I think it’s safe to say not many people have been to, or even heard of, the French town of Chambéry, located in the southeast near the French Alps. The reason I visited Chambéry was because it was between Paris and Milan, which was my next stop. While it is obscure, Chambéry used to be the capital of the House of Savoy, way back in the Middle Ages from 1295-1563, which ruled a region covering southeastern France and northwestern Italy. However when the Duke of Savoy moved the capital to Turin in Italy in 1563, Chambéry steadily declined in terms of political importance.

Chambéry is still pleasant, with a heritage area that has a mighty castle, several lanes with attractive old buildings, and the Elephants Fountain, built to honor Benoît de Boigne, a military officer from Chambéry, for his feats as a general with the Maratha Empire in India in the late 18th century. Apparently he served in the French military, then went overseas to India. The castle or chateau was a large, formidable grayish building which houses administrative offices and a chapel. You can only visit on guided tours held at certain times so I didn’t do that.

The town is a nice place to walk around since there isn’t much traffic and there are a number of lanes to pass through and see interesting old buildings and houses. One can also visit the nearby Lake Bourget in a neighboring town or enjoy mountain views by cycling on the outskirts of the town. However, since it was a little rainy and cloudy, it was hard to see the mountains and I decided to stay in town.

Elephants Fountain, a local landmark built in 1826 to honour a local war veteran who served in India

Not all the buildings in the heritage area were old

Joseph and Xavier de Maitres, two local brothers who were, respectively, a well-known philosopher and a writer in the 18th and 19th centuries