Europe 2010

Day 24		Tuesday 13th July

This morning we checked out of the hotel (Best Western Les Aiglons, Chamonix), having enjoyed our time there. The rooms were fresh and well decorated. Bathroom was modern. There was a heated swimming pool, free internet machines in the lounge area, a bar and restaurant. Breakfast was good. We walked to the SNCF station and took the electric train to Servoz – free with a hotel card provided on demand to each guest. The older rolling stock was noisy on the old style rails. We had quite a wait at Servoz for the return trip, with nothing there – no bar, café, WC. The newer rolling stock on the return journey was much quieter. The scenery was quite dramatic, with mountains either side, the river in spate, trees and lakes. When we returned to Chamonix we visited a boulangerie to obtain baguettes for lunch. We returned to the car and drove off towards Annecy. We did not use the motorway, choosing to drive on the older roads as we did not have far to go. The roads were fine, light traffic and not much town driving. Annecy was the usual nightmare large town maze of streets, incomprehensible street signs, etc. We ended up by the lake and found a car park. We walked along the lakeside to the other end of the lake width which was very pleasant, and found a tourist information office. There we obtained a street map and directions for the hotel. That helped but we still got lost before eventually finding the hotel. (Comfort La Mandallaz, Annecy).  After a rest we walked into town again, following a river towards the lake and wandering through parts of the old town. This was quite attractive and had lots of tourists who come to the lake for the watersports and the ambience. There we chose a small restaurant for dinner before returning to the hotel.

Miles travelled today – 67					Total trip miles – 2450

Day 25		Wednesday 14th July  (Bastille Day)

We departed from the hotel at 8.45am, stopping only to buy some baguettes for lunch from a boulangerie just by the hotel. We found our way out of Annecy much easier than we found our way in.  As today is a public holiday, the traffic levels were much quieter than normal. There was hardly any commercial traffic until much later in the day, and then not much. There were plenty of wagons parked up in various places, including motorway service stations. We stopped for lunch at a typical wayside rest place – off-road, picnic benches, grotty loos. During the afternoon the wind built up dramatically and eventually it rained very hard. There were also plenty of broken branches on the road under Napoleon’s famous trees planted to shade his troops. Just before we got to Nevers we passed by the racing circuit at Magny-Cours. We arrived at the hotel quite easily at about 4.00pm.  We walked around the old town until we had need of a drink. After a drink in a bar/brasserie we explored some more. Then we went back to the Bar and had a meal (rather a strange Carpaccio of beef) and then we returned to the hotel along the river. 

Miles travelled today – 241					Total trip miles – 2691