Annecy

This will be a great town to take the whole family. Outdoor activities for all.
AB just fell asleep reading her book. She has been halfway through for a couple of days now. It was raining last night when we arrived, but it's a glorious day today. The hotel is right across from the train station but that doesn't do us any good as we have the car. The website said free parking available, and the man at the desk kept telling us there was but we'd have to pay very little for it. Interesting. The meters run until 7:00pm so we parked in front of the hotel for the evening and then did a drive around the lake this morning to get our bearings. We ended up parking in free lot east of town conveniently located near a mini golf/bike rental place. We opted for the bikes.

Yesterday was a driving day, rainy and or cloudy the whole way. Made good time on the La Comtoise, and then A39. We got of the exit at Belfort to see if wee could find the Le Corbusier chapel that we saw on the highway, unfortunately there we're no signs after the exit, and we couldn't remember the town it was in (Ronchamps)...next time. We stopped at the Aire De Jura on the A39 and had some odd sandwiches, Orangina, and AB had a crappy coffee. AB left her umbrella in the restroom, but when she went to look it was gone. There was an info desk and I urged her to ask them, it's a good thing because the car keys were with the umbrella. That would have been fun. All the information regarding the car was listed on the keyring. Would have been a long day at the rest stop.

My navigator was asleep most of the way, and to counteract this I had planned to take back roads to alleviate the boredom of driving with out the radio, which was not good, or conversation. Unfortunately we had passed the exit I had all my directions based on. Missed it by three exits. We got off at Exit 10 and after a few false starts found our way, not without numerous switchbacks over fairly narrow roads, (no worse than Lacoste). The upside was I had company that was awake, the down side was she was not happy. We went through a variety of towns and worked hard to get to Coligny and from there we went through Saint Jean D'etreux, Nantey, Florentia, St. Julian, Lains, Les Grange De Dessia, Arinthod, Vescles, around Lac de Cioselet and into Dortan, this led out to the A404 as originally planned. Good times. The breaking point for AB was when we dropped down to Lac de Cioselet and had to follow a deviation. I think she felt we would never find our way. The ride in to Annecy on the Autoroute Blanc was quick and beautiful.

It was raining fairly steadily when we arrived yesterday, and continued to rain throughout the evening. We scrapped an ideas of going up to Chaminix-Mont-Blanc as we would be woefully unprepared for the cold. Ab only has sandals and no coat. Ate early on the Le Thiou Canal, AB had a great salad with chevre chaud, and I ordered from Les Viandes, but vegetarian...go figure. It was cold and damp on the canal, and we were lucky enough to hear the entire life story of a fine American lad talking to his possible date. Went back to the hotel after dinner so AB could warm up as her toes were losing color. Went back out to look to get some coffee and strolled the old town after the rain let up. We walked by our restaurant from the other side of the canal and the young man was still adding nuances to his life story. Since it was cold and all the cafes were closed we opted for gelato.

Today has been exceptional. The hotel breakfast was adequate at best so we're opting out for tomorrow. Biking in this town and on the west side of the lake is a treat. We had momentarily considered renting a motor boat but next time. We really wanted some exercise and biking seemed better to me than hiking. We rode down past Duignt, and stopped for sandwiches on the lake. Sunny with a breeze to our back on the way down. Wind in the face on the way back, a more leisurely pace. The were countless riders out, in all shapes, ages, and sizes. I continue to plot to find a way to live in a place that is more bike friendly. Savannah could do it if they had the will. We walked back to the hotel after the ride and finally had the opportunity to video chat with the family. It was nice to see them all . The grandparents are doing an outstanding job, over and above. I miss the children terribly but at least I'll be able to see them often via the Internet. I think AB is up, perhaps it's time for dinner.