Lac de Nantua, Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes, France

5Raymund H 5:00 PM Sep 6, 2017

Yorkshire Travellers
The lake shimmered turquoise, then emerald and sometimes grey as the Sun hid behind some clouds. Very picturesque and the perimeter of the lake is manicured with concrete pavements and benches; very inviting to sit and watch the hungry ducks and squawking coots with the odd beaut of a grebe appearing between dives. All is rosey... Thereafter, as you round the lake you come upon a megalithic sculpture fashioned by a local artist. As you read the descriptions of the momentous art work the sky darkens and the mood changes. The human fragment prostrate in the stone sepulchre symbolises the Nazi pogrom of December 1943 when more 500 'Jewish' non-persons were transported to the Concentration Camps of Buchenwald, Dora, Ravensbruck and so on. A further postscript details the children captured in April 1944 whose fate was annihilation in the Death Camps. The emaciated figure has within it the ashes of these victims of the holocaust. This is a town that has confronted the past, acknowledging the terrible ethnic cleansing and genocide of WW2. In the town of Nantua, there is a museum dedicated to the Resistance, many of whose roots grew strong in this area. Whilst we were walking around the lake there were many teenagers, oblivious to the sculpture and being frolicsome and gently boisterous. None of them seemed to be curious about the masterpiece in stone and the mass disappearing of many of the inhabitants of this interesting town. Ray & Jeanne

5TomasBB 5:00 PM Aug 15, 2018

Beautiful lake for water sports
The lake is quite large but still it is somehow "hidden" among village houses and mountains. The best way to approach is from the village called Port (however, there is no port there). There are some public beaches, the best one is close to the railway crossing the bike trail. There is also a small free parking but it can be full sometimes later in the afternoon. The water is perfectly clean as well as the beach (however, there is almost no sand there). Renting of boards, kayak , etc., is possible but in other places on the coast.