Musée l'Ancien Évêché

For a history student like me, visiting Musee de l'Ancien Eveche in Grenoble seems a natural thing. In the eighties, while the city was constructing its second tram line, it accidentally found some treasure under the Eglise de Notre Dame. It is an ancient site of baptism, or in French, le baptistere (the site where baptism takes place). This archeological find is certainly exciting, but to fully appreciate its significance, it is necessary to know a bit about the history of Grenoble and adjacent regions. Voila, the museum offers a second section that displays a good combination of archeological finds, paintings, and architectural models to demonstrate the regional history from the time when the oldest human skull was identified (11000 BCE) to the end of the Enlightenment (le siècle des lumieres). For me, it is quite informational.

If we skip the early history, and go directly to the Gauls who occupied the region for centuries until 121 BCE when they were conquered by Romans. Voila: a hybrid culture between the indigenous and the exogenous. At the time, the city Grenoble had a different name: Cularo, which was firstly mentioned in 43 BCE in a letter to Cicero. The history of France starts from the collapse of Roman empire and the rise of Clovis who defeated the Germanic group Burgondes, and unified the Francs in the 5th century CE. Nevertheless, Grenoble was not in the territory of Clovis at the time. Wars permeated the history of Europe in the Middle Ages. A noble family called the Dauphins, one of the many feudal forces in medieval Europe, gained ascendency in the 11th century, and ruled the region autonomously. In 1349, because of the political and financial reasons, the Dauphins transferred the power to the French count; the oldest prince of the King became the ruler of the region, though the region still enjoyed significant amount of administrative and judicial autonomy as a prerequisite of this transfer of power. This is why these days when the word Dauphin has a special meaning: it refers to the oldest son of the king or the leader. The autonomous consciousness of Dauphinois, as Grenoblois call themselves, continued in the following centuries. Let's jump to 1788, one year before the French Revolution. The parliament in Grenoble refused to pay the high tax imposed by Louis XVI. And when the king sent a troop to control the situation, the Dauphinois fought back by throwing tiles to the royal army. That is June 7, 1788, a moment that people in Grenoble are still proud of these days. "It is here that the Revolution starts!" they often say. Right now, I am sitting at a cafe that is not far from where the event took place more than 200 years ago. It makes me think about the regional history of Grenoble, which seems to be on the margin of the empire in most of its history. Well, it is in the mountains, so what do you expect? But this also cultivated a spirit that did not easily comply or submit. So it is perhaps not so surprising that it fomented the seed of revolution here. My speculation.

Chartreuse

When I arrived in Grenoble, I had no clue what Chartreuse is about. The first Saturday, Madam Biron brought me to a lovely museum (Musée dauphinois) sitting on the mountainside. We stopped at a place where we could view the whole city. “Chartreuse,” she pointed to the mountains at the distance, “très jolie.” Now I have stayed in Grenoble for almost a month, and have gained some ideas of its basic geography. Grenoble is surrounded by mountains: Chartreuse in the north; Vercor in the southwest; Chamrousse in the east.

Yet Chartreuse is more than just natural beauty. The Grande Chartreuse, a monastery of the Chartreuse Order established in the 11^th century, sits there for more than 900 years. The Order is not well know because the total number of monks and nuns who practice this obscure type of religion does not exceed 400. Most of their monasteries are in Europe, one in the US and two in South Korea. The unique feature of the Chartreuse is its practice of silence throughout the life, a life-long meditation and solitude. The Order became known to the outside world after the German director Philip Groning made a great documentary about the life of the monks in the monastery in 2005 (Into Great Silence). That is my personal connection to the place. I have seen the film before, and I would had never imagined that one day I would be able to visit the site in person.

And it happened!

Three weeks ago, the Boston program organized a group visit to Chartreuse. We did a short hike to a peak from which we could see the monastery from afar. It was a foggy day. The monastery was shrouded in the mist, making it somewhat mysterious. The monastery is not accessible, but there is a museum not far that replicates its structure and offers all kinds of information about the Order to the curious tourists. The group trip included the visit to the museum, though quite rapidly. To make sure I didn’t miss anything, I visited the museum again last weekend, by myself. Again, since my French is rusty, I could only get a gist of what is happening in the monastery. The life of the monks inside is simple and rigorous: meditation, reading, working, praying, etc. Days after days; months after months; years after years. It is hard for a person who lives in the modern world, with all its distractions, to image this kind of life. The determination and perseverance must be uncroyable!

