France Day 10: Why We Came To France

This morning we got up and walked around Annecy some more. This building in the middle of the canal is a prison that was built in the 1100s. That blows my mind. That’s like 300 years before anyone in Europe even knew the Americas existed. And yet there it is – still standing.

With great sadness, we left Annecy and headed up the road to Yvoire, which sits on Lake Geneva. You can actually see Geneva, Switzerland across the lake from the medieval village of Yvoire. We grabbed some artisan glace (ice cream) in green apple, pear and raspberry flavors, and hiked around the town.

Yvoire is really charming -- with tons of colorful flowers everywhere! There is a labyrinth of the 5 senses (which we didn't do because it was too hot), a castle on the lake and lots of cute shops and restaurants. I bought a hand-carved wooden Christmas ornament and we headed back to the car to drive north.

On our way out of town, we drove through Evian, where the bottled water comes from. This was particularly exciting for me, since, as a super taster, I am a bit of a bottled water connoisseur. Evian is my favorite! (Dasani is THE WORST. It takes like water with dirty pennies in it.)  Since Evian was kind of a modern town with an expensive spa and not much to see, M was all, “whatever.”

To get around Lake Geneva, we had to drive through Switzerland for 90 minutes, and Germany for half an hour. We stopped in Gruyere, Switzerland for lunch and had, you guessed it, gruyere cheese sandwiches for lunch. Yum! This was our view during lunch:

Then it was on to Colmar. Colmar is the very reason I decided to come to France this summer. I have always loved reading about France, studying French, and researching my half-French heritage. I remember being really little and visiting Epcot Center’s section with all the countries. France was always my favorite. I bought a little purple Eiffel Tower key chain when I was 9 years old, and kept it until I left for college – telling myself that some day I would see it in person. Since then, I have been to France twice (before this trip) – but only Paris and Marseille – never the rest.  About a year ago, I was populating my “travel wish list” on Pinterest, and came across a photo of Colmar. It was the prettiest thing I had ever seen. It was similar to this, which I took today:

In our family, we have a policy – follow your arrow. Listen to your heart, know what speaks to you, and go after it. So I pinned that picture of Colmar, and told M we were going to plan a trip to France.

So here we are, and, while Colmar is pretty – I liked Annecy better. Ha! But that’s ok. Colmar led us here, and so off we went to explore it. It is bigger than I thought, and much bigger than Annecy. We walked most of the old town area, since our hotel sits right in the middle.

Hotel Le Marechal is as adorable as can be. Our room overlooks a main square in the town, and the back door opens into Petite Venise, the area with all the canals and pretty colored homes.  The problem with Petite Venise is that, unlike Annecy, you can't walk along the canals. The only real way to see it is by boat. It is still beautiful, but difficult to see.

Most of Colmar looks like Disneyland – like it can’t possibly be real. M and I kept saying “we are walking through Beauty and the Beast!”  (Which I think we have said about most towns on this trip to far.) At one point, we even broke out singing, "Be! Our! Guest!…"

Colmar has a lot of German influence, and the restaurants served mostly sausage and sauerkraut. Being a fan of neither, we grabbed some pasta in carry out cartons and returned to the room to Facetime some family back home.

Tomorrow: The Alsace Wine Route and Strasbourg

France Day Nine: Yes We Cannes!

We thought we wouldn’t have a lot to share today, since we had a 4-1/2 hour drive from the Riviera to the French Alps. But by day’s end, we found a new favorite town, had a new favorite meal, and even drove a boat!

After scarfing down breakfast at the corner patisserie, we headed for Cannes, which we kind of neglected in our hurry to get to our hotel a few days back. We strolled the beach (above), visited the theater where they hold the Cannes Film Festival, and walked along their walk of stars (weak in comparison to ours).

We especially loved the public bathrooms (below)! For half a Euro, you can go in, go potty, and then the ENTIRE inside gets sprayed down and disinfected when you leave. I don’t know what it is about France and bathrooms, but we never fail to be entertained or delighted by them in some way.

France also has also made us realize the US has a shortage of carousels. Every single town we have visited has a carousel in the town square. Here is the one in Cannes:

They bring music, laughter and color to every park! Tres jolie! Speaking of Jolie…

Cannes kind of reminds me of New Orleans, if New Orleans were situated on a large sandy beach. The architecture is of the same era and it has that same artsy, eclectic feel. I could live here!

We walked along the old harbor and then finally decided we better hit the car and head for the hills. On our way out of town, France gave us the peace sign, to tell us it had forgiven us from a few days back, when it gave us the finger.

On the way, we drove through Valensole, where the bulk of sunflower and lavender fields line the highway. They were stunning!

But the best was yet to come, because tonight we are sleeping in Annecy. It is a town in the Alps, close to Switzerland – and has tons of wooden chalets with geraniums to prove it. If there is a heaven, it looks like Annecy. 

There are charming canals everywhere. We stopped to watch a German shepherd jump into the canal, swim all the way down to the only staircase to get out, then jump back in and do it all over again. He looked so happy! 

The town sits on a sparkly lake, with the Alps in the background. The lake is full of ducklings, swans and rainbows. We headed rented a paddleboat, headed out onto the lake, and got a good leg workout while exploring the beauty all around us.

(M was paddling during this pic!)

Rainbow!

When we left the lake to walk to dinner, this was happening in the park:

We have no idea what was going on, but the people were having so much fun! We walked along the canals and settled into a Swiss restaurant, with wooden menus, where we had fondue. (When in Rome, er, the Alps!)

On the way back to Splendid Hotel (not even joking - that is its name!), we saw baby swans. I thought swans were supposed to be ugly ducklings as babies! But not in Annecy, the world’s prettiest village, where even the baby swans are precious. 

Seriously, put Annecy on your bucket list!! It is our new favorite.

Tomorrow: The reason I decided to come to France in the first place: Colmar