The South of France—East Half

by C. B. Black

[Excursions from Aix-les-Bains.]—The steamer on certain days makes the tour of the lake, stopping at the principal places, of which the chief is the Abbey of Hautecombe; fare there and back, with small boat and two men, 9 frs. To Bordeaux and back, 5 frs.; Bonport, 4 frs.; Châtillon, 14 frs. Arrange price beforehand. No boat permitted to carry more than six passengers. An hour on shore allowed. Drive round the lake—one horse, 11 frs.; two horses, 15 frs.

The Abbey of Hautecombe was founded in the 12th cent., but rebuilt in 1745. The church, containing 300 statues and many frescoes, is 215 ft. long, the transept 85 ft., and the height of the roof 34 ft. The interior, as well as most of the mausoleums, is of a soft white fine-grained magnesian limestone, from the quarries of Seyssel, near Culoz. The best of the statues are those of Charles Felix, King of Sardinia (died 1821), and of Marie Christine, his spouse (died 1849), on the right and left hands of the nave at the entrance. They are of Carrara marble. In the chapel of Notre Dame de Compassion, in the right-hand transept, is another beautiful group in Carrara marble; in the left transept is a wood figure of St. Joseph, well executed.

About half a mile from the convent by a road following the shore of the lake is an intermittent fountain, very irregular in its action. To reach it continue the road till arriving at a clump of chestnut and horse-chestnut trees, some having stone seats round the trunks. The

fountain is in the corner under the fourth tree. Near Hautecombe are the village and castle of Bordeaux, founded in the 9th cent., over which rises the [Dent du Mont Chat] (see p. 282).

[Other Excursions.]—To the S.W. the Colline de Tresserve, 1109 ft., good views, chestnut trees, and the castle of Bonport. To the S.E. the Roche du Roi, with quarries, which were worked by the Romans. The Rocher de St. Victor, by the chestnut forest of Mouxy; there and back, 5 hours. The mountains of the Grand-Revard and the Cluse, 5154 ft., by mule-path; there and back, 6 hours. To the N. the cascade of Gresy, 45 minutes, 3 m. Gresy, with its keep, 12th cent. 5 m., the defile of the Combes and the Prime rocks. To the N.N.W. the Montagne de Gigot, 2680 and 2762 ft.

Grotto of Banges. Le Châtelard.

[Aix to the Grotto of Banges], by Gresy and Cusy.— Seat in car there and back, 5 frs. About 3 m. from Aix is Gresy, with its pretty waterfall. Beyond the village the road ascends by the stream Sierroz to an undulating plain, on which is Cusy, 3½ hours from Aix. To the N., on a rock rising from the Chéran, are the extensive ruins of a castle. On the opposite bank are seen the hamlet of Aiguebellette and the castle of St. Jacques, and, rising abruptly from the valley, three singular obelisks of rock. 2 hours from Cusy the Chéran is crossed by the Pont de Banges, and not far from this bridge, where the road is hemmed in between the rocks and the stream, is the entrance to the Grotte de Banges, containing a lake, 216 ft. below the level of the entrance, approached by a gallery 270 yards long, hung with stalactites.

This road may be continued to [Le Châtelard], 1¾ hour from the bridge, 2500 ft. above the sea; Inns: Des Beauges; De la Poste; pop. 950. This is the capital of the “Pays des Beauges,” occupying a plateau 13 m. long and 8 m. wide, traversed from S.E. to N.W. by the Chéran, and surrounded by steep rocks. Cheese-making, the rearing of cattle, and the manufacture of articles in wood form the industries of the inhabitants, of whom there are 10,000. Châtelard, in its social and geographical position, resembles [Le Beage] (p. 84).

The road from Aix to Chambery is through the broad valley which separates the mountains of the Grande Chartreuse from those of the Beauges. Belonging to the former are Mont Grelle, 4649 ft., to the S.W., and Mont Granier, 6348 ft, due S.; while to the N.E. is the Dent de Nivolet, 4597 ft, an advanced bastion of the Beauges.

At Aix-les-Bains, junction with branch to Annecy, 26 m. N., whence a diligence starts daily for Geneva, 27½ m. farther N. by Brogny, Cruseilles, and St. Julien (see [map, p. 27]).