30k Steps: Grenoble Beyond The City Center

After more than a decade as a professional travel photographer, I’ve developed a rhythm for discovering new places. I don’t plan much. I don’t spend a lot of time looking up recommendations in advance. I don’t scroll through other people’s photos looking for inspiration. I just show up, get my bearings, and let instinct guide me. The only thing that I will do, and this applies to Grenoble, is that I will see if there is a subreddit where I can ask for things that I should absolutely not miss. Just in case there is something that I would maybe never come across organically, that would feel silly if I overlooked it or accidentally walked past it.

It might not sound like an intuitive approach, but to be honest this method has almost always served me very well. Arriving to a location, and being as uninfluenced by others photos, or perspective as possible is a definite advantage. It allows for me to share the most authentic experience that I can with others, but perhaps most importantly, it allows for me to be surprised. To feel genuinely inspired, lost, and as a consequence- allowing me to grow and challenge myself in every new location I visit.

I’m not the kind of photographer that just travels to locations to get the bucket list shots, and then bounce. I really want to try to capture and share what its truly like to visit these places as objectively as I can (through my lens).

In Grenoble that approach completely fell apart- basically in the middle of day one. The layout of the city center had me walking in circles for hours, literally. This is such a rare thing to happen to me. Perhaps it’s the layout of the city, perhaps it was the rain / snow flurries that had me confused. Whatever it was – I got genuinely turned around multiple times.

I’ve already shared two other blog posts about my experience in Grenoble. The first is the story of my first day filled with all sorts of inspired walking in circles, as well as my 2nd morning of doing more-or-less the same, followed by riding the bubbles up to the Bastille, and then hiking back down towards the city center again:

Accidentally Walking in Circles: My First Time Getting Lost in Grenoble, France

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When I first arrived in Grenoble, it was late. I’d taken the bus from Genova—it [...]

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Getting to the Bastille in Grenoble, France

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Ending my hike coming down from the Bastille is really where this blog post begins- but before I continue- I think it’s important to be transparent about something. Grenoble is one of those places that for some reason gets a bad wrap. I can’t tell you how many people that have commented on related posts, sent me messages, and even mentioned something in person about how they are surprised that I enjoyed my time there. This is really confusing to me to be honest, as I genuinely enjoyed my time in Grenoble. These posts aren’t me trying to spread content out over multiple posts for no reason. I genuinely feel like there is valuable content to be shared, and the fact that I’ve gotten so many surprised responses just makes me feel like its so much more important to share of my experiences in places like this.

Is Grenoble Paris? No, its Grenoble. Is Grenoble Florence, or Venice, or London, or Barcelona, or Berlin? No, it’s Grenoble. Each and every city that I have visited anywhere has had something special about it that I have been able to find – something beautiful that people simply look past and don’t really take the time to slow down, see it, and appreciate it. Do many cities around the world have specific neighborhoods or places that you should avoid, especially at night? Of course, and Grenoble is no exception. Does that mean that all of Grenoble is like that? Absolutely not. Grenoble is filled with interesting places to see, great places to eat, and tons of things to take photos of. So, my friends, without further adieu – let’s see after this post, which is my final post of this 3 post series about my experience in Grenoble that you too will agree with me <3

Ahem. Where were we?

…something about me being experienced

… lots of being lost

…. shared links to previous posts

…Grenoble is worth visiting…

Ah yes – came down from the Bastille and here we are:

So I came down to the bottom of the hill, and checked my map. At that point I realized that I actually wasn’t very far from a neighborhood that I knew I had to visit, as it contained some famous towers I knew I wanted to capture some photos of: The Three Towers of Île Verte . What piqued my interest about these towers is that they are completely out of place in Grenoble. It’s like in the early 60’s they had a sudden inspired vision for the future – due to the 1968 Olympics – so much so that hey were actually the tallest residential buildings in Europe until the the early 70’s. The towers themselves stand at 98 meters ( 322 feet) tall, having 33 floors each. 

