The Views That Could Have Been
· Mar 5, 06:06 AM
Yesterday afternoon, in an effort to escape the clouds and rain of our mountainside home, a few of us took a field trip down to Chambery. We spent a few hours walking around the old city. We saw at least some of the tourist sites, including the Cathedral, the residence of the Dukes of Savoie (not to be confused with Le Château) and the (former) residence of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. We sampled the sweets from a few bakeries, and I learned that local banks won’t turn Francs into Euros unless you are a client. I am not a client. I still have my Swiss Francs – which aren’t very useful here.
Wednesday night Bryan Fish went down to Chambery to pick up Matt from the train station (he’d been in Geneva returning the rental van we’d used to get down here). He left around 7, and they finally returned home just after 1 AM. Chambery is 25km away – apparently Matt and Bryan spent a lot of time walking the streets of Chambery near each other without actually connecting. The got some (deserved) grief for this, and after our successful afternoon of touristing, we were feeling pretty good about ourselves and our ability to navigate the city. Of course leaving the city was a different matter.
We knew the name of our town (Saint-François de Sales), our road (D912) and we had a map. It was not enough. After 20 or 30 minutes of trying to drive towards the valley we thought was ours, but mostly touring some residential neighborhoods, we gave up and got on the interstate to orient ourselves. By the time we figured out where we were, we decided to take the safe-bet way home, which was kind of round about and out of the way, but really scenic. At least it would be scenic on a clear day. A high pass (I believe it was le Côl du Frene) with a wide valley looking into the heart of the Alps. It should have been spectacular. But it was just a cloud.
Before today, we hadn’t really seen the sun here. I got a teasing glimpse on Tuesday afternoon when we rolled into town, but since then we’ve been living inside a cloud. The weather finally cleared up last night, and this morning we were treated to rock hard tracks and clear skies. But not quite clear enough. The Alps were just faint outlines in the distance. I’m waiting for the day when the Alps are out in all their glory – then I’ll get the panoramic shots. Until then you’ll just have to imagine what might be.
Oh. I almost forgot. We are doing some racing on this trip. The sprint relay is tonight. Semis at 7 and 7:30. The men’s final goes at 10:15. That might not help with my jet-lag. But racing under the lights is always a good reason to go to bed late.
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Great pics! Thanks. Sounds like you need a GPS or a chauffeur.
— CKO Mar 5, 11:10 AM #
Even without the alps, this trip looks pretty awesome. Comment etaient les sprints?
— Em Mar 6, 07:26 AM #
Good luck today! (Emmy, your’re up awfully early on a Saturday…)
— MSHO Mar 6, 07:54 AM #