Chambéry
Chambéry is a pleasant mid-sized town nestled near the French Alps. It's basically a holiday resort kind of place, but it does have an impressive historical status as the capital of the House of Savoy, a regional noble clan, for over 260 years before it moved from France to Turin, Italy in 1563 and later provided Italy with its kings in the 19th and 20th centuries. Chambéry does have a decent castle, an old town center and a large statue with elephants called the Fountain of Elephants, built in honor of a local military officer who served with distinction in India.