Tomi’s parents stayed with us for a week before Christmas. We rented a car and took them to all three mountain ranges around Grenoble. First, we took them on Vercors range, and drove from Villard-de-Lans to Pont-en-Royans through the gorgeous gorges of the Bourne river. We got a bit lost because of some confusion caused by closed roads and ended up driving 60 kilometers instead on 37 kilometers. But hey, we saw much more of the wintry landscape, curvy roads, and narrow gorges!

We arrived in Pont-en-Royans at a late lunch time, but found the entire town closed. We took a quick walk at the river to view the hanging houses, then started the long ride home — this time choosing the right route.  As we were exiting the town we saw a pizza place open and some people inside. We stopped by to ask if they still served food — “No, only take-out”. We thought that’s not for us, and then they asked how many we are — “Four”.  And  they decided to serve us: we had two pizzas, one red and one white, and side salads. Lovely!

The next day we drove up to Chamrousse on Belledonne range, and then to Vizille for lunch. The lunch experience was nothing to write home about. All four of us had their daily special: a  burger or a sausage with fries and green salad. The sausages were hot dogs and the burgers very dry even if cooked medium.

Our last road trip took us to St.Pierre-en-Chartreuse and Coublevie on Chartreuse range. We saw a lot of fog but also abundant sunshine once we were in Le-Sappey-en-Chartreuse. We passed snowy and non-snowy landscapes on curvy and not so curvy roads. In Coublevie we had a lovely seafood lunch at restaurant l’Eden. We got back to Grenoble just when the sky had cleared and the Sun was setting, and visited La Bastille briefly.