From the museum to the monastery exists a road with the mountains on either side. Walking on this road is simply a joy. Chartreuse is a special place because it weaves natural scenes and human spirituality so beautifully. Not unlike the Chinese conception of fengshui, the location of the monastery becomes part of its religious practice. As if not to disturb the natural rhythm, the Chartreuse monks choose to remain silent, perhaps “remain” is not the right word since silence is also an action for these monks – an action to shut down, an action to purify, an action to contemplate. (The interaction with nature is simply my speculation based on its analogy to certain Chinese religious practice. The religious meaning of silence in the Chartreuse Order awaits a more serious investigation.)

I sat on a small hill outside the monastery looking at this mesmerizing place. For the tourists including myself, Chartreuse is an interesting place precisely because it is so different from what we experience everyday. We all need a break from time to time, and nothing is better than sitting outside a medieval monastery and imagining the life of these monks that seems almost exotic to us.

I don’t know why I am fascinated by a place like Chartreuse. I am not religious, though when I am getting older I might become more spiritual. Again, I think there is a crucial difference between imagining a way of life and actually living that way of life. I may respect or even admire the life of these monks, but I don’t have the power to live that life. Human spirituality is a powerful thing. The more progress we make in this world, the stronger a desire we have to counter that progress, to return to somewhere we feel we belong to, we feel more content. 

Musée Archéologique

Suddenly, I have the urge to write today. By now, I have been in Grenoble for exactly three weeks. I have done so many things here on the daily basis that once I lost the tract of my writing, it became impossible to catch up. And it really takes an effort for me to reinitiate the writing. I need to start from somewhere, like, today.

Now I am sitting sur la Place Notre-Dame, just outside my apartment. Il fait couvert maintenant. I am sitting outside a café at the square. Facing me is the center of the square, with a beautiful fountain commemorating the historical event in 14 June, 1788, when the parliament in Grenoble organized a meeting in which they decided to defy the heavy taxation from Louis XVI (that is 13 months before the prise de Bastille, the proud of the city). Farther in the distance are the mountains. Here in Grenoble it is hard to avoid mountains in the horizon; they surround the city and is part of the city. In fact, this is one of my favorites in Grenoble. Looking at mountains has become a routine meditation for me.

And of course, there is French, both for the language and for the people. I think I am improving, but I want to improve more. Perhaps “resolution” is a good word to convey my experience here. My understanding of French culture and French people is a bit fuzzy due to the language barrier. I can get the gist of things, but often lose subtleties. Sometimes this is frustrating, and exhausting. An interesting experience nonetheless, the experience of being lost. Right now, I am sitting at this lovely café, surrounding by the French, and their language. Par mal?!

It just started to rain. The patisserie across the road lights up its windows. The rain, the bread, and the joyful conversation flowing in the air. C’est la vie française.  

As I said, I have done so many cultural activities that to give a superficial survey of all is meaningless. Perhaps they will be permeated in my future entries. But at the moment, let me tell you my excursion early today at the musée archéologique. The museum is on the other side of the river, not very far away from where I live. It is a small museum, but I like the design quite a lot. In a sense, it epitomizes the city, with a long history and vibrant modern life. (The rain is hardening, and the view of mountains is lost in mist.) The museum was built on an archeological site that can be traced back to the time of antiquity. It was a burial site for the city since the 4^th century, and later when the region was Christianized churches were built upon it. Archeologists found at least 1500 tombs here, from the 4^th century to the 18^th century, and with the technology of “bioarchéologie,” it becomes a valuable place to study the evolution of the society and human health in the region. The heart of the museum is a huge pit where human remains are displayed. A machine projects the lights of five colors onto the pit, demonstrating the architecture of five renovation/rebuilding of the site in the past two millenniums. A nice combination of old archeological finds and new technologies. And there is music as well in the background, a sort of solemn religious tones that make visitors to contemplate death and eternity.

And there is the story of Saint Laurent, to which the current church is dedicated. Living in the 3^rd century, he was one of the martyrs who defended Christianity. The Roman emperor tortured him by putting him on a grill and let the fire burn him slowly until he died. Later he became a saint, and Christians in Middle Ages prayed to him to cure their burns and skin illnesses. A very interesting connection to my subject.

Well, at the moment let me stop here. I will not overwhelm myself by writing too much at a time, since that only intimidates a future writing. Perhaps “peu en peu” is better. Just like this beautiful fountain in front of me: let the water flow more slowing and continuously.

The rain just stopped. The air feels fresh and cool. It is about the time that people here begin their night life, and there are so many things in summer for them to do, and for myself as well!