Haute Savoie

Bonneville And Mt. Saxonnex Bonneville is a moderate size town in Haute Savoie about a half hour from Annecy that I have had the pleasure of visiting twice and adventuring out from. It is located in a very beautiful part of the Alps and the "Major" mountain around is Mt. Saxonnex, however there are several other peaks as well which I have pictures of. Since this was my home base, it is the section I have the most photos of.
Outdoor Cafe	Le Mole	Alpine backdrop	Town square
Bench outside a farm house	Outdoor Cafe	Garage	Forgotten Stairs 1
Tormented Sole	Farmhouse	Bonneville	Alpine meadow
Alpine Meadow	Roadside View	Le Mole	Glacial Plane
Farmhouse II	Forgotten Stairs	Mountain Church	Alpine Meadow
Plateau Du Glieres Photos Plateau de Glieres is located high in the French Alps. This is a very scenic alpine plateau. However, it has an infamous history. During world war two, a large, French resistance group operated from this Plateau. Largely because it was highly inaccessible. However, it was not completely inaccessible. At the end of world war two, with the German Army retreating, the Nazi's staged a brutal assault on this Plateau. Over a thousand paratroopers and Nazi sympathizers stormed the Plateau,killing all four hundred and some men, women and children. It was a pointless and brutal massacre.	The Plateau	Resistance Memorial
The Valley	French Alps	Plateau II	Plateau III
Chartreuse Du Reposoir (Carthusian Monastery of the Reposoir) This monastery was built in 1151 by the Carthusian monks (who are the same monks that occupied the Daphni & Ossios Lukas monasteries in Greece) and used by the monks until they abandoned it in 1901. The chapel is a "new building since it was in the 1920's from another place and "put" into the existing monastery.e. The Monastery is located near the top of an extremely beautiful alpine valley in the French Alps. There are snow capped mountains on either side and lush green hills all around it. A man-made lake tops off this majestic seen. It is extremely conducive towards relaxation and contemplation.	The Monastery
The Monastery and Lake	The Cloister I	The Front Door	The Cloister II
Gorges Du Fier & Chateau Montrottier The Gorges Du Fier and Chateau Montrottier go hand and hand. You can (or at least should) not visit one with out visiting the other. The Chateau is is sort of a museum. That is because one of the previous inhabitants was a "collector". He collected everything and his "collections" are now on display. He traveled the world and brought back "trinkets". He would buy some things and would be given others. The end result is that his Chateau is filled floor to roof with things. He didn't specialize either. The reason why his collection appears to be a haphazard construct is because that is exactly what his collection is! The Chateau is located in a beautiful valley at a site that at one time was the crossroads for a major road. So of course they extracted a tax of travelers( A common practice for the ancient nobility of the region. The tax was to insure the safe passage of the travelers. If you did pay, you didn't get safe passage). The view from the yard of the chateau is spectacular. I guess if you are going to live in a cold keep and extract a toll of protection from all travelers, you might as well set up in a scenic place. Near the Chateau are the Gorges Du Fier. These magnificent Gorges were cut away by the river through the lime stone. Unfortunately I ran out of film there so there are only a couple pictures from the Gorges. (I learned the hard way on this trip to always carry extra film with me.)
The Main Gate	Chateau & Tower	Side View	Small Figure
Court Yard	Figures in Alcoves	Side View	Side House
Lion Figure	Griffin Figure	"Cauldrons"	"Le Fier"
The River Side	Overview	Countryside I	Countryside II
Chateau Thonon Les Bains Chateau Thonon Les Bains is very important in the history of Savoie At one time, it was the home of the count who ruled over the region. Following this Count's untimely death his infant son was taken away for the son's "save keeping" and the Chateau was left abandoned. The son returned to Savoie when he grew older and lay clam to his ancestral home. Upon his return, the son founded an order of holy knights and built Seven towers on the Chateau, one for each of his knights. (Note, in the pictures there are only four, three were destroyed in a fire) The order lasted for about thirty years but fell apart when (According to my notes which may be wrong) he became pope. After the order abandoned the chateau, an order of monks inhabited the Chateau for a short time. The Chateau is surrounded by grape fields and apparently they still make wine here. The Chateau is also used for grand receptions. The kind of reception where you need six forks!	Chateau Thonon	"Four" Towers
The Court Yard	Garden	The Front	Side Building
Chateau Thorens Chateau Thorens is a relatively small chateau hidden at the base of several hills in Haute Savoie. Built up at various times from a fortification at a crossroad, the current Chateau stands quaintly in a scenic valley in the French Alps. The Chateau has been in the de Sales family since the fifteenth century, though an exception had to be made once, when there were no male offspring, that a female was able to keep her name. One of the most important de Sale was the became the Arch Bishop of Savoie. This man helped spread Calvin's teachings around Savoie. Another notable De Sales was Cavour who played an important role in the final unification of Italy.	The Keep
Towers and Court Yard	Front Door	A near by Chateau	Closeup of that other Chateau
Horse Drawn Buggy	Unknown Building	The Mountain Side	Other Near by Mountains
Towers and Court Yard	Main Tower	More Courtyard	The Mountainside

