18 - Star of Annecy

We said 'arrivederci' to Italy and 'bonjour' to France with a 45 euro charge for the privilege of driving under Mont Blanc. Now I understand why their pens are so expensive. These transport costs must be factored in to the recommended retail price.

The last time we were in this part of the world the mountains had a lot more snow on them and it was amazing to see how different it could look in the summer months. We decided to stop off in Chamonix for our classic lunch of bread, meat and cheese as neither of us had been to this ski resort before. Despite perhaps being better known as a winter escape, Chamonix was filled with people who were clearly making the most of the summer sports it had on offer. It was a charming town and we sat and had a hot chocolate with Mont Blanc looming over us in the background. After the odd misplaced... "grazie...I mean merci" we carried on to our next stop, Annecy. 

Annecy was starkly different to Orta. Everything felt new, modern, clean and as though it ran well. Aside from the slightly ‘stabby’ stone corridor we had to walk through to get to our Airbnb, our accommodation was fresh and central. So fresh that making use of the kitchen became a must do for that evening so we set off to find ourselves ingredients for a Thai red curry. We still weren’t feeling our best thanks to the coughing pizza man in Garda and we thought a hot curry might do us good. 

It must have done the trick as the next day we went for a jog around the lake edge followed by a sunshine nap in the park overlooking the water. We indulged in a canelé and pain au raisin (James had the pain au raisin as to me, there is nothing worse than raisins in bread) and watched all the people walking their very French looking dogs. Annecy truly is a beautiful place and everyone was outside making the most of the sunshine and what the lake and city had to offer.

On our second night we went for a fairly average meal at a highly rated restaurant (trip advisor has some explaining to do for a dud steer) and called it an early night. James was off to a stag do in Riga, I mean Dijon, the next day and had to be on best form. After moaning for three days about how ill he was, he miraculously woke up feeling amazing and ready to take on whatever the stag do could throw at him. 

Our two nights in Annecy certainly didn’t feel long enough and it’s a destination I would definitely re-add to a summer holiday in Europe. There is just something about amazingly merchandised sweet goods that will keep me coming back.

J & M

Orta San Guilio to Annecy via Chamonix