One of the more disappointing days ever on a Leger Tour. Here’s their published itinerary:

Day Six – Chambery & Aix Les Bains

Our included excursion today takes us first to Chambery, where Thursday is market day. Shop for souvenirs and local produce or explore the historical old town and admire the beautiful medieval buildings and cathedral. The town boasts many Italian influences in its architecture, having all the charm of an Italian hamlet with the dramatic background of Alpine scenery. 

The tour will continue to the well-known fashionable spa town of Aix-les-Bains, a Victorian-style year-round resort with a beach on Lac du Bourget, France's largest lake. If you get a chance (and have a head for heights) an aerial cableway 5,000 feet up the fir-covered Mount Revard delivers jaw-dropping views of the surrounding area. Wander around the streets lined with shops, restaurants and elegant Belle-Époque buildings. Enjoy a stroll along the promenade and admire the views of the famous Abbaye d'Hautecombe monastery.

(Highlights for context)

Chamberry is nothing like an Italian hamlet. It has a city population of over 60K (metropolitan area 260K). There is a strong Italian influence in the architecture, much of which now contains the standard shops you’d find anywhere in France. The cathedral is another cathedral. Market day is not Thursday, it’s Saturday and Les Halles was half empty, most of the stalls closed up. Basically it’s another French town,  largely indistinguishable from, say, Grenoble (which at least had a Noddy train and cable car).

Aix-les-Bains’ description was so wrong.

We were dropped off in the centre of town, near the Hôtel-de-Ville, alongside a very nice park. There were some narrow streets running off the square with the usual mix of shops and cafés. The word “resort” gives the impression of a charming promenade with a lake (rather like Annecy). No such thing.

Because of the itinerary’s description we decided to stroll to the lake. Easy… lakes are always downhill. After about 20 minutes walking and resorting to Google Maps, we asked a passing lady for directions. She gave them, then added warning that it would be a further 20 minutes, around 3km to reach the lake!

We turned back!

Along the route back we came across more lost sheep from our coach, one of whom had complained to our drivers who’d agreed to take us to the lake “for a quick stop” on our way back.

And stop we did, in a car park which had obscured lake views, alongside the private and gated beach. A twenty minute round-trip walk for a clearer view.

And what of the cable car? It closed permanently in 1969!!!! Access to the mountain-top is now by foot or car.

The Abbaye d'Hautecombe monastery is on the lake side… the opposite side! So, yes you can view it, but only if we’d stopped at the lake not the town.

I can’t say, and don’t know, if the crew made a poor choice of drop-off point or if (more likely) the itinerary planners did little more than research the internet (badly) but, at least to our minds, this was not what we’d signed up for.

Thank the god of travellers for a good hotel restaurant!.