I still had a whole weekend left of break after I got back from
Paris, and I really wanted to try a hike I had heard about before winter
blankets the mountains with snow. Since a few other friends from the Monday
dinners were also eager to hike, we decided to rent a car again rather than trying to
brave the train + bus combo (on a Sunday, no less) to get to the trailhead.
When
you rent cars in Europe, though, there is generally a maximum number of kilometers
you can drive per day, and getting to and from the hike was going to exceed the
daily limit. So, we ended up paying a few extra euros to rent the car for the
entire weekend and took advantage of our freedom to squeeze in a little Saturday trip to
a Vienne, a tiny town about a half hour from Lyon.
Unfortunately, Vienne was more or less shut down for the day because it was All
Saint’s Day (aka the reason I had a week off from class), but we still spent a few
hours strolling around admiring the Gallo-Roman ruins and some lovely churches.
On Sunday morning, we met up early to head to
Saint-Nizier-du-Moucherotte, a tiny town just outside of Grenoble nestled in
the Vecours range of the French Alps. We had perfect weather for the hike - we could see Mont Blanc way off in the distance from the top because the sky was so clear! There was also a great view of Grenoble down below. The photos don't come close to doing the hike justice!
 |
| Overlooking Grenoble. See the tall white peak way off in the distance to the left? That's Mont Blanc! |
It took us about four to five hours to hike up and back, and we arrived back at the car to return home just as the sky started to turn dark. Overall, it was a fantastic adventure! I'm hoping to make it back to Grenoble to do skiing sometime this winter, and I've been told that Grenoble is the place to eat fondue. That's definitely happening.
