France is separated into 27 different régions (including five overseas French territories) which are comparable to provinces/territories/states, and each of these is split into départements, 96 in total, which are similar to counties/municipalities. We caught our train to the tiny town of Pont-de-Beauvoisin which straddles the department boundaries of Isère and Savoie. Lyon, for the record, is in the Rhône department to the west of these two. All three of these, however, are part of the Rhône-Alpes region (as shown in the map above in the teal colour near the bottom right). Aside from departments having names, each one also has a number assigned to it based on alphabetical order. These numbers precede postal codes, so for example since the department number for Rhône is 69, my postal code is 69001. Still with me?
Galaad picked us up at the station and drove us past the town his parents live in, Saint-Béron, on our way to see the stunning Lac d'Aiguebelette. It is one of the largest lakes in France and in summer it is also the warmest. There are no motors allowed on the lake and it is used by the international rowing community for training and competitions. I was in no way prepared for the beauty of this place and felt quite overwhelmed at the sight of it. The sharp colour of the water against the backdrop of the mountain was breathtaking, and the thought that Galaad grew up just minutes away from this incited some minor jealousy! He had prepared for us a delightful picque-nique composed of an entire roast chicken, salads, baguette and cheese (naturally) and chocolate cake. It was divine. James and I took many a photo and also dipped our feet into the lake. If only we'd brought swimsuits!
After lunch we drove around the entire lake taking in countless amazing views before heading to our next destination: Voiron and the Chartreuse distillery. Chartreuse is a liqueur made from herbs and plants which was accidentally discovered by the monks who created it when they were trying to create a health elixir in the 18th century. It is produced in two varieties, green (55%) and yellow (40%), the former having quite a strong taste. If you want to know more about it, check out the website here: http://www.chartreuse.fr/history-of-the-liqueurs;article;40;uk.html. Incredibly they offer a free tour of the distillery which includes a tasting at the end (they even refuse tips, much to James' delight) so we lined right up for the next one which was conveniently five minutes after our arrival.
Opting for something a little less intense, I bought us a bottle of raspberry liqueur from their store that a couple of weeks later we mixed with white wine to make a kir, a cocktail normally made with blackberry liqueur (but it tasted just as delicious with raspberry I assure you). Next we were off on the narrow, winding roads of the Parc naturel régional de Chartreuse surrounded by mountains and trees and barely any other vehicles. Our destination was the Réserve Naturelle des Hauts de Chartreuse to do a little nature walk and check out some waterfalls. We wanted countryside, and we got it.
If only we could come out here all the time! Absolutely gorgeous and quiet and relaxing. But of course after a long day we were ready for some more food, and luckily Galaad had organized a dinner out with some of his longtime friends. Back on the road again, we were on schedule to meet them at Le Café Crepe at 8pm in Miribel-les-Échelles until without warning we came to a detour in the road - but with no actual detour route. The only option was to turn entirely around and backtrack from where we'd just come from! Unfortunate but manageable. We got there about 20 minutes late but it was no matter, we were about to have a life-changing moment: eating real French fondue. It is traditionally served in winter here (same thing with crepes and other delicious specialties; don't ask me why anyone would deny themselves this treat for more than half the year) but we broke that rule and devoured copious amounts of melted cheese with bread on skewers...
When the pot gets low on fondue, you crack an egg into the remaining cheese and stir it in to properly finish off every last bit. Even though we had no room left in our stomachs, James and I somehow topped off our heavy dinner with a dessert of giant eclairs. I pretty much fell asleep under the weight of the food as soon as I got back into Galaad's car, and was happy to wake up pulling up to our apartment in Lyon around midnight. Knowing how much more there is to see in other surrounding departments and regions we can't wait to keep exploring! And let's be honest, eating.
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