Grenoble Things to Do

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Vercors is wonderful.

Over the centuries water has cut through its cliffs forming deep gorges, superb natural amphitheatres, caves and abysses that are famous all over Europe.
You can explore Vercors on foot, on skis, on a bike, and admire the beauty of the countryside or you can plunge into its hidden depths. Innumerable surprises await you with the changing seasons, along the tracks or down the mountain streams, across a cliff face or at the top of a rocky outcrop.

Few words about the natural citadel: It was used by the rural Free French Resistance ("maquis") group, known as the Maquis du Vercors, as a refuge and a sanctuary for the French Resistance against the 1940-1944 German occupation of France in World War II. Many members of the maquis, called "maquisards" died fighting in 1944 in the Vercors Plateau.
(Extract and adaptation from wikipedia)
Photo 4: The chapel at Valchevrière, the only building in the hamlet that was not razed by the nazis

I recommend :
1- 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.
2- The historical town
3- No too much known : The sundial (Stendhal school), built in 1673, with a fresco covering 100 m2 of walls and ceiling in the main stairwell. There is no other sundial of this size and astronomical interest anywhere in the world.

WARNING: food could expensive in Grenoble restaurants (i.e Paris like)

The Stendhal house is actually an unfurnished part of the XVIIIth century apartments of Gagnon, the grandfather of Stendhal which can be visited. Temporary shows (painting, literature, etc...) are held in the apartments. One room is dedicated to the memory of Stendhal. Access to the treillised vineyard of Gagnon, on top of the Roman city wall is possible.
More on Stendhal on this web site.
Open : 10h to 12h (9h to 12h from July 15th to September 15th) and 14h to 18h, except Sundays, Mondays and bank holidays.
Closed from september 1st to 20th.

Every sunday morning you will find a lively flea market just behind the Porte de Lyon, at the entrance of Grenoble, on the Intermarché parking lot.

Also every sunday morning, a lively flea market and second hand car market near the Leclerc shopping center.

Four times a year (xmas, spring, summer and autumn), a much larger flea market and antiques market Rue St Laurent, the other side of the river Isere which flows through Grenoble.

My British wife and I recently spent a few days in Grenoble. We found it to be a very nice City in a spectacular setting. The highlight for us was, however, an afternoon in the Bookworm Cafe. Great English tea and excellent coffee in a very pleasant and friendly atmosphere. The owners Dawn and Denis certainly know how to make their customers feel at home. If you are after second hand English books, great home made cakes and a cuppa, or just a chat in English - this is the place to go.

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Someone could suggest you to participate in a (night-) capture of the enigmatic dahu in mountains areas. Be aware that:
- The Dahu is very very rare (Alps: France, Italy, Switzerland)
- It's similar to a mountain goat animal or to a deer
- its legs on one side of its body are shorter than on the other side (This enables it to walk upright on the steep slopes of its mountain environment).
- So It can only walk around the mountain in one direction.
- The dahu is generally a night-animal (so, no photo)

The are mainly two ways for catching a dahu during the night:
/1/ The most used involves having one person at the bottom of the mountain slope and one person who is good at making dahu sounds so as to gain the attention of the dahu so that it will turn around. When it does so, it loses its balance and rolls down the hill to the person with the bag at the bottom of the hill.

/2/ The other method is to have pepper ground onto a large stone; when the dahu, while grazing, comes and sniffs the pepper, it would sneeze and knock itself out against the stone.

Warnings:
- the Prefect of Haute-Savoie officially made the mountainous suburbs of the small town of Reigner a "Dahu Sanctuary" where hunting and photography are forbidden
- The Dahu is rare and precious bounty, the capture requires in general waiting alone all night on a chilly slope, crouched in an uncomfortable position.

What do you think about that? More details in an other tip:
Local custom (Dahu)

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A spectacular and contrasted route, marked out by magnificent points of view on the lake and the summits.

Curl (or almost) the tour of Monteynard lake is henceforth possible thanks to 2 Himalayan footbridges. So vertiginous as discreet in their wooded and mineral case, tightened over Drac and over Ébron rivers, they open magnificent perspectives on the lake and its neighborhoods. Walkers or hihers can connect Matheysine with Trièves - or the opposite, according to their point of departure (Mayres-Savel or Treffort).

Physical requirements: only to be in a "reasonnable" condition,
Warnings:
- avoid if you potentially have vertigo.
- The footbridges are oscillating slightly, so, you are aware
- kinders less than 12y are not authorized to cross the footbridges alone
- paths are shared between pedestriaan and montainbikes

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A mosaic of landscapes , alternating open alpine pastures, high-altitude forests and long cliffs.
Local history is strongly influenced by the presence of the Carthusian Order, and the long historical dispute.
In the Chartreuse, hiking is the main activity. The park has marked a number of circuits dotted with the orientation maps and information :
climb to Chamechaude and the Charmant Som, hike between villages, explore hamlets and superb panoramic vews and follow routes throw Savoie's vineyards. In the winter, you can find snow-shoe and cross-country ski routes and downhill ski slopes at 7 resorts in the Chartreuse range.