On-Say, Co-Pay, a voyage du jour into an alpine town where they speak Frahn-say
Well, that's a pisser. I was about 90% finished with this blog (bouncing back and forth between my laptop and my phone) and it all got deleted. Good thing I have time to kill before our flight to Sardinia!
Editor's note: I didn't finish this before our flight to Sardinia.
Planning.
I am a planner. If ever one could earn a black belt in planning, I would have 5. I am a Type A - must plan. I even plan when to plan. For this trip, I started my normal amount of planning, or pre-planning, back in November or December once we decided we would make the commitment to taking a family trek to Europe. By January I had flights booked, cars rented, AirBnBs and hotels reserved, and a general outline of where we'd be on what days. And then it all stopped... the planning that is. Floods, graduations, and life all got in the way (mostly floods). There is nothing less appealing after coming home from work than spending minutes or hours on a computer when you've spent the last 9-12 hours at work hunched over the bugger. So, while most major things were planned for our trip, there were plenty of days with simply a question mark on the agenda. And that is fine. But odd for a planner.
Yesterday (Friday) was one of those days. An odd day in Geneva between arriving and departing. Originally, I had figured we'd rent a car and take a day drive up to Chamonix, France to then take a gondola up to Mont Blanc - the tallest peak in Europe. However, as the days got closer, the reality of inclement weather in the form of thunderstorms became a reality. Plus, none of us were sure we should trek to 11,000 ft in altitude the day before we hop on a plane. Thunderstorms and air pressure be damned, Mont Blanc would have to wait for another day and another trip.
Plan B all along had been to take the train to Lyon, France - about 2 hours away via train. But the occasional chance I had to look into what do to in Lyon resulted in not much that struck my or the fam's fancy. I'm sure there are great things to do in Lyon, but another large city was not as appealing.
Plan C (A 5x black belt in planning has at least a few back up plans.) was a trek in the opposite direction to Switzerland's capitol city of Bern. Bern retains its medieval charm, looked walkable from the train station, and certainly had some appeal. Still, I had a desire to keep searching in case I uncovered a gem even though Bern seemed like a great choice.
Google searches are what they are. These days they push you towards advertised content or click bait type articles meant to sell you something. So you have to dig a little. Starting with "Day Trips from Geneva Switzerland" produced the typical Trip Advisor or Lonely Planet type articles meant to sell you tours. A few scrolls down, you get to travel blogs. And eventually I vame upon an article on visiting "the Venice of the Alps".
Pause.
Eyebrow raised. Part curiosity and part skepticism.
Editorial side track meant to enlighten the reader... I have been fortunate enough to visit Venice (Italy) twice in my life. (Venice near LA should be scraped off the map) Venezia is one of a kind. I could go again and again and enjoy getting lost in the many little "calle" along the tiniest of canals to find whatever mask shop or cafe that reveals itself to those willing to walk a few extra feet beyond the main paths. There are, in my vague recollection, a dozen places called "the Venice of the ______" having earned the title simply because these places feature some sort of water way (canal, stream, slough...) that travels through the town. Most of these places ignore the fact that Venice's waterways are its streets and used for navigation and that Venice is free of cars. But the name sticks. City travel bureaus love it. So, when I saw "the Venice of the Alps" I was naturally skeptical, but no one likes a good teaser like me. I clicked. I read. A chorus of angels sang. Golden lights glowed from my computer screen. Our adventure was revealed!
Annecy, France (pronounced 'On-Say') was the place we all needed, wanted, and hoped for. A 90-minute train ride from Geneva, Annecy is seated along Lac d'Annecy and at the base of jagged Alpine peaks. The lake itself is considered the most clear and clean in Europe - and its sparkling blue waters did not disappoint. It's homage to Venice is a river that runs through town, although not very navigable (keeping with the theme). But the old town was majestic, ideal, medieval, surreal.
After departing Geneva and spending about the first 30 minutes of the train ride going through the ugly suburbs of Geneva (repeated graffiti that said 'sheat!'), we eventually spilled into valleys and hamlets surrounded by mountains. The deeper we traveled into this region, the more jagged the peaks became and the more picturesque the views from the train were. It was a great ride and the train was not that full, so we were able to spread out a bit.
Upon arrival at the Gare d'Annecy, we walked maybe 3 minutes and made it to the old part of the city. Smiles were shared and fingers pointed in many directions of where to go first. Kinda like when you get to the end of Main Street USA at Disneyland and your group all wants to head down a different spoke to a different land. That was us, minus the Walt and Mickey statue.
Fridays in Annecy means market day. The market literally winds throughout the entire medieval town. The streets are lined on both sides with vendors of all kinds. Behind them under the porticos are the regular shops and cafés. The girls sped off to dress shop. Jule sought out an ATM knowing the treasures of the market came in cash only. I saw cheese. I froze. I bought. Then nougats. Then salami and hams. And lots of free tasting. I had traveled a block! Almost no one spoke English. I dont speak Frahn-say. But cheese, nougat, and ham are universal languages. I purchased some of each and was quite happy.
Annecy was as advertised in terms of a picturesque place. Venice? Not really. Beautiful? Yes. Alyssa described it as a Hollywood scene. I don't disagree. We took our time poking around.
Alyssa wearing her new dress along the street she said reminded her of a Hollywood scene
When lunchtime came, we put our trust in Maria to find a place. She scouted out a number of menus and directed us to Cafe Galejade along the riverfront. Ooo la la... what an amazing place. I looked at their regional specials and decided on ordering a salad dish call Tartiflette. Tartiflette is not a salad... it turns out. Tartiflette is this region's answer to heaven in the form of a baked casserole filled with cheese, potato, onion, and ham. But it did come with a side salad.
Maria ordered a penne pasta dish with a flavor and texture that made her eyes pop out of her head in enjoyment. Jule ordered a carbonara with house wine. Alyssa went for les poisson and frites. Everything was incredible.
After lunch we walked out to the lakeside to take in the amazing views. I can see why there weren't many Google search articles for "Day trips from Geneva ".. you really should spend at least 2 here. None of my photos do this city justice.
We decided to crawl back to the Gare (train station) and head back to Geneva. Along the way, we passed a very old looking Catholic Church called Église Notre Dame de Liesse. Had to stop. Had to be better than St. Pierre in Geneva. Duh. It was. Another scene from a Hollywood movie.
We made it to the train station and attempted to find the next departure going to Geneva. The sign was confusing so we asked the guy at the "help" desk. He must be a Parisian. He seemed annoyed we asked. Then he started to say "Co-Pay!" Over and over. Co-pay! Co-pay!
We already paid! "No! Co-pay! 1 minute. You go to bus. Co-pay!" See-blue-play monshure... we ain't copaying nothing and we are not taking a bus. Confused and frazzled we tried another way to solve the riddle. Only to get redirected to Le Homme who kept telling us to take the bus and Co-pay. About the only thing we figured out is that we had about 45 minutes to kill and the Gare was tiny. So we went to a Cafe across the street to restrategize a plan around Co-pay Homme. We found our answer in the form of a few local teens who used a series of hand gestures and "OUI!" to tell Alyssa that our train left at 345pm as we thought. No bus. No Co-pay. Dumbass Homme Co-pay.
45 minutes later as our train departed the PA announced we were headed to the following locations which included Geneva and.... Coppet (you gueesed it...pronounced "Co-pay'). But it was a train. Not a bus.
A little after 5pm we made it back to Geneva and 20 minutes after that to our hotel via the handy light rail system. Feet tired. Adventure conquered. 100000% satisfied. A great day we will never forget.
Comments
Post a Comment