La Savoie, d’Aix-les-Bains à la Haute-Maurienne – Les 100 Lieux qu’il faut voir – Documentaire – MG
Do you like France? Do you like to explore it,
discover it, and meet it? Sometimes you even
feel like you know her well. We all have a small beach,
a small cove, a clearing, a hamlet or a path
that belongs only to us, far from the beaten track and that we
only want to share with those we love. This is the France we want
you to discover through 100 places that you absolutely must see in your lifetime. We offer you a journey to the heart of the highest mountains in Europe. Built nearly 250 million
years ago, the Savoyard massifs offer breathtaking views
and sweep down to the infinitely varied landscape. You will set off to conquer the
Orger valley and its natural setting where wildlife reigns supreme. You will be dazzled by the majestic Lake
Bourget and the architectural gems that line its shores,
such as the Haute-Combe Abbey or the town of Aix-les-Bains,
which seduced the jet set from all over the world during the Belle Époque. But also by the buildings whose weight
of history is inscribed on the side of the mountains of Haute-Maurienne. You will be enchanted by the atmosphere
of Savoie, these high-altitude villages where traditions are perpetuated. Here we go. A craft.
Savoy has taste. Yes, she has taste. And ancestral gastronomy. The gourmets, the pork cook, the sausage. I’m having a great time, Evelyne. You will discover Savoie as you
have rarely seen it with those who bring this incredible heritage to life. Our journey begins in the Aix-les-Bains region, the Alpine Riviera. At the foot of the Alps and the
Bauges massif natural park, stretch the majestic
and verdant shores of the largest natural lake in France, Lake Bourget. Nelly Lemar works
in communications, a profession that takes her
constantly crisscrossing the roads of this Savoie region that she loves so much and that she
now knows better than anyone. This is my land, my roots. I can’t live without it. It resonates strongly with me. For our first stop,
Nelly chose to show us an unmissable viewpoint,
located at an altitude of 1,500 meters where fans of the Grand Frisson take flight. And the one who will tell him the story
of the dizzying Mont-Revard belvedere, which overlooks the valley,
is his friend Isabelle Lafay. Hello Nelly, how are you? It’s good and you ?
Great, look at the weather. Do you see a landscape like this? It’s in moments like these that I
really know why I feel Savoyard. This is a site that I love
and visit often. It’s superb. We have a 360-degree view and you can
admire all these mountains, this lake. And then there, below, at our feet,
the whole town of Aix-les-Bains which has expanded enormously. The development of Aix-les-Bains dates back
to Antiquity and the end of the 19th century, during the Belle Époque.
That is to say, these hot springs gave it an international reputation. People came to Aix-les-Bains
for the thermal baths, but not only that. It was a very fashionable resort. All the jet society, kings,
queens, emperors, maharajahs, they all gathered here. And then they also went up to Revard
to get some fresh air. So the history of Aix-les-Bains has always
been closely linked to the history of Revard. Yes. That’s why we’re going to
have a multi-path. Then the small one which will be a rack railway
and then the cable car. So, spa guests used to
both take the waters and come here to the higher altitudes. Quite.
In Aix-les-Bains,
the most romantic of spa towns, so dear to the poet Alphonse de Lamartine,
the silhouettes of the sumptuous palaces of the Belle Époque
proudly dominate the town. Panoramic, excelsior, royal,
splendid, most of these luxury establishments,
built between 1850 and 1930 to satisfy the prestigious clientele,
were divided into private apartments, inaccessible to the public. Well, inaccessible, not quite. Thanks to Nelly’s contact,
you will have the chance to discover what one
of these fabulous palaces looked like. The entrance hall of the Splendide,
adorned with lapis lazuli stucco columns, illustrates the richness and eclecticism
of Art Nouveau and Art Deco decor. But the highlight of this visit
is Maryse Guinchard’s apartment, completely renovated
in the style of the period. Hello Nelly.
Hello Marine. Are you doing well ?
Thank you for having me. Welcome to my childhood dream. We cross the threshold and there,
we enter a new era. There, we are in another time. I am happy to show you this
large salon of the Splendide which served as a coffee shop and which saw so many
personalities, the Empress here, the Emperor of Brazil. So, is everything period here?
Everything is period. I tried to capture the atmosphere
of the late 19th century by hunting for English furniture, since the clientele
was mostly British. The columns were like this,
the panels too. All the wall lights and chandeliers I don’t have
, I had them re-wired. I added a little
modern touch with two white sofas because I didn’t want it to look
stuffy or old-fashioned, but that’s it. I don’t feel like I own the place. I just feel like I’m a
witness stick that will pass this place from hand to hand to people who will know how to protect it. For Maryse, the adjoining room transformed
into a bedroom remains one of the most emblematic of her apartment.
