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Chambery swelled with civic pride when the fourth of its four elephants returned last summer. A carnival atmosphere filled the center of this valley city of 58,000 at the base of the Alps. Bands played. Artists created miniature elephants. A tremendous mechanical pachyderm wowed the crowd. A costumed parade marched down rue de Boigne from the Castle of the Dukes of Savoy to the Fountain of Elephants.

There they were, the four of them, their new iron cast dazzling in the light, home at last after an absence of seven months. Affectionately known as les Quatre sans culs, the Assless Four, since only their fore portion is visible, they faced the crowd in each direction. Mayor Michel Dentin, his deputies and several thousand people of all ages gathered around, flush with admiration for the newly restored emblems of the city.

There was a time, however, when the man at the top of the pedestal that soars above the Fountain of the Elephants was the pride of the town rather than the pachyderms: General and Count de Boigne (1751-1830).

De Boigne was a mercenary who had made his fortune and his titles by selling his military and governing skills to various powers of Europe and the Indian sub-continent, especially in the Maratha Empire. He eventually retired from a life of adventure and settled back, via a stint in London, to his hometown of Chambery. Here he donated sizeable funds to charitable organizations, including to build a home for the aged and the indigent, and for projects to embellish the city. A municipal theater was built. So was the arcaded street that bears the philanthropist’s name, the street the elephant parade marched down.

After his death, Chambery would return the favor with a monument honoring his philanthropy and his military glory. De Boigne stands dressed as a general on a pedestal nearly 15 meters high. Yet it’s the cast-iron elephants that have become the symbol of the city worthy of celebration. As a sign of the popular desire to support the elephants, €160,000 of the €1 million restoration project came from donations.

“The elephants may not be the most profound historical element in Chambery, but sometimes an amusing piece of heritage is what one needs to enter further in depth into what makes up this peaceable city,” said Gerard Charpin, communications officer for the Chambéry Tourist Office. “Perhaps Chambery’s greatest symbol of heritage isn’t a monument at all but rather the sign that one might not even notice upon entering the city: Villes et Pays d’Art et d’Histoire” (Cities and Territories of Art and History).

30 Years of Villes et Pays d’Art et d’Histoire (VPAH)

Villes et Pays d’Art et d’Histoire (VPAH), meaning Cities and Territories of Art and History, is a label that’s easy to miss, particularly for foreign visitors unaware of its significance. Yet it brings together the wide variety of points of historical and architectural interest in Chambery, as it does in the 183 other towns, cities and territories (i.e. communes or grouping of communes) throughout France that hold the state-award label. The VPAH label was created under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture in the spring of 1985. That winter Chambery became one of the first towns to receive it. The city formally celebrated the 30th anniversary of its label in January, though with far less fanfare than the festivities that surrounded the return of the elephants.

As a name, Cities and Territories of Art and History is less seductive than a moniker as Les Plus Beaux Villages de France (The Most Beautiful Villages of France), the name of an association of 153 village and the signal that a visitor is entering a village or small town with two listed or classified monuments along with movie-set charms. Nevertheless, VPAH holds out the promise to residents and visitors alike that here one will have the opportunity not only to see but also to understand the history and significance of local heritage and architecture.

The VPAH label represents a joint engagement between the State and the municipality or group of communes to promote an understanding and preservation of local heritage and architecture. The label-holder undertakes to make significant efforts to engage local residents of all ages in local heritage, architecture and urban planning. This is done through guided tours, documentation, exhibitions and colloquia. Visitors can benefit from these as well.

A Vector of Identity

Heritage is given its broadest meaning for the purposes of the VPAH label. It includes natural, industrial and maritime heritage, as well as the memory of residents. Chambery’s Mayor Michel Dantin has called the label “a vector of identity.”

What is Chambery’s identity? It is the culmination of many components, eras and populations that create a city that sees itself a peaceably place in the valley at the base of the Alps.

Geographically, Chambery now appears to be on the edge of the map of France but for centuries it was the center of a duchy that straddled the Alps with Chambery and then Turino (now Italy) as its capital.

