Afternoon in Chambéry

After a few days of wind and clouds, we've had an incredibly beautiful and sunny week. While Boston is being buried in yet another snow-calypse, or snow-maggedon, here in the Juras, we've gotten nothing but some flocons here and there. I am praying for a bit of snow in February so we can go alpine and cross-country skiing and maybe snowshoeing too.

Anyway, I'm digressing. On Wednesday, R was seeking a study break and suggested we take a daytrip to Chambéry, a town south of Aix-les-Bains and Lac du Bourget. Even though it's only 1.5 hours away, we still hadn't visited it yet because we're always drawn to Aix and the lake and because R hadn't remembered it being such a nice town. Happily, we were surprised to find it had cleaned up really nice since his last visit 10 years ago. Chambéry is the old Capital city of the Counts of Savoie, and is now the Prefecture of the Savoie département. It's a pretty Savoyard city of 60,000 people, with many independent boutiques, and a wonderful old city dating from the 14th century.


So what will I remember of Chambéry?

The cutest kids' store I've seen in a while, a nice Catholic church with painted walls and ceilings to make it look like carved stone, a Patagonia store with a good sale (but alas, I only window-shopped), and a little old bookshop with a map drawn in 1675 of what the Kingdom of Savoie looked like. And in it, I found our little town!

Pour l'amour du pain, I seem to be as popular with old French men as I am with old American men (and Dutch ones too)! I was busy peering into an old alley in le ville ancienne (and R had wandered ahead of me for a closer look at the Chateau), when I felt someone approaching me. It was an older French man and he was closing up the personal space between me and him quite fast. It was slightly too close for comfort, but as I didn't want to seem impolite, and didn't know what to do...and he looked harmless enough, I smiled. He returned the smile and started making the usual small talk "Bonjour.....C'est très beau, non?" referring to the old alley way. To this I said "Oui, c'est formidable". Thankfully, as he was asking "Vous-êtes seul? Vous-êtes très jolie", I noticed R walking back towards my direction. Stepping away from him, I pointed to R and said, "Merci. En fait, c'est mon petit ami qui vient maintenant". Which in French loosely translates to "Thanks. My big bf is coming now!" And in response the guy says "Au revoir" and retreats but not before giving a little wave.