Sunday 26 July 2015

Montmélian

It was a grey Sunday and I thought we might need a change from the nature walks and get a bit of history under our belt so we went into the next valley to a village that we usually drive straight past on the way to Chambéry that had always intrigued me.  The photos can't really show that it was a walled town around a fort, as the fort was destroyed by the French in 1600, the walls are overgrown and have been repurposed in most parts and a modern town has grown around the old centre.  However, the old town has heaps of details from medieval period and earlier.

Colourful streets,





with lots of arches,








and doors, gates and shutters,







and other interesting details.





And, from its position at the foot of the Massif des Bauges, stupendous views of the hill our house is on with its two ruined towers, the Belledonne Range behind that, as well as of the Massif of La Chartreuse and a glimpse of that of Le Vercors, 85km away to the south of Grenoble.