Three Days in Annecy

Tuesday, 9 July; Wednesday, 10 July; Thursday 11 July

Walking to town - lakefront, Annecy

After three hotel nights and a lot of driving it was nice to wake up in our Annecy apartment, have a leisurely breakfast and take care of some chores - mostly laundry.  With a supermarket close by we could self cater or dine out.   Our first excursion was into town where we had lunch at the Petit Zinc restaurant in the old quarter of the town.  Jess was keen to try frogs legs - Baptiste claimed they were yummy - but the fishy taste was not too her liking.  Gallantly Baptiste swapped his delicious tartiflette for her dish and they were both happy!



Frog legs?  Not so yummy - take them away Baptiste!

We met up with Maree and Melanie who had already eaten lunch. They decided not to go on a boat trip around the lake and  set off for some shopping.  Jess, Baptiste and I took one of the tour boats from Annecy and enjoyed the one hour circuit of the lake, with interesting commentary in English and French.  Today was a bit hazy and there was some high cloud over the mountains on the eastern side of the lake. With its stunning scenery and pretty villages dotted along the shore, Lake Annecy is rather lovely and the waters are crystal clear and a stunning shade of blue.  Very clean water too so we were informed. 


Passing by the castle at Duignt on the western shore


Talloires, eastern shore of Lake Annecy

Menthon-St-Bernard with its castle on Lake Annecy

Annecy is a mecca for lovers of the outdoors - skiing etc in the winter, and boating, hiking, paragliding, cycling in summer.  There were lots of children in tiny sail boats having lessons from instructors with loud megaphones.  They look so cute all roped together and being towed out to the middle of the lake in  a line.  Lots of laughs and waves as we passed by.

Sailing back to  dock at the river mouth - Annecy old town and castle.

After our trip we wandered back to the apartment and Jess and Baptiste set off for Combloux, a mountain village close to Chamonix which is the home of their uni friend Benoit (he works in the ski industry).  They would be staying the night.  Maree, Mel and I enjoyed the evening walk past the nearby Casino  and a swimming beach that was still being well utilised, then went to bed nice and early - before sunset!
Wednesday was a rest day for us, with Jess and Baptiste still away and visiting Chamonix for the day.  We had a walk to the nearby shopping centre, didn't buy anything except a few food items, and then chilled out in the apartment.  It was nice to do nothing after a busy schedule since we arrived in France.  Jess and Baptiste arrived back and we had the interesting task of returning the rental car, then getting Baptiste to the station in time to catch his train to Paris.  All this was achieved in peak hour traffic, one way street systems and deviations owing to road works.  We had to congratulate ourselves!  So we are now without an official interpreter.  I have been trying speak in French as much as possible - of course the smarty pants waiters all speak English which is mostly better than my French but I will persevere!

Thursday in Annecy was a little cloudy to start with but soon cleared to a lovely warm day.  Jess was going to spend the day with yet another uni friend, Remi, who works in the UK but is currently on holiday at his parents' place near Annecy - I think lunch, swimming and sunbathing were on the agenda.  Maree, Mel and I set off on a car trip around the lake which is only 30 something kilometres but there are some lovely places to explore along the way.  First stop was somewhere I had been before and enjoyed - the Poisson Rouge bar and restaurant on the edge of the lake between Sevrier and St Jorioz.  We sat under the plane trees on the water's edge and enjoyed a nice morning coffee with great views across to the eastern side of the lake (where the highest mountains are).

Poisson Rouge Restaurant by the lake

From here we drove on to Duignt which is on a promontory that juts into the lake and boasts a very pretty small castle (privately owned).   We strolled through Duingt (unpronounceable) and had a look at the castle from the village park.

Castle at Duignt

Then it was on around the bottom of the lake to another spot I particularly like - Talloires.  There is a restaurant across the road from the lake which has an outdoor eating area built onto a terrace right on the lakeside.  The poor waiters have to ferry the food across the road to diners on the terrace!  It is a delightful spot and we stopped there for lunch, enjoying the views, the food and the ambiance (one last tartiflette for me as we leave Annecy tomorrow!).

  Lakeside restaurant, Talloires, and a pretty good lunch!

After lunch we did attempt to drive down to the beach at Talloires but the parking lot was overflowing so we carried on to Menthon-St- Bernard, a large village on the eastern side of the lake.  There is an imposing castle on the hill above the town so we headed up and bought ourselves tickets for a tour.  The views from the castle are pretty stupendous but we got sick of waiting for the English language tour and joined in the tour with a French speaking guide.

 View from the castle - Menthon-St-Bernard

Fortunately we had pamphlets explaining the history of the castle and I was able to follow most of what was said so were weren't completely in the dark.  The castle has been owned continuously by one family for 1000 years - they still live there - in rooms obviously not on view to the public.  The Menthon family has many famous sons including St Bernard, after whom those great big cuddly dogs are named ( also the St Bernard Foundation) and Francis Menthon, late father of the current owner who was a major figure in the French Resistance, the Nuremburg trials and then the founding of the EU.  The castle is well preserved and very elegant - a delightful tour.

 The castle of Menthon-St-Bernard

After our sight-seeing trip we drove back to town and met Jess who had said goodbye to Remi.  Time for an ice-cream and a spot of shopping in the old town before heading back to the apartment to have a bit of a rest before our long journey to Provence. 

Jess in Annecy's  old town

Tonight the sky was very clear and the mountains stood out with the pink glow of the setting sun making them look extra pretty.

 Annecy looking pretty in the evening light.