Europe Travels – 10-16 August, 2007
Anthy Sur Leman is a lovely small French village on the south shore of Lake Geneva. There is little in way of “town center” except for a church and boulangerie/patisserie without which it seems a French village cannot exist. For all practical purposes one needs to have a car to get around in the area, although there are some buses that serve the area with some frequency. The Swiss city of Geneva, is only about 30 miles away west along the lake, Swiss Lausanne is just across the lake. The famous spa town of Evian is about 8 km away. The nearest town is Thonon Les Baines, which has a nice harbor and lakeside promenade a few medieval buildings as well as hot springs and spa.
Our exchange home is spacious, comfortable and beautiful and the four of us (the two of us and our friends Alex and Naomi from Israel) had plenty of room to spread out without even using the upper floor. It has a view of the lake and a large grassy yard and best of all, a vegetable garden with tomatoes, giant squash and a gigantic fig tree bearing endless sweet wonderful fruit. What a treat!!!!! Joining us in the house are two black cats with totally opposite personalities which we’ve learned to enjoy. Domino, the dominant one, is really a neighbor’s cat that acts like he own the place and tortures poor Myrtille, who is sweet and shy, and belongs in our house. The temperatures have been pleasant, and even on warm days, the evenings feel nice and cool
Friday was a beautiful sunny day after the rain and we, along with our Israeli friends Neomi and Alex, decided to start exploring close to home. We walked around the lakeside promenade in Thonon, had coffee overlooking the water and enjoyed the harbor, marina and the medieval buildings near the harbor. On the spur of the moment we decided to hop on a boat headed to Yvoire, a small medieval village, west of Anthy. We found it to be a real jewel and a feast to the eye!!! It was full of nicely restored medieval buildings, overflowing with flowers baskets of red geraniums, purple petunias, and an assortment of yellow orange and other flowers in a symphony of colors. A beautiful church with a shiny silver steeple anchors the center, water views and a yacht harbor and little shops and galleries everywhere. In short a true charmer! It still retains its city gates and walls. We had a wonderful three course lunch and headed back charmed and happy.
The following day we drove a half hour to Geneva to explore the city and celebrate Neomi, Alex and Dahlia’s 60th birthdays all occurring in August. We had a wonderful lunch at Relais de L'Entrecôte, a well known restaurant that serves the same delicious steak meal to everyone for lunch and dinner every day. The famous jet fountain of Geneva was off for the day in preparation for a huge firework celebration was planned for the evening (in our honor??) but we left early to avoid the crowds. We walked around the old town, the lakeside promenade and the main shopping street, but were not particularly impressed with Geneva.
Sunday promised to be perfectly clear, a perfect opportunity to drive to the Alps and the famous ski town of Chamonix, France an hour and half drive from Anthy. We arrived at about 10:00 am and took a cable car the size of a small city bus from the town up to a peak called Aiguille du Midi. From the town of Chamonix the peak looked like a speck surrounded by snow and almost straight up. The cable car went up to a ridge, where we got out and changed to another cable car the same size. (See http://www.compagniedumontblanc.fr/plan_aiguilledumidi_ete.php for a map and click on the hot spots for views and even a webcam!!!.) This cable car seemed to go almost vertical and we reached the peak after whizzing above the rocks and arrived at an altitude of 3,840 m (12,600 feet). The peak had a number of buildings and balconies hanging from the sides of the rock with restaurants and ice tunnels. Mountain climbers were out on the rocks and a number were hiking down to the glacier below. But wait, there was more! We then got in six person cable cars that traveled in groups of three for a half hour trip to Hel-Bronner in Italy. The cable cars traveled over an enormous glacier called the Mer de Glace (Sea of Ice) and came very close to Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in the Alps at 4808 meters (15,774 ft). After having a latte in Italy we returned to Aiguille du Midi where we admired the view, all of us feeling a little unstable from rocking in the cable cars and from the thin air. We arrived back in Chamonix in time for a late lunch and took a long scenic way home through twisting roads and vineyard. It was definitely a peak experience!
