The French Tour, 1953

Mr. Rignold said : "I consider this to have been the most important work I 'have ever done."

W. B. HAWKINS.

Note: Plans for 1953 include a course at Berkhamstead, Hertfordshire (,10th-47th April). Concert : Royal Festival Hall, London (18th April), followed by a week in Brussels and Amsterdam (20th-27th April).

This year the School tour to the continent, which seems to be hardening into an annual event, took 4 12 boys to Faverges, a small country town of about 2,000 inhabitants, in Haute Savoie. The choice was based on several factors, of which perhaps the chief was that everyone enjoyed mountains so much last year in Switzerland that another visit to the Alps seemed called for. There was some discussion originally about the possibility of staying in Grenoble, but the majority preferred a country holiday, and so the smaller place was chosen. Perhaps this was fortunate, for during the period of our holiday Grenoble figured in the French press because of its bad weather, including a gale of hurricane force which did much damage. We, on the contrary, were very lucky, and what rain did fall during our visit occurred either at night or while we were in the bus.

Faverges is pleasantly situated a few kilometres south of Lake Annecy, and, except in that direction, is surrounded by mountains rising to nearly 8,000 feet. 'Some of its streets are picturesque, and its chief feature is the castle—no quaint ruin, but the home of the manager of the local silk factory and formerly a convalescent home. It was not the architecture, however, nor even perhaps the setting, that made Faverges so attractive, but its atmosphere of rural France, for it is not a tourist centre in any sense, and has none of the features associated with towns such as, for example, Chamonix. Except for a tobacconist who had a few "Souvenirs de Faverges"—chalets, knives, pipes, and the like, all suitably inscribed—there was no shop for the visitor. The cow-bells for sale were real cow-bells for real cows, not painted ones for export. When one member of the party wanted a strap for a broken suitcase, and called on the saddler in the marketplace, the strap was fashioned on the spot from a large piece of hide— ready made ones were not stocked. The hotel, too, was in keeping, and most of us had our coffee at "petit dejeuner" from bowls, and grew accustomed to retaining our cutlery for two courses. Indeed, the hotel was particularly pleasant, and our host was kindness itself.

The holiday tried to cater for all tastes. There were walks in the surrounding hills, which were ideal for this, and usually the party split to enable the more energetic to assault some local peak. The higher 36

mountains were inaccessible, for there was still snow about above 5,000 feet, and avalanches were not rare. Many of us saw some from the distance, and the noise was quite enough to warn us of the folly of risking a venture where they were liable to occur. Still, there was climbing enough to satisfy most, and plenty to entertain those whose tastes favoured the valley bottoms. 'Here there were lizards, snakes (one a most handsome, glistening copper colour, which we failed to name, and an adder, whose skin was duly brought home), and a variety of butterflies. 'Alpine flowers, too, were beginning to be plentiful— crocus; sylla; mauve, purple and white violets; periwinkle; and gentian among those we could identify. Those with no taste for natural history would sun-bathe, or try to select the best from the bewildering variety of subjects for photography, or just contemplate. A few spent a happy Sunday afternoon damming a mountain stream. Others returned to Faverges that day to savour a continental Sunday, and were entertained in succession by a cycle race, a football match against a rival village team, and two basket-ball matches. The first and last were impressive, it seems, but local soccer talent did not compare very well—not surprisingly—with that of, shall we say, Middlesbrough.

The nearest town was Annecy, where we spent a morning and an odd hour or two. It was probably at its best, for in Summer, to all appearances, it becomes very crowded. The lake, streams, and arcades, especially those of the old quarter, combine to make Annecy a town of character and charm. Many would, perhaps, have preferred a longer time to linger over its attractions.

Much of our shopping was, however, done in Geneva, which for a dozen or so members of the party was no new experience, for we visited it last year from Montreux. This time we visited the Palace of the Nations, however, which we missed last year, and this proved most interesting. Few could fail to be impressed by the murals of the Spanish artist Jose-Maria Sert in the Council Chamber, while the Assembly Hall must surely be one of the finest rooms of its kind. After this visit the party dispersed for shop-gazing and shopping. Prices were high enough to encourage the one and limit the other, but musical chalets (about which the British Customs showed an unwonted interest later on) were bought in some numbers. On the return journey we left the bus to walk over the old suspension bridge spanning the gorge of the River Usses at la Caille. Built, if memory serves aright, in 1839, it must have been a remarkable feat of engineering in its day, and though now available for foot passengers only, still excited our admiration.

The most ambitious day of the holiday was the visit to Chamonix. Those not used to Alpine roads had their first real taste of hair-pin bends and precipices only four or five kilometres from Faverges, as the bus went over the Col des Esserieux, just beyond St. Ferreol, which we had visited on foot. This, however, was only a beginning, for the 37

route took us over the Col des Aravis, which was only just open, ours being one of the first buses to make the journey this year. The journey by this pass, with the snow, the vivid blue skies, the excitements of the road, and the cheerful waves of a number of sunburnt maidens of considerable pulchritude, put the party into high spirits. At Chamonix we were disappointed not to see the peaks of the Mont Blanc massif, which were cloud-capped, but the mountains on the West of the valley were clear and we made the ascent to 'Planpraz and then on to Le Breveut by teleferique. This took us up to 7,80'2 feet in as exciting a "ride" as one could wish, and the party also derived much entertainment from the skiers, especially one whose enthusiasm was greater than his ability.

We did not visit very many "show places", though we did go to the local beauty-spots, the cascade and gorge at Sythenex, and the Gorges de Fier, where one walks for about 300 yards along a narrow gangway supported on steel brackets, with a roaring torrent 80 feet below and towering cliffs above, mostly overhanging. At one point the gorge is narrow enough for the visitor to touch both sides. Of buildings, we only visited two—the Abbey of 'Hautecombe and the Castle of Montrottier. The former, one of the main burial places of the princes of Savoy, and situated on the shores of the 'Lac du Bourget, gave most of us our first introduction to an Italianate church interior. The memorials, which are numerous and mostly modern, are all of white Carrara marble, as the guide, a venerable gentleman of ecclesiastical mien, pointed out many times, and while we were impressed by the detail, such as every stitch carved in the clothing, the general effect seemed to us cold and austere. The Castle of Montrottier contains the collection of antiques and curios made by M. Leon Mares, who died in 1916. But to us, perhaps, the main interest was that the castle belonged at one time to, and contains relics of, General Dufour. Now there is a character in the "0" level set book, Forester's "The Gun", called General Dufour. It is a pity that later enquiries have revealed that the two generals are not one and the same, for the Dufours of Montrottier were a Swiss family, and the General was a Swiss commander-in-chief, not one of Napoleon's generals. Still, we had our amusement at the time !

Of the journeys there is little to record. The sea was in the St. Peter's tradition for the Newhaven-Dieppe route on the outward journey, but was calm on the return passage, which we made in the French ship "Lisieux", a new vessel which had made her maiden voyage only a fortnight or so before. French trains proved much better than those unfamiliar with them had expected. An "English style" breakfast in 'Paris showed that French efforts at English cooking are not necessarily better than English efforts at French cooking. For the rest, all went to the plan, and perhaps it is to be observed that schools journeys, like nations, are happy when they have no history. 38