Off the train in St. Gervais-Le Fayet, the Tourist Office was closed (always on Sunday) and we can’t figure out how to use the storage lockers in the station. How much does it cost? Where can we get change? Does it take exact change only? And, there is no one in the train station to ask. “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade….” Ex-Marine walked over to a 2** hotel across the street from the train station and asked if we could pay them 5 Euros to leave the bags for the day. Voila….instant lemonade.

Among Saint Gervais-Le Fayet’s attractions are thermal baths with spa treatments, walks and hikes with over 180 km/11 miles of marked paths and trails. Other people who had gotten off the train with us were either waiting for a bus to Megeve (been there, done it…a gorgeous, expensive area), or buying tickets for the Mont-Blanc Tramway. The Mont-Blanc Tramway is a rack & pinion train that operates in the summer. It begins in Le Fayet and takes you to the foot of the Bionnassay Glacier and Nid d’Aigle. The tracks began across the street from the train station and there was a path alongside that you could hike on.

large map in front of the St. Gervais-Le Fayet train station, France 

Le Fayet, France
Bags stored, we set off to walk around and explore. Only two blocks away was a gorgeous park with tennis courts, playground, rock climbing walls, walking trails, fountains, benches and best of all, an art exhibition called plein air.…View image. Plein air is a French expression that means “in the open air” and used to describe the act of painting outdoors. This park had huge canvases hanging high between the trees along with the artists’ name…View image… and famous author quotations by Alexander Dumas, Antoine de Saint-Exupery (“The Little Prince” author)…View image… among others. Unfortunately, the quotes were in French but I did recognize the author’s names.

a whaling plein air picture in Le Fayet, France 

Two bugs? Two monkeys? A dog? in the plein air exhibition, Le Fayet, France
We walked by the thermal baths, admired the sometimes weird…View image… and interesting paintings…View image, sat on a bench by a fountain…View image, and read books.

Perhaps, courtiers paying court to a French binoculared king? in the plein air exhibition, Le Fayet, France 

Fortunately, it was a wonderful sunny and hot day. Le Fayet is at 600m/1,968′, 400m/1,312′ lower than Chamonix and my little backpack thermometer read 90 Fahrenheit. Retrieved suitcases, the train pulled in at 3:30 p.m., got to Le Roche at 4:14 p.m., transferred one last time to the Annecy train that arrived two minutes later on an adjacent platform and another eventful with unexpected problems traveling day was almost over. There are times that even I wonder if it’s worth it, but then the day passes, a new day dawns and, yes, it is. We were in Annecy, France.