WHERE IN THE WORLD IS ANNECY

Have you ever heard of Annecy?
Most Aussies I mention it to have never heard of it
and I have to admit I found it while cruising north towards Geneva from Cannes using Google Earth. Until then I'd never heard of it either.
Just zoomed in and found this amazing place on the shores of Lake Annecy.
(I find a lot of amazing places using Google Earth when I'm researching a holiday)

When I started looking into staying here I found it was a favourite holiday destination for French people. The beautiful lake is said to have the cleanest water in Europe and it has a lovely sandy bottom which you can see clearly through the sparkling blue-green water.

Water activities are high on the list of things to do.
Sailing, kayaking, paddle boat riding, boating and swimming are all popular activities though I can not imagine that this water is ever warm enough to swim in.

It is enormously picturesque with the towering mountains all around, an ancient Old Town at its centre and is immaculately kept. There's a huge green space all along the water front and lovely walkways and gardens for all to enjoy.

Annecy is also the gateway to the French Alps with Chamonix and Mt Blanc about a 70 minute drive away so plenty to do both in Summer and Winter in that direction and Geneva is only 30 minutes to the north.

The weather is much cooler here than it was in Fayence and we're back in our Winter woollies again. About 12 degrees top today which we love.

There's lots for us to see and do here for the next week.

I'll keep you posted.

COTE D'AZUR ANYONE ?

You know you're on the Cote D'Azur long before you see the sea by the increase in traffic.

This is holiday central on steroids and here in May the season has only just beginning !
Sparkling water stretches as far as you can see and green hillsides tumble, sometimes steeply, to the sea below with houses of all shapes and sizes clinging where ever they can gain foothold.
The road winds along the coastline from one beautiful bay to the next and every vista is delightful as it unfolds before you. Slim stretches of sand provide the beaches where people can sunbathe and swim and these must become terribly crowded when the full Summer season is in full swing.

BUT !

Traffic.... People....... Boats........

Busy, busy, busy !

Huge, expensive boats worth millions of euros each line the waterfront of Cannes and stretch as far as the eye can see. The money on display here is amazing. Crowded cafes line the quay and holiday makers stroll along wide boulevards in sandals and summer clothes soaking up the sun. The streets further back from the water front are busy and packed with shops and shoppers..... and it's all a bit tired and grubby. The building are very mixed and to my eye the tired, old and scruffy predominated.
Along the coast to the west of Cannes the coastline provided more of the same. Some quieter stretches then a larger town, all with pretty little beaches and lovely scenery but all busy.

We traveled towards Nice and on and always beautiful coastal vistas and busy, crowded, grubby towns until we entered Monaco... !

What a miraculous transformation !
Sparkling clean.
Neat as a pin.
And oh so opulent !

More million dollar - I mean euro - boats lining the harbour.
Beautiful buildings, sparking in their clean perfect lines, folded one onto the other as they fit into any available space in this, the second smallest country in the world.
No ugliness to be seen here, everything beautifully manicured and clean, clean , clean.
From the harbour you walk uphill to the famous casino and here you come upon the cars.
Ferraris, Ducattis, Rolls Royce, Bentley...... Red ones and black ones mainly. There seems to be only parking space in front of the casino for them alone. It's certainly the place to come to be seen !
We came thinking we would like to see inside the casino. Tony was even prepared with a jacket and a tie in his bag ! But when we saw the fashion police stationed outside our desire to go inside evaporated !!! These colonials felt totally intimidated !

We lunched with the beautiful people in the Cafe de Paris opposite the casino then toured this extraordinary place on the Hop-On-Hop -Off bus where the commentary pointed out the sights while the bus did all the hard work going up and down, through tunnels under the buildings and finally after completing the circuit once we alighted at the pink palace on the hill on the second time around, explored there, then wound our way down the hill and back to the train station for the trip back to Cannes where we had parked the car.
I loved Monet Carlo. Wouldn't have missed it for the world!

FAYENCE..... PUT IT ON YOUR LIST

Fayence is a little village is in the Var region of France - down in the south-east corner in the hills above Cannes. It is one of many villages in the area called "villages perches" because they are perched on top of hills. (Other such villages are Mons, Tourettes, Callian, Seillans, Montauroux and Tanneron -all close by ).
In all these villages houses cling to the hillside and very narrow lanes wind their way steeply to the top of the village where you usually find a huge church or sometimes a castle/chateau. These fortifications formed the basis of the defence of the village in times long ago and their hilltop situation gave them maximum protection from attack in those dangerous medieval times.The villages have changed very little over hundreds of years and are very picturesque.

Exploring their winding streets is a wonderful way to spend the day and the size of the free car parks that can be found in every village attests to their popularity with tourists, so timing your visit is obviously important. Our visit in early May allowed us to wander the winding lane ways virtually alone with only the company of the village residents and a few other tourists. Around every corner there was a photo opportunity as the impossibly narrow lanes snaked their way in all directions and pretty painted doorways decorated with pots of flowering plants broke the monotony of the mainly cream or butter coloured walls that towered all around you, sometimes four storeys high, only broken here and there by small shutter-bordered windows in blues, greens and aqua colours.

When you've had your fill of climbing round these lane ways and the memory card in your digital camera is full, there are the cafes to visit. Plenty of them ! Arrive at lunchtime and you'll find the cafes rapidly filling as the French do what they do best .....FOOD ! Often perched under a shady tree or occupying a tiny section of flattish space these cafes serve up delicious food usually at economical prices and a plat du jour offering of two courses can often be had for under 20euros. Lingering there, savouring the food and then soaking up the atmosphere is one of the great joys of holidaying in France.
If all you want is a baguette, then there is usually a boulangerie nearby to cater for your needs and it will be a taste sensation too!
But the lovely hilltop villages are not all the area has to offer. Cannes and the Cote D'Azur is but a 40 minute drive away. Magnificent stretches of coastline stretch in both directions with even more to fill your memory bank as well as your memory card. Take a train to Nice or Monaco for the day to minimise the traffic and parking hassles but return to your quiet haven on a beautiful hilltop for a delightful late dinner on the balcony of a wonderful restaurant cafe where the pace is slow and calm.

Truly a holiday destination not to be missed !

PARIS GLITTERS AT NIGHT

I can' t leave Paris without a few night photos.
Of course you have to wait a long while before it is night time as we know it - you know when it actually gets DARK !!!

So these photos I'm bringing you today are all taken on our way home from dinner walking through the streets of our neighbourhood in the Marais district of Paris.

The Marais district has lots of cafes and restaurants as well as food shops of all types and lots of boutiques, jewellery shops and home wares too. An ideal place to stay with Paris on your doorstep. It's old, a little dingy and decrepit but it's also vibrant and fun. The people are polite and friendly and you soon form a friendly relationship with the owner of the local fruit shop and market and broken English/ French communication gets lots of laughs.

We have sampled several cafes for tea/dinner and they've all been great. I don't think anywhere does bad food over here just some are better than others.
However we always return to our absolute favourite, and my favourite in the whole world, Equinox, where the waiters are friendly and fun and we have lots of laughs over communication.

Our final dinner is always at Equinox where they farewell us in style. This time they insisted we try an aperitif (the special of the night ) as well as our three course meal with a nice red, then topped it off with a liqueur on the house to aid our digestion !!!

Believe me our digestion needed all the help it could get !

Cheers.