In the store. You see, you are here
in the old bar of the Splendide. That is to say, it was still
a room that was rather reserved for men, with a
very masculine mahogany woodwork decor, with threads of amaranth and lemon tree. Here you had the old
zinc bar with little armchairs to have drinks. And the gentlemen would
rather gather in this part to smoke. Maryse, are you sleeping today
in what used to be a bar? What does it feel like? Listen, this is completely original. When I wake up,
I look at parties, breasts, the Silfites which are covered
in satires and I tell myself that here, there must have been some serious
love intrigues, geopolitical conversations with all the events
which must have happened during all these years, 1925, 1930,
the economic crisis, etc. I imagine that it must have been heavy and
serious, but I feel light. Were women
allowed in this bar? Well, not really, Nelly. It was a little reserved for men,
but we were approaching the 1930s when women were becoming liberated. And the aggressor had asked for the construction
of this small staircase that leads to the terrace
so that she would not have to go through the entrance hall,
so that she could come to the bar incognito. A terrace that also bears witness to
major historical events. You see, Nelly,
we’re sitting on a charming terrace , but you should know that it was
here on April 15, 1912, that banker John Pierrepunt Morgan,
owner of the Titanic, learned that his ship had sunk. With over 1,400 people on board,
he should have been on his boat. What was it that he was
n’t on his boat? He had come to the Splendide to celebrate his
birthday with one of his mistresses. Okay, so that’s what saved him. You could say that,
everyone has their own morality. Maryse has many other anecdotes
to share about her apartment. If you would like to discover them,
do not hesitate to come and knock on his door during Heritage Days. In the meantime, the rest of our visit
takes us a few steps from the Palace, to another institution in Ax-les-Bains. It is the sublime casino inaugurated
by the King of Savoy in 1850, which Béatrice Drouenne
knows better than anyone. Beatrice, you’ve arranged to meet me
in what was, during the Belle Époque, the heart of social,
artistic and cultural life, is that it? I think, Nelly,
that we couldn’t have put it better than what you just said. Indeed, people come to Aix for
the thermal water, but above all for everything the city has to offer,
especially the casino. Here, we are surrounded
by incredible scenery? Here, we are truly
in the palace of Fairyland. We have this magnificent room with
the mosaic ceiling which, of course, illustrates the theme of water,
but also feminine representations, since water is the feminine element,
by definition, beautiful cold colors, warmed
by the beautiful orange and red colors. And then the golden thread
that makes the mosaic sing. The water is also in the stained glass window,
which is just behind you, and which actually represents
Lake Bourget. And then there is love, which is drawing
strength from the thermal springs of Exceva. But now we’re going to the theater.
Okay, I’ll follow you. Every summer season during the Belle Époque,
the Casino’s superb Italian-style theater hosted concerts, operas,
plays, and sumptuous balls where the greatest artists performed. It opened in 1899 with Saint-Saëns’ opera, Samson et Dalila. We have Sarah Bernhardt who comes to play
the lady of the camellias and then Thaïs by Massenet. It’s an absolutely
incredible series of shows. Almost every night
there is a different one. Ultimately, we come to this theater
both to see and to be seen. It is true that at the time, the show
was as much on stage as in the hall. The women are in their finest attire,
with rivers of diamonds on these magnificent women. It is also said that for
Massenet’s Thaïs, there is competition between the diamonds
of the spectators and those who sang Thaïs. We are at the height of elegance. Only the outbreak of the First
World War brought the 112 annual performances to an end. Transformed into a military hospital,
the casino and theater housed more than 300 wounded from the front. At the end of the war, in 1818, Aix
became a rest area, so to speak, for American soldiers on the front. And at that time,
Aix welcomed more than 110,000 American soldiers and they were offered lots
of entertainment, American plays, jazz orchestras. There was everything you needed to have
fun, relax, and forget the harsh reality of the trenches. Our tour of the Aix-les-Bains region
continues along the Savières Canal,
which connects the Rhône to Lake Bourget, where Nelly is keen to reveal
another of the region’s heritage sites. In the medieval village of Shana, there are
authentic 15th-century houses with flat-tiled roofs. This port is
Patrick Tardivel’s little paradise. Patrick, the Savières Canal
is used today for pleasure boating, but was
n’t that always the case? No, that wasn’t always the case.
But how? Otherwise, in the past,
this port was mainly for traffic between Lake Bourget and the Rhône, that is to say,
goods were brought up to France. There was a toll booth
a little higher up, called the fort. Of course, pottery was
transported there , as well as food,
but also a lot of stone and lime, since these
materials were used in construction. So Shana was really
a commercial place? It was He had a
very important commercial place in the region. But in 1850, commercial freight ended
on the canal with the arrival of the railway. Among the other vestiges of
Shana’s past are three 19th-century trough mills,
including Patrick’s, nestled in the heart of the forest. You have a
beautiful environment when you get there. More natural, more authentic,
that’s already difficult. A little hidden mill. You still have a building
that is 150 years old. In the region,
the former baker who became a miller 12 years ago is considered
the king of walnut oil. And Nelly will have the chance
to participate in its creation. Here is the mill. Has
this mill always been full of oil? No, he didn’t
always make oil. At the time, we made
wheat flour, of course, but from drop flour, from corn. In the 1950s,
it fell dormant for about forty years and I
bought this mill in 2007. Since then, this enormous 6-meter diameter bucket wheel
turns nine to ten months a year,
powered by water and electricity, when the spring dries up in summer. Come on Nelly, I invite you to take
the jump, then load the stone. Come on. Like that ? There we have it, the kernels have been arranged. Now we’re going to put
the stone in motion. Come on, you’re going to take the controller.
