16 August 2016: Fer-à-Cheval
My plans for the summer have evolved lately. I shall return to Saint-Germain-en-Laye later this week and then travel to Holland next week. There, I shall hike for a week on the GR5 -- mostly following the route the Mary and I hiked last year. The purpose is to gather information for a new writing project...
Before leaving, I wanted to take advantage of the extraordinary weather we've been enjoying by going out for a modest hike up to the end of the Fer-à-Cheval valley: le Bout du Monde. I've taken many, many photos along that trail, so I limited myself to a few classic shots yesterday -- can't get enough of those!
10 August 2016: Martigny
Today I drove to Cluses, parked there and took the train to Martigny (in Switzerland). One can drive to Martigny, of course, but I wanted to relax on the train, with a book, admiring the beautiful scenery. The descent from Vallorcine and the Franco-Swiss border to Martigny is particularly dramatic. My destination in Martigny was the Fondation Pierre Gianadda, a museum that presents special exhibitions every year of work by well-known artists. This year it's: "Picasso: L’œuvre ultime – Hommage à Jacqueline "– ça vaut le voyage!
Le Mont Blanc Express, a mountain train, leaves a station:
Near the head of the Arve Valley, we stopped in Le Buet, a trailhead for hikes up to Mont Buet and other great destinations:
This is "La Californie", Picasso's villa in Cannes from 1955 to 1961:
"I need a drink!", said the Minotaur after a long day in the Labyrinth. (Minotaure au verre, 1958, huile sur toile)
The Fondation Pierre Gianadda has a beautiful -- and very welcoming -- garden.
8 August 2016: Les Fonts
I hiked today from Les Fardelay (1035 m.) to Les Fonts (1368 m.). There is a section of the trail where a dense network of tree roots lies on the surface: I would not want to walk there on a rainy day! After that, it's mostly easy walking on a dirt road up to the cirque and its cluster of old chalets (one of which is a refuge). This is where Alfred Wills had his little chalet in the late 19th century.
7 August 2016: Samoëns
On a sunny day when I want to go out for a short, easy outing, I walk from Verchaix (or Morillon) to Samoëns and back. The great rock of Le Criou stands over Samoëns and welcomes me:
6 August 2016: La Roche-sur-Foron
During my visit to La Roche-sur-Foron earlier this week, I learned that the town's annual Bluegrass Festival was taking place in the coming days. I returned on Saturday to watch most of the show from mid-afternoon until well into the night. It was great! I was interested and impressed to learn that there are some good bluegrass groups in Europe. The groups with top billing (têtes-d'affiche) were, of course, from the United States.
The stands offered lots of country and western merchandise --including Confederate flags (I guess they haven't yet gotten the memo over here...):
The afternoon session began with Robirohi, a group from Estonia:
Next up was Poa Pratensis, from Hungary:
It was a beautiful setting, and the weather was perfect:
Watson Bridge, from France:
Kentucky Cow Tippers, a British group with excellent voices:
G-Guns'n Roses, from the Czech Republic and Slovakia:
Evening approaches:
Enter the Americans: Rapidgrass, from Colorado. They were excellent! They were joined by Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley to sing "Poncho & Lefty" in a tribute to Merle Haggard. That song was a warmup for Ickes and Hensley, whose set followed Rapidgrass. Notice that the aisle in front of my seat was no longer empty...
2 August 2016: La Roche-sur-Foron
I visited this picturesque town on a pleasant, sunny day. Mary and I have long wanted to see La Roche-sur-Foron, so I was sorry that she could not join me today.
First World War memorials in French towns and villages are very moving, as they usually list the names of local men who were killed in the war. (A few additional names of men killed in France's later wars have often been added somewhere on the monument.) One is especially saddened by repeated surnames: brothers? fathers & sons? uncles & nephews? cousins? Some families were decimated! The monument in La Roche-sur-Foron is unusual (in my experience), in that it identifies brothers in the list of names. And not just pairs of brothers, two of which appear in the left-hand column here: In the right-hand column, there are two sets of three brothers. What a tragedy!
Views from the tower that stands on a hill above the center of La Roche-sur-Foron:
