Les Montagnes!
Trip Start
May 03, 2009
1
7
15
Trip End
Jul 30, 2009
Bramans,
France
Friday, May 29, 2009
We decided to head into town in search of an internet café or some free wifi in order to catch up with everyone, and to stay on top of our postings. You know I can't handle the guilt of being late! Our transfer from Italy back to France took nearly all day. We were supposed to have 3 train rides, but learned along the way that the leg from Torino to Chambery was actually a bus. Thank you train station for not mentioning that part! Once in Chambery, we picked up our trusty Pugeot, and headed for the hills. We rented from Europecar which one of my SMB spinners recommended... so far they've been great. Following Route A43, we headed back towards the French-Italian border and then split off for the town of Bramans. If you can find Modane on a map of France, Bramans is just past it, and is one of several tiny villages along a beautiful mountain valley. Our friend Yasmine's (of Charleston) family has been in this region for about 150yrs
Bramans Church
. Yasmine, if I get this totally wrong, my apologies.... I'm still not good with numbers!Yasmine's mother and one of her sisters welcomed us to their lovely mountain home which is in the French Alps. The house is divided into 4 apartments, so we have our own little place here. They have since been showing us the abundance of local hiking trails, and teaching us about the regional foods and. Stopher might actually burn out on cheese! We are a little early for the summer season here, but can imagine some excellent biking and festivals. Sometimes the Tour de France even comes through!
I am going to keep this posting short because we've spent most of our time exploring the mountains and I think you might enjoy some photos more than a bunch of chatter. I will let you know that we drove the length of the valley, along which are several small villages. The older houses are made with stone and you can see some of the interesting roofs here. We also drove over one of the passes to the beautiful Lake Cenis. There is an old village submerged in it, but you can see some evidence of it as the water is still low. You can also see the Italian Alps at this point. We saw lots of grazing animals, a few ski areas, and a very simple, mountain lifestyle to enjoy. We certainly would not have known about this place without Yasmine's help, so a big merci to her and her family for letting us check it out!
A bientot,
-Jamie et Stopher
