Two weeks at the Lac d'Annecy

[French Mystique Tours]

I know most people go to France and want to see all the famous sites and museums and monuments and are very interested in history and probably spend weeks and months preparing for their trip by studying up on what they are going to see. But for those of us who live here most of the time when we go on vacation we just want to relax. So what I'm saying is that you shouldn't expect to learn a whole lot of history from this report and you aren't going to see many famous sites and monuments. But you will see some absolutely stunning scenery and if you had been thinking about perhaps vacationing near the Lac d'Annecy this report will give you some good ideas about what there is to see and do in the vicinity of the lake.

The Mrs. and I (I shall refer to the Mrs. as DW -for Dear Wife- hereafter) wanted a quiet place away from civilization where we could relax for a couple of weeks and get away from the sea of humanity and development in and around Paris. We found a nice secluded place a couple of kilometers from the lake in the town of Saint-Jorioz, which is south of Annecy on the western side of the lake. It was a pleasant 1 bedroom apartment in a typical old Savoyard farmhouse and there were no other buildings nearby so it was very quiet. We even had a slice of a lake view from our bedroom window. The only downside was that there was no washer and dryer but I just brought enough underwear and socks to last me for two weeks. Having spent several months backpacking around Europe in my younger days I'm pretty good at getting mutli-day usage out of shirts and pants so I was fine with the lack of laundry facilities. Besides, no one was going to notice me in the same outfit two or three days in a row.

We left our home outside of Paris at 5:30AM since it was a Saturday in August and traffic was predicted to be very heavy that day. A wise move as later while driving we listened to reports on the radio of horrendous back-ups on autoroutes around Paris and major holiday destinations. We made a couple of stops along the way for food and fuel but excluding these stops we once again found the viamichelin estimated drive time to be extremely accurate. We got settled in to our place and then headed down to Saint-Jorioz to do our grocery shopping. Here's a link to the website of the place we stayed. The owner lives on the ground floor and there are two apartments on the floor above. There was another floor above us but I think that was part of the owners residence.

lac-annecy-location-vacances.com/les_tarifs.html

Saint-Jorioz is a pleasant place and while I wouldn't describe it as charming it had everything we needed for services and amenities, including a Super-U supermarket. After shopping we made ourselves dinner and then decided to head up towards Annecy to see the fireworks display that was planned that evening, since Annecy was holding its annual Fête du Lac. You can buy tickets to this event and get seats along the lake so you can listen to music and narration while getting a close-up view of the fireworks. We opted for the cheaper (free) option of being a short distance south of Annecy and just positioning ourselves along the edge of the lake. The event drew people by the thousands and I'm quite sure it must have been the most crowded weekend of the summer around the lake. Parking was impossible to find but being an expert at sniffing out secret locations I directed DW to drive up a little side road I had spied and snagged us a convenient space away from the crowds. The fireworks commenced just after we got out of the car so we hurried down to the lakeside and got into position. Here's what we saw.























After the show was over we joined the thousands of other spectators in the snail paced traffic crawling along the lakeside road heading out of Annecy. We didn't care as we were in a happy mood and so wasn't everyone else. Sometimes you've just got to enjoy being a tourist.

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DAY 2

Today we decided to take a drive in the area to get ourselves acquainted with it. The day started off cloudy so I didn't take too many photos as I wasn't feeling that inspired. The scenery in the area is spectacular regardless of the weather but I knew I'd have plenty of chances to take better photos on sunnier days.

Although we had bought The Michelin Green Guide for the Alpes du Nord region I must confess to not once having looked at it to learn about the area. To figure out what there was to see and do I relied, as I usually do, on studying the Michelin map and visiting tourist offices. I'm not much of a vacation planner and sort of like to wing it and be flexible. I like to discover things at random when I travel and reading guide books and such just makes me feel like I'm dicovering things that have already been discovered or that I'm treading where others have already tread. You don't get that sense of surprise or unexpected discovery if you know what to expect.

In studying the map I had noticed a designated scenic road that cut through a mountain pass east of the lake. At either end of the route were towns labelled in bold lettering and one of them had the historic church icon. Why the bold lettering of a town and historic church icon are important to me when I decide where to go would take several paragraphs to explain. It concerns how to read a Michelin map in order to discover interesting places and that would really be getting sidetracked from the point of writing this report. Hmmm, what is the point of writing this report? I guess I don't know so let's get back to my pointless story.


We headed south along the D1508, the road that borders the west side of the lake, to the town of Faverges. This was one of the towns in bold lettering on the map that I just described. It was okay but nothing outstanding, though there was a picturesque château perched on the hill above the town and there were a few older, pleasant streets. I didn't take any photos but I'll have a few to show you later on. We passed through the cute little town of Saint-Ferréol and began our ascent up the D12 through the mountain pass. The start of the drive took us past scenic orchards and pastures with grazing cattle before changing to mostly wooded mountain slopes. Looking back down the valley between opposing mountains I could see the pastures on the outskirts of Saint-Ferréol.




