Les Grottes de La Balme

Small pools, labyrinths, concretions and a lake: the Grottes de La Balme, located 40 minutes from Lyon, are rich in what nature has shaped. Discover a rare and exceptional natural site offering an unusual insight into the underground world!

The Caves of La Balme

There may be some confusion in Twain's narrative as Chateau de la Salette is quite a distance from this location.  Twain's notes, as per Fears:  Chateau de la Salette. This is the port of the Grotte de la Balme, “one of the seven wonders of Dauphiny.” It is across a plain in the face of a bluff a mile from the river. A grotto is out of the common order, and I should have liked to see this one, but the rains have made the mud very deep and it did not seem well to venture so long a trip through it.