Unterwegs

AUVERGNE-RHÔNE ALPES REGION

Departments : Ain, Allier, Ardèche, Cantal, Drôme, Isère, Loire, Haute-Loire, Puy-de-Dôme, Rhône, Métropole de Lyon, Savoie, Haute-Savoie.

Population: 8 million

Prefecture : Lyon

Surface area: 69,711 km2

Specialities: Beaujolais, Côtes du Rhône and Savoy wines, Lyon specialities (quenelles, cervelles de canut, saucisson.), potée auvergnate, Savoy specialities (raclette, fondue, tartiflettes, diots, crozets), cheeses (beaufort, reblochon, cantal, bleu d'Auvergne, Salers, saint-Nectaire...), green lentil of Le Puy, waters (Evian, Thonon, Volvic) verbena, chartreuse.

Sports clubs: Olympique Lyonnais, AS Saint-Etienne, Clermont Foot 63, Grenoble Foot 38 (football). ASM Clermont, Lyon OU, FC Grenoble, Stade Aurillacois, US Oyonnax (rugby union), ASVEL Villeurbanne (basketball), Chambéry (handball), Brûleurs de loup Grenoble, Pionniers de Chamonix (ice hockey)

Competitions: women's football world cup, ski competitions (Première neige criterium in Val d'Isère), Tour de France mountain passes, Critérium du Dauphiné.

Economy: (8th European region) high-tech industries, automotive (Berliet), metallurgy, rubber, plastics, chemicals, electronics, agri-food, textiles, digital, banks, universities, public services, winegrowing. tyres (Michelin). Design. New technologies (Inovallée) Winter and summer tourism. 

Festivals: Fête des Lumières in Lyon, Nuits de Fourvière in Lyon, quais du polar in Lyon, biennale du design in Saint-Etienne, classical music festival in La Chaise-Dieu, etc.

Sights: Old Lyon and Croix-Rousse, Le Puy-en-Velay cathedral, Lake Annecy, Chambéry castle, winter sports in Isère, Savoie and Haute-Savoie, Cantal, spa resorts, Auvergne volcanoes. Caverne du Pont d'Arc. Château de Grignan. Grenoble Bastille. Vulcania. Parc des Oiseaux.

Website: www.auvergnerhonealpes.fr

MONTMÉLIAN (POP: 1,100)

Situated in the Combe de Savoie, it is the former military capital of the Duchy of Savoy and the historic capital of the Savoy vineyards. It is a pioneering town in terms of solar energy: it has been the French champion in this category since 2004 and holds the European Citer'gie EEA label. In 2015, Montmélian was the starting point for a stage of the Dauphiné won in Saint-Gervais by Chris Froome.  

Morens bridge

Construction: 1671 to 1685

History: located between the communes of La Chavanne and Montmélian, this stone bridge was built by architect François Cuénot.

Listed as: Historical Monument since 1985.

CHALLES-LES-EAUX (POP: 5,600)

Between the Chartreuse and Bauges mountain ranges. A spa and tourist resort renowned for its ENT and gynaecology cures, with the most sulphurous waters in Europe. The spa was opened in 1874, following the discovery of sulphurous water in 1841. The town hosted three stage starts of the Dauphiné at the turn of the millennium.

CHAMBERY (POP: 63,600)

The old town is made up of a large number of former Savoy noble mansions (15th-16th centuries) and narrow medieval streets, with colourful, narrow facades (a tax introduced in the 14th century was calculated on the width of the facades) and trompe l'oeil decorations. Chambery has hosted the Tour de France on three occasions, with starts in 1996 and 2010, and a finish in 2017 that saw Rigoberto Uran win the stage. The town has also hosted the Critérium du Dauphiné on sixteen occasions. However, it was in 1989 that the city's greatest cycling feat was achieved, with Greg LeMond's victory in the world championships ahead of Dimitry Konyshev and Sean Kelly, just a few months after his second Tour victory. Already winner of a rainbow jersey in 1983, LeMond gave the name of Chambery to one of the bicycle models he subsequently marketed.  

