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In January, I got the disappointing
news that my séjour was being cut short. My department
had a new hire, and it was part of my job to initiate her
training. I would be allowed to stay on for another week
or so to attend a meeting in Paris but that would be it.
I still had two weekends to see a few things and was determined
to make the most of them.
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The château at Virieu
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Anti-solictor door
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One of many castles in the Dauphiné
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J’s holiday visit was also coming
to an end. We left early for the airport in Lyon so that
we could squeeze in a visit to Virieu. The château
at Virieu dates back to the 11th century and was part of
the lands which made up the Dauphiné. Originally
independent from France and part of the Holy Roman Empire,
the Dauphiné was traditionally ruled by the heir
to the French throne in exchange for its sustained independence.
The idea was to keep the crown prince as far away from Paris
as possible yet still keep an eye on him. Since the heir,
known as the Dauphin, was typically a child, he exercised
little authority and the noblemen of the region were in
a constant power struggle. In the mid-15th century, the
Dauphin and soon-to-be Louis IX married the nine year old
daughter of the Duke of Savoie making him a greater threat
to the French king. As a result, the king’s army occupied
the Dauphiné and claimed it for the crown.
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Saturday market in front of Parliament
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Last vestiges of the old Roman wall
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Jardin de Ville
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eight months, I had ventured to the north, west, and east
to visit various points of interest in the Savoie and Haute
Savoie. The one glaring omission was to the south where
I still had yet to see the city commonly known as capital
of the French Alps and also the former capital of the Dauphiné.
Grenoble lies at the junction of the Isère and Drac
rivers about 30 miles south of Chambéry. I didn’t
have the luxury of waiting for a beautiful weekend, so I
made my way down the A41 on what turned out to be a dreary
and blustery morning.
Grenoble began as an Allobroges village
called Cularo before the Roman emperor Gratian (from whom
Grenoble’s name is derived) gave it city status. Little
remains of the Roman era today save for a small section
of the original wall. The city prospered by way of its location
on the trade routes between Italy and France but was handed
around between the Burgundians, Franks, and Provence before
coming into possession of the Counts of Albon who made it
the capital of the Dauphiné. It eventually became
part of France along with the Dauphiné. Thanks to
the introduction of hydroelectric power, Grenoble became
an industrial heavyweight specifically known for manufacturing
gloves.
High above Grenoble is the Bastille
- a fortress built by the French to fend off invading armies.
Access to the Bastille is gained by the iconic cable cars,
known as les bulles (the bubbles), reputed to be
the world’s first urban cable cars. Although I strolled
around town taking in the sights, my primary goal was to
visit the last of the trio of Olympic sites in the Savoie
region. The Winter Olympics of 1968 were memorable possibly
from the performances of Peggy Flemming and Jean-Claude-Killy
but more likely because they were the first to be broadcast
on television in color. Quite a few sites have survived
the years such as the skating oval, the hockey arena, the
flame, and even the athletes’ village.
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Fontaine du Lion symbolizes Grenoble's
struggle with flooding of the Isère and Drac.
Statue of the Chevalier de Bayard
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Le Table Ronde in Grenoble is the second oldest café in France.
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Place de Notre Dame
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The Olympic skating and hockey venue
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Les bulles return from the Bastille
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The 1968 Winter Olympic flame
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Site of the 1968 opening ceremonies
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Say what you want about the French
(and I often do), but one cannot argue that they don't take
care to make things look as beautiful as possible. From
their towns to their buildings to even their people, appearance
is imperative. I found this driving through towns where
you would see flowers decorating public spaces and murals
livening up otherwise ordinary walls. In and around Aix-les-Bains,
I found several electrical sub stations that I thought typifies
the French effort.
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A wash house
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How about a drink?
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At the café
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A typical Montmartre corner
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The Basilique du Sacré Coeur
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Potential buyer in Place du Tertre
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As my last official act of my assignment
in France, I was sent to an international meeting at our
corporate headquarters in Paris. As I looked around my small
room, I was astounded to see how much crap I had accumulated
in nine months. In fact, as I began to pack, I quickly realized
it was too much to carry back. So I gave a few things away,
and packed the rest in two boxes which I mailed back to
the States. As a thank you, I cooked a farewell dinner for
some of my new friends who had been so generous and hospitable
since the first day I arrived. I purposely made something
that went against a Frenchman’s nature in that they had
to eat with their hands – it was priceless. In the wee hours
of the next morning, I boarded the all-too-familiar train
to Paris and watched Aix-les-Bains fade into the distance
for the final time.
I was put up in a hotel in Montmartre
on the northern side of the city. This was an area I had
briefly visited long ago, and I looked forward to the short
time I now had to get reacquainted. As I mentioned once
before, Saint Denis was beheaded on this hill overlooking
Paris before carrying it to the area now named for him.
The hill on the other hand became known as “mountain of
the martyr” and is thus called Montmartre today. It is one
of the most easily recognizable areas of Paris in that the
hill is crowned by the chalk-white Basilique du Sacré
Coeur. The church is one of the more popular attractions
in Paris and, on a clear day, offers a commanding view of
the city. I’ll have to go back on a clear day. I mingled
with the crowds at Sacré Coeur for a few hours, and
then wandered through one of the squares to enjoy another
one of Montmartre’s specialties – artists. In the shadow
of the basilica, painters and sketchers gather in the Place
du Tertre to apply their craft and make a few euros. I browsed
what was on offer, came close a few times, but did not buy
anything in the end. It didn’t seem right to take back a
keepsake from Paris when I had just spent nine months in
the Savoie. Instead, I settled on bringing back memories
of the people I met and the places I visited – and two boxes
of crap that was already in the mail.
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Art
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Cat's eyes
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Sacré Coeur
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Artists apply their craft
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