As we ascended further we could see some of the high alpine pastures and tiny hamlets that make this region so postcard scenic.








The first village we entered was Seraval, which with a total of a couple of dozen dwellings probably qualifies as one the larger villages on this route.











I've got a bunch more pictures of this route that I took on another day when there was lots of sun but I'll show you those later. For now I'll just show you a few more photos as we approached the town of Thônes. Just before entering this town we saw a sign that said ''Pont Romain'' (Roman Bridge) so we pulled off the road to have a look.



Thônes is the other town I spoke about that was denoted in bold lettering on the map. Pulling into the town I could sense I was going to like this place. I saw some quaint buildings and a typical Savoyard church steeple peering above the rooftops that piqued my ''charming village'' detector.

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Yup, Thônes was a nice little place so we got out of the car and walked around a bit.










Thônes seemed like a lively place with enough hotels, restaurants and cultural attractions to make it a good place to base yourself if you were considering basing in this area. In the winter it's only 10-15 km away from some of the major ski slopes in the area. If you want to learn about what Thônes has to offer the potential visitor here is a link to the official tourist office website:

www.thones-valsulens.com/fr/index.htm




With the Roman bridge nearby and the statue of this Roman soldier on the church I'm assuming that Thônes must have some important connection to Roman Gaul. The town website mentions that it was a stopping point during the Roman era on the route to Geneva. The website isn't very thorough but there's a bit of history and other info there if you want to have a look:

www.mairie-thones.fr/
















Just as we started to head out of Thônes the sun finally started to make an appearance so I readied the camera to take some landscape photos.










In the distance we could see the château of Menthon Saint-Bernard.






And speaking of Menthon Saint-Bernard that was the next town we drove through as we started to head towards the Lac d'Annecy. I didn't take too many more pictures on this day but I returned on another day so I'll have more of this town and the neighborhing town of Talloires later. Here I am in town looking back at the château, which overlooks the village.










Pulling into the town of Duingt I could see the tower of its iconic lakeside château on the horizon.








Overall we didn't do a whole lot today and that was fine with us. We were here to relax and had no great plans on our agenda, with a couple of exceptions. So that's all for today's picture show.

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DAY 3

The sun was shining brightly when we awoke so it seemed like a perfect day to go for a hike. We drove down to the little shopping district in Saint-Jorioz and went to the tourist office to look for hiking brochures. They didn't have any good free ones so we bought a small booklet with what were described as the fifteen best walks around Lake Annecy. If you are looking for this small booklet, on the cover it says (the English version) ''Lake of Annecy, Special Edition: Walks and Treks'' and the author is Jean-Pierre Vinadia. It cost us 6.50€. If you head to any of the magazine/newspaper stores (called ''Presse'') there are loads of maps and books you can buy with info about the region. There must be at least a hundred hikes you could do just within a few kilometers of the lake. We skimmed through our booklet in search of a hike that was about 3-4 hours in length, not too difficult and very scenic. Turns out the book had such a hike and it started right in Saint-Jorioz a few meters from where we were standing. It was walk #9 called The Laudon Circuit.




The start of the hike took us through the upper part of the village, which was pleasant enough.





















As you can see, it's just a little scenic.




The most dangerous critter you are likely to encounter on a mountain hike is the fearsome snail.




One thing I've noticed in my various travels around Europe is the absence of wild animals (save for the chamois in the mountains, and birds). I remember being in Rome in some public park and a crowd of people had gathered around a squirrel, oohing and ahhing at probably the least spectacular representative of the wild animal kingdom. I felt like telling them we run those things over with ours car every thirty or forty feet back in the States. It seems the people of Europe have blasted the native fauna nearly out of existence.

The trail left open pastures behind and started into the forest. The trail also started to get steep at this point and some cloud cover moved in.










The trail at this point passes through the little hamlet of Entredozon.

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Most of the small villages and hamlets in the area seem to have preserved their old communal ovens.








The trail went back into the forest where there were more steep sections.




Then back out of the forest into the village of Saint-Eustache.







There's a little plaque on the town hall in commemoration of the 24 men and boys from the village who were rounded up by the Nazis on December 31, 1943 and sent to the death camps. Seventeen of them didn't come back.



As we learned at various points throughout our vacation, this area was a popular place among resistance fighters due to the obvious challenges the terrain posed to Germans seeking to capture them.

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From this point on most of the hike was through open pasture and a few small hamlets. The cloud cover slowly gave way to more periods of sun just in time to bring out the brilliant green of the pasture.

















Wildflowers were everywhere in this region.






Here is the Château de Ruffy in the town of Duingt, which you saw ealier.






We entered the hamlet of Villard....




…...where we saw this château.






After a few more minutes we were back at the starting point in Saint-Jorioz. And that's all I have to report about day 3.