Elephant fountain

Listed as a Historical Monument in 1982. Historically known as Colonne de Boigne (Column of Boigne), it is also nicknamed "Les Quatre sans cul" (The Assless Four). Erected in 1838 in honour of General De Boigne, the fountain is now one of the town's most famous monuments. Standing 17.65 metres high and made up of 4 cast-iron elephants, the fountain houses a bronze statue of the general.  

Castle of the Dukes of Savoy

Foundation: first built in the 11th century, then modified several times during the 13th century and completed in the 15th century.

Style: Medieval, with Gothic additions.

History: the château suffered several fires in the 18th century, and from 1800 onwards the first prefects began work on it. When Savoy became part of France in 1860, it was given to the dpartment free of charge. A major restoration project, requested by Emperor Napoleon III, was carried out, including a new wing and a monumental staircase for the half-round tower.

Characteristics: a huge building designed as an irregular quadrilateral, with a square keep flanked by a turret, a high semi-circular tower and a high chapel.

Current use: used by the Savoie Prefecture, the Savoie Departmental Council and the Savoie Academy.

Listed as:  Historical Monument since 1881

LES ÉCHELLES (POP: 1,250)

The commune, which shares the confluence of the Guiers vif and the Guiers mort with Entre-deux-Guiers, is located halfway between Grenoble and Chambery. Until 1860, when Savoy became part of France, it was a border town marking the boundary between France and the Kingdom of Sardinia, with the bridge over the Guiers vif marking the border between the two countries. Once criss-crossed by the Route Nationale 6 and located at the heart of a popular tourist region, between the Grottes des Échelles caves and the Chailles gorges, the commune is a member of the Cœur de Chartreuse community of communes, as well as the Chartreuse Regional Nature Park. Its position as a border town, ideal for smuggling, led to frequent visits in the 18th century by the brigand Mandrin and his men. Stendhal also had a house in Les Echelles, as his uncle was mayor of the commune. The town hall is housed in a former Hospitaller commandery, listed as a historical monument in 1930. In 1984, Les Échelles was the starting point for the Tour de France's uphill time trial to La Ruchère (22km), which saw Laurent Fignon win ahead of Luis Herrera and Pedro Delgado.  

Caves of Saint-Christophe

The caves are famous for their proximity to the Sardinian Way and to the border between France and the Duchy of Savoy, and later the Kingdom of Sardinia, where they were for a long time a border post on the road from Paris to Turin. The Sardinian Way is a natural gorge that was once a road and provides access to the site of the caves. Its name comes from the fact that the Dukes of Savoy, future kings of Sardinia, adapted this passage (already built by the Romans) into a royal road for stagecoaches during the 17th century. In 1649, further work was undertaken by the regent Christine of France to consolidate the canal wall that ran alongside this route, and then her son, Duke Charles-Emmanuel II of Savoy, had an ashlar ramp built between 1667 and 1670 to facilitate passage and complete this route towards the Guiers valley. A monument dedicated to Charles-Emmanuel II of Savoy was erected on this road in 1674, just before the entrance to the caves. It was listed as a historicam monument in 1952. According to some sources, one of the many caves in the area known as Grottes des Echelles was home to the famous French smuggler Louis Mandrin, who hid his treasure there.

SAINT-GENIX-LES-VILLAGES (POP: 3,000)

It is the result of the merger in 2019 of the communes of Gresin, Saint-Genix-sur-Guiers and Saint-Maurice-de-Rotherens. A former border town, Saint-Genix-sur-Guiers has lost its count's castle and fortifications, with the exception of a gateway, known as the Savoy Gate, and a few remnants of the ramparts along the Guiers. Its historic centre, grouped around the church, is remarkably well preserved. It features stone architecture, with pebbled roof tiles and sometimes crenelated gables, as in neighbouring Bugey. Outside the centre, the architecture is reminiscent of the Dauphiné plain, with adobe houses. 

