Too late for my first house guests, I went on a tour of another Grenoble today and learned a lot about our adopted, temporary home.
I saw where the rampart built around the original city by the Romans is still marked on the ground. And heard where to go if I want to actually see part of the wall. Grenoble was apparently very important to the Roman Empire, because it was the gateway from the south of France to Italy.
I saw the first street built outside the wall. I saw the oldest house in Grenoble.
I saw other old houses… many I’d walked past or even shopped in the stores on the ground floor without paying any attention to the amazing detail.
One has giant wooden doors with carvings around the door knockers that look like a cross between a man and a lion. And the door knockers are very high off the ground… so you can knock on the door without getting off your horse.
I also learned about the cathedral… and the battle between the bishop and the dauphin over who had the tallest cathedral.
I stood on a suspension bridge over the Isere river; that I didn’t like because you could feel it moving. The guide also told us about how dangerous the Isere is… how it’s named after a word for snake… and how important it was for Grenoble to finally feel like it had tamed the waters.
Now I have just enough knowledge to really drive my next house guests crazy!