After wandering and looping a little bit ( again ) around that neighborhood, I finally glanced down at my watch and realized I’d already logged about 15,000 steps, and it was almost 1 o’clock. As I was seriously starting to feel famished, I went searching for food. My plan was to get something to eat that wasn’t that far away from my apartment so that I could ( maybe ) take a nap after lunch. The issue I ran into though was that most of the places I was looking for were going to be almost closing by the time I could get to them, as I was still 20-30 minutes out by foot. As I was getting closer to the city center I stumbled across a a Greek restaurant called Hélios that was still open. I love Greek food, It turned out to be exactly what I needed. I ordered some souvláki kotópoulo, and dolmades to eat, and one of my favorite Greek beers: Mythos- and man, I really needed it.

And then, as if timed perfectly, the clouds broke and the sun came out. It had been cloudy, a bit rainy, and cold the entire trip so far, and of course, now , after my delicious meal and a possible nap so close to being possible- here come the blue skies, punchy colors and contrast: Grenoble essentially transformed. I genuinely paused and laughed to myself. ( Insert the cliché line: I’m getting to old for this shit…) I reasoned that I could’ve stopped there. I’d already walked a lot, shot a ton, and I was tired. But one of the biggest rules that I live by is to never feel left with the feeling of ‘what if?‘.

What if the stories I shared with the world only showed Grenoble as a small grey town? What if by not pushing myself to really get out and explore more, with a renewed energy due to the sun shining I would miss something really special. What if this moment to go shoot was going to be the most impactful part of my trip?

I couldn’t not go out again. I felt like I owed it to the city, and to myself. With the light finally doing the city justice, I wanted to truly capture its soul, not just its surface. So I ran back to the apartment, swapped in fresh batteries, backed up the morning’s shots, and headed back out as committed as ever to my mission – more committed now, perhaps. Now I had skin in the game for sure. Now I really had to make my time worth it.

With the sun finally breaking through, the city center of Grenoble showed a different side of its personality. More subjects came to life- facades started glowing, reflections were brighter, small details became easier to spot. I ended up making a few more circles through the streets in the historical center, even going down a few more streets I didn’t recognize & grabbing few extra shots I hadn’t noticed before. But after that, I knew it was finally time to move on and get out into the suburbs. Once an for all and I knew just where to start this next big adventure, which also happened to be where I arrived in the first place- The gatekeeper this whole time: the train station.

I think part of my confusion about Grenoble is that I originally arrived late at night at around midnight to the train station, and it started raining when I was halfway to my apartment. This was a little disorienting, so I didn’t properly pay attention to where I was coming from, and where the train station really was in relation to where I was going to be staying. 

As I approached the train station this time, I knew I had to turn left, as turning right would be going back towards the river. Not long after I turned left near the train station I immediately noticed a building with some really cool reflective windows ( I swear I’m not a racoon, okay, but shiny things…I just can’t help myself sometimes. I’m even creating a collection of art that focuses on reflections, but I digress!)

So I started taking photos of this highly reflective building – trying to really get all the lines lined up perfectly, and also struggling with the challenge of properly exposing the extremely bright afternoon sun popping through the clouds. After taking a few photos and feeling pleased with myself, I turned to keep walking, and suddenly I realized that right next to it there was this really cool, blocky -covered in graffiti- building with a bunch of colorful pipes.

I remember thinking, what even is this? It’s such a bizarre building that looked like something straight out of the movie Chappie, mixed with a little bit of Pompidou. Maybe It’s because it looks kinda like a robot, or if you told me it was located somewhere in Johannesburg I would definitely believe you – I really have no idea, but it was cool, so I snapped a couple pics.

That’s the thing about Grenoble, the mix of elements and varying architecture is so unexpected. One moment you’re in the historic center, with all its charm and typically French details, and the next you’re face-to-face with something raw, industrial, and almost surreal.

Turns out it was just a car garage, but it had a gritty, cinematic presence that caught my eye. From there, I slipped under a bridge that runs beneath the train tracks, and that’s when things really opened up.

That’s kind of the story of Grenoble though, two cities in one. You’ve got the quaint, charming, historical center: narrow cobblestone lanes, traditional facades, lots of symmetry and subtlety. But outside of that and it morphs. Suddenly it’s big, urban streets, bold murals, brutalist towers- and even some interesting parking garages.

