Two days ago our landlord and his wife invited David and I out to a really nice dinner just to get to spend some time with us, and it was a truly wonderful experience. The restaurant was nice, the food was fantastic, and the conversation was fun. David and I have decided that we have our very first out-of-the-family Christmas card recipients. What a benchmark.
Then yesterday we went on a hike to the Abbaye d'Hautecombe, which became yet another ill-fated hike. Actually, due to misleading signage estimates we would have had to walk for even longer than for the Croix de Nivolet trip except that we were able to take a ferry back from the Abbey rather than walking back. What we had estimated to be a 3-3 1/2 hour walk each way, turned into a 5-hour walk (one way) to get to the abbey which meant we wouldn't have had time to walk back and still make the bus. Luckily though, as I mentioned above, there were ferries back form the abbey to a different city, but one with a train station, so that we were able to return in a timely manner to Chambéry. Overall we are very happy that we made it to the abbey because it was so ornate and we had a guided audio tour included in the price which made the visit very interesting for only 1.5€! Unfortunately no photos were allowed inside the abbey, but I did find one online that I have included below. It was incredible! Here are the photos to tell the story:
Sorry this one is blurry but it needed to be included. It shows David and I before setting out on a hike for another 4 and a half hours. The sign says a little over 3 hours should be expected. The photographer is my friend Landon, another American who came along with us to see the Abbey.
Me during the hike. It was a drizzly, cloudy day all day, even though the weather predicted that it wouldn't rain, and should have been partially sunny. Our luck. You can see the water droplets on my shoulders...
Here are the three of us as we crossed one of the strange "rock waterfalls" that were set up to continue the path. This is also a deceiving picture because it makes it look like our hike was nice and flat, which is what we had originally anticipated. On the contrary there were many points during which we were crawling on all fours or slipping down muddy paths during this hike.
A little bit too much sun behind us, but a cool view of the lake can still be seen.
This is a funny cloud formation, but since it was so foggy the picture didn't turn out very well. It was cool though because there was a strip of cloud between the two mountain "ranges" and it was super low to the ground. I am sure that Dad and Grampy will appreciate this one.
Just another view over the lake as our journey continued. Still quite grey and cloudy.
Mom will recognize these cables. This is what France puts in place whenever they feel there is a particularly dangerous rocky slope and you need additional support in order to climb successfully. Even though we started and ended at the level of the lake (hence why we falsely presumed that we wouldn't have to do a lot of elevation change during this hike) we had no less than 6 different zones which were equipped with cable assistance for scaling big boulders. Quite the exciting hike.
Our first view of the Abbey... we were so relieved because at that point we had been walking for about 4 and a half hours.Those monks sure did achieve solitude!
David and I in front of the Abbaye d'Hautecombe. You can see that its facade is very detailed and pretty. The Abbey is stilled lived in today, but by both men and women (I forget what it is therefore officially called) who have taken an oath of devotion to God and who still practice the "offices" twice a day and hold a daily service in the chapel. They are also perfectly self-sufficient as far as food and water are concerned.
I had to take this picture off of Google to show you the inside of the Abbey, but I really wanted you to be able to appreciate the elegant detail throughout. In addition to being the burial location of over 40 dukes of Savoy, there are over 200 carved statues in memory of important persons of the times and 120 smaller statues of "mourners" at each beautifully decorated tomb or sarcophagus.
Our life saving ferry!! Actually, this was not our ferry, this one was for a special group that was visiting the Abbey, but ours would arrive a few minutes later. The best part of this whole story is that the ferry arrived, we got on, we listened to the cool commentary of the captain during the 45-minute cruise (I learned some really cool stories about the lake) and then we got off. We never paid. We are not even sure when or how we were supposed to pay. As we prepared to get on David even had his wallet out, and yet we were never asked to pay. So yeah, we enjoyed a free cruise across the lake.
A final, more iconic, picture of the Abbey we were about to leave behind. Due to our luck in finding public transport by which we could return home, we all had a wonderful day discovering the beautiful history of such an interesting abbey. Oh and I also discovered a children's book that I want to get eventually that was for sale in the gift-shop, about a little boy who becomes a monk (Aimeric, un enfant au coeur d'une abbaye) but I am having some difficulty finding it online... oh well, time will tell!
Other than that, David and I are taking yet another day to prepare for our upcoming vacation and final parting preparations. Also, tomorrow we will go grocery shopping for probably the last time (or at least the last time where we buy more than one item, like bread that we buy almost every day). Wow, I can't believe it's all coming to an end! Love to you all and see you all soon!
No comments:
Post a Comment