Our original plan for this summer had us spending a 4th birthday in Reykjavik, but very little this summer has followed our original plan. We decided to bookmark his birthday doing what he really likes the best…trains.
Luckily Grenoble has trams as the backbone of the public transit system. They go all over, they are many, and they are cheap. We drove down to Grenoble and left the car at a park & ride (or “P & R” in French) which is at the very end of one of the tram lines. From there we could pay our 2 Euro, and in return had a gated parking lot with an attendant, and 5 tickets for return trips on the Grenoble transit system. Seriously – 5 return tickets and parking for less than $3CDN?? What the What?
We walked around Grenoble a bit – looked into a church and tried to explain to the kids how they built a church like that 500 years ago (answer: I have no idea)
Then we took “les boules” – the bubble-shaped cable car that runs up to the Bastille fort perched overlooking Grenoble and the valleys that meet here. They were built something like 70 years ago – a fact you try to forget when the doors don’t fully close and you are dangling over the river.
At the top we explored the fortress, walked through some tunnels cut through the side of the mountain -and then headed back down intro Grenoble.
Just enough time for a few popsicles and a rest in a shaded park before catching our return tram ride back to the car, and head back up to cooler altitudes for supper.
Feel free to comment….