dauphiné were sold to the Dauphin of France, who thereby became a de
jure vassal of the Holy Roman Emperor.
On September 14, 1219, the
natural barrier at Lac de Saint-Laurent in the Romanche valley broke,
and around half of the population of Grenoble died as a result of the
resulting tidal wave.
Grenoble was one of the safe places for the
Huguenots.
In the 18th century the city was primarily known for
its handicrafts. The Hache carpenter dynasty, which worked in Grenoble,
rose to national prominence when they were awarded the title of
“Carpenters of the Dukes of Orléans”. Their works can still be admired
today in the Musée Dauphinois in Grenoble. As early as 1788 there was an
anti-royalist revolt in the city, the Day of the Brick, which forced the
king to convene the Estates General of the province. Two representatives
of the Third Estate from Grenoble, Antoine Barnave and Jean-Joseph
Mounier, became important champions of the French Revolution as part of
the Ballhaus Oath.
Since the 1850s there has been a strong
immigration of the rural population to Grenoble. On March 23, 1870, the
square in front of the prefecture was filled with demonstrators
expressing their solidarity with the Paris Commune. From around 1880,
immigrants also came from abroad. In 1931 the proportion of foreigners
among the residents was 18 percent.
Grenoble was occupied by the
German Wehrmacht in September 1943. At the end of November, 19 leaders
of the resistance against the occupation were executed. On May 26, 1944,
the German-occupied city suffered from heavy Allied bombardment.
In 1968 the Xth Winter Olympic Games took place in Grenoble. The city
was expanded for the major event at a huge financial cost of around 460
million euros, as President Charles de Gaulle wanted to use the
opportunity to present it as a symbol of France's modernization.
The city of Grenoble lies at the mouth of the Drac and the Isère. The
city center is located at about 212 m on the Isère, latitude 45° 10′
north, longitude 5° 43′ east. It is therefore approximately 150
kilometers south of Geneva, 100 kilometers southeast of Lyon and 350
kilometers north of the Côte d'Azur. The Île Verte district is one of
the most densely populated areas of the city.
In the immediate
vicinity of the city there are alpine mountain peaks, some over 3000 m
high, just a few kilometers away; These are specifically the Vercors
mountain range, the Chartreuse mountain ranges and the Chaîne de
Belledonne, the western foothills of the French Alps.
The town is
located northeast of the Vercors Regional Natural Park, with which it is
associated as an access point.