Duchy since 1416, Savoy was annexed to France, as was Nice, in 1860. Its firm attachment to France was part of a remodeling of the map of the Alps that soon involved the unification of Italy. Within the castle complex, now the prefecture of Savoy, at the opposite end of rue de Boigne from the elephants, the 15th-century chapel of the dukes of Savoy once housed the cloth purportedly showing a crucified Jesus that has become known as the Shroud of Turin. It remained there from 1502 to 1578 when the dukes moved it to their new capital across the Alps. A copy of the shroud can be seen in the recently restored chapel.

In conversations with elected officials, tourist officials and cultural leaders, it’s evident that they would like Chambery to live up not to its ducal grandeur but to the reputation that the philosopher and novelist Jean-Jacques Rousseau gave it when he called Savoyards “the best and most sociable people I know” and wrote of his stay here from 1736 to 1742: “If there is a little city in the world where one can enjoy the sweetness of life in a pleasant and secure society, it is Chambery.”

Quality Tourism and Programming for Families

To see VPAH as a mere reflection of a classification of historical monuments is to ignore the community-wide dimension and intention of the label. As Mayor Martine Berthet of Albertville, an Alpine town that has held the label since 2003, has said, “The label enables the recognition that Albertville’s historical and heritage-related richness largely goes beyond the context of the medieval city.” The same can be said about Chambery.

Alexandra Turnar, Chambery’s Deputy Mayor for Culture and Housing, the elected official responsible for overseeing Chambery’s proper application of the VPAH label, says that the label and the efforts it implies work on many levels.

“Tourism related to old stones may sound old-fashion,” she says, “but this isn’t simply nostalgia, it’s also turned toward the future… It isn’t just the sights that are important but how we live with this heritage and architecture today and how we will live with it tomorrow… For those visiting from outside of Chambery, it is a sign of a quality tourism, of intellectual tourism, where every age finds its place.”

“Intellectual” tourism certainly doesn’t preclude the pleasure of simply getting lost in the historic alleyways that run through the old town or from using Chambery as a jumping off point for excursions into the Alps for hiking or skiing or further along the valley to splash or bike or hike around Lake Bourget. Instead, it signifies that resources—exhibitions, brochures, guides, oversight, training of guides—are available to educate visitors and residents alike.

While applauding the quality of programming that introduces local school children to the city’s heritage, Turnar, at 34 a young parent herself, seems especially pleased to see “families increasingly involved in visiting and learning about our heritage.”

“Previously, Chambery was very turned toward a tourism of consummation. With respect to families that meant that we wanted activities to keep the children busy. Now there’s more of an effort towards and interest in transmitting our heritage, our knowledge and our memory of Chambery and of Savoy… Families are essential in transmitting heritage.”

Heritage and Architecture Interpretation Center

One of the obligations of the label is the creation and operation of a Heritage and Architecture Interpretation Centre or CIAP, which is partially subsidized by the state. Chambery’s CIAP is housed in the 16th-century Cordon mansion in the city center. The CIAP and its programming serve as one of the primary sites for educating children as well as adults about the city.

“The label recognizes work done of a long period of time as well as ongoing, forward-looking work,” says Sarah Dietz, who oversees the CIAP under the umbrella of Chambery’s Tourist and Congress Office. “Our task is to show how the story of the city is told, through architecture, daily life, history, monuments.”

Chambery’s CIAP, as that in other VPAH towns, is an appropriate starting point for both those seeking an in-depth approach and a light overview of the history of Chambery. Entrance is free. Documentation in Chambery is available in English. Chambery has no regularly schedule guided tours in English, though they are available upon request.

Beyond the Interpretation Centre, the visitor’s curiosity then leads to any number of major points of historical interest in the city: Saint Francis of Sales Cathedral with its surprising décor trompe l’oeil décor, among the largest such surfaces of the 19th century in France; the Beaux-Arts Museum; the Castle of the Dukes of Savoy; Les Charmettes, the house where Rousseau lived with his benefactor and lover Madame de Warens (thereby gaining his view of the sweet life in Chambery), and the Fountain of the Elephants, of course.

