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

When I first arrived in Grenoble, it was late. I’d taken the bus from Genova—it clocked in at just under six hours, around five hours and forty-five minutes. Honestly, I loved it. Buses give you a different kind of view than the train—slower, more grounded, a different perspective. I sat next to a guy named Youssef. He was probably in his mid-twenties, and he was from Egypt.

He was studying in France and was going to be living in Grenoble for the next few months. It was honestly such a refreshing conversation – a truly in-depth conversation that I hadn’t had in a long time. We talked openly about everything from where we were from and our opinions and thoughts about the current political climate to more philosophical topics and everything in between. He shared that he had never talked in depth with an American before and was grateful that he was able to speak to me at such length.

I could tell that his opinions of Americans had shifted a bit after speaking with me, and I felt humbled by that. I was grateful that I was able to speak with him as well. Before either of us had realized it, the 5+ hours went by in a flash. I hope he reads this some day and knows that I’m truly thankful for our wonderful conversation. 

The studio I stayed in was small and simple—perfect. I wasn’t planning to spend much time there anyway. Normally, I’d go for a room in a shared place to connect with locals, but this was more about location. It turns out Grenoble is a full-on ski town, which I hadn’t realized. My little studio was clearly designed for skiers, but it worked.

I arrived on a Thursday night, and when Friday arrived, I was still too exhausted. I decided to spend the day in bed editing and working on other projects. I popped over to the grocery store near my place to get some essentials for breakfast and lunch and just laid low for the day. For dinner I went out and I got ramen, but then I passed out early and basically wrote off the day.

Reflecting on that day, I’d just become a dad, and I think that hit me all at once—no baby, no schedule, just quiet. I think my system said, and now you rest. I let it.

But Saturday? I woke up pumped. Was it just the excitement, or did I finally get the rest I needed? Who knows? But I felt recharged and full of energy. I even woke up 5 minutes before my alarm, and that never happens. Being a travel photographer—it’s not just work for me. It feels like a mission.

There’s something inside me that switches on. It’s like a kid knowing they’re going to Disneyland when I’ve got a shoot coming up, but for me, it’s getting ready to visually explore a new location. And Grenoble had me curious.

I decided not to look up anything besides the basics of what I might expect to find there on purpose. Just wander. Let instinct guide me.

Now, on this trip in particular I was shooting with a pretty intense setup. This trip was my first ‘full send’ towards creating a combination of Long Form, and short form video, in addition to my typical Travel Photography focus – so I needed a specific setup that I honestly wasn’t super familiar with yet. It was new and exciting, but also more challenging. 

For video I had a DJI Pocket 3 mounted in front of my left shoulder on top of a Joby 5k that was essentially strapped to my cotton carrier chest harness.

I had an Instago 3s for POV shots also connected to my cotton carrier harness, an Osmo Action for shots facing me that I had attached to a hand grip that was also tucked into my cotton carrier for easy access, and my DJI Mic 2 mounted to my shirt collar.

For photography, I had both my main photography cameras – one Canon r5 mk ii with the Canon EF 70-200 f2.8 mk II hooked to my hip on my spyder mount v2, and one 5d mk iv with a Sigma 24-70 2.8 ART mounted to my cotton carrier.

Plus my Gitzo Adventury backpack which contained a couple extra lenses, batteries, lens cleaning accessories, and a bottle of water… oh yeah, and my umbrella tucked into my cotton carrier as well so I wouldn’t need to unmount all my gear in case I needed it. And yeah, it basically rained all day. 

Now, I’ve only been to three French cities so far – Paris, Lyon, and now Grenoble, but I can already recognize when I’m in a French city. It’s mostly the smaller shops that give it away. There are so many boutiques, artisanal shops, and french restaurants, but also a great mix of international cuisine, and cafes that are almost too perfect. The design styles, the often bold colors mixed with another level of sometimes quiet, and sometimes blunt elegance. 

France, in my opinion, has also just embraced the future and multicultural diversity in general much more than Italy has.

We all love Italy for its timeless beauty and rich cultural heritage -heck, I’ve chosen to live in Italy for the past 12 years, and we had our first born in Liguria – but these differences are just things that I notice right away when I visit a city in France – at least so far, and I absolutely love it.

Not all places, and not all streets are like this, certainly not, but the entire mix of all these things is just boldly French for me. 