I came out from under the tunnel and I immediately knew I was in a different part of town. Ah ha! I exclaimed to myself. I was excited, because I could already tell there was going to be a bunch of cool street art and murals to check out. I think my love and respect for street art must have started when I was quite young as there is a pretty vibrant scene in Long Beach, and around LA ( where I’m from ). To this day I always love seeing beautiful graffiti, and all kinds of street art whenever I travel. I remember I met Saber, who is a well respected graffiti / street artist / muralist a few years back. I met him through a friend who used to represent him, and seeing some of the stuff he has created just levelled up my appreciation for this type of work even more.

As I continued wandering deeper into these outlying neighborhoods, some of the murals got bigger. Like, 8 to 10 story building big. Not just little alleyway pieces or splashes of graffiti, these were massive, curated walls of color and expression. And the setting made it all the more striking. Giant works of art rising between glimpses of jagged mountain peaks, sunlit rooftops and lingering dramatic clouds. That contrast, between nature and the built environment, is something I’m always chasing. Grenoble has it in spades.

After seeing some of these photos, can you really blame me for my love of capturing murals? To me large murals are an alternative to plants and nature in areas that might be lacking them. They can help bring color, life, and vibrancy to places that sometimes lack them. They can be art for the sake of making it – but often they are symbols of hope, resilience, strength, defiance – or at least the provocation of thought, and inspiration to other artists, or like-minded individuals.

You might need a degree to be an architect, but with talent and some paint you can hold tremendous influence over buildings, neighborhoods, and even how cities look and feel. 

I followed the light as the day stretched on, walking further from the center, letting the mountains peaking in between streets, and the street art / murals guide me. When I realized golden hour was coming, I began searching for different and interesting ways to get back towards the city center. I really didn’t want to just follow my breadcrumbs back to the train station- I wanted to see if there was another angle that I could take back. So I started zigzagging through residential streets I hadn’t explored yet. Eventually I came upon a park where It seemed like i could get through to another area of town where I could explore through – but of course, the only tunnel that would have allowed me to get there was completely flooded. I thought about going through, I really did. But ultimately I decided against it – it just wasn’t meant to be.

At this point I started really losing light fast, so I decided to b-line back towards the center on the next different-enough path that I could find. Call it luck, experience, or both, but eventually, I stumbled on a park bursting with cherry blossom trees- must of been a dozen or more absolutely gorgeous trees in full bloom. Families were picnicking, kids were playing, teens were taking selfies under the branches. It was one of the most beautiful scenes I came across during my time in Grenoble.

It really was pure, joyful, pink-hued serenity. There are a few places around the city where you can find trees like that. I might write a separate post about them one day, because honestly, they deserve their own space.

For me, moments like that are grounding. After hours of photographing architecture and street art – monuments to human effort and creativity- it’s the simplicity of nature that often strikes the deepest chord and helps to give me balance.

That’s why my fine art collections on my website include separate categories for landscape, seascape, and nature. Nature, to me, isn’t just grand views, it’s individual trees, soft petals, subtle details. It’s a reminder to slow down, breathe, and look closer.

As the light was really starting to fade and I got closer to the city center, I passed through a few more residential blocks with some hidden alleyways that contained even more street art. Political caricatures, abstract portraits- all thoughtful, funny, and strange, in good ways. Yet another reminder to take the long way home, and to really get out there and explore.

By the time I made it back to the apartment, I’d logged over 30,000 steps for the day. Was I exhausted? Absolutely. But I’d do it all again in a heartbeat.

Grenoble may not have been the most simple town to navigate through, but to be honest this kind of challenge was absolutely worth it to me. Visiting places like Grenoble allow for you to grow, to learn, and while you’re maybe walking around in circles like me- to hopefully find more of yourself along the way.

I hope this post, along with the other two posts that I’ve written about Grenoble, and the photos that go with it give you a glimpse into the less obvious parts of the city. I hope my work will either help to inspire you to visit Grenoble for the first time, or to give her another chance.

See you next time – on the other side of the tracks,

Scott

Check out a few additional shots that I captured on this day in Grenoble: