Destination: Annecy, France

While in Grenoble over a four-day weekend in September, I also did a few day trips to the surrounding towns and cities of the region. Besides a half-day at the stately Château de Vizille, I also got the opportunity to revisit Annecy with my Couchsurfing host and her friends. It’d been over two years since I’d last visited, but in any case, I was excited to head back to the gorgeously-nicknamed “Venice of the Alps.”

Originally, my Couchsurfing host and I had thought about taking the train from Grenoble. Fortunately, however, one of her friends had a car, so we ended up saving money (and time) by hitching a ride with her. We just had to chip in for the gas money, which wasn’t really that much, and the rest was smooth-sailing (or riding) from there.

Around 10:00, my host, one of her other friends (who’s Spanish), and I headed to the meeting point to catch our ride to Annecy. We arrived and piled into the back of the car, as the two seats upfront were already taken. Aside from myself, the other passengers were all Hispanophone au pairs in the region, all girls with two Spanish, an Argentinian, and a Venezuelan. All really nice people, and I enjoyed my day out with them.

The ride took just over an hour, and we soon pulled into Annecy around 11:15. We ended up parking along the lake about 20 minutes from the city center, and then taking a stroll along it on our way into town. Compared with when I visited the first time back in January 2016, the lake in September looked dramatically different. While it was completely frozen over in the wintertime, the balmy, summer-like weather in September offered stunning, turquoise waters that were so clear that I could see the rocks underneath.

We reached the city center soon enough, where we crossed the bridge over to the iconic views of the Old Town. Again, thanks to the weather, the views were picture-perfect: blue skies, flourishing flowers, and plenty of sunshine to accentuate the old, colorful buildings along the canal. Of course, we got our photo opportunities on the bridge, with the distinctive Palais de l’île in the background.

The five of us strolled along the canal before heading up to the château d’Annecy. The château itself contains a museum, but most of us weren’t really interested in paying to go inside. That said, we merely took a couple of photos outside of the building, and we then headed back down to the city center.

It was around 13:00 when we decided to pop into a Franprix for some groceries as lunch. I grabbed a sandwich and a box of biscuits, and then we went outside to a nearby park where we camped out on the grass to enjoy our budget lunch, all the while enjoying the warm sun.

Following our simple meal, we explored more of town. We returned to the Old Town before crossing the bridge over to the other side of the canal. Over there, we visited the Pont des Amours (Lover’s Bridge) which had lovely views over the brilliantly-turquoise lake, as well as the canal. In fact, it reminded me of the Canal Saint-Martin in Paris, with its waters almost as green as the lush trees along the banks.

After the visit of the bridge, we decided to head back to the car, as it would be a 20-minute walk over (we actually didn’t park in Annecy, but in the town over– our mistake!). In any case, we made the trek over with the road on one side and the dazzling lake on the other. We got to the car where we took it back towards the city center, up the hill to where the basilique de la Visitation is situated. I’d gone there during my first visit in 2016, but it’d been a grueling walk up in the snow– thankfully, I gone by car this time!

Our visit of the basilica was short, as we just checked out the nave, and I bought a postcard from its gift shop just next door. After that, it was a matter of hopping back into the car and heading back to Grenoble for the day.

Overall, it’d been no more than four hours of visiting Annecy, as much of the time was getting to and from there. All the same, though, I enjoyed it even more the second time around, as the weather was much better and the city was absolutely stunning in all of its colors and views. Annecy is a true gem of the French Alps, and it should be on everyone’s list of places to visit while in France.

More to come soon!