Two weeks at the Lac d'Annecy

[frenchmystiquetour]

DAY 11

Today we went for a hike starting in the town of Menthon-Saint-Bernard. The hike starts at the château which bears the town's name. The château dates back to medieval times with various modifications over time continuing into the 19th century. The château has been in the hands of the Menthon family throughout the centuries and they still occupy the château today. It is said that Saint-Bernard (1008-1081) was born in the château, he being the founder of numerous hospices and the famous rescue dogs which bear his name. I've seen in various sources that he is supposed to have been born elsewhere but that is neither here nor there. The château is open to the public and is decorated with various items and objects dating from the 15th through the 19th century. On with the hike.








Entering the village of Ramponnet.












Leaving the village the hiking trail starts to make its way up a steep incline.

[frenchmystiquetour]

Everywhere we went we noticed that The Virgin Mary was imprisoned. She must be a powerful and terrifying deity to have warranted such confinement.






For a while the trail went through a wooded area and seemed to ascend an endless, steep slope where there was not much to see. After the summit the trail descended towards the village of Bluffy.










We arrived back at the château and I wandered around the grounds to get a few photos. There was a small admission to see the grounds of maybe 2 euros and for a few euros more you can go into the château. We just visited the grounds.

[frenchmystiquetour]

After our hike we went into the town of Menthon-Saint-Bernard to wander around with our final plan being a visit to the lake to rent a pedal boat and go boating/swimming in the lake.

















Our stroll around town complete we rented our pedal boat and headed out onto the lake.










The water temperature of the lake is absolutely perfect, at least in August anyway. Cool enough to be refreshing on a hot day but warm enough so you can spend time in the water enjoying your swim. DW wanted to go for a swim but was unsure of what kinds of creatures might be lurking in the depths of the lake. I assured her there were no dangerous critters in the lake and coaxed her into the water. She made the plunge while I kept watch on the pedal boat. Within seconds of her entrance into the monster free waters I noticed several large bubbles of air breaking the surface of the lake just a few meters away from her. A few seconds later another burst of bubbles appeared, but closer this time. Then another, and another, each bubble burst moving closer in her direction. When they had reached the boat, just a few feet from her, I looked down and noticed a silvery grey object about 6-7 feet in length and about two meters below the surface slithering its way through the waters. I know what you're thinking (a distant cousin of the Loch Ness monster) and forgetting my location and rational thought process for just a moment so did I. Then the scuba diver broke the surface to clean his mask. I casually asked DW if she was enjoying herself and she smiled back in the affirmative. Day over.

[frenchmystiquetour]

DAY 12

The weather on this day turned out to be some of the finest and warmest of our vacation. I was feeling the urge to go biking and DW consented to my desire and decided she would spend her time revisiting the Semnoz plateau and relaxing at the apartment or the beach at Saint-Jorioz. She drove me to the cycle shop where I had rented my bike the last time. I was hoping they had something today that was a bit better quality than the bike I rode last time. I was in luck since I got there early and got first pick of the bikes. They had some nice vélo de course (road bikes) and a few types that are a variation of the vélo de course known as cintre plat. This is essentially a vélo de course with mountain bike style handlebars (flat handlebars) so that you are not in such a bent forward position as the handlebars are raised a bit higher.

My ride today was one that we did by car already and that I have described earlier. I've never done a real alpine climb, à la tour de France style, and I wanted to test my ability. My planned route was to follow the bike trail to Faverges and take then continue by road up and over the mountain pass on the D12 between Faverges and Thônes. Since I wanted to focus on riding today and not photography I left the camera behind. In retrospect I wish I hadn't as the conditions were perfect for some gorgeous photos today so I'll actually have to describe this day as opposed to relying on photos to tell the story.

I left the bike store in Sevrier and continued on to Faverges, arriving just after noon. Today's ride was probably going to take me 5 or 6 hours and was going to cover about 70-80km in distance so I needed some food for fuel. I found a little café/restaurant in the center of Faverges that was cheap and had a decent looking menu. I decided to order rognons de porc. I had forgotten what rognons meant in French but I knew what porc meant (pork) so I figured rognons must be some delicious cut of pork with which I was unfamiliar. As it turns out I like pork kidneys more than I would have thought had I realized what rognons meant before I ordered. I'm not sure I'll ever order it again but I like to try everything at least once. Now I can check rognons de porc off the list. Prices are much cheaper outside Paris and my rognons de porc and side of fries was only 6.50€. Combined with an Orangina and a café the bill was just under 10€.

