GRENOBLE

We would not have thought of going to Grenoble were it not for our Basque friend Usoa, who was temporarily working in the region and asking us to visit. We took the last of the EasyJet flights of the season, to find ourselves basking in temperatures of 26c while watching skiers on the snow capped 2000m mountains surrounding the town. A stone's throw from Italy and Switzerland, Grenoble is an old town lively with young people and good public transport !

The girl at the tourist information centre suggested we pick a 'bucket' of daffodils

The plough is bringing down some of the snow from the top to replenish the melting lower parts of the piste

The Tour de France goes through this area - goodness knows it's hard work just driving up here with all the gear changes

Coffee and crepes with a view (seen reflected in the window)
I rescued a butterfly from the toilet

It looks like a pair of pants but it's scrummy

Another bar, this one in the centre of Grenoble. We drank beer flavoured with things like cherries and surrounded by old paintings superimposed with modern characters

Boys playing football in the dusty park

Breakfast

La Bastille dominating the street scene

These eggs take brave passengers directly up to the Bastille, although it is possible to take a long but less vertical route and walk or cycle and arrive with damp bottoms

The door of our egg remained stubbornly open, but my eyes did not

Can you believe I actually travelled in one of these? 700 metres above the town? With the door open?

How to repoint a bastille wall (hope it's not quick-drying cement)

This good-looking young man approached me and told me I was 'tres jolie', looking disappointed when I pointed to my wedding ring. Unfortunately he then started following me around and I realised he was a nutter. Deflated, I hid in the restaurant and looked at the snow-covered alps until he had gone

Nearly back on solid ground - this was the first point I could look down instead of at the inside of my eyelids

A lot of the buildings in the old town are really attractive

Here's a name from the past

I was trying to capture the fountain mist blowing down the street. Can you also spot the christmas decoration? They are everywhere and stay up all year. Maybe Santa lives here?

The apartments were part of a hotel with a reception and daily cleaners and towels and the works

Jon was told that an Englishman saying 'je t'aime' was enough to drive a French girl mad with lust. Luckily we were going home in the morning

Sitting on Usoa's balcony in the early evening watching snatches of life going on all around us - a muslem on a prayer mat by an open doorway, headscarved women preparing dinner, people putting away their shopping. These apartments can only really be afforded by those on expenses so they're full of ex-pats

Our Basque friend from Spain took her English friends to an Italian restaurant in France run by a Moroccan - we are sooo cosmopolitan

Strawberry and melon soup - rather nice actually