Hometown glory...

[princealbertofb]

Growing up,we moved all across the country (even living in Malawi for 2 years) and thus I've never really had a "hometown".Cape Town is my adopted hometown.Just wanted to hear about you guys' hometowns.Do you still live there?Why did you leave?What's special about it?How often do you go back?Any special memories?I love it when my friends go back to their hometowns and they come back so positive and optimistic.I wish I had that too...

I find that thread interesting Dan.... I was born and raised in Grenoble, capital of the Alps and of the winter olympics of 1968. I don't live there now but I occasionally go down to visit my family or do other things. I don't really miss it too much as a city. I've not always found it so attractive, as the ancient part of it is almost non existent (there is a fragment of a Roman wall, if you really care to know: the city once called Cularo in Gaulish times was renamed Gratianopolis by the Romans, hence the current deformed name of Grenoble) although people visiting it find it interesting too. Grenoble is very avant-garde & modern.
I did my studies there so I know it's a university town that rocks. Because it is enshrined in the mountains, it attracts many who are interested in winter sports or mountaineering or hiking. The Alps are really striking. But it's a city which gets rather extreme in temperatures (for France), very hot in summer, and pretty darn cold in winter. The pollution over the city is probably one of the most worrying aspects, as it is in a sort of basin, it can sit there hovering for a while (but the city is now known for high technology which produces less pollution so possibly the problem is getting better).
I had to move from Grenoble when I was a young teacher (a thing the French government practically made all young teachers do) and so settled in another range of mountains (the Vosges) for six years before being moved back down to my region. My ancestors (father's side) actually came from close by to where I am now living, in the Geneva area. There is a street name to my name in a couple of local places, haha.