So this is it? Here, we’re going to pull it back. I’m going to help you a little
because this is hard. And here we go, let’s take a look. Fantastic. Are there many mills
like these left in Savoy? No, in Savoie, there are
almost none left. There are about ten mills that operate year-
round in France. Once ground, the walnut kernels are
placed in a tank for 20 minutes at 60 degrees to be dehydrated. It’s fast, it’s precise. So. And work will never kill you. So it’s a real pleasure. And it smells very good. Finally, they are placed in the
old 300-ton press. Come on, let’s go. You know what comes to mind? You are an alchemist. Do you like transforming matter? Maybe a little, yes. Can I taste?
Come on, taste it. Is it hot?
Of course it’s hot. It’s nice. It’s very intense in flavor. What I’m looking for
is not so much performance. There is always
enough yield, but it is mainly the taste. You have to smell like
walnut or hazelnut. We feel it very strongly. Savoy has taste. Yes, she has taste. And Savoie has more to
offer than ever. After this venerable mill, Nelly wants to show us another jewel of the region. The royal abbey of Haute-Combe,
which has overlooked the shores of Lake Bourget since the 12th century, is a unique place. It houses the tombs of the illustrious
counts of Savoy and the last kings and queens of Italy. A place preserved by Sister Pascale-Avis
and the members of the Chemin-Neuf congregation. Welcome to Haute-Combe Abbey. Here, we are in an
emblematic place of Savoie. Absolutely. So you are at the Haute-Combe Abbey,
which is a very important spiritual and heritage site, historical
since the 12th century. This facade
that flows into the waters of the lake is magnificent. It has a very mysterious side,
then also romantic. Absolutely.
This facade is definitely 19th century. We are due south. It is truly a very pleasant place
which attracts by its beauty, but also by its calm and its meditation. All right. In the 19th century, the Haute-Combe Abbey
was saved from ruin at the request of King Charles Felix of Savoy. Ernest Mélano, the architect in charge of
the work, restored the cloister. He restored the Gothic church to its
15th-century appearance, while adding exuberant decorations
in the troubadour baroque style, an artistic movement
of which very few architectural examples remain to this day . We arrive under the dome
in the church which is magnificently decorated, as you can see. It’s very busy, it’s very rich,
lots of scrolls, twists, floral motifs.
Absolutely. From here, we can clearly see the whole scenery. It’s not trompe-l’oeil,
it’s really stucco in relief. If you look closely,
we have the four evangelists on each side and in the center, we have
six angels floating in the sky. And over here, you will
of course recognize the Nativity scene. There are the three wise men and also on the right,
in the corner of the painting, you have a camel. Another particularity of the Basciale: its collection of exceptional statues, as well as around thirty tombs
and cenotaphs, funerary monuments erected
in memory of the Savoy dynasty. King Charles Felix,
when he restored Otkong, wanted to make Otkong
a nest saint of Savoy. So, it’s really a place
where we cry, where we are sad. You see, it is really this cibile
of Bajé, who is represented here with a greyhound which is a sign of fidelity. Charles Félix really wanted that when
one enters this dark abbey, one thinks with sorrow of all those
dead of the House of Savoy. This is where
we leave Nelly to continue our Savoyard odyssey in the Beaufortin region. Nestled between Albertville and the
Avanoise Park, beneath the benevolent silhouette
of Mont Blanc, the mountain slopes of the
Beaufort region reveal pastures dotted with colorful flowers
and a thousand and one chalets. A corner of paradise that Angélique
Perretteau wants to share with us. The local boy, born in Albertville,
is a pastry chef. She never tires
of the treasures of her region. And according to her,
one of the jewels of the beautiful fort that you absolutely must see is Autlus. A pastoral village that no longer holds
any secrets for Josiane Tercinet. How are you ?
Very good, and you? What beautiful sunshine over Savoie this morning. And on Autlus. And what about Autlus? We’re going to visit. We are going to visit Autlus. According to legend, Autlus comes
from Altalux, light on the heights. Unless the name of the village is taken
from that of a Roman named Lucius, whose estate was
located in the Alps. There is a new little store here. There is Martha who comes out.
Hold. Good night.
Good night, Josiane. Listen, there’s a long head,
it’s not old. It’s not you, other more.
I don’t understand it. We don’t have the same one at my place, in Reges. No, there is a variation. And at school, you didn’t speak?
No. For what ? No, we went to school
to learn French. French. My dad spoke it very well,
but he didn’t want to speak it to me. So I learned it from customers
since my parents were in business because I wanted to learn it. But Mart, you, at home,
we spoke patois. We do, yes, in our dialect. It was your language at home. So.