Haute Savoie Photo Galleries
French Alps	Annecy	Yvoire	Charmonix and Mt blanc
Other Options	Guide Books for France	France FAQ	Europe Photographs
Photos for Sale			Guestbook

Haute Savioe Photo Gallery    The Savoie region is in the south eastern part of France bordering on both Switzerland and Italy. Haute Savoie, is "high" Savoie and is found in the northern eastern part of the region, neatly tucked in to Switzerland under Lake Geneva and around the borderalong the Alps. The Alps are an extremely impressive and beautiful mountain range, towering up to the sky with shear, snow covered cliffs. And tucked in to the Alps you will find the quaint towns and fortified Château's of Haute Savoie. Annecy & Charmonix are the major towns of the region and they have galleries elsewhere. Yvoire also has its own gallery since I found it to be a very quaint and scenic town.
Therefore, my focus for this gallery are the small chateau's and villages which I was lucky enough to be taken to by vary generous family friends. Send any comments to .
All photos are thumbnails. Click on the photo or title to view a larger version.

Bonneville And Mt. Saxonnex
Bonneville is a moderate size town in Haute Savoie about a half hour from Annecy that I have had the pleasure of visiting twice and adventuring out from. It is located in a very beautiful part of the Alps and the "Major" mountain around is Mt. Saxonnex, however there are several other peaks as well which I have pictures of. Since this was my home base, it is the section I have the most photos of.

Outdoor Cafe
Le Mole
Alpine backdrop
Town square

Bench outside a farm house
Outdoor Cafe
Garage
Forgotten Stairs 1

Tormented Sole
Farmhouse
Bonneville
Alpine meadow

Alpine Meadow
Roadside View
Le Mole
Glacial Plane

Farmhouse II
Forgotten Stairs
Mountain Church
Alpine Meadow

Plateau Du Glieres Photos Plateau de Glieres is located high in the French Alps. This is a very scenic alpine plateau. However, it has an infamous history. During world war two, a large, French resistance group operated from this Plateau. Largely because it was highly inaccessible. However, it was not completely inaccessible. At the end of world war two, with the German Army retreating, the Nazi's staged a brutal assault on this Plateau. Over a thousand paratroopers and Nazi sympathizers stormed the Plateau,killing all four hundred and some men, women and children. It was a pointless and brutal massacre.
The Plateau
Resistance Memorial

