Saturday-End of Trip French Alps 2009
Trip Start
Oct 19, 2009
1
3
Trip End
Oct 27, 2009
Annecy, Rhône-Alpes, France
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Saturday October 24
I awoke to a beautiful day in Chamonix.
I was sad it was my last day in the Alps, but I was anxious to move
on to Annecy, where Sandy and I had visited about 4 years ago. I
checked out and loaded the car, took a few more pics since it was
such a clear day and headed off to Annecy, about an hour drive from
Chamonix. The GPS set the course and off I went down into the
valley, with beautiful scenery around. I got the camera out and
fortunately since it was Saturday, traffic was light, and I took some
pictures while driving (although I don't recommend doing that, I
couldn't help myself). I arrived in Annecy and found the hotel
relatively easily. I had to park about 2 blocks from the hotel as
all spaces were full, I checked in and rented a parking spot for the
next three days. The parking spot was underneath a building about a
block away from the hotel and I was shocked how small the spaces were
when I drove down this steep ramp with about 6 inches of room on each
side of the car. It took me about 5 minutes in jockeying the car
through the pillars that defined the 8-10 spaces there. I got in the
room and then headed out to wander the town and wander down to Lake
Annecy, a gem in the Alps region.
The lake is touted as being the
cleanest lake in Europe, spring and glacier fed, is about 8 miles
long and 2 miles wide. The water is crystal clear and it was very
calm on Saturday. I stopped and had a beer then headed back to the
room to await dinner.
I headed back out for dinner and headed
to a spot in the guide book that was to be good for hearty, cheesy,
meaty meals. I arrived and waited to be seated and when I announced
to the waiter that is was only me he seemed a little put out as it
was a busy Saturday night and a seat lost at a table for two was lost
revenue. He hemmed and hawed and then relented and gave me a table
in the back. The next ten minutes revealed just such a scenario in
which I may have cost them 4 paid meals. A couple was seated at a
table of four after me, they could have had my table had I been
refused, and shortly a group of four entered and were apologetically
refused as there were no further tables available. I ordered
quickly, they got the meal to me quickly and I ate quickly as I did
not wish to hog the table, which is usually the European custom. I
thanked the waiter for seating me and I stopped at a pub for a beer
and then headed back to the room as I wanted to watch the
Michigan-Penn St. game on my computer. Anyone who travels at all,
has a laptop and has a TV tuner on their home PC, can watch home TV
from anywhere in the world you have a decent Internet connection. A
free program from orb.com is all that is needed on the home PC and
then I can access that PC from anywhere and watch TV, listen to music
I have stored on that PC, view pictures, etc. I works quite well and
I was able to watch the Michigan game on my netbook PC sitting in my
hotel room in Annecy, France for free. Orb is great and you may want
to check it out.
Sunday October 25
I was ready to hit the road and tour
outside of Annecy, the last real time I would have behind the wheel
in the mountains so I started out in Annecy, where it was overcast
and gloomy. I headed east toward the end of the lake and then
decided to head to Alberville, about 20 miles away. As I was driving
past the end of the lake and through a valley the sky brightened and
soon not a cloud and the mountains in the distance were beautiful. I
got to Albertville, where the 1992 Winter Olympics where hosted,
drove around and then headed back to Annecy. I wanted to continue
around the other side of the lake and wanted to get up high
overlooking the lake for one last time in the mountains. As I
approached the lake, a turnoff to the north was taken, now heading on
the other side of the lake I had not seen. I was heading up the
mountain pass and as I got higher the clouds moved in much to my
chagrin. I went around narrow curves, switchbacks, and fortunately
only met one car on the way up to the summit of the pass. At the top
was a couple of restaurants and gift shops so I stopped for a look
around and a few pictures. I was now about 3,000 feet above the
lake. The clouds were blowing through and finally things cleared so
I had a clear view of the lake, although not picture perfect. I
approached the outdoor seating of the restaurant and I saw signs for
paragliding and came upon the ramp that they launch when taking off
from the mountain. Standing and looking from a safe distance I
reinforced the thought that paragliding would be one thing left on my
bucket list as I leave this earth. A sheer drop after the end of the
ramp and then out into space, not for me........