Harvie, Harvie, Harvie. In
the village, the typical chalets that house
some 800 souls bear witness to the attachment that the people of Haute-Luce
have to their heritage. Here in Haute-Luce, we see that there are
older chalets and others that are younger. Yes, it is a country that lives and we have
chalets that can be relatively old. The chalets in the village have more
stone than the chalets in the countryside. Having a stone chalet
made it look a little more like a house downstairs. And then, the top was mounted in madrillé,
basically, wooden beams. So, actually,
the animals were in the basement, in this stone part of the chalet. And I guess the heat had to
rise to warm the family who lived in that room upstairs. It contributed to the
eco-friendly central heating, didn’t it? Ecologist. You should know that here,
everyone had several chalets. So, there was the chalet roughly
at valley level, there, at village level. Then after, you had the second chalet
which we started to climb to in the spring at around 13, 15, 100 meters above sea level. And then, a little later, towards summer,
we would go up to the mountain pastures and everyone would spend their time moving.
Beached. Apparently, it wasn’t space
that was lacking? No, there may have been other things
missing, but certainly not space. But certainly not space. In the meadows and pastures
surrounding the village, the inhabitants perpetuate a
centuries-old coastal agropastoral tradition. Here, obviously,
one of the main resources, if we leave tourism aside,
is of course agriculture for the breeding of cows,
for the production of milk which allows us to make this beautiful fort that we love,
which allows us to maintain real agriculture and therefore landscapes
which are maintained. Beyond agricultural activity,
I also heard that there were some not-so-
legal practices in the region. Of course, because we were
a country of contraband. Indeed, after the annexation
of Haute-Savoie to France in 1860, the region benefited from a free zone
whose tax-free products such as coffee, chocolate and sugar from Cannes
attracted much interest. This has sparked
a whole smuggling business. In particular, there were many
individuals who were trafficking. I know that my grandfather
was a smuggler. They had amazing streets. So, the ladies would
smuggle the contraband in pockets hidden under the juices. Or, contraband was smuggled
in the baby’s prams. This means that in these mountains,
we realize that everything fits in quite freely in the end. The history, architecture and
nature surrounding Autlus mark the uniqueness and authenticity of the village. But the town still hides many other
wonders that Josiane and Angélique will show us. At an
altitude of 1,650 metres, with Mont Blanc as a backdrop,
the Saisis area is a paradise for skiers and hikers. However, our two Savoyards did
not come here to have fun. The reason is more solemn. So of course, Josiane,
we cannot come to our valley without mentioning the maquisards and also
the resistance during the Second World War. Yes, indeed, here at Saisie,
it was an extremely important place. Jean Bull, who was the
military head of the resistance in the Albertville region, was responsible, among other things,
for organizing the famous parachute drop of American weapons at the Col des Saisies,
which took place on August 1, 1944. Here, you have to imagine 78
flying fortresses arriving with an absolutely enormous roar
and dropping between 800 and 900 containers of weapons
intended for 3,000 men. Operation Ebonit is a success. The equipment received by the resistance fighters
was sent throughout Savoy to support the resistance. Every family here has its own stories. I’ve heard it too. And you too, personally,
must have a certain number of them. If I look at my own family,
we have a different chalet than the one in the village. And at one point,
the resistance fighters used it. It was one of their bases. I also know that my father
supplied the resistance fighters. And in almost every cabin here,
after the parachute drop, we found a Stène submachine gun well
hidden in the barn with some ammunition. To
continue the visit, Angélique would like to share
another monument with us, this one culinary. And when it comes to gastronomy,
Savoie has some serious assets. Angelique, come on, let’s prepare
the pork chop and the pork chop. I’m coming, I’m coming. In Crévolan, at Évelyne’s provincial home,
the égourd and the monier pork are an institution. A traditional recipe that can
only be found on the tables of Haute-Lucien families. So, Evelyne, I’m very interested
to know what’s beautiful on this table?
All the ingredients to make the gourd. Currants, flour,
eggs, potatoes, of course. So,
are potatoes important in the region? Is this a food that is easily found? Yes, at the time they had a small
garden and there were very few vegetables. They lived with what they had. And then, you needed
consistent food. So. Come on, I’ll take the studio and the
chest, you take the herbs. We need to make a broth
like a pot au feu, in fact. A broth used to cook the
potatoes, which are then roughly mashed with the raisins,
eggs and flour. Come on, keep stirring.
Yes, chief. Before being rolled into a ball. Like a little dumpling, actually.
Yes, same. All right. The dough is still a little warm. Yes, always. So, is it going like this?
It’s impeccable. You can put them on the table if you want.
Are we going like this? Yes.
Ok. All that’s left is to immerse the gourds
in the broth and let them simmer for about twenty minutes. So, Evelyne, where did you
get this recipe? My mother-in-law who
taught me how to do the snout. So, does your daughter have the recipe too? Yes, she does them too. And me too, now. While cooking,
Evelyne also prepared another emblematic dish of the valley.
There you go, there you go. The courts, the pork shovel, the sausage. Porcmoniers are sausages made from lean
pork mixed with aromatic herbs, chard,
leek whites or cabbage. So, you see the Pourmenier pigmen. It is a specialty of Authlus. Each village has its own way
of making its Pourmenier. All right. They can be eaten either
unsmoked or smoked. We prefer a little unsmoked. Come on, let’s taste all of this. So. THANKS. Come on.
