Our epic roadtrip! Part three: Annecy

We left Strasbourg and headed south along the border.  We even drove through Alps in Switzerland!  However, it was in the middle of the night, so we didn't actually see the Alps (but I'm sure they were there)!

Our next stop was the little town of Annecy in the French Alps.  It was an amazingly dreamy place - beautiful colorful buildings surrounded by majestic mountains.  If you are ever in France, I encourage you to visit.  

One of the canals is absolutely beautiful and leads from the city to a beautiful lake surrounded by the Alps.

The bridge is the Pont des Amoures - the Bridge of Lovers.

 

Of course, we took that opportunity...

Looking back down the canal and the arch that the trees make.  This would be amazing in the spring.

Since it was foggy, we decided to hit the town first, and the Alps later, when hopefully the fog would lift. 

The town streets were amazing!  It was crisscrossed with little walkways bordered by colorful buildings.

This is the former mansion of the de Sales family, built in the 17th century.  The busts depict the four seasons.

Then to visit Annecy's Notre Dame, complete with a golden Mary on top!  The bell tower is from the 16th century.  The rest of the church was demolished in the Revolution, but rebuilt in the 1800s.

It was absolutely gorgeous inside...

More wandering through the streets.

This is France's second most photographed building (after the Eiffel Tower) - the palais d l'Ile.  It used to be a court house and prison, but it's a gorgeous building that the canal parts around.

In the background, you can see the castle.

It was New Year's Eve, which is of course a huge holiday in France.  Because we knew we would have no chance of getting reservations anywhere nice that night, we decided to do our big meal and celebration at lunch.  We stopped at this awesome cute fondue restaurant, and got a big pot of melty cheese, and of course, wine.  What could be better?  Yay!

After lunch, we did more wandering down the canals and through the city.

Ah - we can begin to see the Alps in the background now!

The fog lifted.  It was still a bit misty, but we at least had pretty awesome views of the lake with the Alps beyond.  I would love to imagine what it would look like if it was actually clear!

Yeah - it's that awesome.

The boats weren't fairing too well though - this one is filled with ice.

Looking back at the city from across the lake.

And the sun even decides to say "hi", at least for a while.

 

After our visit, we headed south once more, to Grenoble!

The shopping season in France

Here in France, the government mandates the sales.  Therefore, there are only 2 sales a year, but the entire country goes on sale, with crazy deals, like 80% off.  However, because of this, there is also a huge rush of people milling through the malls.  Think Black Friday multiplied by six weeks.   In one of the biggest cities in the world.


This weekend, I was able to get some great deals on clothes, but I had to get trampled by a rush of old ladies and teenagers to wait in line for the dressing room, to stand in line to pay, or to just shop.

But I did get two pairs of pants, a jacket, and a shirt - all for 17,99 euro!

Our epic roadtrip! Part two: Strasbourg

We headed out for the next portion of our roadtrip.  We went south, out of the small country of Luxembourg to skirt the German border.  We passed through some pretty dense fog, making navigating even more interesting.

We even passed through a tunnel of ice - a deep roadcut that had icicles about 10 feet long on both sides.

The next stop on our roadtrip is Strasbourg, the self-proclaimed capital of Noel.  It was quite fun to visit during the Christmas season, for everything was decorated.  I also think that Strasbourg had more Christmas markets (Marche de Noel) than any other place I've ever and since seen.

 Here's the first Christmas market we found, where we got some nice spiced wine and later, hot orange juice to warm up.

 

One of the squares in Strasbourg.  

But one of the highlights of this trip, and indeed even of all of  my world travels, was seeing Strasbourg's Notre Dame.  It was an incredible example of Gothic architecture, and literally took my breath away.  

Beautiful.  The only way it could have been better was if it was less foggy, cold and icy.  Even the gargoyles were feeling the cold in the air.

Beautifully carved door.

Walking towards the front entrance.   Notre Dame is also the tallest medieval building in all of Europe.

Check out that carving.  Amazing.

Inside, one of the stained glass windows.

Inside is a huge astronomical clock.  Bram kept telling me we couldn't take it home. 

Across the street is the Kammerzell House, built in the 15th century - another nice example of Gothic architecture.

I tried looking for Aragorn...

Walking up to the Palais des Rohan, which now houses a museum.

 

Inside, another cool astronomical clock...

 

As well as a very interesting "cookie jar" resembling a very lifelike severed boar's head, complete with spinal column.

 

Heads seem to be a common theme, for the outside of this building is decorated with stuffed animal heads.  I particularly like the polar bear.

We explore the half-timbered houses.  

Bram stops during one of the Christmas fairs to try on some of the local garb.

Some of the Christmas decorations are these neat "chandeliers in a box".

In "Petite France" there are canals, bordered by the half timbered houses.

Bram and I stop for a picture near some of the square towers, that were used for protection of the city.

Many Christmas fairs, more wonderful (German-French) food, and then on to our next stop!