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| nuthatch | profile | all galleries >> France >> Haute-Savoie | tree view | thumbnails | slideshow |
 the view from our friends' house in Matringes... |
 lovely, day and night! |
 in the old market area of Taninges, a nearby town |
 the historic bridge in Taninges |
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 this majestic alpine area makes us feel small |
 in Samoëns, in a valley further into the mountains |
 we enter the Jaÿsinia botanical gardens there... |
 ...built on a steep hill above town |
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 the garden specializes in alpine flora from around the world, but includes other species also |
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 now we head up the Fer à Cheval glacier valley.... |
 ...and then back in Samoëns to meet some locals |
 another day, at the abbaye d'Aulps, a 30km drive into the Chablais region |
 it was a Cistercian monastery; the church was completed in the 12th-c. |
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 the monastery was abolished in the 18th-c.... |
 ...then the building quarried for stone for another church in 1823 |
 a view over the valley from the abbey grounds |
 the monument operators have restarted the abbey farm, keeping bees... |
 ...and two gardens growing fruits, vegetables, and flowers of the era |
 now we head up the Abondance valley... |
 ...to the tiny hamlet of Ubine, about 8km from Switzerland |
 well, the reblochon has to come from somewhere! |
 inside the tiny old chapel |
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 heading down the narrow road again... |
 ...to the church and abbey of Abondance |
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 the walls of the cloister were frescoed ca. 1430 |
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 some of the twenty original paintings are fairly intact... |
 ...others less so or missing |
 in a monk's cell |
 a last look before heading back to the house |
 cooking at home was a real treat; here, mussels! |
 now we are heading to Chamonix, in the shadow of the Mont Blanc massif |
 Jay is heading up the telecabin for the Aiguille du Midi station |
 one of the massive glaciers, viewed from the cabin... |
 ...and the view down to Chamonix |
 someone else contemplating the view |
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 in the distance: the Matterhorn |
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 this group is very hesitant to step on the ice outside... |
 ...for good reason |
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 hikers are visible at the lower right... |
 ...and waaaay down below |
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 back in our area, here's the historic bridge in Mieussy |
 paragliding off the cliffs above Menthon-Saint-Bernard |
 a small chapel above the old town of Sallanches |
 a river channel in Megève |
 the luxe life, at toy scale |
 a view from Calvary Hill in Megève |
 well, he seemed to like this! |
 the historic spa town of Saint-Gervais-les-Bains |
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 sometimes hunting for monuments can be tough work! |
 lots of historic chapels on this route |
 the view from Les Chattrix |
 back in Matringes, we walk up the road from Les Geais... |
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 ...to reach the tiny chapelle St. Grat above the village |
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 a view over the Giffre river valley... |
 ...and down to the house where we're staying |
 the view toward the Mont Blanc massif |
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 a last walk down to the house before we say goodbye... |
 pano: abbey of St. Jean d'Aulps |
 pano: Chamonix from the Mont Blanc telecabin |
 pano: Mont Blanc area #1 |
 pano: Mont Blanc area #2 |
 pano: Mont Blanc area #3 |
 pano: chapelle St. Grat |
:: National Monuments in the Haute-Savoie :: |