We both slept very well, and late, today. We clearly needed the sleep. Today was to be a much easier day, so, after our own muesli for breakfast, we jumped in the car at 9:30am to head off to Chambèry. A quick 20 minutes down the road, via a service station to check the air in the car tyres, and at the same time help out a young guy jumpstart his car.
Chambèry is a neat place, and we are very happy to sing its praises. We expected a smallish, old place. It is half the size of Annecy, and though it's located not far from a lake, was unlikely to have the same outdoor recreational feel. But what it does have in spades is character, history and charm. Picking up a map at the tourist centre, we followed a marked route around the central area, which took in amazing medieval alleyways, courtyards, buildings and plazas. It really was a whole heap of fun, and we could have easily spent more than the few hours we did, just breathing in the essence of the place.
Also, it was the Saturday morning market today, so hundreds of stalls were set out in a number of the plazas, the covered market was in full swing, and thousands of people were out stocking up on provisions or sitting down supping a cafe or aperitif.
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| John buying some of the local cheese in the covered market |
By 1:30pm I was flagging badly and needed to eat. All the tables at all the restaurants were full of customers enjoying a long lazy meal. We opted for a creperie in a side street, and enjoyed a simple crepe, followed by a delectable chocolate and ice-cream concoction. The latter was only required because we'd ordered a quarter litre each of white wine and cider, and needed more food to soak it up!
By now it was time to tackle the final leg of the journey today, the last two and half hours drive to Le Puy. It went pretty smoothly, the roads were good and without the great lines of trucks that we have experienced throughout Italy. The country started to take on a different flavour, with a series of volcanic peaks appearing on the landscape. Le Puy is renown for a number of churches and a huge statue sitting atop small peaks.
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| Volcanic peaks appearing |
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| Le Puy, complete with structures atop three peaks |
Our accommodation here is bizarre to say the least. We did a double-take when trying to book it online, because it looked as though it was an old people's home. Perhaps they have some spare rooms that they rent out? Anyway, we duly arrived at the address. Yes, it is an old people's home. After talking through keyhole we drove through the electric gate to access the basement carpark, retrieved our bags from the car and took the elevator to the ground floor. Beside reception was a little old lady with a walking stick. Looking around, a group of little old ladies were playing cards at a table nearby. WHERE ARE WE? We inquired gingerly at the reception desk, and yes, we were booked for the night. Would we like to use the heated pool, or the exercise room? Would we like to have breakfast (with the residents)? We declined gracefully on all counts. Being informed that the gate to the garage was locked at 8pm (we were therefore locked in), we quietly took our key, took the lift to the fourth floor and found our room. It is in fact an very nice entire small apartment, no doubt for an inmate. Perhaps one has recently died. We didn't ask. Anyway, it is spic and span, is equipped with everything one could need in this life and has a very spacious bathroom. Perfect!
We spent a few hours catching up on the blog before walking into town. On the drive in we spied a banner about an evening light show. Googling it reveals that tonight is the second-to-last night it is on for the year. It was timed to kick off at 9pm, so we headed in to find some food beforehand.
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Place du Plot for dinner before the light show
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The streets are decorated here and there with fabric, some looking like washing, some long drapes, and some more decorative..
The sound and light show was pretty good. the best one was that in the square where we ate, and we were able to watch the whole sequence through while we had our dessert.
