Alpexpo-Grand'Place
The Alpexpo-Grand'Place area can be summed up in four buildings: the Alpexpo convention center, Grand'Place shopping center, and the Pôle Sud ice skating rink.Alpexpo was built in 1969 and offers 45,000 square meters of surface area. The architects who designed the building wanted to eliminate as many interior supports as possible, making Alpexpo a vast, open area that can be partitioned as needed. Alpexpo hosts several annual events such as the Grenoble International Fair, Creativa hobby fair, and an Antiques fair.
Alpexpo also includes the Summum, Grenoble's second-largest concert hall after the Palais des Sports in the Paul Mistral Park. The Summum can welcome 5,000 standing spectators or 3,000 seated spectator who may come to see concerts, stand-up comedy shows, or musicals that are regularly programmed here.
Grand'Place is Grenoble's indoor shopping mall with 140 national and international chain stores such as H & M, FNAC, Sephora, Zara, and Occitane en Provence. It connects to a giant Carrefour hypermarket, which is the French equivalent of Wal-Mart. Near the Pole Sud-Alpexpo entrance, the two-story Kateb Yacine mediathèque lets visitors check out books, CDs, and even art work (with a library card), consult magazines, and occasionally view temporary exhibits.
Across the street from Grand'Place is Pôle Sud, home of Grenoble's hockey team, Les Brûleurs de Loups. With a capacity of nearly 3,500 spectators, it is France's largest ice rink. Inside, there are two skating rinks—one reserved for athletics and another open to the public.
This area can be easily reached by taking the Tram A to the GrandPlace or Pôle Sud-Alpexpo stops. Of course, there is also plenty of parking for visitors pulling off the Rocade Sud ringroad to go shopping, attend a concert, or a hockey match.
