Introduction

Capital of the French Alps, Grenoble owes its development and succes to its unique geographical location at the junction of three valleys leading, respectively, to Switzerland, Italy and the Rhone valley. The city is surrounded by three mountain ranges - Belledonne, the Chartreuse and the Vercors - with summits reaching between 2000 and 3000m, which is why the author Stendhal famously said of the city that there is a moutain at the end of every street.

The city experienced a period of economic expansion in the nineteenth and twentieth century, symbolized by the holding of the Olympic Winter Games in 1968. Grenoble is now a significant scientific center in Europe.

Grenoble is one of the leading European cities in term of high-tech industries, especially bio and nano-technologies. World renowed enterprises have settled in Grenoble and in the surrounding area.