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Patrimoine
and Art de Vivre in the Rhône-Alps
Dazzling white mountains, soft
mauve lavendar fields, gentle green vineyards, worn soft grey
Roman stones : the Rhône-Alps is a region of many hues.
And it's big : the size of Switzerland, it stretches from the
rich agricultural land of the Bresse in the north to the wineyards
and olive groves of the Drome Provencale in the south. On its
eastern edge, snow-capped Alps fairly pierce the sky. On the
west, the harrowing Ardèche cliffs plunge vertiginously
earthward.
Lyon and Vienne two
treasure troves of Roman history
Thank you, Lucius Munatius Plancus
! While on command mission to Gaul in 43 B.C., Plancus was ordered
to found a Roman colony on the strategic hill overlooking the
confluence of the Rhone and the Saone. Lugdunum, as it was called,
is the core of present-day Lyon where Roman traces still abound.
On a scorching August day, I reveled in the cool of the Gallo-Roman
Archealogical Museum from which there is an arresting view of
the oldest Roman Theatre in France. An absolute must see :the
48 A.D. bronze Claudian Tables, granting Lugdunum inhabitants
the right to become Roman senators. A Lyonnais clothmaker discovered
the tables in. 1528 nothing unusual, for through the centuries
Roman vestiges have kept turning up all over the city and its
outskirts.
The best way to approach Lyon past and present - is to
simply walk through it. The " praying hill " of the
Fourvière offers a widespread view of the entire city
below; while there, take a close-up look at the extravagantly
decorated nineteenth century Basilica, a beloved symbol for the
Lyonnais. A funicular ride or short walk down the hill takes
you to Old Lyon and its cobblestoned streets bordered by Renaissance
mansions. Don't miss a trip through one of the city's 350 covered
passageways or " traboules " - resistants used them
as meeting places during World War II and silkmakers used the
passages to protect their precious wares. Between the Rhone and
the Saone lies the presqu'ile, the heart of the city with the
stately Place Bellecour, the prestigious Fine Arts Museum, the
lively Place des Terraux, the ornate seventeenth century Hotel
de Ville and behind it, the nineteenth century Opera House with
a decidedly twentieth century semi-cylindrical glass roof. The
tall buildings of the Croix Rousse, atop Lyon on a steep hill,
once housed the city's silkworkers or " canuts ". The
Maison des Canuts gives demonstrations of silk making on a traditional
loom.
So valuable is Lyon's history that in 1998 Unesco included its
historic sector on the prestigious World Heritage List. Throughout
its entire history, Lyon has never witnessed such a massive "
earthquake " as the one triggered by Unesco, " said
Denis Trouxe, Deputy in charge of Heritage and Culture.
Many vacationers whiz past Vienne on their way to the Riviera
without visiting its old quarter. If they stopped and they
definitely should they'd find a peaceful southern feeling
town where townspeople sip coffee in front of the 25 B.C. Temple
of Augustus and Livia. The Roman theatre, backed up against Mount
Pipet, is the lively scene of a two-week jazz festival each July.
Nowhere is Vienne's Roman past more visible than at the Museum
and Archaeological site of Saint-Romain-en-Gal. The modern museum
and research center sits astride an as yet unexplored Roman house
; from the museum there's a fine view over the eight hectare
excavation site where boutiques, a marketplace, and the houses
of notables have been unearthed. I particularly admired the public
latrines which in Roman times comprised a fresco representing
wrestlers and discus throwers as well as 40 toilets and five
marble fountains ! The attraction of this site is that it is
so well preserved and the thickness of the sedimentation enables
us to have a very precise chronology " observed archaeologist
Jean-Luc Prisset. Together Lyon and Vienne represent the largest
archaeological site in France and the second in Europe after
Rome.
