It’s hot here in Aix-en-Provence. Nothing like what our friends at home had to suffer through very recently, but compared to the mild weather we had in Paris it’s hot. The temp topped 90 degrees today, and though I’m normally a cooler-weather type of guy, I didn’t mind it. The humidity here seems to be near zero and the nighttime temps drop to a very comfortable sixty-ish, so I dig it.
The boy is in bed after a wonderful day spent with new friends and Juliann and I are working next to each other on the sofa in our comfy apartment right on the edge of Centre Ville in Aix. And naturally we’re enjoying a bottle of rose.
I’m reflecting now on our time in Annecy and, from my point of view at least, the time was split in two.
There were the five or so days I was sick and stuck in the apartment, and there was the rest. Normally I would be very disappointed that nearly half our time in Annecy was blown due to my coming down with some silly bug, but I’m not disappointed at all.
Instead, Annecy was so wonderfully beautiful and charming that I feel lucky to have been able to spend 9 amazing days exploring it with my family.
The first few days after I recovered we took it easy. We would bring the boy to the playground just around the corner from our apartment, shop at the market or Monoprix to get our groceries for the next couple of days, have a nap, I’d do a little work, and we might go out before dinner for a walk.
Side note: we stayed right around the corner from Annecy’s Notre Dame, of which Braeden was a huge fan. Every time we walked by the church he would point it out, marvel at it, and ask questions about it, and whenever we heard the bells toll he would scream out “NOTRE DAME!” at the top of his lungs.
After a few days I stopped by CrossFit L’Engrenage for a workout, met the owner, Nathan, and had a blast training with his crew. L’Engrenage didn’t look like much from the outside but it was an absolutely beautiful gym inside and I was able to get in a few workouts there before we had to leave town.
One of the highlights of our time in Annecy was a tour of the lake by boat. We rose early one morning, headed to the shore, and rented one of the 20-ish-foot center console powerboats they had lined up. The twentysomethings running the rental operation showed us the craft and a map and we were off. We hugged the shore down the lake, taking in the scenery: dramatic cliffs in some places, adorable towns tucked into the shoreline in others. About an hour into the trip we cut the engine and unpacked our lunch to enjoy a little picnic while we drifted in the middle of the crystal clear alpine lake.
We stopped a few places along the way to take a dip and cool off, and the boy surprised us by jumping right in. It was only last summer we visited family in Chicago, and he was very nervous about jumping off a boat into Lake Michigan. But this year he went for it, and he couldn’t get enough, jumping in again and again, swimming to the ladder, clambering back onto the boat, and squealing with glee. It was so much fun to watch.
After about a week we discovered that there was a Vietnamese food stand right underneath our apartment, so one night we ordered some food to go, wolfed it down, and immediately got even more excited about visiting Vietnam in a few months.
We also decided to stop into one of the more interesting looking pubs we frequently passed by, Captain (sic) Pub. It was a warm, divey little place right on one of the canals only 50 meters or so from our apartment, and the inside was a warren of little rooms and corners perfect for hiding away. All told we ended up going to Captain Pub three times, and we wished we could visit there more.
And of course we spent as much time at the beach as we could. Imperial Beach was so perfect we didn’t even bother with the other beaches, and Braeden loved playing with the other kids in the splash pool, running over to jump in the lake, then running back into the splash pool. It was a perfect setup and just what we needed.
We were sad to say goodbye to Annecy but also excited to turn south for the next leg of our trip to Provence. Annecy is an unspeakably beautiful little town that’s going to stay with me for a long, long time.
Up next: Our trip to Chamonix, including our accidental visit to Italy and the spat I had with my “girlfriend”, Google Maps. I won’t spoil the surprise, but I will say that it involved the longest and most expensive detour I’ve ever taken. And I’m not going to live it down any time soon.
A bientot!