Day Three: Annecy

How could I have spent all this time on Earth and never have heard of Annecy? This city is just amazing in its culture and astounding in its beauty. Small enough that you can walk everywhere yet big enough to offer all the benefits of living in a modern city. La vielle ville, or old city, features a medieval fort, steep streets and an old jail. You can almost imagine knights and nobles in their armor doing battle in the 1500's.

This part of the city features many small canals leading away from the lake. Sidewalk cafes line the canals very much the way they do in San Antonio. There are flowers and parks everywhere and, of course, the intensely beautiful Lake Annecy, a souvenir of the last ice age ringed by impressive mountains. The lake is about 15 miles long and is a mecca for boating and water sports. We took a tour boat around the lake and saw quite a few windsufers and para-sailors, as well as sailboats and the very popular paddle boats.

Annecy is a major tourist center. We even ran across a film crew from India filming a commercial about Annecy for the folks back home. In the summer, the town is inundated with travellers from all over Europe. Alex tells me that last year the local government commissioned a survey to measure attitudes toward tourists. 80% said that tourists  benefit the economy. But 90% said they didn't like having so many tourists. Sounds like Newport!

For an extensive photo essay about  Annecy, please click this link: Day Three