“The label isn’t simply a notion of quantity, of how many visits we organize, but also of quality,” says Dietz. “It translates the engagement of the city with respect to its heritage, its architecture, its urban planning and its population. It enables public awareness of urban developments. It is a part of public policy.”

Chambery’s Locomotive Roundhouse

Chambery’s locomotive roundhouse, la rotonde, a rare element of the railway system of yesterday still in use today, is a prime example of the evolving notion of what constitutes heritage. In 2012, just over a century of its being put into service, a portion of the roundhouse was opened as a second Architectural and Heritage Interpretation Centre, allowing for guided tours. With an internal diameter of 108 meters beneath a metal fame, the roundhouse is an impressive early 20th-century construction with 36 tracks that allows for storage of 72 locomotives.

On May 26, 1944, Chambery’s railway installations are hit by American bombers in order to prevent the movement German troops from to/from Italy as the Allies prepared for the Invasion of Normandy. About a third of the town were destroyed, but de Boigne and the elephants survived, furthering their symbolic value in a wounded city.

Despite effective destruction to the railway network the aerial bombing of 1944 also did surprisingly little damage to the roundhouse itself, which was fully restored in 1948. The structure also survived the threat of demolition in the early 1980s when the National Railway Company SNCF planned its demise in view of the cost of renovation. Those plans were thwarted by the efforts of railwaymen and in 1984 the roundhouse was listed on the supplementary inventory of Historical Monuments.

While still in use for maintenance and service by the French National Railway Company SNCF, the portion dedicated as the CIAP allows the general public to be inform and awed by the powerful locomotives. That dedicated as a portion is also used by the Association for the Preservation of Savoyard Railway Equipment (APMFS), which restores and maintains in working order a number of historic locomotives. The SNCF has authorized the association to use them for occasional tourist outings.

Other Heritage Organizations in Chambery

Chambery has a deep tradition of preserving and promoting their heritage sites. The Chambery Tourist Office was created in 1896. Les Amis de Vieux Chambéry (The Friends of Old Chambery), an independent association for the protection, preservation, restoration and acquisition of elements that historic and artistic value in the city and in the department, was created in 1933 and currently has over 600 members. While the association isn’t directly involved with the VPAH label, the label “gives more weight in defending major issues such as the protection or preservation of various buildings or monuments that are the focus of our attention,” says Michèle Chappius, the association’s president.

La Manivelle, meaning The Crank, Chambery’s club for vintage car collectors, has existed since 1972 and now has 120 members. It organize outings and events through the year, including a rally to visit their sister club ASVA Turino in view of Chambery’s historical relationship with the city on the other side of the Alps.

Serge Gross, president since 1998, the owner of an MG TA 1938 and a 1967 Jaguar, among other vintage vehicles, said that “Every amateur collector has a special affection for England.” British cars, he said, account for about 25% of those of the club’s members. The club’s major public event is the organization of Chambery’s Auto Retro fair, which attracts 7000 visitors over the first weekend of December.

The VPAH Network

The VPAH label itself must now be renewed every 10 years. Chambery is due for renewal in 2017, so preparing the renewal application is one of the projects that will be underway this year along with developing new sightseeing circuits and creating new opportunities for families to explore the city’s heritage. “We’re confident to have the label renewed,” says Turnar, “but one can’t miss the boat.”

With 186 labelled towns, cities and territories across France, label-holders have a lot to learn from each other. A national association that combines municipalities with the VPAH label and those with preserved and protected sectors “enables professionals in the heritage sector to exchange practical information and to reflect on various themes,” says Dietz.

In February, network participants from throughout France came to Chambery for a day of study on the theme of heritage sites belonging to companies, such as Chambery’s roundhouse with respect to the National Railway Company SNCF or hydraulic sites belonging to electric company EDF.