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DAY 4

Day 4 was ''be a tourist'' day. Our plan was to take the shuttle boat from Saint Jorioz to Annecy and spend the day in town. The shuttle boat serves all the towns on the lake, taking about 2 hours to make a complete circuit, and costs just under 17 euros. Down by the boat dock are all kinds of water activities. All the towns on the lake have places to rent pedal boats and kayaks or go water skiing or windsurfing or just about any other water activity you can think of.








Here's the arrival at Annecy.






As you can see, there were plenty of other people in Annecy. I'm pretty sure we must have arrived on the busiest day of the tourist season. When a place is jam packed with tourists it can really take away from the atmosphere of a place, if you let it. We knew what we were getting into, however, and adjusted ours moods accordingly. I mean, you can't go to one of the largest tourist destinations in a region during peak tourist season and expect to have the place to yourself. So my advice is, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. You'll have a much better time. Annecy is super charming and super touristy and we soaked it all in.
















As if there were a need to trap more people in a narrow street it also happened to be market day. Hold your breath and let's dive into the sea of humanity.




We were searching for a lunch option and upon exiting the market we ducked into a quiet little alley where we saw some restaurants to have a look at the menus.

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Ready to see some more tourists?














DW was looking for tartare (that's another story) and while it was offered at several places the restaurant with the best tartare recipe was the most touristic restaurant in the most touristic location in town. The place was called The Munich and it was packed but we showed up at the perfect moment right after someone left and snagged the only empty table on the terrace. On the left of this photo you can see The Munich. It's the restaraunt with the green awning.




The terrace was just adjacent to the canal. This also meant we were adjacent to the hoards of tourists walking along the canal. Taking full advantage of the establishment's touristy location we passed our time discussing tourist fashion habits, devising a rating system for the most obscenely dressed tourists, and debating whether gigantic tennis sneakers could also double as kayaks on the lake. This was a day devoted to being tourists, after all, so we stayed on topic. The food arrived and it was....well.....pretty damn good! DW enjoyed her tartare and I enjoyed my tartiflette and the wine we ordered was pretty swell too.



See the guy in the blue hat? He was a loudmouthed know it all with nothing interesting to say. It was obvious he was boring his companions to death as none of them said more than a few words the entire meal. If they dared speak, he had something better to say. He was so annoying I had to take his picture. Don't annoy me if I sit next to you at a restaurant or I'll take your picture. I hope he's not a member of any travel forums where I post this report. After lunch we continued our stroll through town.




We decided to head towards the château in the upper part of town.






The oldest parts of the château date from the 13th century and that's all I have to tell you because I really don't care.




We didn't go into the château (because we don't care) but enjoyed strolling around the courtyard and admiring the view from its terrace. Then we left, feeling content in having learned nothing regarding this wonderful historic monument.


Who has time to learn anything anyway when there are so many impossibly cute alleys to photograph?

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More tourists.




More canals.








This guy's house had a great little courtyard that overlooked the canal.




I think you've seen enough of Annecy so let's get back on the boat and explore the lake.






Here's the town of Menthon Saint-Bernard.








The kids on the cliff were debating whether or not to jump. They wisely chickened out.








Departing the boat at Saint Jorioz.



And so ends day 4. I hope you've all learned something about how to be a tourist. Let's review. To be a good tourist you should: 1) Visit popular places in the afternoon during peak season to assure finding the largest crowds 2) Do no research before you show up 3) For lunch, pick an incredibly touristic restaurant and ask to be seated next to someone who will annoy you 4) Criticize what other tourists are wearing, even though you look no better yourself 5) Learn absolutely nothing about what you are seeing 6) Feel completely satisfied at having carefully followed rules 1 through 5.

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DAY 5

Ah, yet another clear blue sky to wake up to. Today was going to be another hiking day but I was also going to throw a little bike riding into the mix. I went to a nearby bike rental store and picked up a bike and put it in the back of the car. I was looking for a real thrill ride and I could think of nothing more thrilling than speeding down an alpine mountain. Our little hiking booklet mentioned a lovely 1-1/2 hour hike at the top of the nearby Semnoz Plateau so that is where we (and the bike) decided to go.

There are absolutely stunning views up here. In fact, I much preferred the views up here to those of Aguille du Midi/Mont Blanc. Once you reach the plateau it's mostly wide open pasture on a mix of flat to rolling terrain. We misread the map and ended up at the wrong place to start but this was fine as there was a restaurant to have lunch at. Once we had lunch we realized our foolish error and continued on to the peak, known as the Crêt de Chatillon. The Michelin map we were using labelled this peak as a 3 star attraction. I will give it 4 stars. BTW, only the Michelin maps of the scale 1:150,000 will have sites rated with stars. The maps of the scale 1:200,000 don't do this. The walk begins at a restaurant so if you'd like to drive up and have lunch in a place with stunning views that is possible. I have no idea what the food is like but the views can't be beat. Let's begin our walk around the plateau.