Monday, yet another clear day, we drove to Montreux on the eastern end of Lake Geneva. Our first stop was Chateau de Chillion, a medieval castle in the lake that was built to protect the entrances to the passes to Italy from Lake Geneva. The castle is in a lovely setting and we took a tour, going through the dungeons, which included a hangman’s noose. Also of interest were the toilets that consisted of a long drop to the lake. We then drove to the Promenade of Monteux on the lake, had lunch and walked to the train station where we boarded the Rochers-de-Naye cog railroad for a trip high above the lake through farms, pastures and chalets to a mountain peak with a great view until the clouds moved in.
Next morning we headed to Annecy, which has a very quaint picturesque old town. It was market day and there were stalls selling a dizzying array of colorful fruits and vegetables and tasty looking local cheeses and sausages, and if that were not enough, there were boulangeries and ice-cream stores everywhere as well. The town is build along a series of canals flowing from Lake Annecy. It is a very cute town, but as one would expect at the height of the summer, was full of tourists. Sadly, it didn’t stop us from sampling a gigantic chocolate croissant and the local ice cream..
Taking advantage of the weather Wednesday, we drove to Evian-Les-Baines, famous for the Evian mineral water and spa and boarded a boat for Lausanne, Switzerland, a fairly large city across the lake reminiscent of San Francisco for its hills. It was a hot day and the streets of Lausanne very steep. We took the bus uphill, visited a couple of cathedrals and a wonderful exhibit, of Fantin LaTour paintings at the local “chapter” of the Hermitage. But Lausanne was not much to write home about. Before going home we stopped at Port-de-Sechex, a little lakeside village about a mile from our exchange home and had a wonderful fish dinner at a restaurant overhanging the Lake watching the sun set over Lake Geneva.
Thursday was finally a rainy day allowed us to kick back guilt free, relax read and catch up on the blog. It was actually nice to watch the steady rain with doors wide open allowing a cool breeze to flow through the house. In the evening we were invited to the nearby house of Raymonde Chezeau, the mother of Sophie Chezeau with whom we are exchanging houses. The company and the meal were wonderful indeed. Raymonde lives in an artfully designed home with a spectacular view of the lake, and, as if to order, the rain stopped and we were able to enjoy the views from the deck.
Neomi and Alex left us Friday morning on another clear day which again was too good to pass up, so we stopped for a croissant at our local Boulangerie, and headed to the Jura Mountains across the lake. More on that in the next section.
Our exchange home is spacious, comfortable and beautiful and the four of us (the two of us and our friends Alex and Naomi from Israel) had plenty of room to spread out without even using the upper floor. It has a view of the lake and a large grassy yard and best of all, a vegetable garden with tomatoes, giant squash and a gigantic fig tree bearing endless sweet wonderful fruit. What a treat!!!!! Joining us in the house are two black cats with totally opposite personalities which we’ve learned to enjoy. Domino, the dominant one, is really a neighbor’s cat that acts like he own the place and tortures poor Myrtille, who is sweet and shy, and belongs in our house. The temperatures have been pleasant, and even on warm days, the evenings feel nice and cool
Friday was a beautiful sunny day after the rain and we, along with our Israeli friends Neomi and Alex, decided to start exploring close to home. We walked around the lakeside promenade in Thonon, had coffee overlooking the water and enjoyed the harbor, marina and the medieval buildings near the harbor. On the spur of the moment we decided to hop on a boat headed to Yvoire, a small medieval village, west of Anthy. We found it to be a real jewel and a feast to the eye!!! It was full of nicely restored medieval buildings, overflowing with flowers baskets of red geraniums, purple petunias, and an assortment of yellow orange and other flowers in a symphony of colors. A beautiful church with a shiny silver steeple anchors the center, water views and a yacht harbor and little shops and galleries everywhere. In short a true charmer! It still retains its city gates and walls. We had a wonderful three course lunch and headed back charmed and happy.
The following day we drove a half hour to Geneva to explore the city and celebrate Neomi, Alex and Dahlia’s 60th birthdays all occurring in August. We had a wonderful lunch at Relais de L'Entrecôte, a well known restaurant that serves the same delicious steak meal to everyone for lunch and dinner every day. The famous jet fountain of Geneva was off for the day in preparation for a huge firework celebration was planned for the evening (in our honor??) but we left early to avoid the crowds. We walked around the old town, the lakeside promenade and the main shopping street, but were not particularly impressed with Geneva.
