Bartimaeus

On the way home from the trip up the mountain, I remembered the wool shop. There was milk to buy too so I agreed to do some shopping. The shop was full of young women, some shopping together with their ’copines'. Knitting for pleasure is having a revival and the range of yarns continues to grow. I left with some natural coloured alpaca with silk, in my warmly gloved hand. 

It is exceptionally soft and light, but not sure what it will be. I looked up patterns but am still undecided.

The next day was our actual anniversary. I didn't get off to a great start as I chose the wrong breakfast, a perfectly good selection was available I am sure but a group in front of me in the queue made it hard to see the full range and I confused the word cannelé (fluted or grooved - describing the shape) for cannelle (cinnamon) and was not enamoured with the rum flavoured item. 

We had a surprise diversion to an early Christian baptistry, with some Roman walls and artifacts. They were channelling water well very early. They also had some interesting vessels on show, designed to stand in sand for stability. Those Scots who patented a ceramic design for graveside vases with a pointed base to put into the ground, that I had recently seen in the Edinburgh museum,  were not the first to think of it, though the purpose was different.

We had a walk round a market. Amazing food on display including a triperie which was intriguing but I wasn't tempted by the assorted offal; brains, sweetbreads, tongues and trotters.

We had a tasty dinner away from the market though, lovely French fare, including dessert then an afternoon in the art gallery, completely free. It was a bit sleety going home.

The weather was better the next day. Walking through the streets of Grenoble  we caught occasional glimpses of the Alps though the buildings and tramlines. This is what attracts tourists to Grenoble.

On our way through town we popped into a church to find people in decorating for christmas. They seemed to be building a display of a model village alongside decorating the tree. There were several children there and I didn't want it to look like I was taking their picture, but I got a picture of a maypole model. Obviously that is not just an English tradition since they do it in Germany too.

We were heading across the river on foot, rather than bulles,  this time and up the hill to the Dauphinoise museum. At the base of the steps up was La Fontaine du Lion, perhaps the dauphinoise symbol adorned the sides.

As we climbed, we paused and turned to admire the view, always a good excuse for a pause. The weather looked slightly unpredictable so we were glad of the museum. We felt the view spoilt by high modern buildings but they couldn't compete with the mountains when it came to sky scraping.

The museum worked through life in the harsh environment of the Alps through the ages. Furniture was chunky but there were frills.

I liked the display of bells for the herds, and I  remember hearing them cycling into Switzerland over 30 years ago but I didn't see any working dogs protecting them. I had always thought of spiked dog collars as a symbol of strength and ferocity for guard dogs, but they were described as protection for the shepherd's dogs, employed not just to keep the flock together but to keep away wild animals. The dogs could tackle a predator but stay safe as they usually attack the throat. 

Upstairs was a temporary exhibition of snow sports that attracted tourists such as skiing and snowboarding. Looking good and keeping warm were both high on the list of priorities. As well as the sports equipment fashion items were also on display. Some stupendous knitwear caught my eye.

With the Alps bordering Italy I had been told by two friends in Edinburgh that there was good Italian food to be had in Grenoble. One mentioned local ravioli that are smaller than Italian ravioli and had recommended also a woodfired pizza restaurant. While the other mentioned nice restaurants 'over the river'. We found that indeed there was a row of Italians and when I was looking to decide whether to go for the wood fired pizza or the ravioli, I found a section with pizzas with ravioli on top. Very tiny they are too! It was certainly a good pizza, with excellent knives.

After lunch we visited the museum of Natural History which was free and we were treated by an owl at the entrance. There were lots more animals inside.

At the front desk they had topic language boards for non verbal visitors to communicate about their surroundings. I was very impressed. The explanation for how to use them proclaimed Ma Voix Mon Droit (my voice my right) which is snappier in French when it rhymes. The symbols dictionary and colour coding system are the same as the ones I used for making themed communication boards at work, only the text is french.

There was a multilingual audio guide too so a very informative and inclusive visit. I learnt a knew word and was able to say to Shane I had seen a kingfisher (or martin pêcheur)!

We were impressed. The next day was our last full day. Shane had a couple more museums to visit. The museum of the Resistance was very interesting with a lot of objects, photos and text - in English, french and German. I had of course heard plenty about concentration camps, but there was more about what it meant to live in occupied France. Some of the resistance fighters also died and were taken to concentration camps. The photos, videos, interviews with survivors and objects brought it home. It wasn't jolly but it certainly was educational.

We had seen there was a Christmas market in a large square so when we went there to see if we might get some food. Bread with melted cheese (raclette) was a hot favourite. Shane and I went for ravioli. He had a traditional tray baked in a creamy sauce while I had a box of boiled basil ravioli with sprinkled cheese. I managed to order in french and gesture and they had a bash at English. The stall owner had been to Scotland and mentioned eating haggis, but I didn't catch on when it was said without the h or the s pronounced, but I worked it out at last. 

Shane remembered the orangery had an exhibition  about red snow...and we know how much he likes red. So we headed there next to find it was about an algae, or protozoa - a micro organism that lives in the snow and colour it red. Scottish explorers noted it in the arctic.

It is being studied nearby in the mountain snow. There are so many kinds of life filling every niche, determined to survive. I liked the biological family chart with a 'vous êtes ici' marker.

I like that it has snowed while we were in Grenoble and that we have seen snowy exhibitions too. The next day it's off back to Gare Lille Europe again.