A few steps to the north, the 15th century church of St Maurice conceals some great 15th & 16th century religious art.
© Copyright 2009. French Moments
ANNECY, Savoie
At the edge of its turquoise lake, Annecy is one of the most beautiful and popular resort towns of the French Alps, though the tourist traffic can get a bit overwhelming in high season. Historically, it enjoyed a brief flurry of importance in the early 16th century, when Geneva opted for the Reformation and the fugitive Catholic bishop encamped here with a train of ecclesiastics and a prosperous, cultivated elite.
Annecy is a thriving city of 50,800 inhabitants (more than 200,000 including its suburbs in 2008), at the foot of the Alps between Geneva and Grenoble.
From rue de l'Ile on the canal's south bank, the narrow Rampe du Château leads up to the Château, former home to the counts of Genevois and the dukes of Nemours, a junior branch of the House of Savoy. There was a castle on this site from the 11th century but the Nemours, finding the old fortress too rough and unpolished for their taste, added living quarters in the 16th century, which now house the miscellaneous collections of the Musée du Château.
From the cathedral, you can continue on rue Royale or you could make your way back towards the canal. Here you'll find the picture-perfect Palais de l'Ile, a tiny 12th century fort which served in turn as palace, mint, court and prison (until World War II), and now holds the Musée de l'Histoire d'Annecy with a few exhibits relating to the town's past glories and the old prison cells.
Visit Annecy in Haute-Savoie!
Website of the Annecy Tourist Centre (in English):
http://www.lac-annecy.com/gb/index.html
Website of the Pays de Savoie Tourist Board (in English):
A city famous for its lake!
One of the most pretty towns you will find with its stunning lake set against the backdrop of the Alps ...
How to get to Annecy?
Annecy is easily reached by car from Geneva, Grenoble and Lyon through the network of reliable motorways crossing Savoie from West to East and North to South.
From Paris, take the A6 until Macon in Burgundy, from where you will cross the Jura mountains via the “Autoroute Blanche” (the White Motorway) which ends in Chamonix. Italy (Milan and Turin) are not far away either thanks to the famous long tunnels through the Mont-Blanc and Mont-Cenis.
If you travel from Australia, take a flight to one of the Swiss airports (Zurich or Geneva) and rent a car from there! Geneva is actually the closest airport and arguably the most convenient one if visiting the Savoie region.
The TGV from Paris can take 3.30 hours if you take a “direct” one which has limited stops along its way and avoids Lyon.
Objects on display range from archeological finds from around the lake, including a rare Bronze Age pottery kiln, to Savoyard popular art and woodwork, and a small aquarium. There's also an interesting exhibition on the geography of the Alps.
At the base of the Château is rue Sainte-Claire, the main street of the old town, with arcaded shops and houses. At the west end of the street is its original medieval gateway. Parallel to rue Sainte-Claire, on rue Rousseau is the cathedral, where Rousseau once sang as a chorister.
The Mountains around Annecy
Although a very busy road encircles Lake Annecy, a far more tranquil way of appreciating the lakeside is aboard one of the frequent boats that depart from Annecy's canal-side port, with the possibility of stopovers or returning later in the day. Trips stopping off at various points on the lake are offered by Compagnie de Navigation on place aux Bois, beside Quai Bayreuth – a full circuit costs €12.10. On the east shore of the lake, signposted out of the village of Menthon-Saint-Bernard, is the grand, turreted Château de Menthon (€5.50, €6 for weekend medieval costume shows). Inhabited since the 12th century and birthplace of Saint Bernard, the patron saint of mountaineers, the fortress was extensively renovated in the 19th century in the romantic Gothic-revival style and possesses a fine collection of period furniture and views across the lake back to Annecy.
The hamlet of Barioz
The most picturesque part of Annecy lies at the foot of the castle on the hill, a warren of lanes, passages and arcaded houses, below and between which flow branches of the Canal du Thiou, draining the lake into the River Fier.
The houses, surrounded by canal-side railings overflowing with geraniums and petunias, are incredibly beautiful.
While Annecy's high-season crowds may be bearable for only a day or two, the town's environs offer a number of agreeable excursions. As well as Boat Tours, cycling is an enjoyable means of appreciating the Lac Annecy. The 40 km road circuit of the lake is a very popular Sunday morning activity among sporty Annéciens and a traffic-free cycle route follows the west shore of the lake. The surrounding hills offer walking and mountain-bike excursions to suit every level. Experienced walkers should enjoy the relatively undemanding ascent of La Tournette (2351m) on the eastern side of the lake, while gentler walks and cycle routes are to be found in the forests of the Semnoz mountains on the lake's west side.
The River Fier, which trickles out of the lake through Annecy's picturesque canals, has cut a narrow crevice through the limestone rock at the Gorges du Fier (entrance costs €4.20). Signposted off the D14 at Lovagny, a footpath leads down into the 300m long gorge which is reached along a high-level walkway pinned to the gorge side. As you pass along, you'll catch glimpses of the Château de Montrottier (entrance €5.35), which can be reached by continuing along the path for another 3km. The castle, which dates from the 13th century, possesses an eclectic collection of furniture, earthenware and lace as well as exotic objects from former French colonies in West Africa and the Far East.
16km north of Annecy, on the way to Geneva is the highway which spectacularly crosses over the gorge of the River Usses, 140m below. Known as the Pont de la Caille, the present bridge was built in 1925. At the time it possessed one of the longest single spans in Europe. Next to it is the stunning original bridge, built under the orders of the King of Sardinia, Charles Albert, in 1839, and now disused. Its crenellated towers, supported by two dozen cables, are an impressive example of 19th century engineering.
The Gorges of the Fier River
Across the square to the east of the church, the Hôtel de Ville backs onto shady public gardens, from where a bridge crosses a canal to the lakeside lawns of the extensive Champ de Mars. The Pont des Amours is a famous meeting point for romantic couples! Overlooking the lake and the mountains, it is definitely a romantic place!
