Grenoble is the second largest city in Rhône-Alpes. It is surrounded by mountains and is famous for its walnuts. Did you know that walnut shells are used in the manufacture of dynamite? We didn't.
To the north of Grenoble is Chartreuse, where the monks make their famous liqueur. They were given a recipe for an "elixir of life" in 1605 and immediately set about finding the 130 necessary herbs. After the revolution in 1793, the monks were expelled from France. Several years later, someone noticed that they'd run out of liqueur and invited the monks back. Never a people to learn from their mistakes, the French expelled the monks again in 1903. This time, they attempted to make the liqueur themselves, without the help of monastical know-how. Disaster. The taste-alike Chartreuse sold like cold cakes and the only solution was to invite the ever-forgiving monks back again. Not the original monks, you understand, new ones.
The other principal towns of the region are Chambéry and Valence. Chambéry is famous for its Fontaine des Éléphants or Fountain of Elephants (you'd better go and see for yourself.) Valence was ravaged in the fifth century by Alans and other barbarians. Valence is twinned with Clacton-on-Sea which, itself, is frequently ravaged by Alans and, occasionally, Grahams.
La Résidence - THE French Property People
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