Une Bonne Journée en Annecy 

August 28th

After a very nice petit dejeuner at our hotel we hung out and waited for the rain to let up. At about 11am it looked like it was clearing so we started our walk into the old town to explore a little more. There are lots of shops, restaurants, passages and lovely old buildings to photo.  

Everyone wears long dresses this year 

We decided to tour the 12th Century Chateau d'Annecy which dominates the skyline of the old town. It was turned into a museum and listed as a historic monument in 1959.  The castle is beautiful from the outside but the rooms are set up as an art museum so not a lot of history on display.  However, Jay did discover the latrine which he was very excited about.

There are lots of activities on the lake and it was especially fun to see the young kids taking sailing lessons.  Our walk into town took us along the lake and over a few bridges.  One is called the Pont des Amours (bridge of love).  It's said if you kiss your partner on the bridge it assures longevity in your relationship so of course we shared a bise while crossing.

Tonight we had dinner with Daniel and Karla at the Brasserie Irma which is right across the street from our hotel.  The restaurant is associated with the hotel so we were welcomed with a complimentary glass of cremant and given 10% off our total bill.  With the prix fixe menu at only 26 Euros and one bottle of wine it was incredibly reasonable for four of us, and very tasty as well. Apparently this is a Paul Bocuse restaurant...one of three but the most acclaimed one is in Lyon. That restaurant had a Michelin 3 star rating for a long time but was recently down graded to a 2 star.  The family was outraged but there's nothing one can do...Michelin has the last word.  Bocuse developed his own style with colour, baroque accents, a respect for local products and ingredients and was meticulous about the cooking process and focus on simplicity.  He died in 2018 at the age of 92.  This particular restaurant is quite modern with none of the baroque style but still excellent.

Karla and Daniel

Listen to the Rhythm of the Falling Rain

August 27th

We drove down to Annecy to meet up with friends Karla (pronounced Carola) and Daniel who have been storing my extra bike wheel for a year.  Jay wanted to have my old front wheel here just in case my motor died.  The forecast was for rain and sure enough as we got closer the rain started to fall.  Sometimes the song title above pops into my head on rainy days.  It is circa 7th grade I think for me.  I remember getting together with friends to dance to that song using a 45 player.  Wow, I am dating myself and getting way off track!  

To continue, we checked into our hotel, Les Muses right across the street from beautiful Lake Annecy and about 1 1/2 miles from the vilelle ville (old town).  Once settled we donned our raincoats and I grabbed my umbrella for the walk into town. Some of the walk was under large sycamore trees that kept the majority of the rain off of us.  

We were here several years ago so remembered some of the scenes in the old town with canals dotted with flowered covered bridges. Our first stop was at Kelly's Pub for a beverage, Jay a Guinness and I chose the Kilkenny. The place was packed because France was playing Australia in Rugby.  It was a big deal because the World Cup Rugby Tournament is being played in France this year from Sept 8 through sometime in October.  France and Australia are in the same grouping and to everyone's delight France trounced the Aussies.  We moved on to dinner at a restaurant along the canal that serves raclette.  As memory serves me we had the same dinner here years ago.  

To Market, To Market to Buy a Fat Chicken?

August 26th

With the clouds hovering but no rain we walked to the Saturday Market to pick up a rotissery chicken and other items for dinner.  The displays are always so gorgeous and photo worthy. As we walked back to the apartment a group of young men were playing dixie jazz.  It was such fun to see them enjoying what they do and making people happy.  

Our last bike ride ended at Gissey-sur-Ouche so we drove past to Pont d'Ouche to begin our ride back toward Gissey and ended at Pont de Pany after 43 kilometers.  Jay loves the picnic spot there so that's where we lunched.  This is a beautiful part of the Burgundy Canal because it has lots of locks and twists and turns.  On the ride back we stopped at a canal-side restaurant for a cafe creme which was a welcome place for a break.  The coffee is good, only 1,5 Euros and there's a nice bathroom.  The only glitch for the day was buying gas for our drive down to Annecy tomorrow.  We tried 3 different stations and finally the BP would take our card and the manager said it's because with an American credit card a signature is required.  We don't remember it being such a hassle last year but now we at least know why our card gets rejected.  We will be looking for BP and Avia stations from now on.