We will not forgive ourselves for not visiting the French Alps while we are in France, so this stop is a MUST for us in the trip. In fact, we dedicated 3 nights in Annecy as compared to the rest which we only spent 2 nights at most.
Being us, not staying in Annecy centre was an obvious decision. So we are now left with the west and east bank and the other end of Annecy lake. Our 1st choice was to stay with Maison du Moulin near Doussard, where the people running the place are very experienced in para-gliding. This is a sport that I have always wanted to do before I get more and more scaredy cat with my age. And so, I let Maison du Moulin decide...if they accept my reservation, I will join them for para-gliding in Annecy. Otherwise, we remain boring and safe. The verdict was, we had to settle for Residel Hotel on the West bank of Annecy lake. We were very safe, but not bored after all.
Annecy
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| The landscape in the Alps reminded me of Switzerland. Sporadic Scandinavian architecture randomly spread at mid to bottom slope. |
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It felt like we've walked into one of those landscape painting at Place de Tertre. Snow capped mountains with a lake, what more relaxing than this...
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We took this picture entirely because it is iconic of Annecy. The town is just too touristy in my opinion, nothing more than 2 meals in this town.
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Sluice gates controlling the flow between the lake into the river.
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The Student - acting cool with my polarized sunshades.
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| My polarized sunshades were really useful for dinner here. The sun was glaring right at us at 8pm. |
Chamonix
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| Spring is indeed a good season to travel without the crowd, but we did not expect to run into risks of not being able to see as much as we wanted. Aiguille du Midi was closed due to high risks of avalanches, and we were not allowed to hike from Plan du Aiguille to Montenvers without a mountain guide in winter/spring. This explains why I only see videos of those hikes in summer. Seems like we have a reason to come back again. |
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Since this is the low season, we even managed to grab a parking lot just infront of the ticketing office of Aiguille. Chamonix town is only steps away.
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And so, we settled for the tram ride to Montenver for the glacier. Again, visits were all restricted due to bad weather. The ice cave within the glacier was closed too.
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The cable car to the ice-cave right in the heart of the glacier...but it was closed!!!!!
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| Mer de Glace - literally means Sea of Ice. Since there weren't much to see with the cave and trails closed, we sat by the glacier and witnessed 2 mini avalanches at a distance. We were also hoping to catch a dare-devil ski down the off-piste track...but nah...tough luck for us. |
Gorges du Fier
The Fier river starts from the foot of Mont Charvin, and runs through valleys and passes including Annecy. This river was created some 20,000 years ago from glacial actions, which in turn formed the Gorges du Fier through erosion of water emptied out from the glacier. We couldn't help but marvel at the wonders of nature in this visit.
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| Montrottier castle from the bridge leading to the gorges. There is a legend on the love story between a princess, knight and a page during a time of rivalries between the lords. The legend then explained the sight of a pile of rocks being the burial ground for the page. |
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| It was a little terrifying to be hanging over angry water at the footbridge. |
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| One of the many faces of the gorges. |
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| This is a Marmite created by the action of water through time. |
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| View of the entrance to the gorges from the castle. |
Pont de la Caille
This is a place to go only if it is on the way to wherever you are going. We took a wrong exit towards Chamonix and ended up paying more than we should, otherwise, the scenery we got here would be free.
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| Princess Daisy: Mario is coming to save you from Dino! |
Food and Accommodation
I didn't research on food specialities in Annecy before we set off for the trip. But through a quick walk at Chamonix and Annecy, it was pretty obvious what are the specialities. I suppose the cuisine is very much influenced by Switzerland (or vice versa), since the Alps is so close to the border. Savoyarde cuisine is key here, brace yourself for cheese and more cheese!
Fondue Savoyarde: Similar to Swiss cheese fondue, but without schnapps to compliment the dish.
Tartiflette: Cheese, bacon and potatoes gratin.
Raclette cheese.
Hotel Residel is just next to the lake, but separated by a road without private access to the lake. Some other hotels have their private access, but we'll have to pay a little premium for that. I suppose we'll leave those choices for a "do nothing" trip when we'll lounge the whole day away fishing by the lake.
Residel is very well equipped with a small kitchenette, and it is the only accommodation in our trip that provides a hair dryer! Down side is that we are on the side of the lake with lesser dining options, and where the strict dining hours apply. Not much issue if you drive, since going to Annecy town is only 10 mins away.
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