Winter road trip, Mon banc dominical / My Sunday Bench in Venasque Provence.

 

Winter road trip part III - Annecy day 2 continued.

When we had gone to the Tourist office in the morning and a young lady advised us that most things were closed she suggested leaving Annecy and heading along the lake to visit one of its pretty villages ,Talloires-Montmin. At 6.70 euros for two return tickets by bus we thought it seemed like a good idea.

We at first headed for the church to keep the theme going, only to find it closed, before heading down to the lakeside.

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It was a pleasant enough walk and we did not 'Dali' as we made our way to the harbour. The lakeside was pretty and we walked along it in both directions.

There was a short marked walk leading back to the stop before we got off and we consider taking it but after talking to two young men who come from it and told us how steep it was,decided against it.

Having done all the exploring we need to do we decided to pop into a cafe and have a coffee before heading back for a return bus to Annecy. Only problem was we had too much time to kill to justify spending too long thee. Pauline worked out that we could head back up and catch the next bus which although would not take us all the way back to Annecy its destination would take us back within walking distance.We caught it and enjoyed the remaing walk back.

Winter road trip part III - Annecy day 2 - in search of culture.

We had decided to use our second day in Annecy to take in some culture, so we headed over to the tourist office for a list of best 'things to do' to satisfy our quest. Unfortunately we were informed that all museums and the chateau were closed today as they were open free yesterday as it was a holiday and the first Sunday of the month - perfect lesson on doing research before you visit a new place!  

Armed with this bit of local knowledge we headed out to take in the sights albeit many from the exterior only,like the original 'Hotel de Ville' (above).

Next door is the church of 'Notre Dame de Liesse' which was open!

 We found out that most of the churches were open today which was a bit odd as yesterday, Sunday, we only found one *open and it was holding a mass when we popped our heads in.

Today that was not going to be a problem as we took the short walk to the 16th century Cathédrale Saint-Pierre. 

We also decided to head up tp to chateau even although we knew it was closed as we wondered what the views would be over Annecy.

As it happened they were not very spectacular!

So it was back down to street level and another church. 

This was *St.Francois,the one we popped into on Sunday.

After our ecclesiastical overload we headed back along the river for a spot of lunch before heading back out in the afternoon. More on this later. 

Winter road trip windows & balconies - Mâcon

 

Winter road trip part II - Annecy day 1 continued..

After our our lakeside walk we headed back to the old town and took the tourist photos that everyone who visits here take. It was busy as there was market day and there was a good holiday vibe. 

We had a light lunch in a restaurant by the river, on the left of the pic. above. After which we further explored the old town leaving any heritage visits for tomorrow.

It is such a photogenic place with delightful buildings around ever corner.We found our way to our apartment,settled in before immediately heading back out to explore into the evening and finding a place for dinner. All in all a very good day and walk (10km)