15. School Ends, Vacation begins! October 2

 Two Seniors' classes: One was BASIC, the other was ADVANCED and all were très jolie!

Today marked the last moment of the two-week French immersion course Lynn signed us up for all those months ago. It’s been fun, believe it or not, especially for Lynn who got to practice her French conversation constantly in class and around Annecy while we’ve lived here.

My experience was a bit different, wayyy more basic, but I’ve learned a lot and will use it when trying to communicate in French out in the wild. Meeting new people from all over the world (usually Europe and the USA) at the language school has been a real unexpected bonus. The trip has been well worthwhile. 

Our new friends Slim and Penelope accompanied us to the school’s farewell dinner, held at L’ Imperial Palace, Annecy’s posh grand hotel. 

Driving there was a hoot, as our car’s GPS took us on a roller coaster circuitous route all over downtown before getting us to the hotel. Once on site, we loved the setting, the service, some of the food, and hated the sounds from the terrible piano-fueled lady jazz singer performing in the dining room. She eventually gave up and left!  Good-byes were exchanged all around (except for Slim who is staying a third week for French school with the “regular” students…Bonne chance!) and we took our leave. 

Landing zone at Talloires, with some paragliders already on the ground 

Two or three paragliders are still up there: those tiny dots in the clouds above the landing zone. I counted 5 gliders altogether still flying from the mountains on the right

Before dinner I snuck in another bike ride, on familiar ground down the East side of Lac Annecy. Got to watch some more paragliders settling down for the evening near Talloires. 

NOW we begin our one week “vacation” here at Annecy. Same hotel, and now we’re familiar with the streets, sights, food and rhythm of life here. We can strike out for some other places with the hotel as our base. Plans are afoot, we’ll report what happens!