Grenoble Day 1 and 2 - Resting up

I thought I better check in for a quick update on what we have been up to for the past couple of days. We have worked our way from Briancon into the town of Grenoble. We are still in the Rhone-Alpes region of France and Grenoble is often considered the "Capital of the Alpes". With a total population in excess of 156,000, it is significantly larger and more lively than Briancon and has a significant student population as a result of the large university campus in the town. The change in demographic has been noticeable since our arrival with the town consisting of a much younger population.

The last few days have been fairly low key with the aim of resting up for the much longer rides that we will be doing in Grenoble. The mountains here are not as readily accessible as in Briancon and as a result we will be doing some much longer rides. These will be highlighted by Alpe d'Huez and a trip into the Vecors for the very scenic roads of the Grand Goulets. We have spent most of the time over the last two days walking around the town and doing a little bit of shopping. The town is very scenic with many cool little parks and squares spread throughout the town.

We have also taken the opportunity over the last few days to reward ourselves with a couple of beverages after the significant climbing we have done in the first week of our trip.

One of the main attractions in Grenoble is the Bastille which has cable cars that take you up to the top of the mountain where there are a number of cool little restaurants for lunch and some amazing views back over the city. We are going to keep this one until a day where the weather is perfect as the weather has been a little bit miserable over the last couple of days. The Bastille also features a nasty little leg burner on the bike with a 2km stretch with gradients over 20%. The picture below is a view looking over the river and up to the Bastille.

In summary, Grenoble looks like a nice lively town with plenty more things to do than in Briancon. It should make a fitting place to celebrate Tommy's birthday on Saturday night. Today we get back on the bike and head to do the Chamrousse.