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| Both classes celebrated the end of our first week together. Diplomas were earned by the three folks who are leaving the course today. |
Friday: the end of our first week of French class, and we’re still enjoying it. Lynn says this is the best French usage experience she’s ever had, because it’s an advanced group, the class is small and everyone is able to practice speaking during lessons and in social situations without intimidation. I’m in a beginner class, probably the least knowledgeable of our group of 10 students. My goal is to become better at “Survival French”, just good enough to get my meaning across to someone in France, without worrying about the niceties of grammar, conjugation, etc. Nowhere to practice speaking in Florida or North Carolina, so I’m talking here as much as possible. This school gig is fine for me too!
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| That's a raised white concrete divider between bike path and auto traffic. Sweet! |
After class today I took off for the country on my bike. There’s a long bit of crowded urban biking to be done before escaping Annecy. Total concentration needed to blend with traffic of buses, personal cars, bicycles, E-bikes, E-standup scooters, motorcycles, pedestrians and constant roundabouts, while juggling map directions and locating bike paths. I’m really impressed with the wealth of dedicated bike paths around here, but they get crowded too.  |
| When the map found a gravel road, it was definitely rough tractor-used surface |
Once out of town, I had miles of lightly used paved road through the countryside, PLUS some gnarly gravel paths through forests and farm fields. The map app on my phone helped me find off-road routes some of the time, and boy were they OFF road… no complaints from me for avoiding motorists. I took a few photos but not enough to show the scenery adequately. This was good stuff!
A couple of mechanical issues came up on the loop, but I was able to fix them with the tools I carry. That slowed me down a bit, but I made it home way before dusk. I benefitted from reverse rush hour: Most of the auto and bike traffic was heading AWAY from Annecy while I was riding IN.
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| View down from our room to the parking lot |
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| That's where i was! |
Made it back here in time to meet up with Lynn as she was leaving for a presentation at our school about the local cuisine and wines. She reports there was a lot of education about the making & classification of wines, with wine tasting and cheese snacks. Cheese is the big deal in this area, which explains all the cows I saw on the farms during my ride. I picked her up after that, and we stopped at our new favorite restaurant in the old part of town, close behind our hotel. Tomorrow is a group visit to Lyon, with early start, so that’s enough for tonight!
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