Driving There

Traveling with my dad always entails taking back roads instead of main highways. This has grown significantly since his purchase of a GPS system, which guarantees that we will never be too lost. Sometimes, this can lead to spending hours behind a tractor on a winding two lane country road. Other times, it can lead to finding a hidden site that would not be discovered any other way. And fortunately our trip from Geneva to Grenoble fell into the latter category.

We inputted our destination into the GPS and instructed it to avoid toll roads (basically any major highway). We left around 09h00, meandering our way through the country side. The scenery was simply beautiful. It was green rolling hills dotted with prototypical European farm houses; the Alps functioned as the backdrop.

After about an hour of driving, we crossed the Rhône for the first time. The road crosses the river a couple of times. Looking back, I wish we had stopped at the first crossing. There was a small town which looked nice, but we drove through without stopping. Fortunately about thirty minutes later, we came across a beautiful town called Chanaz. The town sits on a canal which connects to the Rhône and caters to French tourists. The French usually take a one month vacation every year, and many families enjoy camping, and the area around Chanaz is perfect for this. We meandered around the town for a good hour or so and then continued on our way.

As you may know, hunger attacks Vanessa as fast and as hard as a cheetah striking its prey. And we soon heard the grumblings of her stomach over the hum of the old Renault engine. So we stopped at a roadside restaurant, which again caters to French campers, and struck up a conversation with the guy at the table next to us. He recommended the jambon and the andouillette. I had the andouillette, which was grilled. I found it quite delicious, but Vanessa couldn’t get over the smell.

We finished our meal and headed on our way. We drove through the Alps for another hour or so and then into Grenoble. Seeing Grenoble, which is in a valley in the middle of the Alps, from above was absolutely stunning. I’ve already taken many photos, but I’m sure there will be more to come in the next couple of months, so stay tuned. In any case, we arrived around 14h00 and settled into our hotel in Grenoble, where we’ve been staying since. If you do happen to need to drive from Geneva to Grenoble (or Lyon) and also happen to have a GPS to keep you from getting lost, I hope you consider driving through the country side. It is incredibly beautiful and you will see things you probably wouldn’t have traveling any other way.