Grenoble Favorites

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Favorite thing: Grenoble était ville olympique en 1968 pour les jeux d'hivers.
En 2006, un hommage appuyé lui a été rendu à l'occasion des jeux de Turins, la métropole italienne voisine. A cette occasion, la vasque le la flamme de 1968 à été rallumée par Marielle Goitchel, championne olympique française de cette époque.


Grenoble was Olympic city in 1968 for the games of winters.
In 2006, a supported homage returned him on the occasion of the games of Turin, the neighboring Italian metropolis. To this opportunity, the basin the the flame of 1968 to been relighted by Marielle Goitchel, champion Olympic French of this time.

Favorite thing: This 8 meters high stabile was created in 1967 for the Olympic games by Calder and was installed in a college, Lycée Argouges where it was soon coveed with graffitis and forgotten among weeds. It was later transferred to the esplanade of the museum. Monsieur Loyal is a main figure in a circus, acting as a clown and this stabile reminds the famous Calder circus that he presented in the world for 40 years.

Alexander Calder (Pennsylvania, 1898-New-York, 1976), whose illustrious career spanned much of the 20th century, is the most acclaimed and influential sculptor of our time. Born in a family of celebrated, though more classically trained artists, Calder utilized his innovative genius to profoundly change the course of modern art. He began by developing a new method of sculpting: by bending and twisting wire, he essentially "drew" three-dimensional figures in space. He is renowned for the invention of the mobile, whose suspended, abstract elements move and balance in changing harmony. Calder also devoted himself to making outdoor sculpture on a grand scale from bolted sheet steel, called stabiles. Today, these stately titans grace public plazas in cities throughout the world.
More on Calder on the website dedicated to his achievments from which I borrowed some of the informations presented here.

Favorite thing: bit of history on the go ...

The city has been known under different names through time:

Cularo when the Allobroges built strong walls around the small town in the 3rd Century.
Gratianopolis after 380 when the Emperor Gratian visited the city and had the walls improved.

After the collapse of the Roman Empire the city was part of the first Burgundian kingdom, until it was taken by Clotaire I, king of the Franks and a son of Clovis.

Later on, it progressively passed into the possession of the Carolingian kings, then the second Burgundian kingdom of Arles and finally became a possession of the counts of Vienne, whose title, "Dauphin", gave the region its traditional name: Dauphin?.

Grenoble was the capital of the Dauphin?, a province of France since 1349, when the last Dauphin of Vienne sold the region to France, on condition that the heir to the French crown use the title of Dauphin. (thanks wikipedia)

Fondest memory: YUMMI

Boulangerie & Patisserie C&P Gaudillot >>>> heaven for sweet tooths !!!

Favorite thing: Grenoble is a major scientific center, especially in the fields of physics, computer science and applied mathematics. The European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL) and several laboratories of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), the Institut National Polytechnique de Grenoble (INPG), the Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et en Automatique (INRIA) and the Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique are located in Grenoble. An IEP is located here, the Institut d'études politiques de Grenoble, as well as an increasingly reputated business school, the École de Commerce de Grenoble (ESCG)

Favorite thing: Since 1934, the Bastille site has been linked to the city by what at the time was Europe's first cable-car in a town centre. The short breathtaking ride in the "Eggs" sweeps visitors up to the viewing platforms, discovery trails around the fortifications, recreation areas, café, restaurant, footpaths and fitness circuits.

Téléphérique Grenoble-Bastille
Quai Stéphane Jay - 38 000 Grenoble
Tel : 04.76.44.33.65. - Fax : 04.76.51.61.49.

Internet : http://www.bastille-grenoble.com
e-mail : accueil.telepherique@bastille-grenoble.com

Favorite thing: The ancient fortifications of the Bastille, at the foot of the Chartreuse massif, tower over the Grenoble area. This is now one of Grenoble's top tourist attractions, offering breathtaking all-round views of the city and the surrounding mountains.

First fortified in the Middle Ages, the Bastille hill is covered with the most extensive 19th century military fortifications in France. The semi-underground bastion defence system, designed by Haxo and built between 1823 and 1845, provided all-round protection for Grenoble, lying at a strategic position on the Alpine frontier.

Favorite thing: In 1925, Paul Mistral, mayor of Grenoble organized the "Exposition internationale de la houille blanche et du tourisme" (International fair on white coal [hydroelectric power] and tourism) outside the city walls. The Tour Perret is the only building that has been kept. In 1932, the Park took the name of Paul Mistral and was organized as a landscape with small hills, a river, lanes, trees and flowers. Sculptures by Romanian Gregor Apostu, Italian Gigi Guadagnucci, Swiss Joseph Wyss, French Maxime Descombin and Canadian Robert Roussil have been put in the park after the 1967 sculpture symposium.
On this photo, the "dialogue père et fils" by Gregor Apostu (father and son's talk)

Favorite thing: The "Église Saint-Jean" was built in 1963-65. The architect was Maurice Blanc with René Sarget, ingenier. The Haxo city wall, built in 1832-1840 was destroyed after 1945 and left room for the "Grand boulevards" (Boulevards Joseph Vallier, Foch and Joffre) which soon were lined with buildings of apartments. The bishop felt that this population (8-10,000 inhabitants) needed a church

The church is built on a circular plan. Eighteen pillars stand around a circular nave made of reinforced concrete, with a diameter of 37m, a surface of 1,000 m2 and that can contain 1,300 people.
Eighteen 17m high fir wood triangles connect the nave to a foot gang at 13 m of elevation. The awl that hold the skeleton is a piece of woo 60 cm diameter that act as a keystone. The first cover was made of copper tiles but they corroded fast, due to pollution and had to be replaced by asphalt shingle.
Adress : Boulevard Joseph-Vallier