The honor is yours. It looks delicious. I’m having a great time, Evelyne. Thank you very much, look. We have nothing to envy anyone. We are the happiest today. Now we have to go back down,
because Angélique is expected in the village of Authlus to present her
artistic and religious heritage to us. Its masterpiece is the 17th-
century church and its neoclassical architecture, on which guide
Martine Vialet is an expert. The church of Autlus
is a church that is close to my heart. It was my grandmother’s country. She always told me it was
the most beautiful bell tower in the world. Obviously, majestic,
enormous, 55 meters high. And then, the onion-domed bell tower here
is original, it’s the only one in the beautiful fort. And with
silver metallic scales. All right. Destroyed after the revolution in 1794,
the bell tower was rebuilt identically in the 19th century. The facade is decorated with
trompe-l’oeil decorations, including a false sundial and an intriguing
skeleton on the back of the church. It is the symbol of death. It’s a vanity. This is something that we see a
lot in all the arts during the Baroque period. It is to remind us that we are mortal
and that perhaps, if we behave well, there will be hope of reaching
a wonderful place called paradise. After 18 months of work,
the Compagnons du Devoir and the Italian artists have managed to restore the Church of
Saint-Jacques d’Assyrie to its former splendor. Angelique, you see all these lights
coming in through the low windows, through the high windows. This, too, gives
a taste of paradise. The stands are still
something very typical here. Yes, the stands were reserved
for the men in the upper part and the women, on the other hand, were at the bottom. Perhaps because of the women’s costumes,
it was perilous to climb the very steep stairs. But in this church, the most
surprising thing is just behind. This jewel of Savoyard Baroque art,
inspired by the Italian artistic movement , dates from the 18th century. So, if there is something
incredibly baroque, it is the altarpiece which is lit, which is gilded,
which is colored with blue, reds. Look at the importance of this tabernacle
which hides the painting a little. This too is Bofortaine,
a Bofortaine specificity. Very colorful characters. And then there, you see, look at this
preaching pulpit, that’s what we used to say. Very Baroque,
with its little angel heads. And then, these four characters
who, if we look at them, they come out of the frame, they speak to us a little. Look at this pope, there he is speaking to us. So, people liked the Baroque
because everyday life was certainly tough for many and we entered these
places of light and luxury. Somewhere, these sorrows were deposited
and it was, for once, a real foretaste of paradise. A taste of paradise that can
also be captured in the flavor of the Alps. And this morning, Angélique got up
at dawn to share it with us. She has an appointment at an altitude of 1,100 meters
in the chalet of Frédéric Ogéry,
who will reveal to us the secrets of making the most famous and one
of the best ambassadors of Bofortin, Bofort cheese. Good morning.
Hi Angelique, how are you? Did you find the place easily? I’m used to coming this way,
I do a bit of mountain biking. It’s good. We are happy here in the mountains,
you are very happy. We are impeccable, that’s good. Then you put on your boots, that’s good,
we can get to work. Come on, I’ll follow you.
You can send the milk, Cyril. I imagine the quality of the milk
must be very important. Of course.
There, it’s the Bofort chalet d’Alpage. What we do is the three differences
with a Bofor which is made cooperatively.
So we have only one herd. We are not allowed to mix milks. Then it is a traditional method
and we are always above 1,500 meters of altitude. So the cow will eat
the best grass at the best time. All right.
So there we have a really unique taste. Exactly.
All right. After adding rennet,
the milk takes 25 minutes to curdle. Frédéric then cuts it into small,
homogeneous grains, then collects it with a linen cloth
before placing it in his mold and putting it under pressure to
give it its final shape. Traditional gestures reproduced in
this chalet for several generations. You push there.
All right. Grow there. Let’s loosen it,
let’s loosen it again if you want. This is a grindstone, it’s from last night. So there were
about 390 liters of milk. So she weighs about 42 kilos. It is one of the only cheeses in France
with an abundance that is concave. This is truly the
Bofort trademark. Before, they had made it concave like that,
because when each small farmer made his Bofort in the mountain pastures,
he brought the cheese down on the back of a wheel. So of course, it was easier to have
molds that were concave, if you like, to hold,
rather than something that was in your sense, converse,
which would tend to come out. And there you have it.
Great. And now we kept
the concave shape like this. Cheesemakers are not stupid.
No, yes, yes. There are some in there. Frédéric alone makes four
wheels a day, matured in the shade of a cellar for at least five months
before being tasted. Delicious. Yeah, thanks.
