October 23, 2022

Hike to Circuit Jean-Jacques Rousseau (Thônes)

In the fall of 2020, right after walking Circuit du Calvaire in Thônes, I went on another loop called Circuit Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Like the loop with a similar name in Chambéry (Promenade de Jean-Jacques Rousseau), it is named after Genevan philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who stayed in the area for a day. The loop passes by Manoir de la Tour, the location of a story, “L’Idylle des Cerises”, recounted in his book “Les Confessions”.

Here is a map of the path I walked:

I started from Gare Routière de Thônes (bus station). At first, I walked the path along the Nom river. Unfortunately, that path was also along the road to La Clusaz so there was a lot of traffic. Also, there is currently some work in the area to enlarge the river, so I am not sure if the path will still exist when it is finished. At some point, I crossed the Nom in order to get to the start of the Circuit Jean-Jacques Rousseau. At the beginning, the trail follows the Nom in the forest, until Chapelle de la Bossenaz and Pont Romain (one of the few bridges named like that around Thônes). At that point, the trail went up then looped back towards Thônes along a paved road (with very little traffic). I passed by Manoir de la Tour and reached the start of the path after a while. Finally, I walked along the paved road to get back to the bus station.