Annecy, France Day 17

Spent the morning exchanging the car. I am a much happier camper now - a Toyota Yaris with about 2500 miles on it. I even got my GPS to work in English already!

Decided to spend the afternoon in the countryside. Have been in a city for 2.5 weeks and ready for some green. And the French countryside in this area did not disappoint. Headed for a gorge that I read about, only 6-7 miles from Annecy. A walk thru a very deep,gorge where the Fier river necks down through a very deep gorge. The video below shows the height that the river has reached in this gorge in various years. Interesting. As I neared the gorge driving in, I saw this huge, what I thought was a castle. I did not think much more about until I saw the signs for Chateau des Chemin.

When I finished with the gorge and a Coke at the cafe, I started searching for the Chateau. Nearby I saw a sign for a trail to the Chateau which I took. Lots of uphill but finally got to the top and saw the Chateau. Walked all around but did not go in. Instead rood a path through the meadow with the cows - a wonderful walking path (cover pic) that are so easy to find all over Europe. Did some walking - so good to be out of the cities and in the beautiful outdoors again. Back to Annecy for a ‘feet up” couple hours and then out for a walk to the Lake before finding a great cafe, very. Near to my apartment, had a wonderful dinner - salmon tartar with fruit! Different combination- the presentation was terrific. Along with a glass of Viognier, my favorite French white wine, a great day. Back to Switzerland tomorrow.Read more