Yeah, very fruity. You know, to taste
the Bofort, from the mountains. The best way,
I think, is to come to your house. To crown our visit to the land
of Bofort, a detour to one of the most
spectacular dams in the Alpine massif is a must. With its artificial lake of
extraordinary dimensions, the Roseland Dam, inaugurated in 1962,
is a technological feat. An exceptional work of art
from Savoyard industrial heritage that should not be missed. The final leg of our journey through Savoie now takes us to the Bonneval-sur-Arc region,
on the edge of Haute-Maurienne. At the eastern entrance to the Avanoise National Park
, nestled in a magnificent landscape at an
altitude of 1,850 metres, Bonneval-sur-Arc reveals a succession
of stone houses with slate roofs
and wooden balconies. Daniel Gaine-et-Dineuf fell in love with this village, ranked among the most beautiful
in France, about
fifteen years ago, while he was organizing a dog sled race. Today, he has the chance to explore it with Sylvia Charier, a heritage guide. Hi Daniel.
Hello Sylvia. How are you ?
Hey, Sylvia, it’s 6 below this morning. Minus 6 this morning,
but look, we’re fine. We’re good, we’re good.
But we can already feel the harshness. The harshness of the climate here. This probably also explains these
robust, solid buildings. An architecture that is rather mineral,
as you can see, with essentially nose walls
and roofs with these large slabs of schist called lauzes. The roofs are not very sloping. This allows the snow to stay on the roof
and therefore snow is a very good insulator. Everything is done to keep in
as much heat as possible. It is only in Bonneval that we see
architecture of this quality, this architecture of stone, of flagstone? Quite simply because during
the Second World War, the Germans did not burn down
the village as happened in the lower valley. The church gong gives us
the starting signal to visit the village. That’s it, we’re off.
They’re gone.
270 Bonnevalins live in the village year-round, whose picturesque dwellings
still bear witness to the pastoral activities of yesteryear. So here we are on which
street in Bonneval exactly? Let’s say it’s the
main street of Bonneval. Hey, Sylvia, I’ve always
wondered what those things were. What is it for? We see them in several places,
yes, on the galleries. That’s what we call
big good, not you. These are sheep manure briquettes
that were used as fuel at the time. As you may have noticed,
there isn’t much wood in Bonneval. No, we saw clearly, around
the village, no forest. So, we had to find
solutions to heat ourselves. During the winter, you had sheep
trampling the manure. In the stables, the beruries, stables? The Bonnevalins cut out small
squares which they placed on the galleries, interspersing them with small pieces
of wood so that they would dry more easily. It took almost
a year for it to be completely dry. And you see, today,
these galleries came from the balconies with barriers, with pretty flowers. But in any case, it is a nice
testimony to the past era. Another particularity of these
typical dwellings of Haute-Maurienne is their location. It is a pleasant one
for the village of Bonneval. To be Bonnevalin or Bonnevalaine,
you have to love snow. Bonneval is the snow village. Besides, here we are located
in a small Avalanche corridor. So. But if you look closely,
the Bonnevalins knew how to build in relation to natural risk. They knew their terrain,
they knew the territory. You can see in the street,
all the houses are rounded and that’s what allowed your
trickle of snow to flow. This winter, the snow
reached about this level. But of course,
to get into the houses, everyone had to take a few short steps. But it was not an exceptional winter. There were many others in
previous years. You could be cut off for
at least several weeks and be supplied immediately. It seems that it was once said that it was
not Bonneval that was cut off from the world, but the world
that was cut off from Bonneval. It’s still true.
It’s still true. Despite the ingenuity of the
Bonnevalins architects, avalanches were not always
without consequences for the village, which sometimes suffered serious damage. This church was damaged
several times and in 1860, this time, it was completely rebuilt. The original bell tower. Everything was rebuilt around it afterwards. At the entrance to the village,
another monument has withstood the elements: the old
bridge of Bonnevalle-sur-Arc. In 1957, after an exceptional flood
which inundated the entire village, it was decided to divert the river. Although it has become useless,
this magnificent bridge has nevertheless been preserved. Listen, they did well to keep
this bridge, because today, it is a symbol for Bonnevalle-sur-Arc, and
above all, for us and all visitors, it is the opportunity to have
a panoramic view of all the mountains that surround the village. We leave Bonnevalle-sur-Arc
for the high Maurienne plateau, a few kilometers downstream. In the village of Bessan,
Fabrice Persona perpetuates a 160-year-old tradition: the sculpture of the Devil
of Bessan, the town’s emblem. Hi Fabrice.
Hi Daniel. How are you ? Yes, very well, but you work
in idyllic conditions. There, in the bright sun. Does the sun give you inspiration? Well yeah, you see,
it’s the devil of Bessan, the famous devil with the priest
that I’m sculpting. It begins to appear. Your priest doesn’t smile much. He’s not too happy. In Bessan, wood carving has been
a pillar of Savoyard Baroque art since the 17th century. In Fabrice’s store,
religious statues coexist with animals of all kinds. But it was the imps
who made the village famous. In 1857, there was a sculptor,
Étienne Vincent Day, who fell out with his priest. And he made a devil like this one
who carries the priest under his arm and he went to put it on the
priest’s window at nightfall. The priest saw this and got angry. And like that, for a month, the devil
flew from window to window every night. Some time later,
some tourists walking up the valley saw the devil, thought it was
funny, and bought it from him. And then he said to himself: But why not
make devils if they sell as well as saints? And that’s how we started
sculpting devils in Bessan. In the Persona family,
sculpture is passed down from father to son. But today, it is to Daniel
that Fabrice will pass on his knowledge. So you’re going to try to
outline it for me there. So, you’re going to take
the Opinel knife there, like that. No, try I’ll take it,
you see, look, straighter. First, you make a line
to cut and then you remove it. The devil of Bessan,
there is nothing satanic about it. It’s more of a joke or to make
fun of institutions, things like that. What kind of wood is this,
love pinch? I only carve in
lovewood, which is the local carving wood. All mountain people carve
in the love pinch and it is one of the rare woods that can
pass the centuries without moving. That’s why the statues
in churches don’t move, they are always in perfect condition. How do you want your priest?
