EuroTrip - Day 34

A Date with French Alpes

France can boast of a real diverse landscape owing to its big size. After the rocky beaches of Nice and Monaco, it was time to explore some snow-capped high mountains. A1 had promised us a trip to couple for cities near Lyon to explore the French Alpes.

Annecy, situated at 2 hours distance from Lyon, is the most popular tourist attraction in this region which is situated near the base of Mont Blanc (they also call this region Savoie Mont Blanc, I think). Some of the biggest and most beautiful lakes in France have contributed to make this region very scenic. In winter, it is home to some of the most popular ski resorts.

The two girls in the gang had been looking for a good day to do some cycling. Today, with the sun out in the sky on an otherwise chilly morning, it looked a perfect day. The tourist information officer agreed and happily told us about the famous cycle tracks and routes. To our luck, Annecy indeed is a really good place for cycling enthusiasts. With around 40 km of cycle tracks in shadow of French Alpes, it offers a relatively flat cycle route amidst a colorful (greenness mountains with white snow-capped peaks and a blue water lake) landscape.

It took us a little time to get adjusted to the cycle and the city maps. After that it was all a journey through a dream land. With a beautiful lake on our left side, we crossed a couple of really beautiful villages. The relatively empty restaurants and ski resorts along the way reminded us throughout that the winter is not yet here. In winter, it will be a mela in those places. There are a couple of camping sites on the way too. Wish we could have stayed a night there, with campfire in the night on the lake front.

The geared bicycles that are used in these parts of world are so much comfortable (except the seat, which is not made for Indian posteriors) and smooth to ride. In no time your feet are into a clockwork groove. The joy of the ride holds you so involved that you easily forget the distances. We drove for almost 20 km (Bora says it was more than 30 actually) and did not feel any tiredness. 2 hours of cycling refreshed us and we were ready to see some popular tourist attractions in this 'Venice of the France'.

Lake Annecy is the beauty spot for this town and offers really scenic view of the Alpes. The lush meadows around it are real good place to soak up some sun on a bright afternoon. Just sit on the benches overlooking the lakes, do a boat ride or just go for a stroll - you have your day made. Or if you are like Bora, you can run and try to scare away those lazy pigeons. :-)

The city also offers a visit to a magnificent castle overlooking the canal network. Just walk along the canals, you will also reach the cathedral and the famous prison - Palais de l'isle. This prison is supposed to be one amongst the most photographed monuments in France ( according to A1 who says she read it in wiki). Most photographed or not, it is indeed a beautiful place. I bet many of us would pay to make a visit there. :-)

There is another very popular attraction in this city of canals that is a must visit. It's called Pont des Amours (the lover's bridge). From the photographs that are available on the brochure and on internet, you can actually agree to the claim and the name. However, the challenge is to identify the place. We had crossed this bridge 3-4 times earlier in the day without realizing what it actually was. May be the love birds amongst us were too lost in themselves and others like me in missing their love. In any case, it was a nice place to spend some quite moments.

The day ends well if you get a nice dinner to treat yourself after the day's 'hard work'. And we got the same. Rasam has never tasted so good for ages now. Once again, I must accept that MTR rocks! It's going to be a good night's sleep and I am surely going to dream about the beautiful Annecy lake.