There were cows all over the place up here and the air was filled with the sound of clanging cow bells. At one point in this walk you can visit a local farmer and sample/buy some of the local cheese.












Here's Mont Blanc in the distance.






If you are a thrill seeker there is no shortage of places to go paragliding around here.














There really isn't too much to say or describe that the pictures can't do better so I'll just shut up and keep showing you pictures. Oh, except that in the next picture you'll see the group of model airplane glider enthusiasts that meets up here.

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Here's something else I can tell you. The dried out flowers you see in the next photo are called gentiane. It's a beautiful yellow flower when in bloom. It can be used to make a few types of alcoholic drinks known in French by the names suze and eau de vie.












Did I mention the cows?




We finished up the hike and returned to the car and my blood started pumping as I opened the hatchback and got the rental bike out. DW was absolutely terrified at the thought of leaving me alone at the top of a mountain with a bike but there was no stopping me. I was an idiot on a mission.



Here's a little video I made of the start of my ride down from the top.




That was an okay start but I found a section of road later on that was more straight with fewer curves that allowed me to really open up so I made another video. I'll apologize in advance for the shaky quality of the camerawork but I had to ride with both hands on the handlebar while still holding the camera. This meant the camera was subject to the vibrations from the handlebars. Nonetheless, here it is.




I had no speedometer on the bike but I'm sure I must have gotten up to about 60-70 kmph. One thing's for sure and that's that no cars passed me. Here's some more photos from the ride down.

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At the bottom of the mountain I was approaching the village of Col de Leschaux.






















Entering the village of Borny..

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Entering La Chapelle-Saint-Maurice.



















Entering Saint-Eustache.





After Saint-Eustache I cruised downhill another few kilometers to our apartment and called it a day. A very thrilling day.

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DAY 6

As I mentioned earlier, there are no great sites, museums or other historic/cultural attractions being covered in this report and in keeping with that theme I shall subject you all to another day of hiking and biking. We started the day by doing hike number 3 in our hiking book, called Bout du Lac Nature Reserve. As the name would imply, it's a nature walk at the southern end of the lake and it's a flat, easy and short hike. It goes through marshy fields, woods and reed banks and you'll see a variety of flora and birds and if you're lucky perhaps some beavers. Let's have a look.




















That didn't take too long. We headed back home for lunch and after eating I grabbed my rental bike and decided to head down to the lake to ride on the bike trail that runs on the western side of the lake. The trail starts in Annecy and runs along the west side of the lake until its southern tip and then continues several kilometers further to the town of Ugine. The trail is built on an old rail line and as such it is flat and easy to pedal. The total length is 30 kilometers. Just so you are aware, the trail only runs on the shores of the lake for a few kilometers south after exiting Annecy. In the town of Sevrier it starts to move away from the lake so from that point on you don't really see the lake anymore, with a few exceptions. There is no bike trail on the eastern shore of the lake with the exception of a few small sections here and there. I've read that there is a plan to build a bike trail on the eastern shore but from what I saw, based on the terrain and topography, it is going to be a difficult and lengthy project to complete.


I picked up the bike trail in Saint-Jorioz and my plan was to bike to Faverges and back. Here we go.






Here is one of the sections south of Duingt where the trail runs along the lake for a few hundred meters.




I have this thing about bike trails where I don't always find them as interesting to ride on as just regular old roads. Bike trails can be quite scenic and it's nice not to have to share a road with cars but they dont always take you past the most interesting places. I like riding through small towns and villages so after a while I left the bike trail and just decided to ride through some of the villages along the route of the bike trail. I left the trail at the village of Chaparon and continued through Lathuile, Marceau and Doussard. I can't remember which photos correspond to which towns but I'm not sure it's important anyway.

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Well, they weren't the most fascinating villages I've ever ridden through but they were pleasant enough. From Doussard I had to get back on the bike trail to reach Faverges.












I arrived in Faverges and had a look around.








There was a neat looking château perched on a hill above the town so decided to ride up and have a look.




Here it is slightly in the distance.



It's actually more scenic from afar than up close. I feel kind of bad for you (if you're still with me) for not having provided you with any useful information. So I guess I'll mention that there is a cave and waterfall in the village of Seythenex, near Faverges, that is supposed to be somewhat worthy of a visit. Apparently it is the only cave in the region open to the public and you can do a 40 minute guided tour to see the natural effects of water eroding rock, plus you see the waterfall. Here is a link if you are interested: www.cascade.fr/indexan.html

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DAY 7

We awoke to another clear blue sky today and decided this would be a good day to drive to Chamonix and take the cable car up the Aguille du Midi, the mountain peak adjacent to Mont Blanc. Here's a view at the start of our drive not too far from our house.




Since we got a late start we decided to take the autoroute since that was the fastest way there.






The snow capped peak is our destination, Mont Blanc. We stopped at a rest area that affords the opportunity to get some good photos.