Galletti Museum

The Galletti Radio Museum tells the story of the radio station built by Italian inventor Roberto Clemens Galletti di Cadilhac before the First World War. A collection of old radio sets, telephones, posters and documents retraces 100 years of the history of radio communications.

AOSTE (POP: 2,900)

Headquarters of the Aoste food group, whose ham has nothing to do with the PDO ham produced in the Aosta Valley in Italy.  In 2017, Aoste hosted the start of a stage in the Critérium du Dauphiné, won by Peter Kennaugh at l'Alpe d'Huez, as well as a stage in the Tour des Pays de Savoie in 2011, won in La Thuile by Romain Bardet.  

Gallo-Roman Museum of Aoste

Founded: 1856

History: the name Aoste comes from Augustus and Vicus Augustus, a small Roman town located at the crossroads of several roads, one of which led to Vienne, capital of the province, and then Lyon, another to Switzerland and the third to Aosta in Italy and Rome via Lemencum (Chambery). At the time, the city was a major centre for the production of high-quality glassware and pottery, which was exported throughout the empire.

Characteristics: the Gallo-Roman Museum in Aoste is dedicated to evoking daily life in the ancient city of Augustum during the Gallo-Roman period.

Listed as: Musée de France.

BRÉGNIER-CORDON (POP: 820)

Château de la Barre, in Brégnier-Cordon, was the scene of a crime that is said to have inspired Stendhal to write The Red and the Black.  

Château de la Barre

Built: 1344, altered in the 20th century.

History: the fief belonged to Guillaume de Cordon, a knight, who paid homage to Louis of Savoy in the same year. The lordship remained in the family until the disgrace of Aynard de Cordon in 1435. Little remains of the medieval castle. The La Forest family, who inherited it in the 16th and 17th centuries, transformed La Barre into a pleasure residence with beautiful gardens.

Characteristics: the current main building dates back to the origins of the fortified castle, in the 13th century; it is the square, six-storey keep, 32 metres high; it has been continuously inhabited; the fortifications date back to the 13th century.

Trivia: the château was the scene of a crime involving a young seminarian from the village of Brangues, Antoine Berthet, who was hired as a tutor by the Count of Cordon in 1826. Berthet was said to have seduced his daughter Henriette, leading to his dismissal. Convinced that his mistress, the wife of the mayor of Brangues, was behind his dismissal, he shot her in the church in Brangues. Arrested and sentenced to death, he was executed in Grenoble in 1828. It is thought that Stendhal, who was familiar with courts and legal cases, drew inspiration from this incident to write his novel Le Rouge et le Noir (The Red and the Black).  

Haut-Rhône Nature Reserve

It covers 3 departments: Ain (Lhuis, Groslée, Saint-Benoît and Brégnier-Cordon), Isère and Savoie. With 1,707 hectares of alluvial and forested areas stretching 26 km along the Rhône, it is the largest fluvial forest reserve in France. It is home to remarkable sites such as the Saugey meander and the Evieu forest, numerous species (beaver, otter, yellow-bellied sounder, little egret, hobby falcon, purple heron, etc.), a wide variety of habitats (riparian forests, willow groves, reedbeds, flood meadows) and more than a dozen remarkable plants (marsh hottonia, great buttercup, little naiad and guinea fern).

LHUIS (POP: 890)

Its 12th-century Romanesque church, Notre-Dame de l'Assomption, has been a listed historical monument since 1930. Lhuis, like most of the villages crossed at the end of this stage, was on the route of the Tour du Valromey, a major junior stage race won by the likes of Mathieu Van der Poel, Victor Lafay and Romain Grégoire, and in 2023 by tyoung American Andrew August, born in 2005 and heralded as a prodigy in the making.