Tasty and unexpected lunch over with it was time to meet my fate so I climbed into the saddle and pedaled towards my mountainous destiny. Passing through the village of Saint-Férreol I began my ascent which would last for another 12km until I reach the high point of the pass at the Col du Marais, about 400 meters above the town of Faverges. In actuality this certainly wasn't the most difficult ascent I could have selected but I didn't want to bite off more than I could chew on my first extended climb. I shifted into the lowest gear, established a steady pace and set myself into a rhythm. About 1/3 of the way into the climb the temperature started to peak at just over 30° celsius and I was working up a good sweat. Surprisingly I was in a groove and somehow I felt that I had some sort of energy reserve that I was tapping into as I wasn't getting winded and when I needed to reach for more leg strength it was always there. I pedaled non-stop until I reached the summit of the pass and it took me just under an hour. I took a rest under a shady tree, sipped off my water bottle and started to get psyched for the 7km descent to the town of Thônes that was going to be my reward after a long ascent. You've already seen the video of my bicycle descent from the Semnoz Plateau and my descent to Thônes was no less thrilling, perhaps even more so as the gradient down the pass seemed steeper than coming down from the Semnoz.

Thônes was much more beautiful today than on my first visit as the brilliant sun brightened the pastel yellow, red and green hues of the buildings which contrasted nicely with the backdrop of the deep blue sky. I picked up the D909 out of Thônes and continued back west towards the lake. I was aiming for Talloires where I would finish with a ride around the lake back to Saint-Jorioz.

The road was more or less flat for about 10 or 12km at which point I could see an ascent appearing on the horizon and I knew I was in for another small climb. I was already moving at a pretty steady pace of around 25kmph and I was feeling pretty good about the effort I was giving. To prepare myself mentally for the next ascent I decided to pretend I was riding in the Tour de France and that I would have to maintain my speed up the hill. Digging down deep inside me for all that I had I attacked the hill and suddenly my second wind kicked in and reserves of energy I was unaware of flooded through my leg muscles. Continuing uphill I felt no let up in energy and my pace didn't slow. My dream of standing on a podium and donning the yellow jersey with a fabulous babe under each arm pecking my cheek while I simultaneously sprayed an adoring crowd with a magnum of Dom Perignon as they chanted my name (''We love you French Mystique! We love you French Mystique'') suddenly came crashing down around me as a small pack of professional bikers breezed by me effortlessly and disappeared around a bend in the road off in the distance. Tour de France material I am not. But I was still doing pretty good by my own standards and I continued on keeping up my own vigorous pace.

The road flattened before I reached a turn-off on the road and faced my final ascent to the village of Bluffy. Shortly after Bluffy the road flattened again and then began a slow and steady descent towards the village of Talloires. The road had some great twists and turns here and picking up speed I slalomed through them, shifting my weight from right to left and leaning sharply as I dug into the curves. A buzzing exhilaration tingled my nervous system as I went faster and faster downhill, the breaking of wind washing away the sweat from my skin. This was biking heaven and I was totally having a zen experience, completely caught in a moment of eternity. My zen tribute to the principle of gravity came to an end just above the village of Talloires where the snail trail of cars winding through the narrow roads above the village was cause for a rare application of the brakes. I stopped in the central village in Talloires, grabbed a seat on the terrace at a café and ordered myself a well deserved pint of beer.

After my beer reward I hopped back into the saddle of my two wheeled steed and made one last small descent out of Talloires to the lake's edge from where the remainder of my ride would be on flat terrain. After a few kilometers I pulled to the side of the road at a grassy area by the lakeside where a small crowd had gathered to sunbathe, picnic and swim in the lake. I took my place among them and shed my shirt, shoes and socks and took a refreshing plunge into the cooling aqua waters of the lake, lazily floating on the surface basking in the sun and the warm, fresh memory of the ride that had just transpired.

I pedaled back to the bike store to return the bike and called DW to come down and pick me up. Hesitation at the thought of returning the bike gave way to the realization that I had become somewhat attached to it over the course of the day. I had been thinking about buying a road bike but had been unaware of the existence of the type of bike I was riding, called a cintre plat, until now. This was really what I was looking for and I had the benefit of test riding it under maximum pressure conditions over the course of an entire day so I had become well acquainted with it and really liked how it performed. I decided to make an offer to buy the bike from the rental store owner but had to come up with a price that would be my limit before I made my pitch. After a minute or two I determined that 250 euros was the limit, even though I suspected the bike was worth more. Maybe even as much as 350 or 400 euros in its used condition. The owner seemed caught off guard by my proposal and stuttered and shifted her eyes about in a searching manner for a few seconds before she said ''200 euros''. My debit card was out of my wallet and on the counter before she had a chance to think too hard about it and 2 minutes later I walked out of the store and greeted DW by opening the hatchback of the car and depositing my acquisition, explaining that we would be returning to Paris with more luggage than we left with. And such was the happy conclusion of my best day of the vacation.

