Nestled comfortably and spectacularly between three ranges of the Alps, along the picturesque Isere River, lays Grenoble, one of France's most charming cities. With a close proximity to Italy and Switzerland, it is the ideal hub for a student who wants to explore many European countries while abroad. Plus, with a population of 160,000, it presents large city hustle and bustle with small town sweetness. It is also a three-hour drive from Paris and Lyon.
Grenoble is a massively popular skiing destination and is the hydroelectric center of France thanks to a famous nuclear-research center. It is also home to the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL), the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), the Institut National Polytechnique de Grenoble (INPG), the Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et en Automatique (INRIA), and the Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique, making it one of the major science centers in the world, especially in the fields of physics, computer science, and applied mathematics.
Study Abroad Programs in Grenoble
Grenoble doesn't only play host to science students, however. The city has such a high influx of foreign students and researchers that it formed the CSI Europole, one of France's best secondary education centers. The center has courses in French, English, Italian, German, Spanish, Portuguese, and Arabic.
Another large draw for students is the 600-year-old University of Grenoble, which was founded by Pope Benedict XII and Dauphin Humbert II (Dauphin means count). Its top degrees are in civil and common law, medicine, and the arts. Aside from its excellent academics, the University features an extraordinary view of the Alps.
Grenoble is also known for its beautiful Italian quarter called Quartier Saint Laurent as well as the church of St. Andre, a massive complex containing the tomb of military hero Pierre Bayard, a Renaissance Dauphine palace, and an extensive art museum.
For sports fans, Grenoble was home to the 1968 winter Olympics and is a stop on the Tour de France. It is also home to the rugby union team and is proud to claim the Grenoble Foot as its soccer team.
In the 3rd Century, the Allobroges built stone walls around a small town and named it Cularo. The town grew to a city, and in 380, when Emperor Gratian visited the town and demanded its walls be improved, the name was changed to Gratianopolis. Following the collapse of the Roman Empire, the city became part of the first Burgundian kingdom before being taken by Clotaire I, the king of the Franks. It passed down to a procession of Carolingian kings for the next few generations before it became the second Burgundian kingdom of Arles. Finally, it was given to the count of Vienne, whose title, "Dauphin", gave the region its traditional name, Dauphine. Grenoble was the capital of the Dauphine region, which had been a province of France since 1349, when the last Dauphin of Vienne sold the region to France on the condition that the heir to the French crown use the title of Dauphin. From that point on, the city was forever named Grenoble.
Grenoble is a spectacular place to live, visit, or study in. Whether a student is interested in the sciences or the arts, enjoys skiing or rugby, or simply wants to traverse Europe, the charming city of Grenoble is an ideal location to meet almost any need.
