Fort St. Eynard

On Monday, our host, Dr. Michel Vivaudou – Head of the Channels Group at IBS – took us for a short trip up to Fort St. Eynard (or here).  We had seen the view of the city from Le Bastille and it was stunning, however, it did not prepare us for the amazing view of the city and region found from Fort St. Eynard.  The trip up through La Tronche and surrounding suburbs around Grenoble was beautiful.  Upon arriving at the fort, we took a short walk up to the “edge”.  From the edge you can see Mont Blanc, as well as most other key mountains and regions in that surround Grenoble. It was stunning and the pictures that will be posted below do not do this view justice (in all fairness, I only took my cell phone).

The fort is situated at the top of one of the mountains to the north of Grenoble and there is a sheer face that has a vertical drop >1000 m (I think, it actually seemed higher so I’ll have to check the stats).  It was a stunning view and an even more stunning fete to think that the Fort was built atop the mountain over 100 years ago with little modern machinery.  We took another short hike to the other side of the fort to see a slightly different angle including Le Bastille, which from this height looked rather small.

Afterwards, we headed to Centre Ville Grenoble (downtown) to have a very nice French dinner and enjoy the company of our host.  I’ve said many times on this blog how lucky we were to have such good collaborators and hosts, and every time I’ve meant it.  We are very grateful for all that they have done to make us feel welcome both in the lab and out.  I hope to be able to return the favor soon!

A view over the edge.  It's a LONG drop

Grenoble from Ft. St. Eynard

Grenoble from Ft. St. Eynard