After last minute tidying up of the apartment we called for an Uber and were off to the train station. We had only an hour or so to wait for our train to Annecy and we were impressed by the Lyon Part Dieu station. We spent a little time in a nice spacious waiting area with monitors advising of trains coming and going. When we saw our train's platform pop up on the departures screen, we headed for voie I, found it easily and zipped up the escalators to await the train.
It was good that we got there early since, soon after we settled into our seats, the train filled up and remained so pretty much the entire way to Annecy. It's Easter weekend after all.
The trip took about 2 hours and we passed through numerous villages large and small with the occasional stop. It was slightly exhilarating to feel the climb out of the valley into the alpine world and then to see the mountains with snow off in the distance.
We arrived in Annecy a couple minutes early. The station is right in the center of town and it was only a 10-minute walk to our apartment.
Up two flights of stairs and we were in! See the listing right here.
view from our living room window toward the lake
our room is at the corner 2nd (3rd floor)
After settling in we went off in search of the Tourist Information office. We found it just a block away overlooking the lakefront. We bought tickets for a lake boat cruise for Sunday afternoon and for a bus trip to the Gorges du Fier on Sunday morning. After picking up a map of the town we headed off to orient ourselves.
TI office
a nature expo of some sort going on inside the TI building
Our stroll began with the lakefront. This being Easter Weekend, the entire population of France and several eastern European countries joined us in that as well. Everywhere we went there was another small horde of people trying to get to the same places we were.
But it was a beautiful day and we were alive and healthy.
several teams of petanque or boule players being very serious
lots of paddle boats out
Pont des Amours
Jardin d'Europe
we'll be back there tomorrow queuing up for the boat
Thiou River
one of numerous tiny canals in town
We stopped at a Monoprix, picked up/dropped off some groceries then headed out for an aperitif.
street next to the Monoprix
We sat outside at Les Chardons d'Ecosse, literally right around the corner from our building in a small courtyard and had a glass of wine (me) and Lillet rosé (Susan).
Les Chardons d'Ecosse
Eventually we plunged back out into the crowds in search of a supper venue.
Monoprix grocery store again (on the right)
Since we were still early for dinner (at most places) we grabbed an outside table overlooking one of the canals at Captain Pub and had a glass of local white.
view from our table
We ultimately grabbed a table for dinner at Le Zinc & Raoul right next door to Captain Pub.
Susan had tartiflette vegetarien
For those who wonder, tartiflette is potatoes, onion, lardons (bacon) and Reblochon cheese all baked up. For the vegetarian version, the lardons are left out. It was all more than Susan could handle - at least the salad offered a fresh, light side.
I had l'escalope Savoyard
Steve's dish - thinly sliced chicken, grilled lardons, Reblochon and crème fraïche with a side of frites. Believe me, we don't usually eat like this.
It was a short walk back home.
Tomorrow a trip to the Gorges du Fier and a cruise on Lake Annecy.
Have you heard about Steve Soper's European weight loss program? You come to Europe and promptly get sick. At least that what has happened to me (again).
I started getting sniffles a couple of days back and then spent most of Sunday night coughing and keeping both of us awake. This morning we slept in -- obviously -- and after breakfast walked to a nearby pharmacy. The pharmacist knew right away what I needed (cough syrup with dextromethorphan for you medical types) and off we went to the Tourist Information office and picked up a map of the city -- better late than never, I suppose.
the TI office overlooking the river Onyar
We decided to return to the hotel room where I could take a dose of cough medicine and some Tylenol and crash for a while with a plan to go out later in search of the walk along the city's medieval walls. We had already done a short portion of it on our previous search for the cathedral.
We both agreed that my being under the weather provided us with a fine opportunity to just slow down and kick back. Which we did.
A little after 1:00 pm we left the hotel and went in search of the walk along the walls. We found the entrance at one end of the walk and climbed the seemingly endless stairs to get to the top of the walls. The walk allowed very nice views over the rooftops of the city and was worth the climb. We also passed several of the walls watchtowers that had been largely reconstructed.
the stairway entrance to the wall walk - I have no idea what this other building is
across the entrance is an air raid shelter from the Spanish Civil War
the walk was in fact a narrow path
We opted to leave the walk about two-thirds of the way and climbed down to the river level.
We made our way back to the Plaça de la Independecia and found a table at the Cafe Royal. We sat had coffee and Susie got a chance to enjoy her own xiuxo pastry. She thought it delicious!
Leaving the cafe we headed back to the hotel for another respite until dinner time.
About 6:30 pm we headed back out to our Plaça to have a bite to eat. We settled at Enjoy It again since it had the best seats.
Susie had a chicken Caesar salad and I had broken eggs with chips (fries for you non-Brits) and Iberico ham.
After dinner we walked back to the hotel one last time and tucked ourselves in for the night.
