Paris-Lyon 2009: Lake Annecy

We had wondered, as we were walking by the lake on Saturday, whether it would be possible to walk around the whole thing in the course of one (very long, tiring) day, but since the southern shore of the lake is not even visible from the northern shore, we figured it would not be wise to actually attempt to do so. To get a sense of the lake as a whole, we instead opted for the two-hour "Circuit omnibus" boat tour on Sunday afternoon.

The lake is an amazing blue-green color, and towering mountains rise nearly all the way around it. (The Wikipedia entry for Lake Annecy indicates the names of the principal towns and mountains around the lake, if you're interested.) Our boat tour took us down the length of the eastern side of the lake to the southern tip, then back up the western side, punctuated now and then with recorded commentary in French and English about the various towns, châteaus, hotels, and private islands we were passing by. We had quick stops at about eight different towns for boarding/deboarding of passengers, including a surprisingly large number of bicyclists. One fairly large group of past-middle-aged bikers appeared to be biking almost the whole perimeter of the lake, and just taking the boat to bridge one stretch where the low road next to the lake disappeared (presumably diverted up into the foothills somewhere) in favor of sheer cliffs that dropped off straight into the water.

Sailboats on Lake Annecy

Aaron hard at work capturing it all for posterity

Many of the pictures we took didn't do justice to the brilliant blue-green color of the lake and the intense green of the pine trees blanketing the sides of the mountains, but these two capture the scenery fairly well....

Aaron suggested that on our next trip to Annecy (assuming there is one, someday...) we spend one night at each of the ports around the edge of the lake to give us a chance to explore the picturesque villages stretching from the shore up into the foothills of the Alps. Not a bad idea!

After the boat trip, we had a few hours before we had to catch our train back to Lyon, so, after stopping for some ice cream, we trekked up the large hill rising above the old town to visit the Basilique de la Visitation, the basilica associated with the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary, a Catholic religious order for women that was founded in Annecy in 1610.

View of the Basilique de la Visitation from Lake Annecy