I'm not an historian, but I love castles and the like... If you're like me, you'll like the Bastille in Grenoble.

If you're from LA, you'll love this place... plenty of stairs! I walk up and down every day just because it's great excercise, and the view is a nice diversion from the monotony of excercise. But if you get winded easily, take the teleferique (gondola) round-trip. Either way, once you get there, there are beautiful views of Grenoble, the mountains and what has been called the "Silicon Valley" of France.

A restaurant (with a terrace) and a snack bar are open seasonally, and the fields and battlements are great places to watch the sun set. If your kids play "Castle," It's a great place to take the kids to excercise their imaginations. ...Highly recommended, and a great way to spend an afternoon, but not a whole day.