Car, boat, bus

We returned to Annecy from Chamonix by car last Sunday afternoon with plenty of time to spare before getting the car back and much of the afternoon still open to see what we could see.  The 10th Anniversary of “Lac en Partage” (sharing the lake) was going on in Annecy and several other towns that “share the lake.”  Besides different booths about keeping the water clean, fishing, etc., and activities like giant bubble making, there were short boat rides to and from the different towns, so you could check out their event festivities as well.  We decided to take a 35-minute boat ride to Duingt, which is south of Annecy and directly across the lake from Talloires.  

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It’s a quaint village of only about 900 people. The streets are old and narrow with many wonderful 17th and 18th century stone houses and buildings.  There are even two castles, but both are privately owned (!), so they aren’t available for tours.  As we made our way to the town center, we passed by a man playing some sort of hand-cranked piano.  All around him were people singing what we assumed to be traditional Savoyard songs. Had I known the words, I would have joined right in with them! 🙂  

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Unfortunately, when we got to the town center, we could see that things were winding down and people were packing up for the day.  Fortunately, there was still fresh-pressed apple juice to buy, which was delicious.  We also managed to sneak in a couple of crafts — G made a bookmark and L got to write his name on a bookmark with a real wooden-dip-in-an-ink-well fountain pen.  And then we found out that the boat we thought we were going to take back was cancelled and that the last one was leaving in 10 minutes!  

We didn’t have a long walk, but we decided to walk briskly so as not to miss it.  We got to the dock behind about 20 other people, who were looking forlornly at the boat that was at capacity!  The announcement was made that there would be a bus leaving from the front of the church in 20 minutes, so we headed back for town.  After a short wait, we ended up on the regular bus line that runs between Annecy and the surrounding villages. We’re not sure what happened to the one that was supposed to arrive in place of the boat, but we got an unexpected bus tour of the other side of the lake, which worked out just fine. 🙂

Chamonix-Mont Blanc

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We took a long weekend last Thursday through Sunday in beautiful Chamonix, France. It’s not recommended for beginner skiers, so going in the fall was perfect for us!  We had a rainy but uneventful drive to Chamonix, which was just fine with me — no switchbacks or hairpin turns.  Despite the rain, we saw a beautiful, panoramic view of Mont Blanc and the surrounding peaks on our way into town.  This time of year is in between their busy summer and winter seasons, so there were several shops and restaurants that weren’t open, but the majority were, so it didn’t really affect us.  

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We had dinner at Jekyll and Hyde’s Bar and Restaurant, a suggestion from the woman who owns the apartment where we stayed.  It’s known for its tapas menu.  We chose several to share and all were delicious!  I thought it seemed a fitting place for the month of October with scary stories and all, so we filled G and L in on the story (a mild version) of Jekyll and Hyde and as a result, snapped some fun pictures near the sign in the stairwell. 🙂

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Friday was quite rainy, so it didn’t seem like the best day to go to the top of the mountain.  If it would have been our only chance, we would have gone and made the most of walking around in a cloud and enjoying the snow/precipitation, but since we had Saturday as an option, we held out hoping for nicer weather.  We spent the majority of the day roaming around the city, the tourist office, and the Espace Tairraz, which was an exhibition of climbing equipment from ropes to shoes to belay devices etc.  There was a small room on the side with movies running continuously from present day climbs to old reels of some of the first climbs to the summit of Mont-Blanc.  Watching them did not, however, make me want to become a mountain climber!!

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Saturday the weather cooperated, as we woke up to sunny, blue skies!  Perfect for riding a gondola straight up the side of a mountain to see what we could see!  Seriously, though.  It went straight up one side, and we have pictures of the cables to prove it!  (It holds the record for the highest vertical ascent cable car in the world!)  

img_0744 img_0800 (The lines here are the cables!!  The cables that carried us to the top!!)

The 20-minute Aiguille du Midi (pronounced ay-gwee do midee) cable car stops first at the Plan de l’Aiguille at a height of 2,310m, where you can get off and hike, but we decided to catch the next cable car and continue all the way up to the Aiguille du Midi, which is at a height of 3,777m, where we had beautiful views of the French, Swiss, and Italian Alps!

(If you look at the map below, you should be able to spot Mont Blanc behind us in the next two photos.) 

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img_0746 img_0751 img_0765 img_0771 img_0748 (To get to the “needle,” (aiguille) shown here, we’ll take the lift.)

