Grenoble

“ These really were the Alps; there was no further question.
"Few French cities have a finer location than Grenoble," says the guidebook, and if I also have not conveyed this impression I have meant to do so. Not many cities in the world, I imagine, are more picturesquely located. It is also a large city, with a population of more than seventy-five thousand—a city of culture, and it has been important since the beginning of recorded history. Gratian was its patron Roman emperor, and the name Gratianopolis, assumed in his honor, has become the Grenoble of to-day. ”

“ Rambert the railroad to Grenoble branches off at right angles to the main line, it was then only complete as far as Rives, now it is continued the whole way to Grenoble; by which the reader will save some two or three hours, but miss a beautiful ride from Rives to Grenoble by the road. The valley bears the name of Grésivaudan. It is very rich and luxuriant, the vineyards are more Italian, the fig trees larger than we have yet seen them, patches of snow whiten the higher hills, and we feel that we are at last indeed among the outskirts of the Alps themselves. ”

“ From the ramparts of Grenoble the panoramic view is of wonderful beauty and grandeur, extending along the valleys of the Isère and the Drac, and across that of the Romanche. The massive heads of the Grand Chartreuse mountains bound the prospect to the north; and the summits of the snow-clad Dauphiny Alps on the south and east present a combination of bold valley and mountain scenery, the like of which is not to be seen in France, if in Europe. ”

“ GRENOBLE, the ancient capital of the Dauphiné in S.E. France, and now the chief town of the Isère department, 75 m. by rail from Lyons, 381⁄2 m. from Chambéry and 851⁄2 m. from Gap. Pop. (1906) , town, 58,641; commune, 73,022. It is one of the most beautifully situated, and also one of the most strongly fortified, cities in Europe. Built at a height of 702 ft. on both banks of the river Isère just above its junction with the Drac, the town occupies a considerable plain at the south-western end of the fertile Graisivaudan valley. ”

“ Scythian costumes for emperors are still out of style.
We may pass over the riot and ruin of the Middle Ages. All these towns were alike in that respect. The story of one, with slight alterations, fits them all. Grenoble was the first town to open its gates to Napoleon, on his return from Elba, in 1815, which gives it a kind of distinction in more recent times. Another individual feature is its floods. The Isère occasionally fills its beautiful valley, and fifteen times during the past three centuries Grenoble has been almost swept away. ”

“ I have noticed myself that Claude has painted very little lately, but Grenoble says this temporary paralysis comes upon him occasionally, and he only works the better after it. But I do not wish to leave you with a single suspicion; I hope to cure you completely; so [185] tell me what you thought you heard him say just now in the drawing-room?"
She gazed at her son with haggard eyes. She knew that Paul would not survive the truth one single hour, and, by a supreme effort, forced her lips to a smile, saying, "You are right; I was mistaken; you have cured me. Thanks! oh, my child! my child! ”

“ Sirvin had gently extricated himself from Grenoble's embrace. Sinking into an arm-chair, he sat motionless, his head bowed, listening, but not touched by what his friend was saying. The sculptor saw that words, reproaches, supplications, were all in [173] vain. He became angry, and, tearing the wet cloths from the bust of Claude in the center of the studio, he gravely, solemnly examined his work. Gradually tears came to his eyes. "It is fine," he said. "I love you, Claude. I put all my talent, all my soul, into this clay. ”

“ There are about 80 glove factories, which employ 18,500 persons (of whom 15,000 are women) , the annual output being about 800,000 dozen pairs of gloves. Among other articles produced at Grenoble are artificial cements, liqueurs, straw hats and carved furniture.
Grenoble occupies the site of Cularo, a village of the Allobroges, which only became of importance when fortified by Diocletian and Maximian at the end of the 3rd century. ”

“ I rejoice greatly that Henry is not here. I feel a sort of terror at the idea of his falling into the hands of this Lord of Masseran. You know that Henry's death would place great wealth at the disposal of my mother; and, though it is dreadful to say, yet I do fear there is no act at which this Italian would hesitate to obtain wealth or power, or any of the objects for which men strive on earth. I would not for the world that Henry should put himself into the hands of one so treacherous. If Henry be at Grenoble, we can fly to him at once, and be united there. ”

