August 24, 2019

Château des Ducs de Savoie & Old Town of Chambéry

Earlier this summer, I went on a guided tour of the Château des Ducs de Savoie (Castle of the Dukes of Savoie) in Chambéry. The construction of the castle was started in the 13th century to serve as the seat of the Counts (and later, Dukes) of Savoie but there has been many additions and demolitions over the years since. It now serves as the seat of the Préfecture of Savoie, so, apart from a small room near the entrance, the guided tour is the only way to visit the castle. The version of the tour I went on (called Château, Ruelles et Confidences) also included a visit of the old town of Chambéry.) nearby, which allowed access to some areas not normally open to the public. Some versions of the tour skip that part and visit the Tour Demi-Ronde (Half-Round Tower) in the castle instead.

August 13, 2019

Hike around Roc de Four Magnin: Ancienne Mine, Col de la Frasse, Crêt du Char & Col de Bornette

Last spring, I went on a hike in the Bauges mountains: Starting from Lathuile, south of Lake Annecy, I walked a loop around Roc de Four Magnin, a smaller mountain located between Roc des Boeufs and Montagne du Charbon.

August 10, 2019

Annecy Paysages 2019

“Annecy Paysages” is a yearly open-air festival featuring artistic and live plant installations by landscape architects, visual artists and architects who reinterpret the city’s open spaces. Just like the first edition last year, it takes place in the center of Annecy until the end of summer. Here is a map of all the artworks and the PDF brochure.

August 7, 2019

Walk from Thonon-les-Bains to Yvoire through Châteaux des Allinges

Last spring, I went on a walk in Haute-Savoie near Lake Geneva (Lac Léman): Starting from Thonon-les-Bains, I walked to Yvoire, a small medieval town by the lake, passing through the Châteaux des Allinges (Castles of Allinges) on the way.

August 4, 2019

Hike to Col des Aravis, Chalet du Curé & Crêt du Merle

Last spring, I went on a hike in the Aravis mountains: Starting from La Clusaz, I walked to Col des Aravis, followed the Route de la Soif until Chalet du Curé and looped back through Crêt du Merle.

July 26, 2019

Église Saint-Michel (Nantua)

The Église Saint-Michel (aka Abbatiale Saint-Michel) is a church in Nantua which got its start as a monastery during medieval times and was improved over the centuries. Some of the older elements remain but most of the church dates back from the early 19th century.

July 25, 2019

Offline hiking maps with QGIS 3 and Geopaparazzi

In this post, I will show how to export background maps (as a set of MBTiles files) from QGIS 3 and import them in Geopaparazzi on Android to serve as backup offline hiking maps when far from civilization and mobile coverage.

It can be useful in France, where interesting maps to have while hiking are the IGN ones like Carte Topographique IGN (Scan 25) or their standard map (Scan Express Standard). They are accessible freely through the Geoportail mobile app. Unfortunately, the app doesn’t support offline mode.

July 17, 2019

Hike around Lac de Nantua

Last spring, I went on a hike in Nantua, a small town in Ain located between Bellegarde-sur-Valserine and Bourg-en-Bresse: I walked a loop around the lake (Lac de Nantua), first going along the cliff above it, then coming back following the shore.

June 29, 2019

Bellegarde-sur-Valserine

While waiting for a bus to Nantua, I stopped at Bellegarde-sur-Valserine, a city west of Geneva, for about an hour in early morning. I walked around, visited a park along the Rhône then went back to the train station.

June 21, 2019

Hike to Vallée du Laudon

Earlier this spring, I went on a hike to Vallée du Laudon, an area in the Bauges mountains located between Montagne d’Entrevernes and Semnoz, above Saint-Jorioz.