16/6/26 Lake Annecy cruise

 

   We booked a cruise for the lake , and here's our cruise boat parked in the main canal .

    They love their flowers in Annecy , with gardens in lots of places .

   Seems that the jets are playing noughts & crosses in the skies above - there are vapour trails all day here.

Couple of the locals .

    Synchronised yachting , I think not , they were actually being towed out into the lake to catch some wind , but it does look funny 😁

   The small yachts were struggling with the lack of breeze , but wasn't worrying us at all as we powered down the lake , villages appearing regularly . Nice to see some mountains again , not to mention the colour of the water . The lake is up to 82m deep - be nice and cold down there , it was cold enough on top!

There are some impressive properties with exclusive lake access that have been here for a long time .

Here's another .

    Around the next headland / cliff face is another village - more accomodation & restaurants , and some locals that actually live here .

   Up on the lower end of a ridge was a castle and it's vineyards can be seen below it .

Looking toward the end of the lake .

 A closer look at the castle .

Being a retired hang glider , I tend to see spots that are used for flying , this bare spot on the hill in between the trees is one of those , paragliders were taking off here all day .

Another castle , this one down beside the lake where we turned around to head back after 45 mins or so .

    We cruised back to the canal dock and escaped some of the crowd that were all eating and drinking - it was a bit chaotic in places around the canals and alleyways . On the way back to the apartment , we headed up the hill when we found an alley going that way . It went upwards steeply , this doesn't show the steepness as we had gone passed that section , just liked this 2 storey house and cobblestone lane leading back down to it . 

    Chateau Annecy was the object of the walk, it's also now a museum - which wasn't open today !!

   With that we headed back down some other skinny little alleyways leading us back down to the canals , the photo does show the steepness of the pathway .

Ending up back at the apartment , we vegetated for a few hours , had tea and ventured out again at 8pm . Back to the canal and Pont Albert Lebrun - the light was much better for photos now .

     The setting sun on the mountains beside the lake was cool now .

Another day down , more scenery overload , but happy campers . Here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1AhL7iY2zNqa8RJ4_7uA_itw-TfQ2PEs&usp=sharing

15/6 Annecy Canal walk

 

     Yesterday was travel day , another fast train ride to Lyon 3hours away , before a 2 hour break till our next train to Annecy - still in France , but only just , it's only about 30klms from Geneva in Switzerland . We had some lunch at Lyon Part Dieu - fancy name for the train station - we enjoyed a risotto whilst waiting for the next train without having to go too far with a couple of suitcases and backpacks . Before we knew it , time had ticked over and we were boarding the slow train to Annecy . There were no booked seats on this one , but we ended up having a table with 4 seats to ourselves . That was quite nice as we went into our last stop before Annecy and the train went out the way we came in - we swapped seats , so we were facing forwards again . The train wound its way through valleys and beside rushing creeks / rivers , before coming out beside a lake . The water nice & clear , boats , canoes , kayaks , Sups were out there making the most of the beautiful weather on offer . We'd left the cool & damp of Lille and found some warmth & sunshine - guess the jackets & long pants will be staying in the suitcase - oh what a shame!!

   Arriving at Annecy station we didn't have to rush as the train terminated here , the reality of that was that we had an extra 100m of platform to walk to get to the main station and the exit which was another 100m away . The apartment we booked was another 500m away , so we continued on our walk past the buildings & apartments till we found ours . As another bonus , we had a small supermarket beside the entry to the apartment !! We got settled in and went back down and got some food to tide us over for a few days .

   Next day we headed out for a discovery walk around the canals to see what we might see . The streets made of cobblestones led us into a part of the old town , great views of buildings and mountains in the background - the mountains are part of the French /Swiss / Italian Alps .    

                                        

   Locals all use bikes to get around here - it's far easier than driving !!

One of the first canals we spotted has pretty flower boxes hanging on the railings .

All the restaurants are preparing for lunch , setting up chairs & tables in the alleyways & squares .

The bars are also getting ready for the lunch time rush , this one is part of the restaurant in the last shot.

Saw an interesting well also , it has a frog in it - look closely 🤔😆

 After about 400m , we'd found the parkland beside Lake Annecy , and one of the canals the locals use to moor their small boats . Plane trees lined the sides of the canal , which we followed down to the lake .

On the way down we stumbled across this original old carousel , currently being repainted for the season- tourist season that is .

   The water in the cana is crystal clear and large fish were swimming around happily , these 2 were about 400mm long ! - no I don't know what breed they are .

Always time for another photo .

  

   Oh damn , how did this slip in here 😂 in the background is the Pont des Amours - the bridge !!

And then we arrived at the lake . Those are electric boats that are for hire by anyone on the right . On the left and lining the foreshore are paddleboats , some include slippery dip - there are hundreds of them !!

Still some snow on the tops of the mountains near the lake .

 

These timber motor boats will take you out on the lake for a tour of the lake .

    Back toward town and we found the large canal , these restaurants and eateries / bars go berserk with people - there was always someone eating or drinking - avoid at lunchtime and evening meals it goes even crazier then .

    Continuing down the alleys we found Le Palais de I'lle ( the Island Palace ) in the canal , well separating them anyway .

As usual , there are plenty of cathedrals to see as well.

Here's one of the planter boxes that are everywhere there's a canal .

   That was our first day in Annecy and we're not disappointed one little bit , there's plenty to see & do here . Here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1oAIUQ7CDM9tEwHs9hlO2WuTCX6uQLcw&usp=sharing

 

13/6/26 Citadelle Park

 

    After wandering the old city for a few days , it was time for a change , so we headed over to Citadelle Parklands . On the way across we spotted a beautiful pink rose with an enormous amount of flowers - some past there best , but an incredible display . Roses seem to do well here in Lille .

     We crossed over the canal again and wandered into the parkland , tracks zigzag through the massive trees . The trees are all the usual varieties of Oak , Maple , Ash , Fir , Plane trees , Elms and more . The trees have an ideal position in between all the canals and walls , plentiful supply of water and most are over 30m tall . It is such a beautiful place to walk around . The locals utilise it for exercise , with runners , joggers , walkers , cyclists and tourists all around the place .

There are brick walls on the side of this canal , it would've been very hard to penetrate the barracks and buildings in the centre .

It would be a stunning place to be in Autumn with all the changing colours !!

There were even some of the locals out & about - probably enjoying the warmth of the sun 

     The Citadelle has a gate ( of course ) , this one is not in use at the moment as the army / defence force is in situ , so access to the buildings in the centre is out of bounds for everyone else .

We had some lunch and enjoyed the serenity of the forest .

One of the canals

One of the avenue's of plane trees .

After wandering some more , we headed out across the canal at a different bridge and continued beside the canal down to our starting point . Thought we may have been in luck with watching a hockey game , but alas they weren't playing a home game today - there was some juniors training this morning when we came by . There was a section of yellow daisies growing semi wild beside the track .

     Canal boats were still coming and going as we walked along beside the canal , the parkland is in the background .

Caught another boat coming through the lock , this one obviously empty .

    That was it for today , here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=150b3IMWHCCYzqtpP0NAZbHXpe4YPK4g&usp=sharing