“We’re proud of what we have in Chambery,” says Turnar. “We’re proud of our history as Chamberians and as Savoyards. But the VPAH label isn’t just something we have where we can say, ‘There, we have it, now we can focus on something else,’ but rather a constant calling into question of what we are and where we’re going. Yesterday’s tourism is not today’s.”

As to tomorrow, cue the elephants. Following the successful celebration of their return in 2015, a second elephantine celebration took place on the 1st of July 2016. A new annual event seems to have been born in Chambery: The Elephant Festival.

Chambery Tourist Office, 5 bis place du Palais de Justice. Tel. 04 79 33 42 47

City Lodging in Chambery

5* Petit Hôtel Confidetiel, 10 rue de la Trésorerie. Tel. 04 79 26 24 17.
In the old town at the foot of the ducal castle, a stylish contemporary 5-star boutique hotel.

4* Le Cinq, 22 Faubourg Reclus. Tel. 04 79 33 51 18.
A contemporary boutique 4-star hotel between the train station and the elephants. Small indoor pool.

4* Mercure Chambéry Centre, 183 place de la Gare. Tel. 04 79 62 10 11.
A reliable 4-star chain hotel across the street from the train station.

3* Hôtel des Princes, 4 rue de Boigne. Tel. 04 79 33 45 36.
A central and pleasing hotel between the elephants and the ducal castle. Small spa.

Country Lodging near Chambery

4* Chateau de Candie, 533 Rue du Bois de Candie, 73000 Candie Tel. 04 79 96 63 00.
Midway between Chambery and Bourget Lake. Gastronomic restaurant L’Orangerie, noteworthy whether spending the night or not, especially in weather with dinner on the terrace.

4* Domaine des Saints Pères, 1540 Route de Chartreuse, 73000 Montagnole. Tel. 04 79 62 63 93.
Several miles south of Chambery, a lovely manor with a grand view up the valley. Small outdoor pool. Chalet-like restaurant.

Chambery’s Neighbor Aix-les-Bains, a Newcomer to the VPAH Label

Currently, 186 cities, towns and territories across France hold the label Villes et Pays d’Art et d’Histoire. Of Chambery’s relative neighbors, the lakeside towns of Annecy and Aix-les-Bains also hold the label as do, as do Albertville (site of the 1992 winter Olympics) and the rural and mountain territories of Hautes-Vallées de Savoie, Vallée d’Abondance and Voironnais. The complete list of VPAH cities, towns and territories throughout France can be found at www.vpah.culture.fr. (Also see www.an-patrimoine.org for more about how the association of VPAH towns and territories and towns with preserved neighborhoods stick together.)

While Chambery is now an old-hand at carrying the label, Aix-les-Bains, a town of 29,000 alongside Lake Bouget 11 miles north of Chambery, is a newcomer, having received it 2014. “It took four or five years to prepare the application for the label,” says Beatrice Druhen-Charnaux, a guide with the Aix-les-Bains Tourists Office whom Mayor Dominique Dord appointed to develop the application for the label. Durhen-Charnaux says that by enabling programming for both school children and adults VPAH can nearly be considered “a label of social engagement.”

Whether on a daytrip from Chambery or on a longer stay, visitors in Aix-les-Bains architectural evidence of the town’s significance as a 19th-century spa town as well as current sporting activities related to the lake and the mountains. Boats take visitors across the lake to Hautecombe Abbey, a burial place for the House of Savoy since the 12th century. Humbert II of Savoy, the last king of Italy, was buried here in 1983.

© 2016, Gary Lee Kraut

A previous version of this article appeared in the February 2016 issue of The Connexion.

The post Chambery: Civic Pride and the Four Assless Elephants appeared first on France Revisited - Life in Paris, Travel in France.

The removal occurred on Dec. 17, leaving the city’s most emblematic monument both dry and naked.

