Grenoble is a small valley city situated at the foot of the French Alps and considerably the best Christmas market in Europe so far for me. While the Alps attract numerous ski enthusiasts during winters, Grenoble is used more as a place of transit to the ski stations surrounding it.
So you’ll notice more travellers at the train and bus station (which are right beside each other) and experience a fewer number of tourists in the city centre where Grenoble’s locals breathe at a calm pace. My happiness was in strolling alongside locals, admiring the lights and mountains, listening to faded conversations that were (only) in French, and heading to the Christmas market in the festive spirits, like everyone around me.
The Christmas market gave the vibes of a jolly meeting spot for the people of Grenoble. There was no overdoing of marketing, every menu card on display was only in French and every vendor looked at peace in the interactions with buyers, like two friends talking.
When I couldn’t find anyone like me who was moving around clicking photos and starting a conversation in English instead of French, I realised there were fewer outsiders like me. To look less silly, I kept putting a lid on my camera and pushed it inside the bag (this was definitely after I had captured a few images to carry back with me). About my conversations, now I started them with ‘bonjour’.
Grenoble’s Christmas market was the best place to taste the local delicacies of the French Alps, all within small hops.
Christmas Market in Grenoble
Last pitstop of our holiday was in Grenoble. Being the smallest in comparison to Paris and Lyon, we weren’t expecting too much from this valley settlement. And when we saw this pretty and not-so-tiny market right around Christmas Day we were overjoyed.
Near street Victor Hugo in the town centre, this market is organised. We arrived at Grenoble on 23rd Dec and this market lasts until 24th Dec evening 6 pm. For not having a visit to a marché de noël until Grenoble, we made our trip to this market as soon as we’re told about it.
Andrea had mentioned it while telling us about other areas of interest in the small yet intriguing city. Andrea was our hotel receptionist during the morning hours until afternoon and then Valentine took over from her until late evening. Andrea along with Valentine made sure that our short trip to Grenoble shouldn’t be disappointing and they fed us with so much of information that we never missed a trip to the tourism office. I’ll tell you more about places we visited in Grenoble all thanks to these wonderful ladies, in the next post because the Christmas market was a complete experience in itself.
From the moment I stepped inside the market boundaries, there were displays of local tradition. Artefacts, food, Christmas stockings, tree decorations and nativity scene. Also, there were cheese, crepes and seafood stalls. Big packs of chestnuts were being sold and there were a few small vendors roasting chestnuts on iron pans standing near their mobile stall.
Chocolate dark, white and with nuts looked like the miniature size of mountains surrounding the city.
Hot waffle irons filled the night sky with warm clouds of smoke. I was also very excited to keep on repeating the French name of waffle (‘gaufre’) as we continued spotting various gaufre stalls. An Italian sweetness that is equally famous in France – Nutella, was always an option available to spread over waffles (and on bread during our breakfasts).
Hot drinks for winter
In Dublin mulled wine around the Christmas season has been a popular drink in the city. Though it was easier to find hot red wine in Paris, Lyon showed very little interest in this drink. Coming to Grenoble I was happy to have access to Vin Chaud (hot wine) again. Many stalls in the Christmas market were selling vin chaud along with their food options. On the first evening in the market, I stuck to vin chaud but on the second day, I tried the local drink Green Chaud (click link for recipe). Chartreuse is an alcoholic drink that originated in the monastery of Chartreuse mountains, located in the north of Grenoble. Chartreuse is green colour alcohol made from herbs found on those mountains. Unlike vin chaud which is red in colour due to red wine, green chaud isn’t green in colour! It is brown in colour, as green chaud is a mix of hot chocolate and a small portion of Green Chartreuse. Small portion because the alcoholic volume in Green Chartreuse is 55%..! Yes. Check the link here to know about Chartreuse.
Local Food
The husband devoured on Diot (a combination of boiled sausages and onion) which he ate with French bread, making it look like a hot dog. He loved it so much that next day too he headed to the same stall for un diot. I went for, the cheese loaded, another local dish of the Alpes, Tartiflette. I was as thrilled as the husband was with diot. The coming together of cheese, potatoes and bits of bacon in tartiflette was exactly the thing needed to tackle the winter evening in Grenoble.
When it comes to food I’m sure more experimental than the husband. While he was satisfied with his choice of day one, I wanted to try something new. Creamy flavours rule the Alpine palate. I tasted Gratin dauphinois, a baked dish made of potatoes, cream, milk and topped with cheese. I too love my cheese and really enjoyed this hot, simple and soulful food.
Opposite the food stalls, wooden tables were nested with high chairs for you to sit between fairy lights and outdoor heaters.
There was a stall selling Tea products by Maison Bourgeon. The vibrant teapots and innumerable tea flavours in on display caught my interest. Being an Indian I’m not an enthusiastic tea shopper away from the country, but seeing their interesting collection I was curious to know more about this company. I looked Maison Bourgeon up online and was amused to note that tea from India had been their inspiration.
There was another market a few metres away from this one, which was right on the street and had fewer stalls.
Contemplating the France holiday I would say the Christmas market in Grenoble was the most Christmassy thing we did and loved it. We were told by Andrea this Christmas market isn’t as big as the one in Strasbourg (northeast of France) and yes I had read about it. Maybe I’ll do that for a Christmas in coming years, but Grenoble’s Christmas market was a warm bear hug.
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