Building Resilience at La Bastille

Our apartment is nestled into the bottom of the Bastille, the hill the Fort de la Bastille is perched on and from our window you can watch the les bulles of the cable car depart, so it seemed obvious to us our first Grenoble adventure on the last day of 2018 would be to explore this important historic site.

The easy and popular option would have been to cross the river Isrere and take the cable car - a 5 min journey rising the 260+m to the top. We had all day though so we wandered along the banks of the Isrere, buying des patisseries (croissants) from the local boulangerie (bakery) on the way.

The journey upwards began sneaking between the Porte Saint-Laurent and the Archeological Museum with a wager between Andy and Ella on the total number of stairs to top of the Bastille. Andy had voted for 1000+ while Ella decided on 999 steps. I shuddered as I heard that the stake was a glass seagull Ella had purchased in Murano. If Andy won Ella would hand over the seagull and if Ella won, Andy would have to find her another one.... And so the counting began....we stopped every 100 stairs for quantity control! One good thing about this bet was the girls were focussed on counting and not on the physical exertion.

La Bastille, began being built way back in the late 16th century by Duke of Lesdiguieres however it wasn't until 1823 when Lieutenant-General Haxp presented the designs for it's current layout. Taking over a quarter of a century to complete, the fortress seemed invincible from invasion from the Savoie approaching via the Chartreuse mountains. Only 13 years later, the Savoie joined France and the La Bastille is no longer on the frontline!

Back to our stair climbing, we come to the Giant's Stairs which follow the east trench of the fort. Ella and Katy both decided to clamber up the giant side, while Andy and I tackle the smaller stairs. By the end of this section and after a short break mid way up, we discover that the adults have climbed 200+ more stairs! Now we have two valid counts going and Ella's confidence levels are soaring.

Stops are becoming more frequent the higher we go and the girls are desperate to reach the top. Around the 600 step mark for us, Ella gets excited claiming victory early on seeing a building like structure. Unbeknownst to her, Andy explains that this is not the top but intact the lower wall. No one to like being wrong, Ella bursts into disbelief instantly declaring unfair competition. We encourage her to keep going and that the competition isn't over until the fat lady sings but she is struggling.

Clambering on, the stairs seem never-ending and we (the adults) have reached 1000. Ella has descended deeper into despair realising that her count will be over a 1000 and that she will have to hand over her seagull. Rather than negotiating a deal with Andy, Ella's anger consumes her and she can no longer contain it - storming off from the family. We continue right up to the top - 1326 stairs! Eventually Ella regains her composure and the wager is declared null and void.

Exploring the fort, we watch les bulles arrive and depart, spy Acrobastille (an exciting looking ropes course that was closed for winter) and read a little about the history of the fort and cable car. The view isn't the greatest - either low cloud or smog, we couldn't tell - obscures much of the city and all the surrounding mountains. A good reason to venture back up to the top again n the future! The return downhill trip along the trail was, not surprisingly, much quicker.