Fontaine, commune in Isère, France
Fontaine is a town in the Isère region near Grenoble in southeast France. It sits on the left bank of the Drac river with the Vercors massif nearby, housing around 23,000 residents across a mix of residential neighborhoods, parks, and small industrial areas. The town combines older stone buildings with modern housing, creating a patchwork of old and new construction throughout its streets.
Fontaine originated in medieval times on higher ground, with people from the Vercors highlands later settling alongside other European and North African immigrants. The town developed into a center for leather tanning and metalworking, shaping its industrial growth through the 19th and 20th centuries before gradually becoming more residential.
The town is connected to Grenoble by a tram line, bus service, and bike paths, making navigation easy with or without a car. Parking is available in many areas, and bicycles or electric scooters can be rented to cover short distances quickly.
Nearly 40 percent of the town is parks and green space, especially the La Poya park with trails, a skatepark, and climbing walls showing how deliberately the town designed recreation and activity spaces. The adjacent Bois des Vouillands forest contains deer, wild boar, and numerous bird species, making Fontaine an unexpected green haven within an urban area.
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