Annecy- a place name that stirred memories for us, being the twin town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, where we met 40 years ago. So we had to pay a visit. Having found the town offered a free 10 space aire, it was even more tempting. Well, this aire provided us with the tightest parking we’d experienced so far. We could practically see what our neighbours were having for dinner. All very chummy. Having squeezed ourselves out of the van, we headed off for a walk to discover more about Annecy.
Well, Annecy has everything, a bustling commercial centre, a lake, and canals crossed by attractive bridges, interesting alleyways joining main streets.
Just lovely, but we were in need of sustenance, so we found a place for dinner before continuing our self-guided walking tour…yip another one from another tourist information office. These are a great way to find the places of interest, as well as some hidden gems.
Annecy’s old town buildings are mainly 3-4 storey tall with covered walk ways beneath, with many built alongside canals. Not what we expected in the Alps, probably more like Venice, but very pretty.
Lake Annecy looked like a great place for watersports, with many boats, dinghys and other sailing craft moored along the harbour.
There had been some “hippy” types who had parked two vans in the middle of the aire, complete with guitars (ready for an impromptu gig?-err, no thanks, Monsieur) and a couple of large, off-lead dogs. Their presence severely obstructed the turning circle for other vans, but by the time we returned from the town, they had gone. We will never know- maybe the other French Motorhome owners had asked them to move on, maybe the Police had been called…the main thing is, calm was restored.
Here is a selection of our other Annecy photos:
