La Grande Chartreuse  {pt. I}

The colour chartreuse  takes it’s name from the Chartreuse liquor, which is made by the Carthusian monks, who are so named because St Bruno started the order in the Chartreuse mountains about 900 years ago.

Well those mountains just so happen to be just across the valley from us – so last week we decided to have a little outing there. 

We thought we’d start with a visit to the Chartreuse distillary – where the infamous liquer is made. There’s a 3D movie, and all kinds of cool stuff that we thought the kids would like.  Sorry – it’s closed on weekends between Tousaint and April.  Of course.

So we picked up the makings for a pic-nic and headed up towards the second part of our outing – the original monistary of the Carthusian order- le monastère de la Grande–Chartreuse.

It is a beutiful (often frightening) drive up a narrow gorge to get there -and along the way we saw a trail that headed off down along the river at the bottom.  

We stopped and wandered along for a while, walking over some nice brand-new well constructed bridges, hanging on to some cables along slippery rock steps, and gong past a very small 900 year old stone bridge.

It was well past 1 when we got back to the car so we headed up to the Musee de la Grande Chartreuse for a quick pic-nic – and then for a visit…