Hoping the rainbow is a good omen for the rest of the trip!  Well, travel home from Annecy took awhile. We flew to Amsterdam from Geneva early Saturday morning, after checking our bags and the bike case. Turns out, KLM, the airline partner of Delta taking us to Amsterdam, required a 115 Euro payment before accepting the bike case for flight. That was a surprise, it’s always flown for free with our Delta tickets. No time to argue, we paid and flew. In Amsterdam, we caught our Delta flight to Atlanta, which left on time. It was a happy thing, because Atlanta was in the path of a hurricane that very morning and there was doubt whether we would be able to fly in. No worries, we made it into the air, and roughy 9 1/2 hours later landed in Atlanta. Oddly enough, it looked bone dry! The storm had already passed, with only minor rain.   Drama ensued in Atlanta as we were required to retrieve our luggage and bike case from the plane, then present it at Customs, then surrender it again ...

Our time here is over now; time to head back to the USA and all that suggests. We had our last Petit-Déjeuner buffet at the hotel. It was hosted as usual by the nicest lady ever, who always smiled and spoke to us so enthusiastically. She typifies the kind of folks we encountered constantly during our stay.   We loaded the rental car with the bike case and our luggage, hit the road, and were in Geneva within an hour. Return of the rental car went so smoothly at the airport, then Lynn was able to straighten out a glitch with our return flight “check-in” at the KLM desk. Hopped the shuttle bus back to our hotel, got a “Linner” meal at the cafe, and now we’re warehousing ourselves in the room until leaving for the airport at 4:00 tomorrow morning. Had to order a burger when I saw it on their short menu. it was delicious! Not too much of interest to report today, so this will be a short post. I’ll do a wrap-up when we’re back in Waynesville, NC tomorrow (Saturday) evening…hopefully! Fly...

A KIR AND A BEER Nothing much to do on our rainy last full day in Annecy, except begin packing, and drive to the mountains for lunch. First the packing chores, starting with disassembling the bike and fitting it into its case. I’ll put the pics here so I remember how to do it for the next trip!   The rainy day went slow, but eventually we had to leave for our lunch appointment 45 minutes away, at Châlet la Pricaz up the mountain in Montmin. Supposedly the most beautiful view of Lake Annecy, near the same mountain slopes used by the hundreds of paragliders up here every year. Food and atmosphere highly recommended by Philippe Laine, who used to vacation here as a child in France.  Countless others say this place is the best! The view we could see from the road coming back down from the sheep pasture View from the Château in better weather We were accompanied by our new friend Slim Chandra-Shekar, a fellow “senior” French student and all-around cool guy who just turned 83! We’ve...

The rain and colder weather finally arrived today, with no complaints from us. We’ve been blessed with perfect, warm   weather for 20 days, when the “normal” September environment would have been 10-20 degrees cooler with more moisture.       I have no idea... harbor panorama in the rain from Pont d' Amours I set out with my umbrella to walk streets not yet explored…although by now we’ve covered almost every inch of the old town. Lots of classic scenes in the harbor area, and some sculptures I’d not seen. There was ONE place in particular of interest, the Château d’Annecy, that had escaped our gaze. Today was my chance.   Drone pic of the Chateau, from their brochure. It isn't that white color now!  Inner courtyard rear view from a neighbor's yard another chateau neighbor, beautiful garden Chateau entrance     Bar at the bottom of the Chateau street...it got steeper walk UP the street to chateau Annecy from the Hotel du Chateau porch This Chateau ...

Putting bicycling on   the back burner, we took advantage of a perfect day and set out to explore Lac du Bourget, and nearby Aix-les-Bains. Pretty drive, and fun to have no agenda, but to see what we can see.   The French poet, Lamartine, visited here in the 1800's I believe and wrote "The Lake"  First stop was Le Grand Port, which bills itself as the Riviera of the Alps…a little grandiose in our opinion! Sure, there’s supposedly a Casino in the center of town, and there are boats on the water here, and small hotels and restaurants/coffee shops for a couple of blocks around, but….. It’s a beautiful lakefront port, lots of small fishing boats and some larger craft for social use. We enjoyed sitting and talking in the sights of the port and mountains across the lake.Tres tranquil!   What’s next? Drive into the center of Aix-les-Bains, of course, and see if we can find the famous Spa there. Driving was scenic for a short while, then miserable on the tight narrow streets...