Sunday, September 22, 2013

The Quaintest Town in France: Chambéry

It took me a while, but at the end of week three I'm pretty much settled into my apartment and I know my way around Chambéry.

I've had many epiphanies about my apartment, which I've had to figure out on my own. For example, I spent the first week taking freezing cold showers because I thought the "C" stood for "cold", when in fact it stood for "chaud" (hot in french). (Yes, I realize how stupid that was, but all the appliances in the apartment use "hot & cold" instead of "chaud & froid"). It also took me ages to figure out how to turn the lights on in the stairwell leading up to my apartment.

In any case, here's a little post about Chambéry.

Even though we'd been in Chambéry for two weeks, the school planned a tour of the town. However, we learned lots of history about the town, and it was in French, making it especially educational.

The church was easily one of my favorite fixtures in the town. It dates back to the 15th century and contains Europe's largest collection of trompe-l'œils. These are optical illusions that trick the eye into seeing something in three-dimensions. That's obviously very confusing, so the 2nd picture is an example from the church. The picture is not of 3-D architecture on the building's ceiling, but simply a 2-D painting

              



We climbed to the top of the Chateau in Chambéry


... and this was the amazing view below! 

 In the Chateau, there was a lot of really amazing Medieval and Renaissance paintings and sculptures. 


After we visited the Chateau, we stopped by the museum as well. I didn't take many photographs because I got really caught up in viewing everything, but I did take a picture of this painting of Mary Magdalene at the feet of Jesus. It was part of a huge mural, but I just thought she was so beautiful. 

On Saturday, we went to the market and it was quite the experience! Everything was significantly less expensive than at the supermarket and it all smelled and looked amazing! 









And after we went to the market, we packed up some food and went to the beach to lay in the sun. 




Let the Shenanigans Continue, 
Lacey J. 

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