Field trip!
Cycling taper means more time for excursions - so today I went, on my host Isabel's suggestion, to Aix-les-Bains. 1.5 hour trip on 2 trains. It's one of the larger towns in the Rhone Alpes. The alternative was a day trip to Grenoble but I was informed that in such heat (35+) Grenoble would be absolutely disgusting - it's basically a big, flat, basin. Plus, 'Aix' has a lake!
Had a great day, went to the Faure Museum set up by donation from a renowned chemist, which was small but with the second largest collection of Rodin sculpture in France. As is typical Rodin, every second statue was either
nu, or a nymphe, or a siren, or a fallen woman. Too racy for me to photograph but I did get a snap of some Lalique glassware which would look great at home but hard to carry on the bike so I left it in the museum. Also lots of good impressionist stuff - Pissarros - and some up and coming works.
Stiflingly hot today and humid - so I went for a swim in the lake, used someone's private paddle board (briefly) by mistake, cut my foot under water and wandered home pretty cooked. There is also a casino with a famous ceiling but I don't really like Casinos. Other features of the town include a wide selection of thermal baths - not so good on a 37 degree day.
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| Roman archway. There's also an old Roman Temple of Diana standing nearby. |
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| View of the town (lake is that way, but out of sight) |
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| Lalique snake vase. |
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| In the woods up behind the town centre. |
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| The townsfolk of Aix attempting their own version of Cambodia's Angkor temples by simply neglecting a public park. |
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| Lac du Bourget, France's biggest natural lake. |
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