France Guide
The Alps and Franche-Comté
Musée Dauphinois
Address: 30 rue Maurice-Gignoux
Opening time: June– Sept everyday except Tues 10am–7pm; Oct– May 10am–6pm
Price: Free
The Musée Dauphinois lies up a steep cobbled path opposite the St-Laurent footbridge in the west of the city. Located in a former convent, this museum is devoted to the history, arts and crafts of the Dauphiné province. In the basement, there's a Baroque chapel with grey and gold wall paintings depicting episodes from the New Testament and scenes from the life of St-François-de-Sales, the founder of the convent in the seventeenth century. In the museum proper, there's plenty of information on the lives of the rugged and self-sufficient Dauphinois mountain people, but perhaps the most memorable exhibit details the evolution of skiing in the area over the last four thousand years, right through to the modern winter sports that came to Grenoble when it hosted the 1968 Winter Olympics.