Layers of history in the Ardeche
: Bear Bones and a village in black and white
The medieval town of Alba la
Romaine, whose basalt and limestone buildings make it a study
in black and white, is aptly named : in the vineyards near it
lies the archaelogical site of a once bustling Roman city complete
with temples, an aquaduct, a 3000 seat theatre and forum. But
layers of history in the Ardeche go even deeper: the Chauvet
Pont d'Arc cave had remained closed for twenty to thirty
thousand years until its discovery in 1994 by a trio of local
speleologists. In it, the bones of hundreds of bears as well
as wall paintings and engravings of more than three hundred animals
including an owl, a hyena, and a panther
The Middle Ages and an Italian
Influence
With its remarkable lake setting,
Annecy is literally " picture pretty ". The pristine
Lac d'Annecy ( "the Pearl of the Alps") is a gracious
backdrop to the Old Town with its museum and castle and restaurants
and shops. Annecy was the home of St. Francis of Sales, a fervent
opponent of Calvinism; here, Jean Jacques Rousseau first met
Madame de Warens with whom he would live in Chambéry at
the pretty country house of Les Charmettes. A dynamic industrial
and university town, Chambéry was the historical capital
of the Duchy of Savoy until 1563 and its facades, Italian theatre,
and the rue de Boigne have a definite transalpine influence.
Boigne, a Chambéry native who made a fortune in India,
gave his hometown its landmark monument, the Fontaine des Elephants.
Originally founded by immigrants from Perugia, the hilltop village
of Perouges, with its timber-framed houses and mullioned windows
looking out over narrow cobblestoned streets, is a filmmaker's
and tourist's paradise.
Medieval Houses and Abbeys
in the Beaujolais
Near Macon the Bresse Museum
is located in a corn-stalk decorated house built tout simplement
the year Columbus discovered America! Be sure to admire the voluminous
Saracen chimney with a brick hood, typical of the region. For
nine centuries monks worked and worshipped at the Abbey of Charlieu
whose narthex is a jewel of lacy ochre stone. Inside is an elegant
interior courtyard, the fifteenth century Hotel du Prieur, and
a visitors center which explains monastic life. In the medieval
streets of Charlieu, the Musée Hospitalier faithfully
reconstitutes the life of the Hotel Dieu from the seventeenth
to the twentieth century, with an apothecary, operating room,
and laundry room. If you think it smells like a hospital, you're
right. A specialized laboratory worked hard to reconstitute the
different odors of the various rooms to make the visit even more
realistic !
The Renaissance
One of the most imposing historical
monuments in the southeast of France, the Château de Grignan
was built atop a rock in the Middle Ages. Considerable refurbishing
in the sixteenth century transformed it into one of the most
famous Renaissance chateaux. Madame de Sevigné, whose
daughter lived in the castle, often visited it and died there
in 1696. The Château de Suze-la-Rousse was also rebuilt
in the sixteenth century with a decorative Italiante courtyard.
Now, budding enologists sniff and sip wine in the château
which is the headquarters of the " Université du
vin ".
and the The French Revolution
Surrounded by three mountain
chains, Grenoble (Gratianopolis in 350 A.D.) is the capital of
the French Alps and a lively industrial and university town.
For an impregnable view, take the cable car up to the sixteenth
century Fort de la Bastille. If you're a fan of Stendahl, don't
miss the museum which retraces the life of the author of "
Le Rouge et Le Noir ". Near Grenoble, the Château
de Vizille houses The French Revolution Museum for it was here,
on July 21, 1788, that the Estates General of the Dauphine met
to proclaim individual rights for all, a cry that rang throughout
France and started the French Revolution.
The Belle Epoque
" Nowhere could one find such perfect concord between water,
mountains, earth and sky " wrote Honoré de Balzac,
a frequent visitor to the Bourget Lake so celebrated by the French
poet Lamartine. France's largest natural lake, Bourget is framed
by the tail end of the Jura mountains and the beginning of the
pre-Alps, creating a mild climate in both summer and winter.
Kings and princes, writers and musicians flocked to Aix-les-Bains
for the thermal baths and Belle Epoque Casino, now newly redecorated
in tones of coral and cream. Queen Victoria liked the spot so
much that she came incognito every year. Her favorite spot was
La Chambotte, where she partook of tea and scones and a magnificent
view of the lake and town below. Across the lake from Aix-les-Bains
lies the twelfth century Abbey of Hautecombe, the mausoleum of
the kings of Savoy and now the home of a charismatic religious
community.
