Grenoble

At the confluence of the Isère and Drac, Grenoble sits between the Chartreuse, Vercors, and Belledonne ranges, a geography that made it both crossroads and stronghold. Founded as Roman Cularo and later shaped by the Dauphins of Viennois, it helped spark the French Revolution with the 1788 Day of the Tiles. Hydropower-fueled industry gave way in the 20th c. to laboratories and Université Grenoble Alpes, while the Bastille above—reached by the Les Bulles cable cars—keeps the city’s alpine identity in view,