We took a little drive up the mountains into the Parc des Bauges this afternoon. There are several different areas of the park, but we decided to go to Savoie Grand Revard – mostly because it’s pretty close to Chambéry and offers a great view of Lac du Bourget, but also because it’s called le petit Canada. Why is it called Little Canada? Well, the Parc des Bauges website says this: “Le plateau de Savoie Grand Revard, à l’altitude moyenne de 1400 m, contraste avec le reste du massif des Bauges par ses formes douces, aux ambiances canadiennes.”
First we stopped in La Féclaz because that’s where the Office du Tourisme is located. We got a ton of brochures for summer and winter activities as well as maps of all the hiking and skiing trails. I’m not so sure about the winter-time stuff since I hate the cold and abhor skiing, but I think I’d like to go to the adventure park D’un Arbre à l’Autre because they have zip lining from tree to tree (hence the name) and different types of rock-climbing and canyoning.
Then we continued north to Le Revard to stop at the belvédère where there is a vue exceptionelle of Aix-les-Bains & Lac du Bourget on one side and Mont Blanc on the other. It was a bit too cloudy to see everything, but I do have to agree that the view is exceptionelle.
And the many, many cows roaming around freely were very cute. Except when they were on the road. The fog rolled in while we were having coffee and tea at the restaurant and I was really regretting wearing only a t-shirt and shorts when we stepped outside. I don’t know if I will ever remember that mountains = colder temperatures before we set out on these trips…
We drove through more small villages and along Lac du Bourget on the way home. I loved being in the countryside where there are forests and lakes and more cows than people. I will gladly take the sound of cowbells over the sound of scooters any day. I can’t wait when we can move into a house far away from the noise of the city and where we can have our own terrain and not just a tiny terrasse or jardin.
