French Alps part 2

Now for part 2 of my French Alps adventure.....
Day four, probably the hottest day of the holiday, we set off to visit Annecy and the lake. Such a beautiful town. When we arrived the market was in full swing, so we wandered around looking at the fruit and veg - I bought a string of garlic to bring home! It was so hot - 36 degrees, with no breeze at all.

Palais de l'Isle on the Thiou Canal

beautiful geraniums

We had crepes for lunch sitting under the shade of an umbrella at a side walk cafe, and then went to buy biscuits at the biscuit shop 'La Cure Gourmande' which is a magical shop piled high with the most yummy handmade biscuits and sweets. You can buy a tin from a selection and fill it with your choice, and you just pay by weight.

Then a stroll down to the lake

Lake Annecy

boats along the canal taken from Pont des Amours

Then we set off back home, but took a very scenic route right along the length of the lake - beautiful. 

Day five, and back in the saddle again. This time we cycled from Praz de Lys and headed up the mountain, instead of down like before. Again Richard drove down to the valley and parked the car for our return, then he cycled back up the mountain before we all set off together, joined by another friend from the apartments Jean. Uphill straight away! but only for about 3k, again I cycled and walked my way to the top, then it was miles of glorious downhill. I'm so glad I had my bike brakes overhauled before we left for France!! It was great, the warm air rushing by as we cycled through little hamlets, passed a lake, through a tunnel (very James Bond) all the way to the valley bottom at Mieussy, then along the main road to Taninges. Here, after a quick look around the weekly market as it was all packing up, we had a well deserved drink in a little cafe bar before heading back up the mountain in the car! The rest of the day we were cooking and getting ready for a BBQ that Catherine and Richard were hosting for friends at the apartments that evening. Good food, good chat and wonderful views of Mont Blanc with the sun just setting.

The next day, was a walking day. On the skyline looking out from Praz de Lys there is a huge cross, called the Pic de Marcelly, it is on the top of a steep ridge that can be walked from the village in a circular route. Again another very hot day, but we set off earlish to try and avoid the midday heat. We walked through the village and passed banks of beautiful lupins in gardens and growing wild in the meadows.

Then we started climbing up walking through some shady woods, listening to the sounds of the cowbells drifting up from below in the valley.

Then out of the shade, onto the ridge. This was our destination, it was getting closer and the path was getting steeper!

but we got to the top. The cross at the top is huge, and the view is magnificent!

This is looking back down along the ridge where we had walked up, with Mont Blanc in the hazy distance.....

....... and this is a little further down the path from the cross looking forward along the route we were taking back down to the village again.

My last full day, and we decided to go into Samoens again. Right in the centre of the town is an alpine botanical garden which hugs the side of the mountain. The garden is quite small, and the path is steep as it winds its way from the town some 80m up. It was set up in 1908, and since 1936 has been run by the Natural History Museum in Paris, with a research centre in the gardens. Apparently there are some 5000 varieties of alpine plants from around the world,

At the top is a sitting/viewing area which give fantastic views over the town. We had a look around the interpretation centre by the entrance, which had artifacts and old photographs of the gardens when it was being built and developed.

Then the next day was home for me, Catherine and Richard drove me to Geneva to catch my flight. It was the first time that we had had rain all week during the day, how lucky we had been with the weather. I was dropped at the airport, and Catherine and Richard waited for their daughter to arrive on a flight as she was spending the next few days with them.

I had a brilliant week away - a big thank you to my dear friends.