“ Grenoble (57) , a strongly fortified city of France, capital of the dep. of Isère, on the river Isère, 58 m. SE. of Lyons; there are several fine old cathedrals, and a university with a library of 170,000 vols.; the manufacture of kid gloves is the staple industry.
Grenville, George, statesman, younger brother of Earl Temple; was called to the bar in 1735, and six years later entered Parliament; held various offices of State, and in 1763 succeeded Bute as Prime Minister ”

“ Usually he went out after dinner, or the [120] gentlemen adjourned to the studio; but no one left the drawing-room this evening.
"You are eloquent, Madame," said Grenoble. "I never heard an art critic express himself better. Women play with paradoxes as skilfully as Japanese jugglers play with knives."
"Do not abuse the paradox, M. Grenoble. It is the truth of to-morrow."
Grenoble turned to Claude, saying: "Do you know that I think you are very foolish to be hunting every where for a model for your Danae. If Mme. ”

“ Continuation of Road from Grenoble to Briançon. After Le Bourg d’Oisans the road ascends by the side of the Romanche flowing several hundred feet below in a deep narrow ravine, by the side of La Combe de Malaval. 8 m. from Le Bourg and 371⁄4 from Grenoble is Le Freney, 3085 ft., pop. 900; Inn: H. Europe, with mines up in the mountains but of difficult access. It is in these mines that the crystals and the species of quartz containing gold are found, for which the Dauphiné is so celebrated among mineralogists. ”

“ At Grenoble the King remained for some three weeks to negotiate with the Duke of Savoy. Charles Emmanuel was unable to believe that Louis really intended to cross the Alps while the Huguenots of the South were still unsubdued, and, esteeming himself the arbiter between France and Spain, he refused to abandon the Spaniards, unless the King would undertake to assist him to conquer the Milanese or Genoa or sacrifice to him Geneva. ”

“ Fourier thought then that he might quit Grenoble, and repair to Lyons, where the princes had assembled together. At the second restoration, this departure was imputed to him as a crime. He was very near being brought before a court of assizes, or even a provost's court. Certain personages pretended that the presence of the Prefect of the chief place of l'Isère might have conjured the storm; that the resistance might have been more animated, better arranged. People forgot that nowhere, and at Grenoble even less than anywhere else, was it possible to organize even a pretext of resistance. ”

“ This necessitated his constant communication with the outer world, so that his high character and tact came to be generally known. Henry II, king of England, had founded a small Carthusian monastery at Witham in Somerset, which, being badly managed, was on the point of collapse, when a noble of Maurienne suggested to Henry a way of saving it by procuring the services of Hugh of Avalon as prior. The king accordingly sent an influential embassy to Grenoble to solicit the grant of this famous monk. After very great difficulty the grant was obtained by the aid of the Archbishop of Grenoble. ”

“ At Grenoble, the most important town on its banks, it bends for a short distance again N.W. But just below that town it receives by far its most important affluent (left) the Drac, which itself drains the entire S. slope of the lofty snow-clad Dauphiné Alps, and which, 11 m. ”

“ Letter to Charles L. Lewes, 21st May, 1880, from Grenoble.
This place is so magnificently situated, in a smiling valley, with the Isère flowing through it, and surrounded by grand and various lines of mountains, and we were so enraptured by our expedition yesterday to the Grande Chartreuse that we congratulate ourselves greatly on our choice of route. I think it unlikely that we shall want to wander beyond the second week in July. We shall begin to long for home just when the rest of the London world are longing for travel. ”

“ By way of contrast to the Hillsboro town plan, Figure 5 is a drawing of Grenoble, a medieval French city. This drawing is reproduced from The Culture of Cities, by Lewis Mumford. The winding streets are natural paths that have become fixed as streets. Some curving streets mark the location of early town walls, removed as the town grew and as larger encircling walls were erected. ”