Then it was back to the autoroute. While there are many places in France where the autoroute is not very scenic there are other places where the autoroute is indeed scenic. In this region the autoroute happened to be of the latter variety.








We arrived in Chamonix just before 1:00. Yes, we were truly in tourist mode, once again arriving at a popular place in peak season in the afternoon when it was sure to be at its most crowded. We weren't surprised when there was a back-up at the parking lot, as cars could only enter once other cars had left. We finally parked the car and headed for the village to purchase our cable car tickets. About two hundred other people had the same idea. Although I'm always prepared to be a tourist the one thing I truly dislike is waiting in lines and this one looked like it could take an hour or more. So I did what any good husband would do and left DW to wait in line for the tickets while I took a stroll around the village to get some photos! Yes ladies, I'm a real catch but unfortunately for you I'm already taken.

Chamonix was just as full of tourists as Annecy but at least the streets were much wider so there was more breathing room.

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After my stroll through the village I went back to meet DW and she did indeed have the tickets. Which entitled us to a reservation on a cable car that wasn't departing for another hour and a half. No problem. That gave us time to eat our packed lunches and for me to promenade DW around the village and show her what I learned. Which was nothing, as usual.

To get to the top of the Aguille du Midi requires a change from the first cable car to a second cable car. The cable car rides are not for the weak of heart if you have any fear of heights. Both cable cars were jam packed with other tourists. I tried to get some photos but I was stuck in the middle of the pack so it was pointless. I got a couple of photos after we got off the first cable car.










Looking at these photos makes me realize how impossible it is to capture the panoramic beauty that surrounds you here. We got into the second cable car for our final ascent. I took a couple of photos on this ride.






There's quite a change in temperature, and altitude, between the valley and the summit. The temp in the valley was 23°C while the temp at the summit was -5°C. And I had never had the experience of shortness of breath due to high altitude before so this was my first experience with that. When you exit the cable car there are a couple of flights of stairs to ascend. At the top everyone is huffing and puffing and gasping for air. DW and I were light-headed for a while before getting acclimated. Despite the cold air temp, there was no wind and the sun was shining brightly. I had no problem walking around in my short sleeve shirt, although in the shady and/or windy spots it was noticeably colder. I had brought a sweather but didn't put it on, although I was the only person up there who remained in short sleeves.




I forgot to mention that once we arrived at the summit we were told we couldn't come back down for another 2-1/2 hours due to the crowds and we were given a reservation for the return cable car. Once up here you can also take a cable car ride over the snow covered peaks and cross into Italy but we were content to just relax in the sun and enjoy the views where we were.






You can also take an elevator to the highest point, shown in the above photo, but we didn't. Quite a few people had come up here to go hiking in the snow or to stay in one of the mountain top huts.






There were tunnels through the mountain to various observation decks, snack bars, restaurants etc.







The above photo is the actual summit of Mont Blanc and you can only get there by hiking.





After relaxing, strolling around, enjoying the views and grabbing a bite to eat our time was up and we caught our reserved cable car for the ride back down.




Another successful touristy day completed. Time to head back home. Goodbye, Mont Blanc.



And hello sunset.

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DAY 8

We spent the next two days in Lausanne visiting some friends. If you weren't aware, Lausanne is a small city in Switzerland located on the northern shores of Lake Geneva some 35-40km from the city of Geneva. We took the autoroute there and paid 38 euros for our vignette at the French/Swiss border. Since there are no tolls the vignette is the sticker that allows you to drive on Swiss autoroutes. Just an FYI on the process, when we crossed the border there is a check point/customs area where you buy your vignette. If you have cash there are people walking around who will come to your car and sell you one. If you have a credit or debit card you go inside a building and purchase one from a person at a counter.

The terrain on northern shore of the lake slopes down gently towards the lake and is mostly open land dotted with villages but primarily devoted to agriculture. There are many vineyards along the route that stretch to the base of the Jura mountain range to the north. We arrived in Lausanne and met our friends and went out to explore the city.
















I know absolutely nothing about the history of Lausanne nor of its historic and cultural attractions. I saw some museums there so I'm guessing there must be some culture. What I can tell you is it's a pleasant place and pleasing enough to the eye. If you'd like to learn about it here is a link to a wikipedia travel page which will enlighten the potential visitor:

wikitravel.org/en/Lausanne

The old city is located on the high ground north of the lake with outlying areas tending to have the modern development. The area adjacent to the lake below the old town is a former fishing village called Ouchy which was incorporated into the city of Lausanne in the 19th century. We strolled from the old town towards the lake an happened upon one of the modern areas in the city that seemed kind of hip with modern architecture, art galleries, music venues, theaters and open plazas.








Passing beyond the modern area we entered a lovely park adjacent to the lake.






Our stroll around Lausanne finished we went to our friends' apartment, which is on the 8th floor and has a balcony with great views.

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DAY 9

I won't bore you with the minute details of the good times we shared with our friends but I'll move right along to the next day, when we went down to explore the area along the lake in the village of Ouchy.