Sunday promised to be perfectly clear, a perfect opportunity to drive to the Alps and the famous ski town of Chamonix, France an hour and half drive from Anthy. We arrived at about 10:00 am and took a cable car the size of a small city bus from the town up to a peak called Aiguille du Midi. From the town of Chamonix the peak looked like a speck surrounded by snow and almost straight up. The cable car went up to a ridge, where we got out and changed to another cable car the same size. (See http://www.compagniedumontblanc.fr/plan_aiguilledumidi_ete.php for a map and click on the hot spots for views and even a webcam!!!.) This cable car seemed to go almost vertical and we reached the peak after whizzing above the rocks and arrived at an altitude of 3,840 m (12,600 feet). The peak had a number of buildings and balconies hanging from the sides of the rock with restaurants and ice tunnels. Mountain climbers were out on the rocks and a number were hiking down to the glacier below. But wait, there was more! We then got in six person cable cars that traveled in groups of three for a half hour trip to Hel-Bronner in Italy. The cable cars traveled over an enormous glacier called the Mer de Glace (Sea of Ice) and came very close to Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in the Alps at 4808 meters (15,774 ft). After having a latte in Italy we returned to Aiguille du Midi where we admired the view, all of us feeling a little unstable from rocking in the cable cars and from the thin air. We arrived back in Chamonix in time for a late lunch and took a long scenic way home through twisting roads and vineyard. It was definitely a peak experience!
Monday, yet another clear day, we drove to Montreux on the eastern end of Lake Geneva. Our first stop was Chateau de Chillion, a medieval castle in the lake that was built to protect the entrances to the passes to Italy from Lake Geneva. The castle is in a lovely setting and we took a tour, going through the dungeons, which included a hangman’s noose. Also of interest were the toilets that consisted of a long drop to the lake. We then drove to the Promenade of Monteux on the lake, had lunch and walked to the train station where we boarded the Rochers-de-Naye cog railroad for a trip high above the lake through farms, pastures and chalets to a mountain peak with a great view until the clouds moved in.
Next morning we headed to Annecy, which has a very quaint picturesque old town. It was market day and there were stalls selling a dizzying array of colorful fruits and vegetables and tasty looking local cheeses and sausages, and if that were not enough, there were boulangeries and ice-cream stores everywhere as well. The town is build along a series of canals flowing from Lake Annecy. It is a very cute town, but as one would expect at the height of the summer, was full of tourists. Sadly, it didn’t stop us from sampling a gigantic chocolate croissant and the local ice cream..
Taking advantage of the weather Wednesday, we drove to Evian-Les-Baines, famous for the Evian mineral water and spa and boarded a boat for Lausanne, Switzerland, a fairly large city across the lake reminiscent of San Francisco for its hills. It was a hot day and the streets of Lausanne very steep. We took the bus uphill, visited a couple of cathedrals and a wonderful exhibit, of Fantin LaTour paintings at the local “chapter” of the Hermitage. But Lausanne was not much to write home about. Before going home we stopped at Port-de-Sechex, a little lakeside village about a mile from our exchange home and had a wonderful fish dinner at a restaurant overhanging the Lake watching the sun set over Lake Geneva.
Thursday was finally a rainy day allowed us to kick back guilt free, relax read and catch up on the blog. It was actually nice to watch the steady rain with doors wide open allowing a cool breeze to flow through the house. In the evening we were invited to the nearby house of Raymonde Chezeau, the mother of Sophie Chezeau with whom we are exchanging houses. The company and the meal were wonderful indeed. Raymonde lives in an artfully designed home with a spectacular view of the lake, and, as if to order, the rain stopped and we were able to enjoy the views from the deck.
Neomi and Alex left us Friday morning on another clear day which again was too good to pass up, so we stopped for a croissant at our local Boulangerie, and headed to the Jura Mountains across the lake. More on that in the next section.
posted by Dahlia and Lance Riley @ 1:12 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home