“ The tiled eaves lean so close one upon another, as in some places actually to shut out the sky. If we might fly up like a bird and look down over the Grenoble of 1650, we would be gazing upon a confusion of multi-colored roofs, set at every conceivable angle of picturesqueness, and upon a bewildering congregation of chimneys and chimney-pots. Also, we would note that the town lay on both banks of the Isère, connected by a tower bridge, and protected 37on the north by the fortress of the Bastille. ”

“ Every year the floods deposited a rich alluvial soil on this spot, where there should be no difficulty in growing osiers. I reckoned out the quantity of wicker-work of various kinds required from time to time by the canton, and went over to Grenoble, where I found a young craftsman, a clever worker, but without any capital. ”

“ Then there are the forts which are placed on high hills round the town and make it even stronger than Toul; for Epinal stands just where the hills begin to be very high. Again, it is the capital of a mountain district, and this character always does something peculiar and impressive to a town. You may watch its effect in Grenoble, in little Aubusson, and, rather less, in Geneva.
For in such towns three quite different kinds of men meet. First there are the old plain-men, who despise the highlanders and think themselves much grander and more civilized ”

“ Oh! she is quite safe. Moreover, there are no mauvais sujets here in the valley; if any come among us by any chance, I send them into the army, where they make excellent solders.”
“Poor girl!” said Genestas.
“Oh! the folk round about do not pity her at all,” said Benassis; “on the other hand, they think her very lucky; but there is this difference between her and the other women: God has given strength to them and weakness to her, and they do not see that.”
The moment that the two horsemen came out upon the road to Grenoble, Benassis stopped with an air of satisfaction ”

“ Grenville's reasons for abandoning the opposition are obscure. In 1639, when the king raised an army against the Scots, he manifested the greatest alacrity in his cause. ‘I go with joy and comfort,’ he wrote, ‘to venture a life in as good a cause and with as good company as ever Englishman did ; and I do take God to witness, if I were to choose a death it should be no other but this’ (Thurloe State Papers, i. 2 ; cf. Nugent, Life of Hampden, ii. 193) . In the Long parliament Grenville again represented the county of Cornwall, but took no part in its debates. ”

“ For Grendel was to the famous thane a banesman by biting, and devoured whole the dear man. Nor would he, the bloody-toothed slayer, mindful of bales, go out empty-handed any sooner again, forth from the gold-hall; but he proved my strength of main, and ready-handed he grasped at me. An ample and wondrous glove hung fast by cunning bands. And it was cunningly fashioned by the craft of devils, and with skins of the dragon. And the fierce doer of deeds was wishful to put me therein, one among many. ”

“ At the battle of New Ross, however (18 March 1643) , the cavalry of Ormonde's army ran away, and one eye-witness gravely impugns Grenville's own conduct (ib. ii. 432; Meehan, Confederation of Kilkenny, Creightons Narrative, p. 293) . Grenville is said to have opposed the cessation of arms concluded in the summer of 1643, and left Ireland in August 1643, ‘importuned,’ he says, ‘by letters to come to England for his Majesty's service’ (Lansdowne, ii. 548) . He landed at Liverpool, but was immediately arrested by the parliamentary commander there, and sent up to London under a guard. ”

“ The beautiful Italian looked with awe at my companion.
"I do not understand how you know these things," she said. "Giuseppe Gorgiano--how did he--" She paused, and then suddenly her face lit up with pride and delight. "Now I see it! My Gennaro! My splendid, beautiful Gennaro, who has guarded me safe from all harm, he did it, with his own strong hand he killed the monster! Oh, Gennaro, how wonderful you are! What woman could ever be worthy of such a man?" ”

“ For Grenville, however, there could be no sleep, though the darkness rendered up no further sound. Like the outer sentry of a picket-line, with the enemy close, and his whereabouts unknown, he glided silently from one dark edge of the terrace to another, as the hours wore on, alert for the slightest alarm.
He finally sat by the head of the trail, convinced that the visitors would give him no trouble till morning, yet guarding the only way by which they could gain the summit of the hill. ”