More Parents + Annecy

When my dad and stepmom (T+T for short) visited us we were in the middle of a move, we didn't know the city well, and we weren't even sure we'd have a place for them to sleep. Now with Monica's parents arriving, we were in a place twice as big, we had a sofa bed and an air mattress, and we could sleepwalk through the metro, train stations, and buses. But we had a big challenge ahead of us... finding good spicy vegetarian food for Monica's mom. Not so hard you think, well, she also doesn't really want to eat salads for a meal, nor does she like a lot of cheese on her food nor pasta, nor eggs. We knew we could go to Indian or Chinese, but it is always mild. Plus, we wanted Monica's dad to be able to try some of the Lyonnais specialities from chefs we knew. The result was various restaurants had reservations placed with special requests to make something spicy and vegetarian next Tuesday, etc. And our preparation paid off! Both Monica's parents loved the food in Lyon. Phew!

Monica's parents also wanted to travel around and see something besides Lyon, but we just had the weekend to do that so we thought this would be a good chance to visit the nearby Alpine ville called Annecy. It's called "the Venice of the Alps" because of the beautiful canals through the downtown area. One reviewer said the 3 most beautiful cities in the world (in his opinion) are Prague, Bruges, and Annecy. But if that's true shouldn't Venice be called "the Annecy of the Mediterranean?" Well, Annecy is definitely up there being situated on a lake, surrounded by majestic alps, riddled with little canals, and garnished with swans and bushels of flowers. With all that, they can't really go wrong. As an unexpected bonus Sunday was the market day so the streets were filled with stands selling fruits & vegetables, cheeses, meat, clothes, children's toys... Hey! What kind of farmer's market is this? Monica and her mom didn't seem to mind as they started looking at purses, boots, shawls, jewelry... Monica's mom bought us a new bedspread. Certainly not something I expected.



Besides beauty, the other thing Annecy seems to be known for is paragliding. We saw swarms of them pinwheeling around the mountain peaks. Although Monica's parents are adventurous, they're not THAT adventurous. But WE picked up a brochure and price list from one of the adrenaline shops that line the quays in case we come back with friends our own age. Judging by how casually they let me go rock climbing (you pay your money - now go for it!) They probably just push you off a cliff and say "See you at the bottom!"



Shopping...



While we were there we went to a restaurant 15 minutes out of Annecy recommended by Laurent. It's a combination restaurant/dairy where you dine within cud-shot of the cows. Certainly not something you could do in the US. We had fondue and this dish called raclette - something I ordered because I had read about it and now found it on a menu. In the old days the hostess would take a wheel of cheese and grill the top of it, then rake (hence the name) the cheese onto your plate of bread/potatoes etc. These days the cheese comes sliced and you have a little shoe and oven to do it yourself. Talk about sinful and delicious! The alpine farm idea of portion size is also old-fashioned. We couldn't come close to finishing - we even ordered food for 3 and there were 4 of us.

One of the owners must be into taxidermy as they also had a two storey barn filled with creepy stuffed wildlife. As I snapped pictures, Monica asked "why are you taking pictures in here, when there are scenic vistas just outside?" "Because, every time I try to get a picture of the bunnies by my office, they dive into a bush. I have seen upwards of 15 bunnies (at one time!) bounding around the lawns of the industrial park. But I can never get close enough to make them look like more than a vague bunny shape on green. Finally I'll get a clean shot of one!" OK, this needs a little work in photoshop... but then maybe I can convince someone I shot this outside my office. Maybe? No?