MONTAGNIEU (POP: 670)

Montagnieu owes its reputation to the vines grown on the steep slopes of the Souhait mountain, and to its sparkling white wine, named after the village: a fizzling white with an elegant mousse and fine bubbles, to be drunk chilled as an aperitif or with dessert. The appellation's vineyards cover some thirty hectares, spread over the communes of Montagnieu, Seillonnaz and Briord. The architectural highlights include the Oncin tower (a 15th-century private building). In 1919, the hamlet of Les Granges, below Montagnieu, was hit by a major landslide following several days of torrential rain. Around twenty homes and the new school were destroyed, resulting in the death of one person. It was an event that left a lasting impression on people's memories.

ISÈRE (38)

Region: Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

Population: 1.2 million (16 pc of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes)

Prefecture: Grenoble

Sub-prefectures: Vienne, La Tour du Pin

Number of communes: 521

Surface area: 7,431 Km² (11 pc of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes)

Specialities: Grenoble walnuts (AOC), St Marcellin (IGP cheese), Bleu du Vercors-Sassenage (AOP cheese), ravioles, Chartreuse liqueur, Bonnat chocolates, antésite. Wines: Coteaux du Grésivaudan, Balmes Dauphinoises, Collines Rhodaniennes (IGP wines), Vitis Vienna (Vienne wines). Vercors trout, mountain meats (beef, lamb), gratin dauphinois, brioche de Bourgoin, murçon (charcuterie)...

Major sports clubs: FC Grenoble (rugby), Brûleurs de loups (ice hockey), GF38 (football), CSBJ (rugby), Les bruleurs, Les ours de Villard (hockey), Rugby Sassenage Isère (women's rugby).

Major competitions: La Foulée blanche in Autrans, Ut4M (Ultra tour des 4 massifs), Trail des passerelles du Monteynard, Echappée belle (Ultra trail of Belledonne), EuroNordicWalk Vercors, Grand Duc-trail de Chartreuse, La Marmotte in l'Alpe d'Huez (Grand Fondo event).

Festivals: La Coupe Icare in St Hilaire du Touvet, L'Alpe d'Huez Film Festival (comedy film festival in Isère), Berlioz Festival in la Côte Saint-André, Jazz in Vienne Festival, Autrans Mountain Film Festival, Vélo Vert Festival in Villard de Lans, Tomorrowland in l'Alpe d'Huez.

Economy: Industry, electronics, digital, micro and nanoelectronics, IT, research, health, hydroelectricity, chemicals and the environment, energy, thermal spas, tourism

Main sights: Domaine de Vizille, Grande Chartreuse monastery, Saint-Antoine l'Abbaye, Choroanche caves, Grenoble cable car, Grenoble museum, Chartreuse cellars, Musée Dauphinois, St Hilaire du Touvet funicular railway, Crémieu, Vienne, Walibi Rhône-Alpes park, Europe's largest skiable glacier at Les Deux-Alpes.

Websites and social networks: www.alpesishere.com / www.cyclo-alpes.com / www.isere.fr

Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne

Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne ist ganzjährig eine Reise wert, denn jede Jahreszeit hat einzigartige Schätze zu bieten. Im Sommer erblüht die Stadt mit ihren reizvollen Plätzen und quirligen Märkten zum Leben, während die Landschaft mit ruhigen Wanderwegen und frischer Bergluft einlädt.

Im Winter wird Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne zum Schneeparadies, das Skisportfreunde mit abwechslungsreichen Pisten begeistert. Und beim Après-Ski verleiht die herzliche Gastfreundschaft der Bevölkerung der verschneiten Landschaft einen besonderen Zauber.

Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne ist ein vielseitiges Reiseziel, das zu jeder Jahreszeit intensive Erlebnisse verspricht. Ob unter der Sommersonne oder im Winterschnee lädt die Stadt Sie ein, die Faszination der französischen Alpen in ihrer ganzen Pracht kennenzulernen.

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