Lausanne has done a wonderful job of creating lovely parks and promenades along the lakeshore.





There are all kinds of water activities along the lakeshore and there is also a ferry that will take you across the lake to the French towns of Thonon-les-Bains and Evian-les-Bains.











Moving east along the lakeshore we came to the Olympic park and museum, a result of the fact that Lausanne is the home of the International Olympic Committee.





The torso sculpture in the above photo is mechanized and separates itself with the individual components twisting and turning to mesmerize the gazer for at least a minute.

















And so ended our 2 day visit to Lausanne.

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DAY 10

Our agenda of relaxation on day 10 merely consisted of visiting the village of Talloires on the eastern shore and the lake and then returning to Saint-Jorioz to spend some time at the beach. Talloires is the prettiest village on the lake and I would recommend paying it a visit. If you are thinking of basing here then you might want to explore the tourist office website which will inform you as to what services, activities and amenities await you.

www.talloires-lac-annecy.com/the-econavette-c1-11-en.html


































After our afternoon visit to Talloires we went back to Saint-Jorioz for some late afternoon/early evening relaxation at the public beach there.







That tower in the above photo is for you to climb on and then jump into the lake. The kids just loved it. As a matter of fact, if you have kids I think Saint-Jorioz is the best place on the lake for you to base. Its flat terrain (easy for walking), the bike trail, ample supermarket/shopping facilities, affordable accommodation, boating activities and sandy public beach with the above diving tower all combine to create a very family friendly atmosphere. There's lots of things adults and kids can share and enjoy together.

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DAY 11

Today we went for a hike starting in the town of Menthon-Saint-Bernard. The hike starts at the château which bears the town's name. The château dates back to medieval times with various modifications over time continuing into the 19th century. The château has been in the hands of the Menthon family throughout the centuries and they still occupy the château today. It is said that Saint-Bernard (1008-1081) was born in the château, he being the founder of numerous hospices and the famous rescue dogs which bear his name. I've seen in various sources that he is supposed to have been born elsewhere but that is neither here nor there. The château is open to the public and is decorated with various items and objects dating from the 15th through the 19th century. On with the hike.








Entering the village of Ramponnet.












Leaving the village the hiking trail starts to make its way up a steep incline.

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Everywhere we went we noticed that The Virgin Mary was imprisoned. She must be a powerful and terrifying deity to have warranted such confinement.






For a while the trail went through a wooded area and seemed to ascend an endless, steep slope where there was not much to see. After the summit the trail descended towards the village of Bluffy.










We arrived back at the château and I wandered around the grounds to get a few photos. There was a small admission to see the grounds of maybe 2 euros and for a few euros more you can go into the château. We just visited the grounds.

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After our hike we went into the town of Menthon-Saint-Bernard to wander around with our final plan being a visit to the lake to rent a pedal boat and go boating/swimming in the lake.

















Our stroll around town complete we rented our pedal boat and headed out onto the lake.










The water temperature of the lake is absolutely perfect, at least in August anyway. Cool enough to be refreshing on a hot day but warm enough so you can spend time in the water enjoying your swim. DW wanted to go for a swim but was unsure of what kinds of creatures might be lurking in the depths of the lake. I assured her there were no dangerous critters in the lake and coaxed her into the water. She made the plunge while I kept watch on the pedal boat. Within seconds of her entrance into the monster free waters I noticed several large bubbles of air breaking the surface of the lake just a few meters away from her. A few seconds later another burst of bubbles appeared, but closer this time. Then another, and another, each bubble burst moving closer in her direction. When they had reached the boat, just a few feet from her, I looked down and noticed a silvery grey object about 6-7 feet in length and about two meters below the surface slithering its way through the waters. I know what you're thinking (a distant cousin of the Loch Ness monster) and forgetting my location and rational thought process for just a moment so did I. Then the scuba diver broke the surface to clean his mask. I casually asked DW if she was enjoying herself and she smiled back in the affirmative. Day over.

[French Mystique Tours]

DAY 12

The weather on this day turned out to be some of the finest and warmest of our vacation. I was feeling the urge to go biking and DW consented to my desire and decided she would spend her time revisiting the Semnoz plateau and relaxing at the apartment or the beach at Saint-Jorioz. She drove me to the cycle shop where I had rented my bike the last time. I was hoping they had something today that was a bit better quality than the bike I rode last time. I was in luck since I got there early and got first pick of the bikes. They had some nice vélo de course (road bikes) and a few types that are a variation of the vélo de course known as cintre plat. This is essentially a vélo de course with mountain bike style handlebars (flat handlebars) so that you are not in such a bent forward position as the handlebars are raised a bit higher.

