Luis, the Navigator!

Oh, to have someone reading the map!   Today, after the boy rousted himself, we went out on another day of exploring.  We decided to go to the abbey at Haute Combe.  It's on the largest lake in France, the Lac du Bourget, so quite a view and is a 15th century monastery complete with bee hives and a forest.  I'm going to have to wire my mouth shut to keep my jaw from dropping all the time. 
After the  abbey, we made our way around the lake, past the fashionable Aix le Bains, which is a tourist draw because of its proximity to the lake, and on to the larger city of Chambery.  And I'm talking city.  Compared to the country side that I've been living in for the past 2 weeks, it is a huge metropolis!  We actually got onto a freeway, found our way into the center, and crammed the car into a parking place on  a side street.  We had a fun time poking around the very old city center and stopped to have a demi bierre (small beer) at a cafe.  I wish I could include the photo of the 1/2 liter glasses of beer we each were served!  For those of you who want to know how my French is coming along, maybe not so great...BUT in my neck of the woods, at the small cafe on my Lac du Lit du Roi, a demi bierre gets us just the right size, not a six-pack in a glass!
After drinking his own and most of my beer, my navigator and I made our way back to the car and pulled out the maps to figure out how to get back to our bucolic countryside from the big city.  I must say, the boy is a natural.  If he can read those maps, even after a beer or three, and I can drive a stick shift, we can go anywhere.
I sighed with relief to be back on the country roads that I recognized and "home" again in the small villages.

FINALLY A PHOTO!! From the Tour de France.  More to come.