The Alps....everyone talks about them, everyone says they are spectacular, breathtaking and quite beautiful. I can now attest to the validity of everyone of those adjectives. I was fortunate enough to have a long weekend this past weekend due to armistice day (don't worry-for those of you who think I have way too much time off you will be happy to know my next break will be my 3 weeks at Christmas ;), so Caely and I decided to head out Thursday morning to the city of Grenoble, southeastern city located at the foot of the French Alps. After a bus and two train rides, we made it into the city and started making our way towards our hotel (which we did need help finding, btw). After getting ourselves settled into the hotel, we pulled out our map and started locating all the spots we wanted to hit before we left Sunday afternoon. One of those spots included a fondue restaurant, La Fondue (very cleverly named!), and that's where we decided to kick off our Grenoble adventure, and boy am I glad we did! Our cheese fondue was delicious, and we REALLY enjoyed our chocolate fondue for dessert!
 |
| Excited for fondue! |
 |
| we thought we had died and gone to heaven! |
Friday morning we decided that we were going to go to La Bastille, which is an ancient series of fortifications that sits on the mountainside overlooking the city. There are cable cars that go from the bottom all the way up to the top, so we packed up our picnic lunch, jumped on the cable car and rode the way to the top. It was only then did we realize that we could have hiked up to the top, which was something we were interested in doing... Nevertheless, however you get up to the top of the Bastille, what awaits you will be absolutely worth it!
 |
| Cable Cars going up the Bastille |
 |
| View of Grenoble from the top |
 |
| Enjoying the scenery! |
 |
| Down the mountain we go... |
Saturday we hopped the train and took a day trip to Annecy, known as the Venice of France. There is Lake Annecy that connects to canals that basically run through the city. We weren't sure if it was going to be worth the extra euro for the train ticket, but we were not dissapointed......
 |
| Why, hello gorgeous scenery! |
 |
| Yes, you have every right to be envious! |
 |
| This picture is destined to be a post card |
 |
| Crystal clear |
 |
| Palais d'Isle |
 |
| Picture perfect |
The views, as you can see, are just incredible, and the water in the lake and the canals is as crystal clear as if you were in someplace like Hawaii or the Caribbean. The Alps are simply breathtaking-they surround everything and every time you turn around you catch yourself admiring the new view that is in front of you, thinking "that is just the most incredible thing I've ever seen", and then 2 minutes later you are recanting your statement because you've found another yet magnificent view. France (and Europe) are truly incredible, having thousands of years of history hidden in their small, quaint towns like Annecy, while at the same time holding some of the most wonderful wonders of the world.
Up next on my French adventure: baking using our small kitchen and limited resources, and perhaps a Thanksgiving Day "feast"??
 |
| I want to live here |
Absolutely beautiful! Glad you're having so much fun. xoxo.
ReplyDelete