Chambery’s Fountain of Elephants may not embody the pinnacle of local architecture, the General/Count de Boigne, the mercenary-cum-philanthropist to whom it is dedicated, may not represent the summum bonum of virtue, and it isn’t as though the city has no other attractions. Nevertheless, in the absence of photogenic signs of Chambery’s role as the former seat of power of the House of Savoy, beyond its flag, the Fountain of Elephants is as fine a symbol as any of this most pleasant small city of some 60,000 inhabitants.

Furthermore, the fountain’s got a great and evocative nickname: “Les Quatre sans cul,” meaning the assless four. Only the head and forelegs of the four elephants exist. For now though, through the winter of 2014-15 and well into spring, the four will not only be without derriere but absent altogether. Two of them may need to be completely recast.

Here’s a video showing the dismantling of the elephants.

Who was General de Boigne?

Born in Chambery, Benoit Leborgne (1751-1830), later known as Comte and General de Boigne, had a storybook life of a soldier, traveler and hometown benefactor. As a soldier he worked under various states and organizations, alternately Irish, French, Sardinian, Russian and Indian. In 1796 he left India to live in London before returning to Chambery in 1801.

Having gathered a sizeable fortune along the way, particularly while at the service of the Maratha Empire of India, he donated significant funds to charitable organizations and for projects to embellish the city, including for the construction of homes for the aged and indigent, Chambery’s theater and the arcaded street that now bears his name. It was therefore fitting that Chambery would return the favor with a (not-too-expensive) monument to his memory, created by Pierre-Victor Sappey and inaugurated on Dec. 10, 1838.

American planes bombed Chambery on May 26, 1944 in order to prevent Germans troops from going to/from Italy during the final days of the Allied preparations for the Invasion of Normandy. The railway station and about a third of the town were destroyed, but de Boigne and his Assless Four survived, furthering the fountain’s symbolic value in a wounded city.

This is the first major restoration to the fountain since the early 1980s. The anticipated total cost of the operation is 1.2 million euros, with 40% being paid for by the Regional Department for Cultural Affairs (DRAC), 19% by Savoie/Savoy (the department) and the rest by the city and by private donation.

Already in the fall of 2013 the statue of the philanthropic general atop the column that soars over the fountain was removed for a thorough cleaning. The column and pedestal having been solidified in the meantime, the general soon returned with a golden bronze sheen that was then treated to return him to the patina of old age. It’s likely though that few Chamberians missed de Boigne during his absence since it’s the elephants that are the true stars of the monument.

The elephants will begin their trek back to the fountain in May 2015, when they’ll return to their slots surrounded by restored bas reliefs telling about de Boigne’s military exploits and his benevolence toward his hometown. The full project isn’t expected to be completed until June, however. Then the water will again spout from their trunks and the city will once again be whole, if assless.

© 2014, Gary Lee Kraut

Chambery is 2:50 by train from Paris. By car, Chambery is 1 hour from Lyon, 45 minutes from Geneva or Grenoble, 30 minutes from Annecy. For official tourist information see www.chambery-tourisme.com.

Also see this article about Chambery on France Revisited.

The post The Assless Elephants of Chambery Head Off for Restoration appeared first on France Revisited - Life in Paris, Travel in France.

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While working on my first guidebook to France in the early 1990s I met Gerard Charpin, the foreign press attaché of Chambéry, capital of Savoy (flag in photo) in the Rhone-Alpes region. By the time I arrived in Chambéry, in the valley of the foothills of the Alps, I’d been on the road in the region for about a week. Hearing that during that time I’d had an intensive schedule of visiting castles, churches, museums and old towns, Gerard was horrified that I hadn’t taken a break from visiting les vieilles pierres, old stones.

We were both in our early 30s, too young, he felt, to truly want to spend a full week of it. So after showing me the vieilles pierres of the historical center of Chambéry—the former castle of the Dukes of Savoy, their chapel that once housed the Shroud of Turin, the cathedral, the alleyways of the old town, the Fountain of Elephants—Gerard took me to an indoor aquatic park that had recently opened by a mall on the edge of town. He brought an extra bathing suit for me—we were about the same size then.

