Short Escape to Annecy in France

This week we had an occasion to celebrate. My boyfriend and I had our 10-year anniversary – Whoohoo! And so we thought we should do something special, like a little trip somewhere. After a bit of research and especially after reading this article, we decided to go to Annecy in France for a few days, which is luckily very close to the borders of Switzerland.

 

 

Back home again I’m looking at the pictures and feel like sharing some of them with you, because Annecy is a truly beautiful place. We had a wonderful time and were even able to experience a few late summer days, while autumn has already arrived here in Switzerland. Along with the pictures I’ll share some travel tips with you, in case you decide to visit Annecy too one day!

 

 

The Lake

What I loved most about Annecy, was its lake.

 

 

I don’t even know where to start to tell you how clean and blue it was. Mesmerized by the water, the first thing we had to do after we arrived, was renting a pedal boat!

 

 

 

I didn’t bring a bikini but I just HAD to jump in anyway. This crystal clear water was just too intriguing!

 

 

So my first tip for you is: if you visit Annecy you should ALWAYS carry around swim attire. You never know when the water will call you! : )

We wanted to discover the lake and the area around Annecy some more, so we rented bicycles on one of the days and rode around the lake. We chose the bicycle rental Roul’ ma Poule, because of its close location to the lake and old town and because they have various kinds of bikes to choose from.

 

 

The west side of the lake has an awesome bicycle path that takes you on a ride along the lake. I would say this is a must for a visit in Annecy because it is so fun and really beautiful. Too bad I didn’t take more pictures of the path…

If you want to have a good workout, you could ride back on the east side of the lake, which unfortunately doesn’t have a bicycle path but is as picturesque and quite hilly. It took us about 2 1/2 hours to tour around the whole lake and after that, nothing could have felt better than jumping into the lake again. This time at the beach “Plage d’Albigny”. 

 

 

 

The Hotel

The Hotel we stayed in turned out to have the perfect location, close to the old town and to (the few) veggie food places. Originally we wanted to rent a place over AirB&B, but since we chose our travel destination quite spontaneously, it was a bit too late for that. If you go to Annecy you should check AirB&B out, but I can also recommend the Hotel des Alpes very much. Cute, clean and friendly!

 

 

The City

Annecy has two sides. The new parts of the city didn’t excite us to be honest, but the beautiful old town on the other hand is amazing! So rustic and charming! Here are some pictures so you can see for yourself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Food

But now, let’s talk food! I really didn’t think it would be so difficult to find vegetarian/vegan food in France, but in small towns like Annecy it is actually not that easy. Good thing I did some research on the internet before, otherwise we would have had to look around a lot to find something. While looking at many restaurants on the internet, I was disappointed to see foie gras on almost every menu! And the dishes were devided in “meat” and “fish” dishes. No Vegetarian category. Boohooo! : ( But after more research I finally found a few spots that have a heart for us “bizarre” veggie people 😛 By the way, the french word for vegan is végétalien. You’ll definitely need to remember this!  Just sayin’ ; )

• The one I looked forward to most was a Libanese place called La cuisine de Wadad, but unfortunately it was closed due to vacation. But we’ll definitely try it next time. They have lots of veggie options (falafel, hummus, baba ganoush…)

• Another nice location is the organic cafe called L’en-Cas Bio. They have soups, sandwiches, salads and other snacks with some vegetarian and vegan choices. 

 

 

• One of the nights we went to an Indian restaurant called Shiva, which is owned by a couple from Bombay. The wife is the chef cook and she made really delicious food! If you want to eat vegan, make sure to let them know, since they put cream in most dishes even though it doesn’t say it on the menu.
• Right infront of our hotel was a Sushi place, which is also a great place to find vegetarian and vegan options. The only downside was that the concept is made as a take-away, so we had to take everything out of a fridge and out of plastic containers.

 

 

 

• On one of the days there was a market at the old town. You could find some great local fruits and veggies for snacking there! If you rent an apartment over AirB&B I think it would be great to buy food here and prepare your own meal with it.

 

 

 

• If you are a (green) smoothie person, then you would love this little organic veggie bar right in the middle of old town called La Cabane Armony. Our smoothies were so delicious! But this place is not only great for smoothies and juices but all kinds of vegetarian and vegan snacks. A must for your visit in Annecy!

 

 

 

• In the old town you can find a cute little store called Le Comptoire de Mathilde, that sells a selection of fine foods, most of which is chocolate and spreads. I was happy that they even had dairy-free spreads and all of their chocolate spreads are made without palm oil. We liked this chocolate spread with olive oil especially and took one home.

 

 

The Animals

Lastly, three shots of the cute sparrows that fly around everywhere in Annecy. Eagerly waiting for a crumb to fall down. : )

 

 

 

 

The Happy Me

This beautiful town really left a great impression on us. The lake, oh the lake! I will come back for the lake alone but as you can see there are a lot of things to enjoy in Annecy! It is definitely worth a stay and I’m sure I will be back. Happy times!

 

 

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