A certain " art de vivre
"
It's ten a.m. and we stand in a forest clearing on the Mt. Revard
just above Aix-les-Bains watching a young lad and his father
proceed through a maze of what looks like treetop houses some
10 meters above the ground. The boy swings like Tarzan from one
pine tree to the other ; his father follows suit. They're on
a " parcours sportif ", an athletic way of appreciating
nature. That night I stop at a " bouchon " in Old Lyons
to savor an andouillette and the lively conversation of my fellow
diners. And I reflect that for more than two thousand years people
have been perfecting the art of living in the Rhone-Alps. Here's
to at least two thousand more !
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RENDEZ-VOUS CHEQUEBOOK
It looks like a checkbook
and is. A special " Rendez-Vous checkbook " has been
designed to help visitors get a special welcome at fifty different
sites and 44 hotels and restaurants in the Rhône-Alps region.
Using the coupons, tourists can benefit from special rates on
guided tours of the cities of Lyon, Annecy, Chambéry,
and Grenoble and their outskirts as well as reductions on museums,
hotel rooms, bike rides, boat cruises or thematic lecture tours.
Other perks ? How about a free breakfast or a drink before lunch
or dinner in a superb château or both. With advantages
like these, why hesitate ? The Rendez-Vous Chequier can be obtained
at the Tourist Offices in Lyon, Annecy, Chambéry, and
Grenoble.
GASTRONOMY
If you're a " gastronome
", the Rhone Alps is the place to be. Chef Marc Veyrat,
in his characteristic floppy black hat, reigns over L'Auberge
de l'Eridan on the lac d'Annecy. The TroisGros brothers preside
in Roanne ; Alain Pic in Valence. The Bresse, land of the fine
fowl (poulet de Bresse), boasts chefs Georges Blanc and
Alain Chapel. Lyon is gifted with its " cuisine des mères
" and the inventive cooking of master chefs Paul Bocuse,
Pierre Orsi, Jean-Paul Lacombe and Philippe Chavent. Lyon specialties
are mouthwatering ; many have unusual names such as the cervelles
de Canut which is not " the brain of a Canut "
but white cheese with crême fraiche and herbs, and the
tablier de sapeur which is not " a fireman's apron
" but beef belly marinated in dry white wine and grilled.
Other specialties include ufs en meurette (poached eggs
in wine sauce), quenelles de brochet (pike dumplings),
and various sausages including la rosette, which is made
of meat from leg of pork. Eat these specialties in a bouchon,
a restaurant which derives it name from the tightly pressed bale
of straw hung outside inns to inform coachmen that they could
stop there to eat as well as to rub down their horses ! The Drome
Provencale yields olives, olive oil, la pogne, la raviole,
the nougat, and the picadon. In the Alps, eat fondue
and raclette and don't forget the fish : fillets of perch
caught in Lake Geneva and ombre-chevalier, a sort of grayling
from Lac d'Annecy. Don't miss the cheese from sweet Alpine pastures
: Beaufort, Reblochon, Abondance. The Ardeche is the home of
the chestnut, turkey, and partridge. As for wines, Beaujolais
is world-renowned for its ten crû vintages : firm and full-bodied
Brouilly, flavorsome Chenas, light Chiroubles, solid Cote de
Brouilly, fruity and floral Fleurie, lively Juliénas,
meaty Morgon, rich Moulin-à-Vent, smooth Regnié,
and the harmonious Saint-Amour. Taste them in the cool of welcoming
village winetasting cellars. The Rhone produces delicious Côtes
du Rhone (Cotes roties, the rare Condrieu, St. Joseph Hermitage,
and Crozes Hermitage). For white sparkling wines, try Savoy wines
: Ayze, from the banks of the Arve, is a sparkling white wine
; Abymes and Apremont go well with a cheese fondue.
(France
Discovery Guide by Harriet
Welty Rochefort)
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