The lift that takes you even higher (to the actual Aiguille du Midi), which is a terrace at 3,842m, where we had another great view of Mont Blanc!  (At 4,807m, it’s the highest peak in the Alps!)  Of course we had to take advantage of the opportunity to step out onto a glass box, which is hanging over a 1,000+m void, thus the name of the experience — “Pas Dans Le Vide” (Step into the Void!)  UGH!  You know it’s something special when you have to wear big cushy slippers over your shoes before stepping into the giant glass box.  I have to admit that had Mike not taken my hand and gently pulled me along, I may not have stepped into the void!  I did choose to not look down, so I was able to stay in long enough to have pictures taken. 🙂   

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(Looking down onto the terrace we’d been on before taking the lift and seeing others in the glass box!)img_0783  img_20161015_122022

We had a great time exploring Aiguille du Midi as there are multiple terraces and overlooks as well as inside areas to explore.  We also got to walk through the newest attraction — “The Tube” — which just opened in June and is already known as the Pipe.  It’s a steel pipe anchored to the mountain side with several window, but more important to note — thousands of feet of empty space below it!   It didn’t really occur to me as we walked through it that I was walking through a tube that was literally hanging off the side of the mountain.  I had no fear as I didn’t realize that’s what we were doing, and no one in our group — Mike, G, and L — thought it was important to share this info with me. 🙂  In fact, I didn’t realize this was where we were until I was sharing what I was writing about on the blog, and they informed me that this was what that tube was all about!  

img_0753 (You can see the tube at the right of this photo.)

We took the “téléphérique” (cable car) back down to the Plan de l’Aiguille and decided to hike around for a bit, which was a highlight for the kids, for sure!  We were still more than 2,000m high, but there was loads of open space with huge rocks for climbing against the backdrop of the higher heights.  We also got to watch dozens of people unload huge backpacks containing their paragliding stuff and then literally run off the side of the mountain as they floated up into the air!  Oh my!  It was so cool to see!  I would love to do it (it’s a floating swing!!)…IF I could be guaranteed 100% that I would land safely.  Mike says that’s just not possible, so I guess no paragliding for me…for now… 🙂

(Here’s G doing a handstand.)

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(And here are G and L rock climbing.)

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(Mike and I climbed, too!)

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So, an absolutely FABULOUS day spent on the mountains!  Beautiful!  

 

Fall and La Toussaint

My img_20161017_153654-2favorite season in Minnesota is fall!  I love the crisp air and beautiful leaves, and we have all that in Annecy right now, too! 🙂  In addition, while it’s MEA in Minnesota, yesterday began the start of “Les Vacances de La Toussaint” here, which ends on November 2.   It’s the first school break of the year and includes November 1 (All Saint’s Day), which is one of 11 holidays recognized in France.  

We’ve been taking advantage of the beautiful weather and going to the market in the old city, getting outside to play hacky sack (a very portable game when you have limited space), looking at leaves, exploring new neighborhoods, and finding new playgrounds! So far, we haven’t seen any candy corn, though.  C’est dommage.

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Earthquakes are possible…

So last night just before dinner, we realized the gas on the stove wasn’t working.  As a result, Mike ran to the store and picked up a couple of pizzas (including a goat cheese one for him and me) to bake in the oven.  Thankfully it’s not too cold here yet, only dipping into the 40s at night, because we have radiator heat, which doesn’t work without any gas. It still wasn’t working this morning, so we emailed the apartment owner, who offered to stop by on his way to work.  

When the owner arrived, he saw the gas man working on things, so it was clear that it was a building issue…not just our apartment.  The owner explained to us that they are doing road work and are super careful about turning off any gas lines nearby as they don’t want to trigger “un tremblement de terre” (earthquake)!  (This is how I interpreted the explanation. I think the real reason is that because they’ve had earthquakes before, they are extra cautious about gas lines.:) )  Annecy and surrounding areas, have had earthquakes in the past and not just the distant past.  Well, that was something we definitely hadn’t thought about before!  

Upon hearing about the earthquakes, we did a little research on how the Alps were formed and what kind of faults exist.  For your reading pleasure and knowledge, the Alps are fold mountains, formed by masses squeezing and then rising up and out of the sea.  Often they would break and slide over one another, forming gigantic thrust faults.  All this said, I’m fine with shutting the gas off here or there as a precaution, if it means lessening the chances of experiencing an earthquake!

We have no pictures of earthquakes — thank goodness — so here’s a random, more peaceful, non-shaking picture of us hanging out on a quiet, rainy afternoon. 🙂 

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