Annecy, France

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Annecy is considered to be the "Venice of France" and I know why now. It is such a beautiful city, and once you're there, you can easily forget you live in the year 2007. Annecy is only about 30 minutes from where I live if you take the motorway, which has tolls to pay. I think it's about 6 dollars each way, but you can drive over 80 miles an hour, which is fun. Since we left for Annecy somewhat late in the afternoon (I think around 3pm), we were ready to find somewhere to eat when we got there. Annecy is known for its "Old Town" area, so we found a parking space and walked around trying to find it..which wasn't too hard at all! It was definitely NOT a disappointment and well worth the wait/hunger. We found a great restaurant that not only had English menus, but served good steaks for decent prices. AND there was lots of ice in the drinks, which is always a nice surprise. We opted out for desserts, but found some delicious ice cream at a nearby shop. As we were walking we saw signs pointing towards a chateau or castle, so we began walking up the hill out of the main section of the old town. The old town is beautiful, but bustling with people, but once we started walking up the hill, it seemed to become much more peaceful. We passed very old buildings, which we could tell by the open windows that people lived in, and it wasn't hard to imagine that we were back in the 1800s. We finally found the chateau, but were 30 minutes too late to see the inside (maybe next time!). We did, however, get some great views of the town from the top of the hill. After sneaking into an open (but not very public-looking) building to use a free restroom, we took pictures of a huge, old church and began walking back down the hill to find a place that served both coffee and ice cream (I can always eat more ice cream). Since it was getting late and lots of places were closing, we ended up having to skip the ice cream and just get drinks. By the time we finished, we decided to head back towards Ambilly. And then the adventure really began.Most people would probably have no problem driving back, but I don't think I will be driving to or from Annecy at night again. First of all, I was low on gas when I left Ambilly and was too lazy to go across the border (5 minute drive) to get the "cheap" gas in Switzerland. So I figured I'd pay a little more in Annecy for a few liters, enough to get me home, and then fill up later. Well, little did I know how hard that would be! It took awhile to find a gas station (there aren't tons on every corner like some places in the US), so when we finally found one, it was a huge relief (I was pretty much empty). The station is closed (at 9pm), but there are self-service pumps that take credit cards so I swipe my card...denied! It turned out that the pumps only took French bank/credit cards with a special chip in them. So we went to the next station..again, 3 credit cards denied. Finally, I ended up asking some people at the next pump if I could pay them to put gas in my car with their card. Thankfully, they were very nice (and spoke excellent English, explaining what the problem was to us) and helped us out. Relieved to have that over with, I thought it would be an easy ride back to Ambilly. Wrong again! It started to drizzle a little, which always makes it hard for me to see, especially at night, and then I found out there are NO lights on the motorway (highway) at night. It was so scary having to drive down a highway (I had no idea where I was and was not familiar with the area at all) without even the moon to give any light. Of course, the rain didn't help, and I've never been so relieved to see toll stations (well-lit) than I was that night. 30 minutes of only being able to see a few yards in front of me is enough for me! Needless to say, we made it back alive - surprisingly - and spent the rest of the time relaxing. Despite the end, it was a great day, and I would definitely recommend Annecy to anyone visiting the re

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Photos

Annecy
Chateau

Annecy
Part of the view from the hilltop, halfway down the hill

Annecy
Part of Lake Annecy at night

Annecy
Thought it was funny to see this here

Annecy
Where we ate