I made my way back down the mountain,
headed around the rest of the lake and then found my way back to the
parking spot, hoping the Mercedes would make it into its home
unscathed.
I headed back into the old town, had a
beer and then back to the room to catch up and ready for dinner.
Dinner was in a nice bistro, with a
nice meal, nothing special and then I headed back to the room for the
night, awaiting my last day in France.
Monday October 26
The weather forecast was for a nice
sunny day in the mid 60's and I was not disappointed. I got up and
headed down to the lake. I knew that the big tourist boats for a one
hour tour of the lake went out only at 3:00 pm daily so I walked out
to the end of the pier and saw a smaller boat that was scheduled to
leave at 12:00 pm which suited my schedule better. Off we went on a
nice one hour tour around the lake, me being the only English
speaking person on the boat. The young man who was scheduled to do
the running commentary asked me if he wished to translate the
commentary for me and I thanked him for offering. The lake is just
beautiful with 6,000 foot mountains surrounding the lake and its many
villages that we passed along the way. We arrived at one spot on the
lake and the commentary indicated this was the sunny spot on the lake
and the little village had the most expensive real estate in France,
even more so than Nice and the south of France. Don't know whether
to believe it but that is what we were told. Off the boat, sat
outside and had a couple of beers and then back to the room to catch
up.
I headed out for dinner and had a very
nice meal at a bistro I had spied the day before. Then headed back
to the room as I had a 5:30 am wake up call for my return home.
Tuesday October 27
I got up, packed, checked out and got
the car out of the parking garage without incident. I was on my way
by 6:45 to Geneva for a 10:30 am flight out. I needed to stop
someway along the way to fill the gas tank before turning in the car.
It was about a 45 minute drive to Geneve, rush hour and not a gas
station in sight off the highway. I asked the GPS to help as I
neared the airport and was given directions to a BP station only a
couple of miles from the airport. The traffic was terrible and then
it dawned on me that I had no Swiss francs on me and had heard
stories that our American credit cards do not have a chip in them
like the European cards and will not work at gas stations. On my
last trip, I paid in cash every time I got gas. I filled up and
hoped that either Euros or dollars would work and fortunately the
attendant converted to euros and off I went to the airport to drop
off the car. When I approached the KLM check in area, I saw a group
of about 75 Asians in line for the flight to Amsterdam. Fortunately,
being a Platinum Elite I was able to walk right up to the Business
Class check in and in a matter of minutes I was on my way to the Sky
View club to pass the next hour prior to flight.
The flight was uneventful, arriving in
Amsterdam at about 12:30 for a 2:10 pm flight to Detroit. We boarded
another uneventful flight over the pond and arrived in Detroit around
6:00 pm. Immigration and customs took me around 10 minutes and then
I checked the board for flights to Lansing. My scheduled flight was
not until 10:00 pm, the last flight into Lansing, so I saw a 7:20 pm
flight, went into the Delta Sky Club and inquired if I could get on
the earlier plane. Unfortunately that plane was full, so I waited in
the club until 9:15 when I headed to the gate. Only about 15 people
boarded so off we went on the final leg of another great trip. I
walked in the door of the house at about 11:00 pm after a full day of
travel and it did not take me long for my head to hit the pillow,
dreaming of my next destination, wherever it may be.
Afterthought
People always ask me where my favorite
place in Europe is and I always answer Switzerland, as the scenery,
the people, the food and the mountains keep drawing me back. After
visiting this region of France for the second (Annecy) and third
(Chamonix) times, I am starting to soften my stance on my favorite
spot. This part of France is dramatically beautiful and when
thinking about France as a whole, there are so many varied areas, the
combination is difficult to beat. Paris, the south of France, wine
regions, Normandy and many others I have yet to visit have slowly
changed my view of France.
I think I can still answer that
Switzerland is still my favorite, although France is tugging at my
sleeve and is a very close second.
Thanks for traveling and thanks for the
comments that some of you have sent me. I will answer each of them
as I get settled in back home.
