Grenoble Things to Do Tips by vinc_bilb Top 5 Page for this destination

Relax time: Champs-Elysées park

Strolling in the Champs-Elysées park is a good way to relax. Park is great, well located, an it is a good break for families and why not for tourists. The view on Mountains is fine, and, during the hottest months, you could enjoy this moment by puting your foots and legs in the water.

(Even if no more official, the alternative and more well-known name for this park is Bachelard)

Address: Albert Reynier Street

Directions: City south - west
M7 on the map (see website below)

Vercors regional natural park: the natural citadel

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

Directions: 20 kms west from Grenoble

Other Contact: info@pnr-vercors.fr

Phone: 33.4.76.94.38.26

Grenoble city: center and old town

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)

Address: Tourist Office - 14, rue de la République Grenoble

Directions: Center, everybody (local) know where it is. Tramaway station called "Maison du tourisme" just closed.

Phone: (33)-4.76.42.41.41

Catching the wild Dahu

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)

Address: French alps

Directions: In high mountain, in zones them steep and of night

Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dahu

Monteynard lake: amazing footbridges

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

Directions: Grenoble -> South (Vizille -> La Mure and park your car in Mayre-Savel village : 52 Km from Grenoble

Website: http://www.lac-monteynard.com/

Chartreuse nature park: High quality natural and c

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.

Directions: North from Grenoble city, few kilometers

Other Contact: accueil@parc-chartreuse.net

Website: http://www.parc-chartreuse.net

The Chartreuse Cellars: religion and ...liqueur

One of the largest liqueur cellar in the world ! Interesting and original visit that I recommend, covering the Chartreuse Order, the distilleries and economic activities. The distillerie is located in Voiron since 1935.

- Liquors : Description of the many Chartreuse liqueurs made by the Carthusian Monks
- History : A chronicle of the 900-years of the Carthusian Monks and the secret manuscript that became Chartreuse Liqueur.
- Tourist Information : tour and 3D MOVIE
- Museum of La Grande Chartreuse (not at the same place): Information about the Monastery, the daily life of the monks and the nine hundred year history of the Carthusians.

Guided tours of the cellars are free and include a complimentary liqueur tasting.

Address: Chartreuse Diffusion 10, Bv. Kofler 38500 Voiron

Directions: Located in Voiron, in the heart of the French Alps,between the Chartreuse and Vercors mountain ranges
30 kms north from Grenoble (by train, car or bus) - follow "Lyon" direction

Phone: (33) 4.76.05.81.77

Website: http://www.chartreuse.fr/ (English)