The Gems of Annecy

Breakfast was provided by Christine at our 'hotel' during which we met a Belgium couple who were on their way to Sestriere for skiing. A nice change to eat our croissants with company before spending the morning exploring Annecy. We headed down to the lake. The skies were still grey and moody. We found the Pont des Amours (the Bridge of Love), a romantic spot. The iron bridge stretches over the Vasse Canal on the edge of Lake Annecy. Once a meeting spot for prostitutes, legend now says that those who kiss in the middle of the bridge will be together forever.

From there we wandered back into the old town to discover it was bustling with market day. We made our way through the crowded streets before climbing the hill to the Castle of Annecy.

 

Overlooking the old town, the Chateau d'Annecy was once a residence of the Counts of Geneva and the Dukes of Genevois-Nemours. Today it houses the Annecy Museum with exhibitors related to regional heritage, underwater archeology, medieval sculpture, landscape painting, contemporary art and animation films.

We decided to start in the l'Observatoire regional des lacs alpins (Regional Alpine Lakes Observatory). Spread over numerous floors, we read about the first lakeside inhabitants, the water quality and subsequent environmental rehabilitation of the lake (to make it the cleanest lake in Europe!), the evolution of boats and fishing on the lake plus marine life in and around the lake.

 

 

  

Then it was time to look through the bustling markets. Local produce was in an abundance with free samples galore. We decided on buying a block of cheese that Andy and I both sampled and was delicious. The cheese was Beaufort and came in a massive wheel. We tried to get a small slice after seeing the 59€/kg price tag. The 'small' slice cost us 17€ ($25!). We exchanged oh dear looks to each other and added that one to our expensive item list. A little further on, we bought lunch - tartiflette - a local speciality made with potatoes, lardons (bacon), Reblochon (a type of soft cheese), onion and wine. It was fantastic.

 

We swung by our 'hotel' room to pick up our backpack before heading to the train, a minute too late to get on to the earlier train. Back in Grenoble, we were surprised to see a Flea Market we'd read about, still in full swing. Our road was blocked off to traffic, with many stalls attempting to sell their secondhand wares. Lots of weird and wonderful things on offer and all at exorbitant rates or so we thought!