Conscientiously trying to describe a town that few readers of that ‘90s guidebook (and possibly of this article) ever heard of, I figured that the water slides at the mall were less significant than Chambery’s role as the historical seat of power of the House of Savoy until they moved across the Alps to Turin in 1563, “leaving behind their ducal castle to dominate the town.”

That guidebook-like quote is from my own long-out-of-print guidebook. I continue: “Below is not an old town of princely buildings but one of solid, practical construction. Yet a false order reigns on the main streets, for behind the somewhat austere facades of the old town are narrow, hidden alleyways that twist past elegant little courtyards, painted archways, and open staircases, before emerging on an unexpected side street.”

Apparently Gerard did a good job of showing me those old stones. But it’s the water park that I now remember most from that visit: leaving the old town to drive to the mall, the buzz in the changing room, choosing between the green and the black skimpy bathing suits that Gerard had brought, wading in a pool surrounded by joyful strangers, the slides, and Gerard repeating for the third time that he couldn’t believe that I’d spent the entire week visiting vieilles pierres while I thought it odd to be swimming by the mall in Chambery.

Though I didn’t return to Chambery for a number of years after that, I came across Gerard again and again at travel fairs and press events in Paris. Occasionally we would have a drink or dinner together. We became friends. He invited me to visit him in Chambery but I kept sidestepping his town when traveling south from Paris or into the Alps.

Logistically, Chambery is an easy town to sidestep, which isn’t to say that it should be avoided but rather that trade, train and tourist routes don’t naturally pass this way unless heading through the Alps to Turin, Italy. It’s a low-key town, a find of sorts, known more as a place where people live than visit, and Gerard has an attractively low-key way of talking about it, whether to encourage people to visit or simply to speak about where he lives. He rarely relies on superlatives to do the work for him. But he claimed to have a magnificent view of the mountains from the terrace of his apartment and invited me to see.

I finally returned to Chambery one long weekend about seven years ago to visit Gerard. Gerard is a kind and diligent host, but the magnificent view that he promised failed to appear. For three days the city sat in a foggy gray. We were now in our 40s, so it didn’t matter that the aquatic park had long closed.

On Sunday afternoon, after satisfactorily accomplishing the French ritual of market (there’s a great one at Chambery) and lunch, we drove to Grenoble, about 45 minutes away, with the intent of visiting the Beaux Arts Museum there, though we managed to enjoy the town without it.

On the way back to Chambery, a shift in the clouds told Gerard that once home we would find blue skies and snowcapped mountains. But when, back on his terrace, Gerard pointed in the direction of the winter ski slopes and the summer hiking grounds where he now owned a chalet without electricity, I couldn’t even distinguish Gerard from the potted plants for the mist.

That evening we went out for raclette, an Alpine meal melted cheese and warmed cold cuts, as a reminder that the mountains were out there somewhere.

I’ve returned to Chambery again more recently, in research mode this time. Gerard is still responsible for promoting his town. I, after a break of several years to focus on Paris projects, still write about France.

On a guided tour of the historical center of Chambery, Florence, my guide, showed me the chest-high plaque indicating the height of the flood of January 18, 1875. We were both surprised to realize that today’s date was January 18.

Florence told me another date, May 26, 1944, when Americans planes bombed Chambery to stop Germans from going to/from Italy during the final days of the Allied preparations for the Invasion of Normandy. The railway station and about a third of the town were destroyed.

On my own I walked away from the center of town for about 20 minutes to reach Les Charmettes, where the writer and philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) spent time while in his 20s in the home of his protector and mistress. Walking by a stream on my way back to the center of town I decided to reread Rousseau when I got home.

It was January, as I’ve said. The weather was spring-like in the valley, winter bright in the mountains. My visit corresponded with a visit of the area organized for s small group of Italian tour operators, whom I joined for a tour of Aix-les-Bains, 11 miles north of Chambery. Aix is a fin-de-siecle town formerly turned inward to his hot springs. While the springs are still used for medical purposes and the old stones are a pleasure to see, contemporary travelers mostly look outward to Lake Bourget, France’s largest natural lake, and upward into the pre-Alpine hills and mountains.