Smiling or… ?
Try not to cut your finger off first. Well, listen, you know what we’re going to
do, here, I’ll let you finish it. Daniel’s passion for
Savoyard craftsmanship naturally leads him to other creations. Those sculpted by nature
over millennia. Between the high valleys of the Morienne
and Tarentaise, where the peaks reach over 3,000
meters, lies France’s first national park , the Avanoise Natural Park. An area where Nathalie Choiseau works
with her four-legged companions. His refuge is located on the slopes
of the Orgeère valley. Arvie, Nathalie.
Hi, Daniel. It’s Arvie that we say in patois.
Yes, that’s it. How are you ?
Good, good. Very happy to see you again.
Yes, welcome. In an extraordinary landscape.
It’s pretty. It’s beautiful. You saw how lucky we are
to be here. And your life is
mainly donkeys? It’s mainly donkeys. They are with me all year round. And then in the winter, I’m a ski instructor. So, we share our time
between several activities. I would like to meet them.
There is no problem. I will introduce them to you.
They are not all here. Here we have Storm.
Hello Storm. So. There’s his brother right
there behind, his name is Oryx. I had one of the last
in the family, which makes me laugh. They come from a small Savoyard farm. And then we have Rever, who is right there,
who is magnificent too. Come on, Loulou, we’re going for a
walk with Daniel. He’s going to hold me. With Cézanne, for around ten years,
Nathalie has been offering walks to discover the natural
and wild heritage of the valley, on paths used
by several generations of farmers. In the old days, every family
came here throughout the beautiful period. And in fact, all the slopes
were grazed by animals. So there were cows,
goats, sheep. And all the flat areas we
see around us were mowed. So back then
it was mowed by hand. And then, precisely,
the donkey and the mule were used to bring the
hay bundles back down to the village. Donkeys are still
very useful in Savoie. They are still widely used
today for work. They don’t
just do leisure work. For example, in Tarentese,
they are still used quite a lot to bring supplies to
mountain refuges or to shepherds. How are you, Quentin? Are
you holding on? Have you seen the marmots over there? Look how pretty she is. Look, Quentin.
She is standing. There she is, looking at us.
You see? We have a lot of marmots here in the valley
, they live in colonies. In fact, marmots love to eat
fresh grass, so they are forced to move
a little further away from the entrance to their burrows. When predators arrive,
it could be a golden eagle or a fox, for example, the way to warn your
friends is to whistle. I’ve heard a lot about the marmots here in Orgeère, because my children
were both at the Modane secondary school and in sixth grade, the children spend
two days here integrating. And it’s true that this valley
has always charmed and left its mark on them. Dreamer in rage. See you
soon, Nathalie. THANKS.
It was a pleasure. Hello children.
See you next time. Daniel takes advantage of this hike
to make a detour to the neighboring valley, on the Ource de Saint-André plan,
where we will discover another way of communicating, this time human. The association, of which François Charpin is a
member, has restored an 18th- century invention that had fallen into oblivion:
the Téléraphe Chape. Hello François. What are you tinkering with? I am re-pointing the telescope exactly at the
Avrieu post, over there. You’re going to explain it to me, so I’ll finally
understand what this cabin here in the forest is. This is one of the posts of the Téléraphe Chape
which ensured the connection between Lyon and Turin by passing messages. There
were 33 small houses like these,
which are called baracons, which were equipped with glasses
and a device which made signals. And the signals traveled between Lyon
and Turin via these 33 posts that we have just mentioned. The time it must have saved
to get a message from Paris or Lyon to Turin was incredible. Of course, we have a good example. The birth of the King of Rome
in Paris around 9:00 one morning. And this birth is known in Turin
in the evening, whereas if they had sent a mounted courier as was done
at the time, it would have taken two weeks. The system was so effective that Napoleon
I used it for military purposes. In the middle of the 19th century,
530 towers crisscrossed France over more than 5,000 kilometers,
connecting the largest cities in the country. This is François, the Teleraphe Cat,
what you restored. Your pride.
Yes. It’s beautiful.
It’s beautiful. These are the two masts,
the two masts that stick out. These are two masts which carry
the large arms which are put in place by this system. For example, in Paris, we want to code
a message that we will send to Turin. We have a vocabulary that allows us to code
the word, for example, the word immense. This immense word, by alphabetical help,
it is on page 44 and on line 34. The name, the word 44, it is
represented by this signal. The big bar is vertical, so we
‘ll put the big bar vertical. So. Do you want to try?