[frenchmystiquetour]

DAY 13

I told you I wanted to go back to the D12 (between Faverges and Thônes) to get some pix on a sunny day so this was the mission for the day. I wanted to do some more bike riding so I told DW I was going to ride the bike trail to Faverges and she could meet me here with the car.














I met DW in Saint-Ferréol and put the bike in the back of the car and off we went up the mountain pass.

[frenchmystiquetour]

Coming down the other side of the mountain pass we decided to take a detour to visit an area we hadn't yet seen called the Vallée du Manigod. The Michelin map gave it two stars so we figured it must be scenic and worth a visit.














Here's the village of Manigod. There were about a half dozen other hamlets in the valley and most had no more than a dozen or so dwellings. Manigod is popular as a ski base in the winter and has shuttle bus service to the nearby ski area in La Clusaz.








We decided to stretch our legs by taking a little stroll around the village and stopping for a café.






DW always makes fun of me for my habit of taking cheesy postcard photos with flowers in the foreground.

[frenchmystiquetour]

Here's another of my patented cheesy postcard photos.




Moving further up the valley we entered another hamlet, I think this one was called Les Choseaux.








I realize you are all getting totally overdosed on photos but I took all these d**n pictures and I have to do something with them.


















After the visit to the valley I had DW bring me back up to the top of the mountain pass so I could ride the bike back down to the bottom.





And that was all for day 13.


DAY 14

It was now Friday of our second week and even though we didn't have to leave our rental until Saturday we decided to head back to Paris. Since it was the end of August and traffic predictions were horrible for Saturday we had no desire to be stuck in trafic jams for hours so we shipped out early. I must say that this was the first time I ever returned from a vacation in summer and encountered absolutely no traffic jams whatsoever around Paris. Of course we returned to a brief heatwave in Paris and I was wishing I was back at the lake but all good things must come to an end. The end.

[Jody]

Thank you Bruce for another wonderful photo essay. ANd congratulation s on your R purchase. another OPF member was in the same area about the same timeas you, Skywalker Beth. Too bad you couldn't meet up as she was hiking but is into biking and getting ready for as 100 mile ride. I know she could have picked up some really good tips from you. Tell Veronique we all love your postcard photos so to leave you to it!

[frenchmystiquetour]

Thanks Jody. I didn't know Skywalker Beth was also an OPF member. Actually I've been trading e-mails with her in regards to what to do in the area around Annecy since we just returned a short while ago and she was visiting the area after us. She's already written back that she's been to several of the places I visited and that she's having a wonderful time. I'm pretty sure I'll be attending the upcoming OPF get together but I just need to check my schedule before I commit. Will you be going?

[Belladonna]

Great pictures as always. Anncey has been on my list for awhile now and you have re-committed me to that goal . Would love to go up Mont Blanc too.
Now, am I seeing things or was that indeed Dr. King's picture on the building in Lausanne

[Jody]

Unfortunately no GTGs for us we arrive in Paris Oct 31 leave Nov 11 . I hope someone else will be there at the same time but so far it doesn't look like it. Bethand Darcy did manage to meet up for drinks and dinner. And I know she climbed MOnt Blanc and a few others. Well there is always next time. I have been checking fares for March 2012 so maybe a GTG then.

[frenchmystiquetour]

belladonna - Thanks for reading once again. I didn't notice any pictures of Dr. King in the Lausanne part of the report so I'll have to go back and take a look. It would be quite ironic since I saw several posters around the city in favor of stopping immigration.

Jody - Sorry I won't see you or Beth or Darcy this time around. That just means you'll have to come back for the next GTG.

[PariS]

Gorgeous photos, Bruce! I almost feel like I've been on vacation myself after looking at all the beautiful scenery! Thanks for sharing!

[paris...ahh]

Loved the "overdose" of photos. Very enjoyable view with my brekkie.

[denise]

:)Can I just join in with the "thanks" for the photo journals..

Takes me ages to go through them but it is well worth it.....and it does not go unappreciated just how long it must take you to post these photos.

Thanks again.

Denise
Love from England

[frenchmystiquetour]

AnnetteC - I always try and bring a bit of my vacation into everyone's lives. Glad you enjoyed.

Paris...ahh - You were able to get through all this over breakfast? You must have a big breakfast or be a very slow eater.

denise - Thanks for persevering. It does take a long time to put these reports together but I enjoy the positive feedback I get from others and I also like looking at them from time to time myself to bring back the vacation memories. You are welcome.

[Darcy]

I read your great report while having a couple of glasses of wine in my Paris apt. (would that it were mine!)

Wonderful!! And keep taking those "cheesy" postcard photos, I love them!

[frenchmystiquetour]

Thanks Darcy. Hope you're enjoying (or have enjoyed?) your stay in Paris. I'll tell the Mrs. that I'm not the only one who likes cheesy postcard photos.

[paris...ahh]

I got through enough to enjoy a long leisurely brekkie and tea ;D