After taking some photos in Place Grenette, I continued to walk through and around Grenoble’s quaint streets, zig zagging towards Place Notre Dame, over towards the Musee de Grenoble next to the river. I then went along the river, and passed under the ‘bubbles’ towards Place Hubert Dubedout.

Once I got there I turned left and found my way to Place Victor Hugo, and then to the front of Eglise Sant Louis. From there I wandered through the streets until I got to Halles Sainte-Claire. From there I somehow wound my way past and through unrecognized streets until I got to Jardin de Ville and then I surprisingly wound up back at the river again. 

Halfway through the day of taking photos, winding up back at the river, starting off in another direction, and shooting a bunch of video around the historical center and being content with feeling a little lost, I realized I’d actually been walking in circles the entire day.

Every turn I kept taking eventually just led me back to the same river. Maybe it was a sign? Who knows?

Unlike many cities that I have visited which have a clear epicenter, Grenoble’s layout feels dictated by its topography—the flow of the river, the positioning of the mountains, and the Bastille perched above the city all influence its spread in a more organic, uncentered way.

This is probably part of what threw me off, as I kept making similar turns, which all brought me back to the Isère. I almost had to force myself to think differently in terms of my sense of direction in order to escape the labyrinth of the historical center.

And yet, it was beautiful. Like getting lost in Florence all over again. I recalled my first weeks in Florence —getting lost, thinking I was navigating by visual cues, only to realize that many towers and buildings looked nearly identical. European old towns are mazes. You can’t rely on American-style logic to move through them.

That night, I hit up a local beer spot called Not a Beer and met two awesome people who work there, Antoine and Anaïs. Right away both of them were honestly just so chill and very welcoming. They offered to let me try a few of their beers, and when I expressed interest in their impressive beer collection, each of them was more than happy to indulge my curiosity.

Their beers on tap would have had me feeling satisfied to begin with, but they also have a pretty serious selection of beers in their wall of fridges as well. Beers from all over the place – you really would be hard-pressed to not find a craft beer you’re looking for here. The atmosphere was relaxed and laid-back, with some small tables in the back. 

After I finished my first beer, Anaïs asked if I had ever had chartreuse before, which is a very strong liqueur- not just high in alcohol content, but in flavor. It’s very botanical, and certainly sweet, but also got intense flavors like Menthol, Anise, and fennel. I said that I hadn’t so she offered me what they call an ‘Episcopal’ – which is a very local drink that combines both green and yellow chartreuse to make it a little lighter – but ‘lighter’ would not be the way to describe anything related to this drink. Don’t get me wrong – It was good, but to be honest, I don’t think that I’ve had to drink something so slowly in my entire life.

The flavor was very strong, and it’s not something for the faint of heart. Something to try? Definitely! Would I order it on the daily? Probably not 😉 Do I hope that I really love it some day? Absolutely.

After I finished my very lengthy Episcopal experience, Antoine offered to give me a tour of their bottle shop next door, which was yet another surprise – this place seriously has it all. Not only do they have a great bar with a sizable beer collection, but they also have a beer store that goes even further than that. Needless to say, I was really impressed. After the mini tour, I headed back to the bar and then the three of us got a photo together. 

I sat back down at the bar and ordered another beer while striking up a conversation with a guy who had been frequenting the bar for a week or so. He was stuck in town waiting for his Dad to be mobile enough to get back to the UK after he had an unfortunate skiing accident, and after popping into Not a Beer for a cheeky pint when he first arrived, he just kept coming back (I don’t blame him!) 

Towards the end of the evening, Antoine brought us some leftover fresh pastries that they got from one of their friends who owned a pastry shop, so I grabbed one and took one for the road so I could have it for breakfast in the morning. Talk about the perfect way to end a night in France. I honestly had such a great time at Not a Beer. Exactly the place I was hoping to find in Grenoble, and both Antoine and Anaïs were so generous with their time and their stories. I’m so grateful I was able to connect with them.

The next morning, the first mission on my list was to take the cable cars, affectionately known as ‘the bubbles’ up to the Bastille on the hill above Grenoble. On the ride up, I started to realize how big Grenoble really is. You can start to see Grenoble sprawling far beyond the old town – and I had an immediate realization that the section of the city I’d wandered around in circles on day one was just a sliver of what was still left to explore.

Stay tuned for a continuation of my Story of Grenoble.