14, rue de la République—38000 Grenoble Tél. : +33 (0)4 76 42 96 04 [email protected] Grenoble Press Kit Welcome to Grenoble… …mountains of Culture! Grenoble is located in the southeast of France, in a strategic location at the crossroads between Northern and Southern Europe, and is one of the main cities of the Rhone-Alps region. Nestled at the heart of three Alpine ranges (Belledonne, Chartreuse and Vercors), Grenoble is France's flattest city, which culminates at only 212 meters in altitude! With a particularly dense and diverse architectural heritage, Grenoble, which exists for more than 2000 years, offers visitors a charming stroll through winding streets and lively squares where ancient Gallo-roman sites stand neighbour to innovative sustainable development constructions. Take a seat on one of the terraces of the pedestrian streets or on a paved square of the old city, and watch the city come to life: the students cycle, coming from all over the world and speaking all languages, families strolling through the streets, markets, concerts, festivals...Energy radiates through the city of Grenoble! In Grenoble, it’s easy to let your curiosity get the best of you. You’ll be tempted to discover exceptional cultural sites like the Grenoble Art Museum, the National Contemporary Art Centre (Le Magasin-CNAC)…or one of the twenty museums of the city! And if you want to enjoy local food, Grenoble has also an exceptional culinary heritage, coming from the grounds and people that fashioned the city and its surrounding region through centuries: potato gratin, crozet pasta, bugnes beignets, ravioles, and caillettes have stood the test of time and remain favorites even today. Lured by the omnipresence of the surrounding summits, you will no doubt want to get a change in perspective. An upward journey, as unique as it is unforgettable, on the Bastille’s urban cable car will give you one of the most beautiful panoramic views on the French Alps. Whatever your plans or your desires, the city's exceptional setting and environment make them possible. Family stroll, hike leaving directly from the city centre, donkey-back ride in the Vercors or Chartreuse mountains, snowshoe outing, dog sledding, ski: everything the mountain has to offer is accessible from Grenoble. So go ahead and give in! We’ll see you in Grenoble, a city height of expectations! (A few numbers…) Grenoble counts 158,000 inhabitants in inner Grenoble. The greater Grenoble area includes 49 cities and 440,000 people. 61,000: that’s how many students choose Grenoble for their higher education. 14% of them are foreign students. After Paris, Grenoble is France’s largest public research center (Scientific Polygon, more than 10 000 scientists). Grenoble is the flattest city in France and its highest point is only 212 meters high! The fort and the cable car The Bastille fort Built in 1591 by the Duke of Lesdiguières, the Bastille was entirely reconstructed from 1823 to 1848 to protect the city from any possible attacks by the Savoy Dukedom. The cable car In 1934, after the army left the mountain, a touristic cable car was built on the slopes of the Bastille. It was one of the first urban cable cars in the world, along with those of Rio de Janeiro and Cape Town. Le CAB Much more than a fortified (Bastille Art Center) mountain As well as being a historic, touristic, and Located in one of the fort’s The Mountain Troops cultural site, the Bastille has also become barracks, the Bastille Art its own neighborhood, that both locals Museum Center features regularly and visitors alike enjoy (re)discovering changing contemporary art throughout the year. In 2011, the cable The museum takes visitors to the exhibits. car carried more than 300,000 people! heart of the world of the mountain soldiers. It’s a veritable meeting www.cab-grenoble.net place, where guests can meet and talk with mountain troops. Acrobastille: Restaurants / snacks Located at the summit of the Bastille, Acrobastille offer guests the opportunity to discover this Restaurant du Téléférique: local and seasonal food. exceptional historic site from the air! An ideal place for a drink with friends or to take a family break. Panoramic terrace. Restaurant « Chez le Per Gras »: Laurent Gras and his staff offer recipes that are highly traditional and gastronomic. Panoramic terrace. Quick service restaurant: drinks, waffles, sandwiches and various “tartines”, pizzas… www.accrobastille.fr The Museum of Grenoble Inaugurated in 1994, the museum of Grenoble benefits from a magnificent setting, with 18000 square meters of space and a vast park filled with monumental sculptures. History The museum of Grenoble was founded in 1798 thanks to the spirit of initiative and tenacity of its first curator, Louis-Joseph Jay, and received large consignments from the State, which were followed by regular consignments throughout the 19th century. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Musée de Grenoble was already acknowledged as one of France’s great museums on account of the richness and quality of its antique art collection. Through the actions of Andry-Farcy, its curator from 1919 to 1949, it was also to become France’s foremost museum of modern art. Great artists from Matisse to Picasso and Bonnard to Léger entered its collections through donations the artists themselves were asked to make, such as the masterpiece of the collection, Matisse’s Interior with Eggplants. Gifts by collectors such as Jacques Doucet, Doctor Albert Barnes and Peggy Guggenheim, also helped to build up the collections, as did acquisitions made from such great dealers as Daniel Henry Kahnweiler, Ambroise Vollard, Paul Guillaume and Alfred Flechtheim. In 1923, the Agutte-Sembat bequest contributed a unique and substantial group of Neo-Impressionist (Signac, Cross) and Fauvist (Matisse, Derain, Marquet, Vlaminck) works to the museum’s holdings. Following in the footsteps of Andry- Farcy, other curators were determined to add to this prestigious collection with regular acquisitions and loans, most often focusing on art in the process of being created. Architecture In 1994, the museum left the 19th century building that had been its home for more than a century, and moved into a new building, whose temperate and relevant design is better suited to the requirements of modern-day museum exhibition design. The different areas follow on from one other around a chronological circuit, with specific zones for each century in the permanent collection. Almost eleven thousand square feet of floor space with movable partitions are reserved for temporary exhibitions. The drawing section has found a prime location in a medieval tower, which is linked to the new building via a glass-paneled footbridge. A simple circuit, predominantly zenithal lighting and views over the town create a serene atmosphere, ideal for exploring the collections. Collections Collections are made of two distinct categories: the first is dedicated to 13th through 19th century art, while the second presents the 20th century, from the conquest of modern art up to more recent formal development. The collection of antique Egyptian, Greek, and Roman art, has found its place in the three rooms located beneath the entrance hall of the museum. www.museedegrenoble.fr Museums of Grenoble Grenoble boasts many other sites where visitors can discover, learn, observe, and enjoy culture…Here are just a few examples: Musée dauphinois : www.musee-dauphinois.fr Located in a 17th century convent building, this Alpine museum presents a varied exhibits on regional heritage from the past and present, including The People of the Alp (a presentation of 19th century rural mountain life) and the Grand History of Skiing. The museum was created in 1906 thanks to the initiative of its first curator Hippolyte Müller, who sought to link the first inhabitants of the region to those who still live here today. The Dauphinois museum is located in what was once the Sainte Marie d'en Haut convent. Classified as a historical monument, the complex was founded at the beginning of the 17th century by saint Francis de Sales and saint Jeanne de Chantal. After an eventful history, which saw the building used as a prison, religious boarding school, barracks, and immigrant housing, the building was restored for the 1968 winter Olympics in Grenoble. The Dauphinois museum, in its current location, was inaugurated that same year by André Malraux. As a veritable regional museum of mankind, the Dauphinois museum looks at all the aspects of life and history in the old Dauphiné province, and on a wider scale, in the French Alps. Archeology, pre-history and history, ethnology, industrial heritage, and regional decorative arts are just some of the fields that this museum deals with. Musée de l’ancien Evêché : www.ancien-eveche-isere.fr At the heart of Grenoble’s historic district, the museum offers a journey below Notre Dame square, to the vestiges of the city’s fortified ramparts, Grenoble’s first baptistery, and into the old bishop’s palace. Located on the three floors of the old Episcopal palace, a permanent exhibit offers a journey into the history of mankind and the history of a land, the Isere, from early evidence of human present all the way to the 20th century. The museum acts as a sort of historical epic, the first of its kind in the Isere department, which gives us reference points and mentions the region's main historical monuments. No other cultural institution had given itself such a mission, to offer such a synthetic view of the department's history and development. The visit of the Ancient Bishopric Museum is chronological and takes the visitor through six successive periods: Prehistory, the Gallo-Romain period, the Middle Ages, Modern Times, the 19th century, and the 20th century.