Grenoble—arrival May 16th
Today was our longest travel day of our five weeks. We left Lauterbrunnen at 10:32AM and changed trains at Interlaken Ost, and then Bern, arriving in Grenoble at 5:30PM. Martin sent me text messages about walking to Hotel d'Angleterre while we were on the train and that was really helpful. Although it's been five years since we were last in Grenoble, the way to our hotel looked familiar. Luckily, Google Maps worked perfectly on the phone I purchased in Porto and it took us less than 15 minutes to arrive at our hotel. Our room overlooks Victor Hugo Place, a square established in 1885 in the heart of the city and an area I know well.
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| Victor Hugo Place from our room. |
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| Shower and sink in one part of our room |
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| Really comfy queen. |
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| Our "living room". The window overlooks Victor Hugo Place. |
Victor Hugo Place, created in 1885 in honor of the author upon his death. This square is where an old military barracks was and over time became an elegant center of Grenoble. Chestnut trees surround the pretty green and the buildings facing the square were built at the turn of the 19th century and are reminiscent of the architecture throughout Paris.
Grenoble—Day 1 (May17th)
Our friend Martin picked us up at the hotel and wisked us off for a lovely day. Martin planned a day to visit places we've never seen in the Chartreuse Mountain range and a museum he' overlooked in his own backyard. This is what happens when you have visitors; you go places you always intended to visit.
Our morning started with a visit with Martin's parents Philippe and Michele. We had a really good conversation and Michele was rightfully proud of her English. She even made some jokes in context and promised to know even more next time. I'm still hopeless but no one seems to mind.
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| Michele, Martin, Philippe. |
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| Our second stop was this tiny village where St. Hugues Church and Museum are featured. |
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| St. Hugues Church and Museum, the place Martin passes on his bike and on skiing excursions but never stopped to visit until we arrived. |
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| This and the following provide information about why St. Hugues Church and Museum are famous. Click on the picture to enlarge it. |
video of the church. This is an amazing place.
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| This panel is a colorful and even whimsical take on death. Note the toes sticking out of the coffin. |
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| The transept representing Golgotha and the crucifixion. |
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| This panel is called "The Carpenter" representing Joseph. |
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| This information refers to the next panel. |
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| "The Resurrection" over the entrance of the church. Remember, you can enlarge pictures by clicking on them. |
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| This is called Salome and the abstract nature of this panel suggests her dance of the seven veils. |
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| This sculpture holds the tabernacle. |
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| This bicyclist is an homage to a region where cyclist from around the world come to challenge themselves and to enjoy the beauty of these mountains. |
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We stopped for lunch at St. Pierre en Chartreuse, recharging the car for the next leg. |
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| Marie had a delicious salad. In this little mountain village it included fresh mango and avocado. Whoa! |
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| Martin ordered a veggie pasta. |
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I had small cheese ravioli in a cream sauce to die for. Marie said I won the prize for best lunch, but frankly, all of our dishes were fabulous. |
After lunch at L'Auberge Restaurant we drove to Vallon du Monastery, and apparently there are about three monks still living there. The Carthusian Order are cloistered so we could walk near the monastery but not inside. There is a museum adjacent to the car park if you want to see what monastic life for them is like. We skipped the museum and walked up the road, open to foot traffic and lined by trees planted at the end of the 19th century, to the monastery.
The following pictures show our walk. Today we logged 10.5 miles without much effort.
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| The monks make Chartreuse liquor. The recipe is kept secret, of course. |
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| This horse chestnut blossom is familiar. |
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| A reminder even outside the monastery. |
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| This wood is prized by woodworkers around the world. |
We drove across the Chartreuse Mountain range along a really narrow road to St. Hilaire to Martin and Isa's house. This stretch of road is steep and winding and prized by hyper-athletic bicyclists and cross country skiers in the winter. This pass climbs to about 3,500 feet before dropping to St. Hilaire at 3,000.
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| Here's one of those crazy cyclists now. |
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| Martin thought we might make the hike to the top of a ridge, but instead we walked to the monastery. And it's a good thing, because the ridge was shrouded in clouds. |
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| Martin and Isabelle's house. They built it 18 years ago and Martin said they're going to have to use pliers to get him to leave St. Hilaire. |
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| Martin and Isabelle. |
St. Hilaire hosts an international free flight festival every September and the abandoned buildings are next door to the launchpad of the Lumbin flight site. Unfortunately, by the time they could secure an architect and building permits, their friends and project partners had divorced and Martin and Isa had to make a new plan. Both parties agreed to separate the properties and Martin and Isa took the old barn in front of the house.
They weren't quite sure what to do with this property until Isa visited a village across the valley from St. Hilaire. There, she saw a refurbished building that was transformed into a shared workspace. Now they had a new plan, and five years later, they have a nearly completed, but useable space. In fact, four people are already renting shared workspaces in this amazing location.
There are a few tweaks left to complete, but with blow-away views over the valley, right next door to the flight launchpad in a spectacular mountain village, LeTermic is well underway. We have been watching the progress online over the years but it was more than satisfying to see what they have accomplished.
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| Isa and Martin at LeTermic first floor entrance. The building above the roof is the attached farm house their friends purchased. |
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| Martin standing outside the 1st floor entrance. Below you can see the entrance to the ground floor conference room. |
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| LeTermic balcony to the left and St. Hilaire hang gliding and paragliding school to the right. The valley is 3,000 feet below. Can you see why this place is internationally renown for these sports? |
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| Marie checking out the 1st floor shared workspace. |
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| First floor shared workspace, fireplace, and dining room table. A kitchen and bathroom are also on this floor. |
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| Looking down at the kitchen from the second floor. |
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| Second floor shared workspace. Even though LeTermic's finishing touches are incomplete, four people are now renting workspace. |
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Launchpad of Lumbin flight site. I'm standing at a desk inside. |
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| This view from the side of LeTermic gives you an appreciation for how the architect blended new doors and windows with the original barn stone walls. |
We ended our evening with dinner at Baribal, a slow food restaurant just up the lane from LeTermic. This is a favorite of locals and the food is gourmet but the atmosphere is casual and family friendly. On the main floor of the restaurant, a piano and guitar await anyone who would like to entertain diners.
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| Joseph, Sophie, and Collette joined us for dinner. They live across the lane from the restaurant and have been close friends with Martin and Isa for 18 years. Matt, dad and husband, was at a meeting in San Francisco. |
As mentioned our food was ultra-delicious and the company was so much fun that I forgot to take pictures of the food. This was yet another memorable meal we've enjoyed on this trip.
Joseph kept signaling for Martin to play a song so he grabbed the guitar and we all joined in. Afterward, Sophie played a tune she heard on YouTube. She can play songs from memory and has never had a piano lesson.
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