My ride today was one that we did by car already and that I have described earlier. I've never done a real alpine climb, à la tour de France style, and I wanted to test my ability. My planned route was to follow the bike trail to Faverges and take then continue by road up and over the mountain pass on the D12 between Faverges and Thônes. Since I wanted to focus on riding today and not photography I left the camera behind. In retrospect I wish I hadn't as the conditions were perfect for some gorgeous photos today so I'll actually have to describe this day as opposed to relying on photos to tell the story.

I left the bike store in Sevrier and continued on to Faverges, arriving just after noon. Today's ride was probably going to take me 5 or 6 hours and was going to cover about 70-80km in distance so I needed some food for fuel. I found a little café/restaurant in the center of Faverges that was cheap and had a decent looking menu. I decided to order rognons de porc. I had forgotten what rognons meant in French but I knew what porc meant (pork) so I figured rognons must be some delicious cut of pork with which I was unfamiliar. As it turns out I like pork kidneys more than I would have thought had I realized what rognons meant before I ordered. I'm not sure I'll ever order it again but I like to try everything at least once. Now I can check rognons de porc off the list. Prices are much cheaper outside Paris and my rognons de porc and side of fries was only 6.50€. Combined with an Orangina and a café the bill was just under 10€.

Tasty and unexpected lunch over with it was time to meet my fate so I climbed into the saddle and pedaled towards my mountainous destiny. Passing through the village of Saint-Férreol I began my ascent which would last for another 12km until I reach the high point of the pass at the Col du Marais, about 400 meters above the town of Faverges. In actuality this certainly wasn't the most difficult ascent I could have selected but I didn't want to bite off more than I could chew on my first extended climb. I shifted into the lowest gear, established a steady pace and set myself into a rhythm. About 1/3 of the way into the climb the temperature started to peak at just over 30° celsius and I was working up a good sweat. Surprisingly I was in a groove and somehow I felt that I had some sort of energy reserve that I was tapping into as I wasn't getting winded and when I needed to reach for more leg strength it was always there. I pedaled non-stop until I reached the summit of the pass and it took me just under an hour. I took a rest under a shady tree, sipped off my water bottle and started to get psyched for the 7km descent to the town of Thônes that was going to be my reward after a long ascent. You've already seen the video of my bicycle descent from the Semnoz Plateau and my descent to Thônes was no less thrilling, perhaps even more so as the gradient down the pass seemed steeper than coming down from the Semnoz.

Thônes was much more beautiful today than on my first visit as the brilliant sun brightened the pastel yellow, red and green hues of the buildings which contrasted nicely with the backdrop of the deep blue sky. I picked up the D909 out of Thônes and continued back west towards the lake. I was aiming for Talloires where I would finish with a ride around the lake back to Saint-Jorioz.

The road was more or less flat for about 10 or 12km at which point I could see an ascent appearing on the horizon and I knew I was in for another small climb. I was already moving at a pretty steady pace of around 25kmph and I was feeling pretty good about the effort I was giving. To prepare myself mentally for the next ascent I decided to pretend I was riding in the Tour de France and that I would have to maintain my speed up the hill. Digging down deep inside me for all that I had I attacked the hill and suddenly my second wind kicked in and reserves of energy I was unaware of flooded through my leg muscles. Continuing uphill I felt no let up in energy and my pace didn't slow. My dream of standing on a podium and donning the yellow jersey with a fabulous babe under each arm pecking my cheek while I simultaneously sprayed an adoring crowd with a magnum of Dom Perignon as they chanted my name (''We love you French Mystique! We love you French Mystique'') suddenly came crashing down around me as a small pack of professional bikers breezed by me effortlessly and disappeared around a bend in the road off in the distance. Tour de France material I am not. But I was still doing pretty good by my own standards and I continued on keeping up my own vigorous pace.

The road flattened before I reached a turn-off on the road and faced my final ascent to the village of Bluffy. Shortly after Bluffy the road flattened again and then began a slow and steady descent towards the village of Talloires. The road had some great twists and turns here and picking up speed I slalomed through them, shifting my weight from right to left and leaning sharply as I dug into the curves. A buzzing exhilaration tingled my nervous system as I went faster and faster downhill, the breaking of wind washing away the sweat from my skin. This was biking heaven and I was totally having a zen experience, completely caught in a moment of eternity. My zen tribute to the principle of gravity came to an end just above the village of Talloires where the snail trail of cars winding through the narrow roads above the village was cause for a rare application of the brakes. I stopped in the central village in Talloires, grabbed a seat on the terrace at a café and ordered myself a well deserved pint of beer.

After my beer reward I hopped back into the saddle of my two wheeled steed and made one last small descent out of Talloires to the lake's edge from where the remainder of my ride would be on flat terrain. After a few kilometers I pulled to the side of the road at a grassy area by the lakeside where a small crowd had gathered to sunbathe, picnic and swim in the lake. I took my place among them and shed my shirt, shoes and socks and took a refreshing plunge into the cooling aqua waters of the lake, lazily floating on the surface basking in the sun and the warm, fresh memory of the ride that had just transpired.

