Spring Break, Part IX - Annecy

Hello Kari:

Friday March 26, 2004

We hit the road northbound to Annecy.

We wandered around the center of town and were captivated by food!



You want to see what we saw?



Here are some of the narrow old streets that are so typical of these towns in France.



The waterway in the center part of town.



Below is Christin and Mike as we were on our way to a church on the edge of town.



The church was actually relatively new. We saw some signage saying that 2004 was the year of China. Our hosts explained that all over France they are highlighting China with various music events and art exhibits. The flyer we saw was for music of China and one event was a concert at the church.

After Annecy, we went for a drive and came across the castle below. The "guard dog" seemed to know to pose for my shot!

The castle we saw was Chateau de Miolans. Unfortunately, between October 1 to March 31, one can only go inside by appointment. In the month of April, there are limited tours. In high tourist season, May 1 to September 30, tours are offered daily 10 am, 12 noon, 1:30pm and 7 pm.



Travel tip:
If I was more business minded, I would have bought a suitcase of local crafts so I could have a few keepsakes but also to sell the rest to make some money! For instance I bought a grolle which is a wood-carved drinking pot. The custom is to put in coffee with some liquor and to pass around the pot for people to drink from its multiple spouts. It costs hardly anything over there but I bet you could mark it up handsomely to sell here in the USA on Ebay or something. There are other crafts we saw in the store like locally produced ceramics, textiles and knives.

Rene

Onward to part X.