Some trips stay in your memory because of the spectacular places you visited, others because of the food you discovered, and others because of all the unexpected things that happen along the way.
Grenoble definitely falls into the last category.
I arrived in Grenoble, France, with *le husband, who had a work conference there and, as I was the lucky half of this equation, I got to join him as his plus one. 👸 He had his conference schedule, while I had a few days to explore the city on my own.
We stayed at Residhotel Grenette, a hotel that, in our case, we didn’t exactly choose ourselves. 😁 *Le husband was there for work, and the accommodation had been booked and paid for by his company, so since it was free, I certainly wasn’t going to complain.
The location turned out to be particularly convenient for me, too. While *le husband was busy with his conference, I could head out and explore Grenoble on my own without spending too much time getting around.
And although we didn’t stay for very long, I came home with enough stories to earn Grenoble a place here on the blog.
Grenoble in Early Spring
It was the end of winter, and Grenoble had a lovely atmosphere. In the city, it already felt spring-like enough to walk around comfortably, while the mountains surrounding it were still covered in snow.
Grenoble is the kind of city where the mountains aren’t just somewhere nearby — they are part of the scenery. You can see them in the distance, rising above the buildings, constantly reminding you that you’re in the Alps.
With *le husband busy with his conference, I had a few good hours to myself and set off to explore the city.
I wandered through the streets without much of a plan, admired the buildings, explored the city centre, and enjoyed one of my favourite things to do whenever I arrive somewhere new: simply walking around and seeing where my feet take me.
Everything was going perfectly until I had to prove just how good my French actually was. 🫣
Lost in Grenoble, Apparently “Fluent” in French
I was supposed to meet *le husband at a certain point and planned to get there by bus. I had one very clear instruction: get off at a particular stop.
Except I got off one stop too early and, naturally, got lost.
And this is where my absolute confidence in my French came into play. I had studied French for about 12 years at school. How hard could it possibly be to stop someone on the street and ask for directions?
Well… apparently, very hard.
Because the moment I actually had to speak, my tongue seemed to tie itself into a knot.
The words that were perfectly clear in my head were suddenly not the same words coming out of my mouth. 😅
I tried to explain where I needed to go, gestured a lot, and probably produced a few sentences that sounded very French in my head but, in reality, probably sounded like a mixture of French, English, Romanian and panic.
Eventually, I called *le husband.
I told him where I was, gave him a few landmarks, and patiently waited for him to come and get me.
Like a princess. 😁
Dinner on a Hill, Apparently Through People’s Gardens
From there, we headed together to a restaurant somewhere up on a hill.
We left the car at the bottom of the hill and started walking uphill through what appeared to be people’s gardens.
It wasn’t a fancy restaurant, but rather a very traditional place. I don’t know if this was always how it worked, but that particular evening, the restaurant opened especially because we had made a reservation. And, to make things even more interesting, we had to choose what we wanted to eat before we even arrived, so everything could be prepared by the time we sat down.
We had three options:
tartiflette, raclette or fondue.
Melted cheese in every possible form — and I am a huge cheese fan. 😋
*Le husband chose tartiflette, but I did what I usually do when I’m presented with several different cheese options: I tried them all.
No regrets. 😆
Oysters for the First (and Last) Time
One evening, I went out for dinner with *le husband’s colleagues at a seafood restaurant. Since we were in France and I wanted to be open to new culinary experiences, I tried oysters for the first time.
It was an experience.
Not a good one. 😁
I absolutely hated them.
While everyone else was happily eating their oysters, I was trying to figure out how to drown mine in as much lemon juice as possible so I wouldn’t have to taste either the flavour or the texture.
It didn’t work.
It was a culinary experience to tick off the list, but definitely not one I feel the need to repeat.
How Did I End Up on a Mountain in Winter?
I like mountains. I hike, I enjoy walking on trails, and I love discovering new places. There is, however, one exception: Winter.
I don’t like snow. At all.
If it were up to me, I would stay indoors until the grass started showing again. Until then, give me a movie, a blanket, something warm to drink, and a window through which I can admire the snow from a safe distance.
So, naturally, I wasn’t exactly thrilled when the opportunity for a snowy mountain adventure came up. But caught up in everyone else’s enthusiasm, I suddenly found myself equipped with hiking boots, ski gear and snowshoes, and before I knew it, I was walking along a trail through the Alps.
I have no photos from this adventure. The scenery was beautiful, but I was so frozen that the last thing on my mind was taking out my camera. Taking pictures was simply not a priority.
And, to make the whole adventure even more entertaining, one of *le husband‘s colleagues was seeing snow for the first time. He had grown up in India and had never had the chance to experience it before.
For him, it was a miracle.
For me, it was the reason I kept wondering what on earth I was doing there.
He rolled around in the snow, shook tree branches so that snow would fall on his head, and enjoyed every second of it like a child who had just discovered the world’s greatest toy.
At first, we found it pretty adorable.
Until he started shaking the branches over us, too.
He was probably convinced that we were enjoying it just as much as he was.
I was not laughing.
Eventually, we made it back, took off all our gear and went into a cabin to warm up with some hot chocolate.
I can’t say it was my kind of day, but I did it anyway.
Maybe I don’t have many photos from Grenoble, but I came home with a pretty good collection of memories.
And sometimes, when you think about it, those are the best souvenirs a trip can give you.
And if you happen to visit Grenoble and want to see what experiences are available around the city and in the Alps, you can take a look at GetYourGuide, where you’ll find a variety of activities available in the area:
This post contains affiliate links. If you choose to make a purchase, book an activity, or use a service through these links, I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you.