The French Alps

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Trip Start Jun 14, 2009 Previous
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  Annecy, Rhône-Alpes, France
Friday, June 26, 2009

Annecy

The Long and Winding Road-We thought we were being clever by taking the more direct route rather than the superhighway, which entailed driving way out of the way.  Well, our more direct route was quite an adventure and probably took much longer than the superhighway would have.  We drove on very scenic but narrow and slow and windy roads almost the entire way to Annecy, several hours. Hairpin turns, cliffs, canyons and switchbacks were the norm through this mountainous Alps region. Hindsight says we would have saved a lot of time taking the long way but at the same time we did get to experience the French countryside, jagged mountains and lush green valleys and even saw some lavender fields, which we had been looking for but had not yet seen.

We arrived in Annecy, a northern, Alpine, French city that we all felt quite at home in

Lavender Field

.  It reminded us of the Minneapolis area, with the lakes and trails, plus mountains. The girls have been wanting to ride bikes for days and we finally got the opportunity in Annecy.  We arrived at the bike rental shop kind of late, so the kind Frenchman, who had wind surfed in Hood River, let us take the bikes overnight.  We road on the same ride the Tour De France will be on but we didn’t quite make it around the 40 km lake. The town is made for bikes and walking, with cars being reduced to waiting for the more earth friendly modes of transportation. It was a very enjoyable ride.  We stopped and listened to a local talent show, playing in one of the many lakeside parks, by area high school kids who were singing American hit songs.

Alpine Dining-This area is known for its fondue and raclette, and being big fans of both headed out to find the best. We still haven’t figured out the French Dinner system and try to get service before 7pm. We were ignored. Reluctantly, the bartender started to serve us, but managed to take his time long enough for the waitress to show up. Once again we were handed menus in English, next time… We choose the Classic fondue, Stale bread with hot grueyere/local wine and a tarlaflutti. That was a 12” plate of roasted potato chunks, covered with lardons and raclette cheese (good use for fireside leftovers) then all thrown in the oven until it is hot and crispy and bubbly

biking in Annecy

. And Delicious! Another “pichet” of wine and a salad to share and it was a beautiful meal on “la Place”. Afterwards we went to icecream at a place with 52 flavors including Schtrompf (bright blue flavored), cacao sorbet, and babanas flambee.

After riding along the lake, around town, to dinner, and over the bridges several times, our hotel let us keep the bikes in the basement.  People have been very friendly and accommodating on this trip.  We think we could live in Annecy, a nice mix of city and country and water and mountainous life.

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Alpine Dining

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