July 16 - Annecy to Nantua

The street music only went until about 11.00pm last night, but some of it was actually quite bad, at least to Norm's tin ear. Perhaps it could be chalked up to less than perfect acoustics, echoing around the buildings and canals. It's cool that you can wander from one venue to another, listening to the efforts of different groups, all without formality - no scheduled times, no tickets. In the case of the venue nearest the hotel, the musicians decided it was too hot in the square in front of the church, so they relocated to the arcades a couple of blocks away. The facade of the church bears testament to a miracle - a woman who had no children prayed to St Francis, who sent down a white dove and she bore a son. Halelujah and you, butcher's delivery boy, wipe that smirk off your face!

Our accommodation the last three days was very simple, but about half the price of the recommended hotels in town. 3rd floor, no lift, loo down the hall, small shower and washstand in the room, but comfortable bed and tiny balcony over the canal. Friendly staff, central location - it was worth saving the money to spend on the meals.

Today's ride took us over familiar territory, but new roads. We invested 2euros in a map of the Annecy agglomeration, which saved us the anxiety of trying to find our way out of town - a worthy investment. We avoided the nasty surprises waiting at the end of bike paths that go nowhere. The bulk of the ride was up a long, hot valley leading up to the Jura plateau, with frequent stops of immerse ourselves in fountains while searching for a shady picnic spot. Toward the end we joined a main road which has been bypassed by a spectacular motorway which towers over the valley on high viaducts. Fine engineering, as is the rebuilding of the railway through the same valley (between Bellegard sur Valiserene and Nantua) to improve the link between Paris/Lyon and Geneva.

Tonight we're at a rather luxe hotel in Nantua, right on the shore of the lake with all the mod cons including air conditioning. Vee has made a few phone calls this afternoon, so we're booked in for demi-pension tomorrow night at Doucier and booked in for Sunday lunch on 16 August at Pinasse Cafe in Cap Ferret after we pick up Jo & Rodney from the train in Bordeaux.

The meal tonight was excellent - Retour quality - chilled cream of white asparagus soup with smoked salmon mousse, fillet of omble (lake fish) with a sorrel sauce, apricot clafoutis with home-made caramel ice cream accompanied by a Petit Chablis.
After dinner, we had a stroll along the lake and had a look at the memorial to the deportation of Jews. It was particularly poignant with the music of a violin in the background, played by a young girl from one of the campervans parked along the lake. How many of the young deportees had played?