Come on, I’ll try, very good. You come out of the notch and then
you go up there. You have to be a little tough.
Very very good. Very good there. And then you go down,
you get into the groove. So. And all of this will happen
in Turin, in that order. And the guy has the same
vocabulary as in Paris. And he goes straight to page 44 and
line 34 and he finds the word immense. And here he only knows the numbers. And the secret is kept. Lots of privacy. The only constraint is that the Chape telegraph
only works during the day and in good weather. In 1852, supplanted by the appearance
of the electric telegraph and the invention of Morse code, it was abandoned. In
Haute-Maurienne, telegraphs were not the only constructions
to have been used by the army. The region also has many forts. The fortified barrier of Essayon,
one of the most majestic, has five over a distance of three kilometers. One of them, Fort Victor-Emmanuel,
is the preserve of Jean-Marie Fressard.
Hi Jean-Marie. Mountain guide. I’m
doing well. So, every time I come here,
I am always surprised to see how protected the Montsardinian foothill kingdom was. So, this fort, it was made to contain
1,500 soldiers, but just on this fort, Victor Emmanuel, to prevent
the French Army from passing. A great firepower
since there were 88 cannons. And then after, completed by the other
forts which are above and below. Here we go ?
Come on. Inside this fort,
of impressive dimensions, there is a hospital, a powder magazine,
a chapel and a water reserve. Enough to withstand a siege
of several weeks. So here, Jean-Marie,
we are on the Place d’Armes. Exactly. You see, the building
was really built to impress the enemy
who was coming from there. And on this parade ground,
apart from the reviews, perhaps a few medal ceremonies,
not much happened either because the fort
was not completely equipped either. There may have been 300 or 400
soldiers, but many more. Because in 1860, 30 years after the construction
of the fortified barrier, Savoy was attached to France. Here, only the penitentiary
served the Kingdom of Sardinia. So, this building is the penitentiary. So it was to punish
the men of the garrison? There isn’t one at all. It was a political prison. So they imprisoned
people who came from the Nice hinterland or the Nice region, among other places,
and who conspired against the Piedmont-Sardinian monarchy. After the annexation of Savoy,
Napoleon III had Fort Charles Félix, facing France, destroyed
and retained the other fortifications. Today, the ray barrier, which
has become national heritage, is listed in the inventory of historical monuments. Daniel continues his journey through time,
now moving from the 19th century to the Neolithic period. The Loses Archaeological Park is a
sort of open-air laboratory for Françoise Ballet,
a heritage curator specializing in the study of
rock carvings. Hi Françoise. Hi Daniel. I followed your advice. I took off my shoes to respect
2000 years of history. Yes, you did well. Tell me, Françoise, what do you see here
, what does it represent? Here we have the legs of a character,
his spear. Here
we see the head, it’s a small cup, a small circular cavity,
the upper body, the lower body, the legs with the feet indicated,
and then a large spear whose very pointed end we see here. And then there are more
schematic or symbolic representations like these squares or this circle
too, with points inside, are interpreted as crops,
cultivated fields or enclosures with animals. This warrior, do we have any idea of the date when
he was engraved here, inlaid on this stone?
Yes, we have an idea of the date. All the engravings,
because there are some throughout Haute-Maurienne,
in several communes, we have listed them for the moment and
not everything has been discovered yet, more than 1,000 engraved rocks, so it’s quite enormous. They are placed in the Iron Age,
that is to say, roughly, between 700 and 100, 150 BC. So there was their big
drawing sheet and they wanted to leave messages. Yes, certainly,
except that unfortunately, we are unable to decipher them. We try, but it’s very difficult. So we just collect them,
study them, and preserve them. For three years, Françoise and her team have been
modeling the engravings in three dimensions in the hope of one
day unraveling the mysteries of the first Savoyards. Before leaving, we
take a last look at the Avanoise park, from the Col de Lyseran,
at an altitude of 2,770 meters. This is where our Savoyard odyssey ends, with its
many facets sure to dazzle you.
Ce nouveau volet propose d’arpenter la Savoie jusqu’aux confins de la Haute-Maurienne.
Pour découvrir les merveilles des plus belles régions de France, c’est ici – Abonnez-vous 👉 http://bit.ly/3zjR2Vj 🙏
Cette région de montagnards a conservé de véritables trésors. Le lac du Bourget offre un cadre naturel que nombreux considèrent comme étant l’un des plus envoûtants. Aix-les-Bains est aussi à découvrir notamment pour son charme 100% Belle Epoque. Jadis haut lieu de villégiature des familles princières d’Europe, elle a su conserver son statut de ville d’eau. C’est à l’époque romaine que les premières sources ont été à développer un centre thermal. Plus loin, dans la vallée du Doron, les bijoux du Beaufortain sont aussi à découvrir. Les aménagements hydroélectriques ont façonné le paysage.
Réalisé par Charles BOURLA.
© MORGANE PRODUCTION