Monday, September 16, 2019

Europe 2019: Day 10...Annecy

We woke up and enjoyed breakfast at our hotel before heading out towards Annecy!  I am not going to lie, I was sad to be leaving the beautiful views of Chamonix.

Saying farewell to Mont Blanc.  It was another perfect blue sky day.

Even though I was sad about leaving Chamonix, I was so excited to be heading to Annecy.  We had talked about going to Annecy a few years ago but changed our plans.  We were both looking forward to seeing this beautiful city!

We took a train for a bit and then hopped on a bus that took us right to Annecy.  We arrived to Annecy and were lucky enough that our room was ready.  We dropped off our stuff and hit the streets to explore.  We planned on walking toward the lake and it did not take us long before we found our first canal view.

Annecy is known as the Venice of the Alps.

Mountains, canals, bikes, and outdoor seating.  Sounds pretty perfect to me.

Annecy had the most outdoor seating of any city we have ever been to.  There were so many options to sit outside and enjoy the weather.

There were flower boxes all over the city.  It was so charming.

The buildings were so bright against the blue water


We found the lake and walked around taking in the view.  The lake water was so blue that it appeared to be an ocean instead of a lake.

That lake water.  It is so beautiful.

We had plans to take a pedal boat out on the water at some point during our stay.  

As we were walking away from the lake, we found a darling little canal that had beautiful wooden boats docked.

 I call these George Clooney boats because he has a fancier, larger version that he drives around Lake Como in Italy.

Isn't Annecy just gorgeous?


We stumbled upon the most photographed area of Annecy, complete with the La Vieille Ville.

La Vieille Ville

I was definitely enjoying a day of vacation without carrying a hiking pack around!

One of the quieter canals.

We walked around and found a place to stop for lunch.  We sat outside and ordered tapas and a bottle of rose.  It was amazing.  As we were sitting there, we heard some commotion and realized it was Annecy's Pride Parade coming through the cobblestone streets.  

Everyone was having so much fun!


Annecy Pride

Our delicious lunch.  We had three types of cheeses, two types of chorizo, bread, and a bottle of rose.  I am not sure it gets much better than this!

The view from our seats.  The buildings were really darling.

After lunch, we stopped by our hotel to relax for a bit before heading out for the evening.  We ended up walking along the lake and finding a festival that was going on in the park.  The people of Annecy were out having a blast.


The funny part was when they stopped singing in English, they spoke perfect French.



These decorative balls were in the lake.  With the mountains and the blue water, I felt like we were in the South of France instead of in the Alps.


We had a difficult time finding a place for dinner since we did not want anything fancy.  We ended up at a sports bar near our hotel and enjoyed some bar food.  Bar food in France was just what the doctor ordered!  We had a great first day in Annecy!

Friday, September 6, 2019

Tour du Mont Blanc...Day 9: Tre le Champ to Chamonix


Tre le Champ to Chamonix

Mileage:  6.2 miles

Elevation gain: 50 feet

Lodging:  Hotel


We woke up and said goodbye to Roi and Lior.  They were taking the route with the ladders and going to Lac Blanc and the Jackson's (at least this Jackson) wanted nothing to do with the ladders.  We had kept hearing that there were several trails closed to get down to Chamonix and we were in fear that the only trail that was open included the ladder section.  Therefore, we made the executive decision to follow the river down to Chamonix.  It was the best decision!

We stopped in Argentiere for pastries at a bakery and went down to Chamonix from there.  Why did I want to skip the ladders so badly?  Need I remind you of the hike in Italy where I thought I would die? 

The low road

We made it back in time for Aperol Spritz!  We also later ran into the girls from Rhode Island at our hotel and they said the way we would have had to go included the ladders.  One of the girls was so afraid of heights that she had a breakdown on the trail.  Same girl, same.  

I have to say, this hike was one of my favorite things that Ken and I have done together.  We feel so fortunate that we have gotten to do it and that we had such amazing weather.  


Something for the memory bank for sure.



We spent the remainder of the day wandering around Chamonix.  We bought some macaroons that were amazing!  


The streets of Chamonix


We did find a supermarket that had my favorite Swiss chocolate bar.  Thank goodness I did not bear the burden and carry 10 of them with me on the trail!


Chamonix is gorgeous and has a ton of outdoor seating options.

We watched a little bit of the rock climbing world championships that were taking place in Chamonix.  It was speed climbing and it was insane!


We ended the night with a bottle of champagne, real champagne, from France!  It was amazing.  

We were excited about the next day to head to Annecy!