The town of Annecy is located in the southeastern part of France in a region known as the Rhone-Alps, in the department of Savoie. That may be a bit confusing so to clarify, the country of France is not only broken up into regions that are sort of like provinces (or states), but also into smaller areas known as departments. The country basically has an extra layer to it - states, departments, and then municipal townships. My wife just learned all of this from a co-worker and she in turn informed me. But anyway......
A few weeks back (more like a month ago at this point) we had the pleasure of visiting Annecy and the surrounding area. We spent a few nights exploring and this post is just a brief look back on our time there.
Note: the first photo of this post is not actually of Annecy but of Grenoble, a larger city located about an hour south of Annecy. It was also a part of our trip to the area but the photo is used more so because it fits well with my posts title. But anyway......
Annecy is situated in the Northwestern portion of the French Alps and is surrounded by mountains on nearly all sides. There are numerous pathways and trails throughout the area making it a great place for anyone who enjoys hiking. We hiked to a waterfall on our first day and saw some amazing views along the way (see previous posts for photos).
The town itself is located on a large fresh water lake that feeds into the Thiou river. It shares the space with several other small towns that also border the water. They can be accessed by car or by a dedicated biking path that surrounds the lake. We biked the path on day two of our trip. It took us about 3 hours.
The path is mostly flat but does have one very steep hill that is challenging if like us, you do not have an electric bike, or overly strong legs and lungs for that matter.
Many of the towns also have their own little beach area where people go to sit in the sun or swim in the crystal blue water. Boating and paddle boarding are also very common leisure activities for those staying in the area. We didn't get into the lake ourselves but I do see the appeal.
One of the main things that I will remember from our experience overall is the calm serenity of the water and the views of the mountains in the background. I would definitely go back and/or recommend the location to anyone looking to expand their French vacation itinerary to spots outside of Paris.
That’s it for Annecy. Thanks for reading. The next post will be about some medieval towns that we stopped at during our drive back home.
Bye for now....
If you are interested in reading more about our trip to Annecy you can click the links below for my previous posts.