Fontaine des Éléphants (Chambéry)
The Fontaine des Éléphants (Fountain of the Elephants) is a 18m-high fountain in Chambéry and one of its most famous landmarks. It was sculpted in 1838 in honour of Benoît de Boigne, a native of the city who made his fortune working as a general of the Maratha Empire in India. After coming back to Chambéry at the end of the 18th century, de Boigne bestowed some of his wealth on the town and was honoured posthumously with this monument.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Hike to Col des Aravis, Chalet du Curé & Crêt du Merle
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.
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.
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.