Jewel of the Alps
Annecy, France
September 1st, 2020
As promised in Sunday’s post, today we’re taking a quick tour around Annecy, France. Annecy is one of my favorite villages with its charming old town, canals, high mountains, stylish homes, beautiful lake and scenic bike path. Annecy is a quick three hours by train from Paris, making it a great place to experience both city and country life in France.
Other adorable villages surround Lac d’Annecy including Menthon-Saint-Bernard where we find Le Château de Menthon, owned and occupied by generations of the same family for nearly 1,000 years. The castle sits on a hill near the Col Des Fretes where paragliders step off the precipice and drift over the west side of the lake. In winter, Annecy is a great base to experience the Alps with storied ski towns including Chamonix and Les 3 Vallées about an hour away.
Annecy is a jewel of the Alps — well worth an overnight stay if you find yourself in the neighborhood. Explore the old town, walk the path, spend an afternoon at the beach or take a boat to more villages where you’ll find wine, cheese and bottomless cups of joie de vivre.
Tomorrow, we’re back on the magic carpet!
Kelly
P.S. Apologies for missing yesterday! I took the day off and had a lovely day with family but had to rest my eyes from the dense smoke in the air. Numerous large fires have been burning around Northern California as a result of 11,000 (not a typo) lightning strikes in one night about two weeks ago. Thankfully, the air quality is better today and most fires are nearly contained. Thank you, fire fighters and first responders. We are grateful for you.
Post of the Day: Adding a bit of light to the darkness as we get through the pandemic together. This series features travel photos from my archives, shared with you while staying close to home.
Annecy, France
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Coming from Tahoe, I am not surprised that Annecy Lake surrounded by mountains is familiar to you. It’s true that it’s a pretty city; the canals always give another dimension to the cities they embellish.
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I wish we had canals here! And patisseries and croissants and artisan cheese! Then I might stay forever… 🙂
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You’ve carried on posting and it’s been a nightmare over there, Kelly, so need to apologise. Just glad it’s getting better. And if I ever went to Annecy I have the feeling I might not want to come back. 🙂 🙂
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Thanks so much, Jo. It HAS been a nightmare here, in SO many ways. Also a lot of inspiring things happening too but it sure has taken a lot of tragedy and chaos to spur action. And you’re right — you won’t want to come back from Annecy! 🙂
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🤗💕
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Oh! That’s an
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That’s such an ominous number of lightning strikes, it must be terrible with all that smoke in the air. Please take care.
Annecy is so beautiful. I haven’t seen France, but that last photo reminds me or Lucerne at night. Also, the lakes in regions around Alps seem to have this beautiful sky blue colour, don’t know if its due to the placid waters and the clear sky, or reflections of the mountains – it looks so delightful!
And sorry, the last comment got saved untyped, issues with my mobile keyboard and typing…
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Hi! Smoke was gone yesterday but back again tonight. Will stay inside this time. Yes, crazy lightning strikes! So scary with October and November still ahead of us which is the real fire season. Interesting observation about the sky blue of the Alps region. Not sure why — maybe elevation and good air quality? It’s similar here in Lake Tahoe. No worries on the comment! All good in the ‘hood. 🙂
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The turqoise blue colour on the lakes, was just checking. It’s due to fine broken Rock particles that come with the glacial water flow, called glacial flour it seems … https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.outtherecolorado.com/blog/what-makes-mountain-lakes-so-blue/article_e33fa8d8-e612-522d-bbc6-e51ebf41a4d2.amp.html
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Great photos, great memories. Thank you – and no more apologies necessary. Family breaks are more important than anything. So happy you had a lovely time together. 💕
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Thank you!! Was so nice to see family and enjoy a change of scenery for the day. I know you know the feeling. Priceless! 🙂
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This post with your beautiful photos gives me a bottomless cup of joie de vivre! And an urgent desire to explore more of France lol.
Alison
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Yay! Merci! Cheers with full cups for both of us! And here’s to hoping we can get back to France sometime soon. Thanks Alison!
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You’re right! Annecy is one of the prettiest towns I’ve seen, based solely on your photos. I’ve never been there. But now I want to. I had no idea where you live, but now that I do, please stay safe from the fires. And say a prayer that 2020 is almost over. All we need now is a herd of locusts!
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I’m laughing at your herd of locusts thought. That would be the icing on the cake, although there are a few other potential pitfalls still looming in 2020. In any case, I’ll try not to catch fire!! The smoke was gone yesterday but back again tonight.
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LOVE this post! Brilliant!
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Thanks so much!! Annecy is very lovable. 🙂
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Kelly has the Tour de France route ever gone through Annecy?
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YES! Another reason we stopped there — as if we needed one. The 2009 individual time trials took place on the road around the lake. Super fun!
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Great post!! And, no need to apologize. You’ve remained a solid throughout. Stay safe from the smoke!!
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Thanks, Kevin! Much appreciated! Sorry not sorry, LOL. 🙂 Smoke was gone yesterday but back tonight.
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I’ve never been there (really not even very familiar with it beyond the name), but you have me sold on going someday!
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