La Tarte Tropézienne is a cream bun with a celebrity history. Apparently, Bridget Bardot loved these tasty treats when they were in their infancy, and encouraged their chef, Alexandre Micka, to come up with a name for them. Their popularity…
Tag: history
Notre Dame du Haut – a designer church
What you’re looking at is a chapel designed by Franco-Swiss designer Le Corbusier. Standing on a hill in Ronchamp, Notre Dame du Haut was finished in 1954, replacing a chapel that had been destroyed during the Second World War. The…
Visiting the original St Bernard dogs
Did you know that Saint Bernard dogs were originally called Barry dogs? I learnt this when I visited the Barry Foundation in Martigny, Switzerland last weekend. The foundation was only set up in 2005 to continue breeding dogs like the…
The glacier of La Clusaz
Yes, you read that right, there’s a glacier in La Clusaz. More precisely, there was a glacier in La Clusaz. While glaciers such as La Mer de Glace are slowly melting away, the glacier in La Clusaz dried up a…
Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris
I’m not a morbid person. I don’t like visiting spots where people have died and I avoid visiting catacombs because they creep me out. So how on earth did I end up visiting the Cimetiere du Père Lachaise in Paris?…
The lost cemetery of Le Grand Bornand
Here is a cemetery you won’t read about in many places. It’s the cimetière des miliciens, and it has no legal standing. On 24 August 1944, some 76 miliciens were executed in the Vallée du Bouchet after a court martial…
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged with: Aravis, culture, history, landscape, Le Grand Bornand, war sites
Freedom to Europe on 8 May
Today, the 8th of May, is a public holiday in France and various other European countries to mark the end of World War 2. For the locals around these parts, including Thônes (where this war memorial photo was taken in…
A pedestrianised highway in Annecy
Annecy bursts into life as soon as winter ends, as you can see from this photo from just a few days ago. The old town of Annecy becomes a labyrinth of tourists and locals lounging over long lunches on chairs…
Le Parmelan near Dingy-St-Clair
Happy New Year! Sorry it’s been a while. I’m now (hopefully!) back to regular posting. Pictured is a photo I took while I was driving from Annecy back to Saint Jean de Sixt yesterday. The big rock is Le Parmelan,…
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged with: Aravis, dingy-st-clair, French language, history, landscape, war sites
Chapelle de Gotty – also a bus stop
Between the main village of La Clusaz and the l’Etale area lies the Chapelle de Gotty. This pretty little chapel is far more accessible than the previous chapel, I wrote about, the well-hidden Chapelle du Parc, because it’s on a…
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged with: chapel, French language, history, La Clusaz, landscape, religion
