Annecy

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Actually, Annecy is the closest town. We had chosen a small B&B 15km west of Annecy in a place called Pezay. It was run by an English couple from Sussex who had moved out some 7 years previously. Having a pool made it popular with recent swimming-star, Asha.

We dined the first evening with fellow-guests - an older English couple, who were out for a wedding, a Dutch couple and a French couple, meeting in the middle, him in Paris, her in Nice. It was a nice meal. The kids had been fed earlier, so it was more adult than we’d seen for a long time!

With three nights in the area, we decided to have a visit to Lake Annecy on the first day. We drove in to Annecy and found our way to Moon Plage, close to the Imperial Hotel. There was a playground, a grass patch, a pool for toddlers and a ladder into the lake, within a cordoned-off area. Both Asha and Jay splashed around the little pool and Asha came briefly into the lake with Karl, but on this occasion, it was only Karl who made it to swimming.

After this, we decided to drive down the lake a little and have lunch. We found a small place in Sévrier doing a simple set lunch. It was utterly disgusting - a Coq au vin so inedible, we couldn’t eat it (sic). It was so tough, it was almost impossible to eat, even with a steak knife. We told the waitress who was less than happy with us. “Our other customers like it” she puffed (in French). Anyway, it cost a lot and was rubbish. Beware of “Brasserie - Bar de la Boule” by a church on the main road in Sévrier. Never go there. What we did get from the trip, however, was to notice a bicycle-hire shop next door. Something for tomorrow.

The next day we did indeed head back to the bike-hire place and hired two bikes and a kids’ trailer for the day. There is a superb bike path along most of the western side of Lake Annecy and on beyond, to the south. We’d originally thought of cycling round more of the lake, but much is on the road, so we decided to stick to the track. We set off from Sévrier, up to Annecy, some 6km to the north, then down again about 15km and back again. All in all, a 30km ride was had. Onita did fabulously and didn’t even show any ill effects from it. The ride itself was fantastic. We had lunch in Annecy and cycled back down the lake. All along, the scenery was magnificent and there was so much to do. A big bouncy-castle park (much to the kids delight), boat-hire, tennis, water-skiing…you name it. It has so much for everyone to do and we would strongly recommend Annecy as a destination for everyone - with young family and without.

After the bike ride, we went back to the hotel for a relax and swim before coming back to Annecy for dinner in the evening. We decided to go alpine and have a cheese fondue at “L’Alpine”, of all places. Great location and superbly friendly, especially with the kids. We were very impressed.

For the final day, we packed, had a short dip and set off for the next location, Epernay. Annecy had been excellent.

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