The Valley
French Alps
Plateau II
Plateau III

Chartreuse Du Reposoir
(Carthusian Monastery of the Reposoir) This monastery was built in 1151 by the Carthusian monks (who are the same monks that occupied the Daphni & Ossios Lukas monasteries in Greece) and used by the monks until they abandoned it in 1901. The chapel is a "new building since it was in the 1920's from another place and "put" into the existing monastery.e.
     The Monastery is located near the top of an extremely beautiful alpine valley in the French Alps. There are snow capped mountains on either side and lush green hills all around it. A man-made lake tops off this majestic seen. It is extremely conducive towards relaxation and contemplation.
The Monastery

The Monastery and Lake
The Cloister I
The Front Door
The Cloister II

Gorges Du Fier & Chateau Montrottier The Gorges Du Fier and Chateau Montrottier go hand and hand. You can (or at least should) not visit one with out visiting the other. The Chateau is is sort of a museum. That is because one of the previous inhabitants was a "collector". He collected everything and his "collections" are now on display. He traveled the world and brought back "trinkets". He would buy some things and would be given others. The end result is that his Chateau is filled floor to roof with things. He didn't specialize either. The reason why his collection appears to be a haphazard construct is because that is exactly what his collection is!
     The Chateau is located in a beautiful valley at a site that at one time was the crossroads for a major road. So of course they extracted a tax of travelers( A common practice for the ancient nobility of the region. The tax was to insure the safe passage of the travelers. If you did pay, you didn't get safe passage). The view from the yard of the chateau is spectacular. I guess if you are going to live in a cold keep and extract a toll of protection from all travelers, you might as well set up in a scenic place.
     Near the Chateau are the Gorges Du Fier. These magnificent Gorges were cut away by the river through the lime stone. Unfortunately I ran out of film there so there are only a couple pictures from the Gorges. (I learned the hard way on this trip to always carry extra film with me.)

The Main Gate
Chateau & Tower
Side View
Small Figure

Court Yard
Figures in Alcoves
Side View
Side House

Lion Figure
Griffin Figure
"Cauldrons"
"Le Fier"

The River Side
Overview
Countryside I
Countryside II

Chateau Thonon Les Bains     Chateau Thonon Les Bains is very important in the history of Savoie At one time, it was the home of the count who ruled over the region. Following this Count's untimely death his infant son was taken away for the son's "save keeping" and the Chateau was left abandoned. The son returned to Savoie when he grew older and lay clam to his ancestral home.
     Upon his return, the son founded an order of holy knights and built Seven towers on the Chateau, one for each of his knights. (Note, in the pictures there are only four, three were destroyed in a fire) The order lasted for about thirty years but fell apart when (According to my notes which may be wrong) he became pope. After the order abandoned the chateau, an order of monks inhabited the Chateau for a short time.
    The Chateau is surrounded by grape fields and apparently they still make wine here. The Chateau is also used for grand receptions. The kind of reception where you need six forks!

Chateau Thonon
"Four" Towers

The Court Yard
Garden
The Front
Side Building

Chateau Thorens      Chateau Thorens is a relatively small chateau hidden at the base of several hills in Haute Savoie. Built up at various times from a fortification at a crossroad, the current Chateau stands quaintly in a scenic valley in the French Alps. The Chateau has been in the de Sales family since the fifteenth century, though an exception had to be made once, when there were no male offspring, that a female was able to keep her name. One of the most important de Sale was the became the Arch Bishop of Savoie. This man helped spread Calvin's teachings around Savoie. Another notable De Sales was Cavour who played an important role in the final unification of Italy.
The Keep

Towers and Court Yard
Front Door
A near by Chateau
Closeup of that other Chateau

Horse Drawn Buggy
Unknown Building
The Mountain Side
Other Near by Mountains

Towers and Court Yard
Main Tower
More Courtyard
The Mountainside

More Photos from France

Haute Savoie Photo Galleries

French Alps Annecy Yvoire Charmonix and Mt blanc

Other Options Guide Books for France France FAQ Europe Photographs

Photos for Sale Guestbook

Originally Posted 10/20/97, Updated 7/5/06