Hundreds of black-feathered white-beaked ducks (fulica atra) saw us off as we embarked for a beautiful morning cruise to the Abbey of Hautecombe, necropolis of the House of Savoy (counts, dukes and finally, briefly, kings of Italy), where we were greeted by cormorants. Bourget is a long, narrow lake. I wondered aloud whether it was possible to rent bikes at Aix-les-Bains to cycle all the way around and was told yes, 74 kilometers (46 miles), which immediately inspired me more than the thought of rereading Rousseau.

As with Chambery, the mountains begin on the edge of Aix-les-Bains. I took the photo above when we went up to the Grand Revard, the closest mountain from town, just a 30-minute drive from Aix-les-Bains (equally accessible from Chambery). Gerard lent me a pair of ski pants as he had a bathing suit 20 years early. We skied for a couple of hours on the gentle pre-Alpine slopes (1550 meter/5000 feet).

I returned the ski pants to Gerard back in Chambery when I went over to his apartment to finally see the promised view from his terrace. There, lo and behold, was the Massif des Bauges and the Cross of the Nivolet facing the town. The white-crossed red Savoy flag fluttering atop the old stones of the ducal castle.

© 2012, Gary Lee Kraut

Chambery Tourist Office, 5 bis place du Palais de Justice. Tel. 04 79 33 42 47. Closed Sundays except in July and August.

Aix-les-Bains Tourist Office, Place Maurice Mollard. Tel. 04 79 88 68 00.

Chambery is one of the points of entry to the French Alps of the Savoie/Savoy region. The official Savoie Mont Blanc website provides information about skiing, hiking and other activities in this portion of the Alps.

Chambery Hotels

Château de Candie, rue du Bois de Candie. tel. 04 79 96 63 00. Member of the hotel associations Château et Hôtels Collection and the Esprit de France. Four miles north of the center of town, in the direction of Aix-les-Bains, a 25-room luxury hotel (4-star) partially within the walls of a 14th-century fortified manor. On a 15-acre estate with views of the surrounding mountains. Gastronomic restaurant. Pool in summer. A fine place from which to explore Chambery, Aix-les-Bains and the lakes and hills.

Inter Hôtel des Princes, 4 rue de Boigne,  tel 04 79 33 45 36. A friendly 45-room 3-star hotel for a pleasant stay in the very center of Chambery between the Fountain of Elephants and the castle.

Chambery B&Bs (Chambres d’hotes)

Petit Hôtel Confidentiel, 15 rue de Boigne and 10 rue de la Trésorerie. Tél. 06 22 76 08 85. A luxury (4 corn ears, which are similar to stars but attributed to B&Bs) hotel-like B&B with suites of sleek modern design at two locations in the center of town.

Les Suites de l’Hôtel de Sautet, 6 rue Métropole. Tél 06 16 83 16 64.  Excellent comfort in the 4-corn-ear B&B located in an 18th century mansion on a pedestrian street in the center of town.

La Vie de Bohème, 14 passage Henri Murger. Tél 04 79 70 06 42 or 06 84 35 20 74. Spacious accommodations for a central stay beyond a couple of days or for a traveling family.

Chambery Restaurants

Côté Marché, 60 rue Vieille Monnaie. Tel. 04 79 85 04 35.  Restaurant and gastronomic food shop. Closed Sunday and Monday.

L’Atelier, 59 rue de la République. Tel 04 79 70 62 39 ou 06 11 25 41 45. A restaurant and wine bar. Closed Sunday and Monday.

Le Bistrot, 6 rue du Théâtre, Tel. 04 79 75 10 78. An ambitious young chef in a handsome bistro décor. Closed Sunday and Monday.

Le Saint Réal,  86 rue St Réal, Tel. 04 79 70 09 33. Polished and traditional, a scent of old France. Closed Sunday.

© 2012, Gary Lee Kraut

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