- ANNECY AND MONT BLANC -

Aix-les-Bains, Lac du Bourget, Chanaz and Bugey Part 2

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The Canal de Saviers was formerly the natural outlet of Lac du Bourget down to the Rhone and was improved in Roman times so as to make it navigable. Today the level of the lake is maintained by a dam.

A lock, completed in 1982, allows boats to move from Rhone canal through the canal to the Lac du Bourget. The canal is almost four kilometres in length (left and below).

The small town of Chanaz lies on the canal (right and below).In the thirteenth and fourteenth century, Chanaz was the seat of a Savoyard chatellenie. The House of Boigne dates from the eighteenth century, but retains some elements from the sixteenth century. It has been used as the town hall since 1988.

Some houses in the town retain architectural features dating from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. A Gothic chapel, dating from the fifteenth century, today houses a Gallo-Roman pottery museum.

A quiet lunch beside the canal (right)........

........or at a café in the town square (left).

The nineteenth century walnut oil water mill is situated a short distance from the town centre (below).

The mill is still operating and is visited by school groups as well as many tourists (right and below).

We take a walk through the small picturesque town .....

We take a short trip from Chanaz on the canal, passing under the footbridge constructed in 1989, (right) and down to the dam and weir which controls the water levels in Lac du Bourget and the canal (below).

A view from the outskirts of Chanaz. The canal is seen in the foreground. In the middle distance is the lake which leads on the left to the weir and on the right to the lock which allows water traffic to enter and leave the Rhône river seen in the distance (right).



Some of the wares for sale at the local arts and craft centre (below).

We leave Chanaz to visit the Caveau Bugiste in the village of Vongnes ..........