After exploring the Alps it is time to find our AirBnB in Annecy. Initially we expected a friend to stay with us so we got a two bedroom apartment and we stayed with that configuration even after the friend decided not to come. Finding the apartment and the parking area takes a bit but finally we meet with the host and it is time to explore the apartment.
It is a nice apartment with the only drawback being no AC. This is really bad during the heat wave but luckily it has exposures in various directions so we can move from room to room depending on which is colder.
There are some nice views of the mountains from one of the rooms and of one of the parking lots from another window. This view will become quite important as we will see our friends from here quite often in the next days.
But that will not be this morning as it seems that they are encountering issues with their RV and leaving on time so we decide to explore Annecy on our own as we are not sure when and if they will arrive. We decide to walk passing the supposed site of the first Carrefour and more modern buildings interspersed with a few older ones.
But our goal is the lake shore first and then the old town area. Getting to the lake shore takes some time as crossing the lake shore road takes forever given the continuous flow of cars. But we make it and then we can use the promenade to get to the old town.
The lake is beautiful with some nice views of the mountains and the many people cooling themselves off in the water on this really hot day.
The first famous sight that we encounter is the Bridge of Lovers. it is not clear why it is so named but it is quite popular nonetheless as the one bridge leading from the promenade to the old city over the beautiful canals.
We arrive at an entrance to the old town with some nice views over the canals and a church anchoring it from the side. And then it is time to enter the winding narrow streets and explore the old town.
What we didn’t expect is the amount of people here. While we are used to lots of people in Europe here it is almost uncomfortable how many people are packed in the streets. It is surprising that there are more people in downtown Annecy than in Lyon maybe it is more of a tourist destination even though it is a smaller town.
We decide to try to escape the crowds by climbing to the castle on top of the small hill next to the old center. Unfortunately when we get to the top the castle it is closed so after resting a bit to cool down back into the busy old center we go.
We explore a few narrow passages but especially as we cross onto the small island in the middle of Annecy, the Palace island, it becomes quite claustrophobic as you move with the crowd, you cannot stop and you cannot progress and you feel like you are going to melt in the heat.
The views of downtown can be quite beautiful however and we enjoy them as we make our way to the east side of the old town which we hope is less crowded.
While the crowds do not really thin out, the streets are larger which makes for a more relaxing exploration as we walk past canals and old houses.
We really like these old houses with beautiful windows and colors and keep our heads up to find new examples of medieval French architecture.
We now pass the major church in Annecy downtown, the Church of Our Lady of Liesse. This is very welcome as it allows us to enter and escape the heat for a while while exploring a historical sight in the downtown area.
The church is interesting but it is not as impressive as we expected especially compared with the village churches we have seen earlier in the trip.
The main altar is quite nice though and the organ pipe is impressive enough, those are not really that common in the village churches.
And now it is time to return back to our AirBnB, our friends seem to finally be on their way, again, and we want to buy some provisions before they arrive. We take a slightly different route, inland, to go back to the AirBnB, while faster it is also hotter without the lake to cool us down.
There is a grocery store right next to our AirBnB and we buy some food stuff from there before waiting for the friends to arrive. They were supposed to arrive the previous day and then left too late to make the three hour drive to Annecy. Camping near a lake they then had an encounter with the police and in the end made it to Annecy only really late the next day, about 6 PM. But at least now they are here, and hungry, so we decide to find a place to eat, not easy when there are throngs of tourists everywhere.
After circling the Annecy Lake halfway and finding no place to eat we make the decision to climb Col de la Forclaz where there are multiple restaurants hoping to find at least something to eat there. This is not the best decision as the parking lots are full to the gills and we drive multiple times through the crazily busy downtown area before finding some place to park.
With a bit of luck we find some place to eat soon afterwards, it is crepes only but at least it is something as everyone is crazy hungry given that it is 9PM already. And the restaurant is closing in 30 minutes so it is not like we have time to decide. The crepes are quite good actually and satiated we can now decide what to do next.
Which is basically going back to the AirBnB while our friends are looking for a place to car-camp in the busy parking lots near Annecy.
The next day it is back to Annecy with our friends so they can also visit the city. For this they park their RV near our AirBnB and we take them with our car into the downtown area. As it is impossible to find parking we return then to the AirBnB and take the bus while they explore the downtown and meet them there.
After meeting it is time to explore the downtown area both places we have visited before and places that we didn’t. At least now we know the most popular areas and we can steer around them as we explore through the old town.
We also do some shopping as our friends are interested in buying some goods and souvenirs and therefore we explore a bit more the commercial side of downtown.
This area is quite interesting also and less busy compared to the old town proper making the stroll through the streets more enjoyable. Also the shade throughout helps.
We buy a few souvenirs and do some window shopping as we now start to search for a place to have lunch as we are getting hungry. Also we are in the sweet spot of French lunch time, soon most restaurants will start to close.
We find a restaurant that is acceptable for everyone relatively fast and are the last people that order, after serving us the restaurant closes until evening. The food is good and then it is time to return to the AirBnB as one of our friends is injured at one leg and cannot walk for long distances. So we take the bus, bring the car and after finding our friends who have decided to eat some gelato in the meantime we return to the AirBnB. From there we decide to explore another attraction near Annecy Lake, the Château de Menthon-Saint-Bernard before dinner.
