Allevard on the Breda, 1837 ft. above the sea, pop. 4000. The
three principal hotels are within the park, and the prices are from 8½ frs. to 12½ frs. per day, including everything. The Hôtel des Bains, with the casino, theatre, and mineral water establishment. At the other end of the park are the Louvre and the H. Parc. In the Place contiguous to the Temple Protestant is the H. du Rhône, 8½ to 10½ frs. In a garden of its own, Le Châlet. Near the diligence office, the France. The H. Very. Nearly a mile from Allevard at the junction of the lias with the primitive talc-slate rise the springs, temp. 61° Fahr., with a great deal of free sulphuric acid gas, especially efficacious in diseases of the throat and the respiratory organs, for the cure of which the establishment is especially adapted, the apparatus for inhalation and gargling being both complete and varied.
Allevard possesses also important ironworks, where the rich carbonate of iron ores from the neighbouring mountains are smelted.
Among the easiest of the many delightful walks around Allevard is the road that leads up the gorge of the Breda to what is called the “Fin du Monde,” 1 m. distant, where masses of rock render it impracticable to proceed farther. To reach it, walk up the left bank to a bridge at the upper ironworks. Do not cross it, but continue on the left bank and ascend the road to the right. Finger-posts indicate the rest of the way. At one part of the road travellers are requested to pay a toll of 10 sous.
The ascent of the Brame Farine, 3983 ft., takes 1¾ hr. It is an elevated point on the ridge between the valleys of the Breda and the Isère. 25 min. from Allevard is the Tour de Treuil, 10th cent., the remains of a castle belonging to the family of Crouy Chanel. From this a path ascends through a ravine planted with walnut trees to the hamlet of Crozet. Descend by sledge, 2 frs.
There are a great many other excursions into the valleys and up the mountains, either by carriage or on horseback, for which there is a tariff by the authorities of the place.
Sept Laux. Pontcharrá.
The most remarkable of these excursions, and at the same time the most difficult, is 9 m. up the valley of the Breda by the hamlet of [La Ferrière], to the Sept Laux or Lakes, 7144 ft. above the sea-level, and the Glacier of Gleyzin, 9480 ft. above the sea-level. Time required to go, 14 hrs. constant walking, but to the lakes only, about half that time. This series of lakes, above 30 in all, lies in a wild gloomy ravine, shut in on all sides by low bare peaks. They are fed by springs, and are not accumulations of stagnant water derived from the melting snow. The banks are surrounded with fragments of rock, covered with snow nearly the whole year, while the highest of the lakes, Lake Blanc, is almost always frozen over. Some of them contain trout, and a sluggish frog inhabits the marshy margins.
PARIS
MODANE 418 58 [PONTCHARRÁ] station. An omnibus awaits passengers for the village of Pontcharrá, pop. 2800, Inn: Domenjon, 1¼ m. distant. From Pontcharrá the coach proceeds 5 m. E. to the village of La
Rochette, in a beautiful valley. Near Pontcharrá, and seen distinctly from the station, is the castle in which Bayard was born.