We end our 11 days in France with two days in Annecy, a nice little city on the lovely eponymous Alpine lake. Of all of our destinations, this was the only one chosen for the scenery ... so of course it was raining sideways all day yesterday! The weather turned lovely today, though, so we had one nice day to admire the lake and the mountains.
Before we could get to Annecy, we had to get out of Lyon. Even more than most of the cities we have visited, Lyon is a maze of narrow, one-way streets that start and stop without warning. We were counting on our GPS to help us get out of the city, but ... well ... we have the voice in our unit set to "Jill," a sweet Australian female voice that has guided us through many states and countries (only a few times mistaking the WA on Washington road signs for Western Australia). But trying to understand badly pronounced French street names in a thick Australian accent while trying to pick out the microscopic street signs while driving at 20 mph proved too much of a challenge. We missed at least three turns and ended up exploring even more of Lyon's back streets before we finally got on our way. The rain increased as we moved closer to Annecy, near the Swiss border just a few minutes south of Geneva. In fact the town has a strong Swiss influence in the architecture and cuisine.
We arrived at the hotel around noon and parked the car in the two-minute hotel loading zone on the corner in front of the entrance. As I checked in, I inquired about parking. The clerk indicated that they did indeed have parking, but inquired about the size of our car. I showed it to him and he responded, "It might fit." He was exactly correct. It might fit, and it did fit ... with at least an inch to spare on each side! One enters the hotel garage by a passage that is roughly two inches wider than the Volvo. Then one uses the big key to open the garage gate at the end of the passage, then one uses the little key to open one's assigned garage stall. After locking the car, locking the stall, and going back outside the locked garage, I could hardly imagine a more secure environment for our gear --- a marked contrast to the public garage in Lyon the day before!
We managed, with the help of the hotel clerk, to find a restaurant that had heard of vegetables and had a good lunch of fondue and the equivalent of a vegetable pizza. Then, on the advice of the local tourist bureau, we used the rainy early afternoon to explore the Château d'Annecy, a cool old castle that is now a museum with some art (including some modern junk that looked more like a disappointing Reed art thesis than something that should be in a museum) and some science exhibits related to the local fauna and geology. Pretty interesting, but after the wonderful museums of Lyon it was difficult to measure up.
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| Château d'Annecy |
More rain and we were drenched despite our nifty French umbrellas. There is a story here, too: We were walking around the streets of Lyon on Sunday when it began to rain. We watched for a store than might have umbrellas, but most were closed on Sundays, of course. (French storekeepers do not like to be open.) We finally came to a Carrefour City, a smaller version of their supermarkets. Going in, we realized that neither of us knew the French word for umbrella. A young woman was going in just ahead of us shaking out her umbrella, so Suzanne pointed to it and asked in a combination of French and English "What is this?" The woman responded "parapluie," but of course said it fast and we had to ask for a repetition. We were trying to ask whether she knew if they sold them here when she switched to fluent English and said "Let me check," and walked toward the check-out with us in tow. Of course, the parapluies were located right in front of the check-out, so we thanked her profusely and proceeded to examine at least a dozen umbrellas before deciding on just the right ones.
So, back to tramping around Annecy is soggy clothes. What's the perfect thing to do on a rainy day when you're traveling? Laundry! So we found a laundromat within walking distance of the hotel and got all of our clothes clean (except for the two socks that fell out and didn't make it into the washer). Next time we do laundry will be in Bratislava! But Monday evening, the rain had finished and the sun was coming out.
On sunny Tuesday morning we awoke wanting breakfast ... real breakfast ... the kind with eggs. (We miss you Genie's!) We had passed a boulangerie on Monday that advertised omelettes on its outdoor board, so we headed right there. Unfortunately, the omelettes are not available for breakfast! So we trekked another block or two into the old city and found a restaurant that advertised an English breakfast. Runny, but very tasty, scrambled eggs and a plate full of French fries, and of course we skipped the bacon. Heaven!
Well fed, we headed down to the lake for some serious sight-seeing. The people at the tourist bureau had recommended a boat tour of the lake. We jumped on the 11:00 boat and navigated the full length of the banana-shaped lake, past the numerous small villages that line the lake and two more castles in addition to the one in Annecy. Beautiful!
A nice day of exploration, rest, and relaxation. Tomorrow we leave La Belle France and head south and east into Italy. Three days spread over three locations, so I'll try to post again on Friday from Padova.
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