Category: Europe 2019

Chamonix to Annecy

It takes just over an hour to drive from Chamonix to Annecy if you take the fast route on the major highways. Today is our last day with a car for a while so we decided to take the back roads to Annecy. In Chamonix breakfast wasn’t included in the hotel price so we planned to eat on the way. We headed up into the mountains and found a boulangerie for pastries and espresso.

It was a glorious bright sunny day today and the mountain towns, green pastures and snow capped mountains were shining.

We passed over the pass at Col Des Aravis.

Then dropped down to Lac d’Annecy.

We drove around the lake and into Annecy where we turned in the car. Our hotel room wasn’t ready so we walked down to the lake front park which was full of people enjoying the gorgeous day.

We ate dinner at Brasserie l’Abbaye. We had mussels and fries.

Chamonix and Aiguille-du-Midi

I don’t think I’ve ever been in a valley where the surrounding peaks are more than 12,000 ft (3,658m) above the valley floor. That is the setting for Chamonix where we are today. It is simply stunning.

This morning we took two cable cars and an elevator up to an altitude of 12,604 ft (3379 m) to the Aiguille-du-Midi lookout. The lookout is right next to Mont Blanc which has an altitude of 15,778 ft (4809 m)

The cable cars seemed to go straight up.

The elevator took us even higher.

And then we stepped out at the top. The air was very thin and Mont Blanc was right there!

The French, Swiss and Italian Alps surrounded us.

We walked through the ice tunnel to another lookout point.

We put slippers over our shoes to “Step into the Void”.

The whole experience was absolutely stunning!!

For dinner we had pizza at a lovely cozy restaurant.

Beaune to Chamonix

Today was Saturday Market day in Beaune so this morning we browsed the market alongside all the locals.

We have a rental car now so we set out heading south through the verdant Burgundy countryside. We saw canals, locks, lots of grape vines, and picturesque villages.

When we got to the south edge of Burgundy we headed east into the Alps. Tonight we are almost to Italy in Chamonix.

For dinner we had a picnic with a bottle of the wine we bought at the winery yesterday.

Beaune – 12 April 2019

It’s amazing to me that when things turn out totally different than how you planned them you can still have a great experience. We made a reservation a couple of days ago to tour a winery and do a tasting near Beaune.

We picked up a rental car today which we will have for the next few days. The weather was perfect today. We walked to the rental car place and then went driving to explore the countryside. We drove through the area north west of Beaune. It is agricultural and green with lots of picturesque villages.

When we made the winery reservation the website said they only had tours in Portuguese, French and Spanish. We picked a 5 o’clock Spanish tour with visions of being with a group of Spanish tourists. What actually happened was that we were the only ones visiting a small winery in a village near Beaune. The owner spoke about as much English as I speak French which isn’t much!! And I don’t think he spoke any Spanish. We still had quite an experience seeing his small operation, tasting his wines, and communicating surprisingly well.

It was the kind of a experience that makes a trip.

Driving is such a totally different way to see a country. After our tasting we drove back to Beaune, parked near our hotel and took a break until our 7:30 dinner reservation.

This morning before we picked up the rental car we visited Beaune’s most well known landmark L’Hôtel- Dieu Des Hospices Civils de Beaune, a hospital for the poor, it was established in 1443. It is an impressive building and the hospital has pretty much been in operation ever since. They own vineyards which make the hospital self supporting. The historic building is no longer a hospital but it has been well restored and we enjoyed the audio tour.

We had a marvelous dinner tonight in the cellar at Restaurant Le Conty.

We started with Foie gras and asparagus for Duke and a dozen snails for me. They were each excellent.

We had two different kinds of beef for the main course.

For desert we had pears poached in wine with anise ice cream and a yummy chocolate mousse concoction.

Colmar to Beaune

We woke up to a beautiful sunny day. We took a local train from Colmar to Mulhouse, the high speed TGV train from Mulhouse to Dijon and then another local train from Dijon to Beaune where we are tonight.

When we arrived at our hotel there was no one answering the door so we sat in the square and relaxed a bit. All the stores and cafes were closed from noon until two.

Eventually we checked in. Our hotel Abbaye de Maizières was originally an abbey from around 1400. It has been transformed into a luxury hotel. We left our bags and went out to explore. Beaune has ramparts around the old town. We wandered around and oriented our selves

We stopped for coffee and a pastry.

Eventually we went back to our room and put our feet up. We ate dinner at L’Air du Temps. To start I had escargot and Duke had foie gras. The “shells” on my escargot were actually made of pastry and were edible!

For the main course I had sole, scallops and asparagus and Duke had chicken.

For desert Duke had a rhubarb tart and I had something resembling strawberry shortcake but much lighter. It was a wonderful meal.