Every design for Grenoble

What is it like to find a mountain at the end of every street? Ask anyone from Grenoble. The city lies where the Drac meets the Isère, at the foot of the French Alps, and calls itself the Capital of the Alps with good reason.

It brings a feeling of being both urban and on the edge of wilderness. Mornings start with a coffee before work at one of the laboratories or universities that make Grenoble a major European research centre; evenings end with the last light on the peaks. Students fill the cafés, climbers and cyclists head out at weekends, and the historic centre keeps the memory of the Dauphiné, the province whose capital this was. People here are proud of their rebellious streak, from the Day of the Tiles before the Revolution to a long tradition of innovation, from gloves to hydropower. The Winter Olympics of 1968 still feel like part of the city's identity. Up on the hill, the Fort de la Bastille looks out over the rooftops, and the Musée Dauphinois and the Musée de Grenoble lie within easy reach below.

If you have lived here, you know that view from the Bastille, the mountains on every side. Wherever you are now, keep a little of that horizon with you.