I pedaled back to the bike store to return the bike and called DW to come down and pick me up. Hesitation at the thought of returning the bike gave way to the realization that I had become somewhat attached to it over the course of the day. I had been thinking about buying a road bike but had been unaware of the existence of the type of bike I was riding, called a cintre plat, until now. This was really what I was looking for and I had the benefit of test riding it under maximum pressure conditions over the course of an entire day so I had become well acquainted with it and really liked how it performed. I decided to make an offer to buy the bike from the rental store owner but had to come up with a price that would be my limit before I made my pitch. After a minute or two I determined that 250 euros was the limit, even though I suspected the bike was worth more. Maybe even as much as 350 or 400 euros in its used condition. The owner seemed caught off guard by my proposal and stuttered and shifted her eyes about in a searching manner for a few seconds before she said ''200 euros''. My debit card was out of my wallet and on the counter before she had a chance to think too hard about it and 2 minutes later I walked out of the store and greeted DW by opening the hatchback of the car and depositing my acquisition, explaining that we would be returning to Paris with more luggage than we left with. And such was the happy conclusion of my best day of the vacation.

[French Mystique Tours]

DAY 13

I told you I wanted to go back to the D12 (between Faverges and Thônes) to get some pix on a sunny day so this was the mission for the day. I wanted to do some more bike riding so I told DW I was going to ride the bike trail to Faverges and she could meet me here with the car.














I met DW in Saint-Ferréol and put the bike in the back of the car and off we went up the mountain pass.

[French Mystique Tours]

Coming down the other side of the mountain pass we decided to take a detour to visit an area we hadn't yet seen called the Vallée du Manigod. The Michelin map gave it two stars so we figured it must be scenic and worth a visit.














Here's the village of Manigod. There were about a half dozen other hamlets in the valley and most had no more than a dozen or so dwellings. Manigod is popular as a ski base in the winter and has shuttle bus service to the nearby ski area in La Clusaz.








We decided to stretch our legs by taking a little stroll around the village and stopping for a café.






DW always makes fun of me for my habit of taking cheesy postcard photos with flowers in the foreground.

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Here's another of my patented cheesy postcard photos.




Moving further up the valley we entered another hamlet, I think this one was called Les Choseaux.








I realize you are all getting totally overdosed on photos but I took all these damn pictures and I have to do something with them.


















After the visit to the valley I had DW bring me back up to the top of the mountain pass so I could ride the bike back down to the bottom.





And that was all for day 13.


DAY 14

It was now Friday of our second week and even though we didn't have to leave our rental until Saturday we decided to head back to Paris. Since it was the end of August and traffic predictions were horrible for Saturday we had no desire to be stuck in trafic jams for hours so we shipped out early. I must say that this was the first time I ever returned from a vacation in summer and encountered absolutely no traffic jams whatsoever around Paris. Of course we returned to a brief heatwave in Paris and I was wishing I was back at the lake but all good things must come to an end. The end.

[Forest]

Thank you for posting your travel adventure in the Anncey region.
You provided the right "context" and all the answers we are looking for in deciding if Anncey was a good destination for us to spend 10 or so days. It appears a car might be necessary to fully enjoy the surrounding area. Am I correct? I am struggling with that decision. We (me and my DW) are traveling from Seattle, WA and trying to be as thorough as possible in making reservations, etc. We will arrive in early September.
Again -- thank you for your post!!! Most helpful !!!!

Forest Hertlein

[French Mystique Tours]

Hi Forest,

I don't check here everyday and just aw your post and I always suggest a car is the best way to explore any part of France. But if your objective is to relax and enjoy nature and stay around the lake it's not absolutely necessary. There is a boat around the lake to the towns and villages along the lake, a local bus network and if you like to bike there's that too. However, certainly much of what I did (going up the mountains and through the valleys) really requires a car. If using public transport you really only get to your destinations and can't wander around, plus you're restricted to train and bus schedules. Hope this helps and I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time around the Lac d'Annecy. Happy travels.

[William]

Dear French Mystique Tours,

Thank you for sharing about your trip to Lac d’Annecy. It is really very helpful for a foreign visitor.

I will be visiting France for the first time in February 2016 and will be staying in Annecy, among other places. I like driving as a way to see other countries and driving in France is a long time dream.

I intend to explore places near Annecy. While I have managed to obtain a fair bit of information about the typical road conditions in that region in early to mid February, it has not been specific enough to help come to a decision. I was wondering if you might be familiar with the following routes and share your knowledge on it:
1. Annecy to Col de la Croix de Fer via La Clusaz, Beaufort, Bourg-St-Maurice, Val-d’Isere, Col de l’Iseran, Modane, and St-Jean-de-Maurienne (this is a route I got from ‘Frommer’s 25 Great Drives in France’,
2. Annecy to Evian Les Bains,
3. Annecy to Geneva and Lausanne.

Merci beaucoup in advance for your advice. Otherwise, thank you again for the many tips in your article.

Best regards