We joined the students on their excursion today to the Chartreuse--the same area Otto and I hike yesterday. This time we had a hired bus to take us to various spots. We started with an hour's ride up to the spot where we would do a short (1hr) hike of the "Charmant Som"--charming summit. It was extremely windy and a bit cool. But after the climb we warmed up.
Behind us and to the right you can see a vague outline of Mont Blanc--snow covered.
After the hike, the bus took us 15 minutes further to St. Hugues-de-Chartreuse, a church/museum of contemporary sacred art work by Arcabas. We had a very good guide who explained the art. Most impressive were the large deep red, black and some white paintings of the 10 commandments which depicted the life of a person.
Lunch was 15 minutes further in St. Pierre-de-Chartreuse: Salad, followed by beef or chicken--we cooked the meat ourselves on flat volcanic rocks (heated in an oven and brought to our tables) and ate this with baked potatoes and a choice of 4 different sauces. Cheese followed and then dessert (green ice cream, made with the chartreuse liqueur, a specialty made by the monks in this area). Otto and I have had the liqueur but never the ice cream, so this was a nice treat (sorry no picture of green ice cream!).
Our final stop of the day was a museum of the Order of the Chartreux--an order of monks who live in the valley and which has been in existance for the past 900 years. Since you cannot visit their monastery, the museum, which replicates their daily life, is the next best thing. They live in silence and amongst other things, read or sing all 150 Psalms every week.
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