Located close to the borders of Switzerland and Italy, Annecy is a picturesque French commune surrounded by the Alps and the crystal blue waters of a lake that goes by the same name.
We recently had the pleasure of visiting the city and spending a few nights there. I will be posting about our trip over the next few days if you would like to follow along to see the town and the surrounding area.
Annecy is a bit of a drive from where we live in France (about six hours by car) so we left early on a Thursday morning and got there around 10-11am - plenty of time to explore on day one.
We decided in the car, just an hour before our arrival, to go for a hike up one of the mountains surrounding the Lake. After a quick google search of hiking trails in the area we decided to go to Cascade d'Angon, a 60 meter waterfall located in the mountains above the small town of Angon.
We parked our car on a large large cliff above town and made our way to where the trail begins. The mountains in the background, the chalet style homes and the cows in the fields with bells tied around their necks, really reminded me of of trip to Switzerland the month before.
The trail to the falls begins in a large parking lot located at the edge of a forest. We didn't realize that there was parking so close, so we actually had to walk a ways on the road in order to get to that staring point.
From there the trail follows a 0.6 km path to the falls on mostly rocky and uneven terrain.
Along the way are several look out points that offer some pretty amazing views of the lake below. This one is of a chateau that sits on a peninsula connected to the small town of Duingt France.
A short walk down the path brings you to the edge of a large cliff.
From here you can either turn right and head down the mountain to the towns of Angon or Talloires, or you can turn left and head to the falls. We turned left.
From here the path continues to follows alongside the mountain. Its actually carved directly into the rock itself. A guardrail has been installed to keep people from falling over the edge.
I noticed the next day during a bike ride around the lake that there are a few spots below where you can see the path cut directly into the mountain side. It was neat to make that connection.
We didn't stop to sit on the bench below but it looks like it would be a great spot to watch the sunset, or even just to pause for a few moments to take in the surroundings.
We continued along the path, stopping a few times to look back at the mountains over the guardrail.
As you can see, there were a few tight squeezes along the way.
There were a few other people hiking to the falls that day but overall it wasn't too busy. We only had to step out of the way a few times to allow people to pass by.
The cliff was quite low in a few places along the trail as well. You really had to be paying attention not to hit your head on the rocks above.
Also, try not to think about slabs of rock breaking away from the mountain at this point.
Heading down a set of stairs that have been carved into the path and you begin to hear the water from the falls.
Its just around the corner beyond the low ceiling and up another very steep climb.
Here the rock in the area has been worn smooth by the falling water. It gathers in a large pool below the falls and then runs down the mountain via a small creek.
The trail eventually ends right next to the falls. There people stop for a few moments to take selfies in front of the falling water. It creates a bit of a bottle neck in traffic but everyone seems to have the same idea - stop at the rail, look at the falls for a moment, take a selfie (or 6) then head back down the steep steps to allow the next person to do the same.
My cell phone camera isn't powerful enough to capture moving water so my pictures of the falls really don't do it any justice.
I found this short video on Youtube by NotreBelleFrance (2016) to give you a better idea. I think they do a pretty good job filming falls.
After taking a quick selfie ourselves and moving out of the way for the next couple to do the same, we decided to head down the mountain to the town of Talloires for some refreshments.
It was about a 20-30 minute walk through the forest to get to town. The walk down was easy but the walk back up was another story. Some parts were quite steep and we were both out of breath as we made our back to our vehicle.
Talloires is a quaint little beach town situated on the bank of Lake Annecy a short drive from the city. For such a small village it has with quite a few cafes, restaurants and hotels.
We found a small café and had a beer and a smoothie before hiking back up the mountain to our car.
If you are interested in reading more about our trip I will be posting about it over the next few days.