The Grésivaudan is a valley of the French Alps

French Alps

The French Alps are those portions of the Alps mountain range which stand within France, located in the Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regions....

, situated mostly in the Isère

Isère

Isère is a department in the Rhône-Alpes region in the east of France named after the river Isère.- History :Isère is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from part of the former province of Dauphiné...

. Etymologically, Graisivaudan comes from roots meaning "Grenoble" (Gratianopolis) and "valley". It comprises the alluvial plain

Alluvial plain

An alluvial plain is a relatively flat landform created by the deposition of sediment over a long period of time by one or more rivers coming from highland regions, from which alluvial soil forms...

 of the Isère River

Isère River

The Isère is a 286 km long river in southeastern France, in the Rhône-Alpes région. Its source is in the Alps on the border with Italy, near the ski resort Val d'Isère. It flows into the Rhône River in Pont-de-l'Isère, a few km north of Valence...

 from Grenoble

Grenoble

Grenoble is a city in southeastern France, at the foot of the French Alps where the river Drac joins the Isère. Located in the Rhône-Alpes region, Grenoble is the capital of the department of Isère...

 to the confluence

Confluence

Confluence, in geography, describes the meeting of two or more bodies of water.Confluence may also refer to:* Confluence , a property of term rewriting systems...

 of the Arc

Arc (Savoie)

The Arc is a 128 km long river in the Savoie département of south-eastern France. It is a left tributary of the Isère River, which it joins at Chamousset, approximately 15 km downstream from Albertville. Its source is near the border with Italy, in the Graian Alps, northeast of Bonneval-sur-Arc...

; or, more recently, the entire valley of the Isère from Tullins

Tullins

Tullins is a commune in the Isère department in south-eastern France....

 to Albertville

Albertville

Albertville is a commune in the Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France.The town is best known for hosting the 1992 Winter Olympics.-Geography:...

. The stretch from Tullins to Grenoble is the Bas-Grésivaudan (Lower Grésivaudan) and that between Grenoble and Albertville is the Haut-Grésivaudan (Upper Grésivaudan).