The streets of Annecy

As we stepped out of the hotel for our stroll it was so refreshing to not feel like we were instantly baking in the sun. It was so nice to be able to walk around and take the beauty of this little town. We had no real destination, and didn’t really know where anything was so we just wandered a bit. We were immediately aware that this was nothing like home.

It was somewhat fun exploring the streets for a short while. There were tons of shops along the way. We passed by a small grocery store, and when I say small it was probably smaller than your local gas station convenience store. As we continued on our way we saw a Laundromat that I took note of because I would be needing to do laundry sometime during our stay. We were hungry, and we needed to eat.

We happened to come along a quaint little road that was full of different cafes, ice cream stands, restaurants and all sorts of little shops. We later found out that it is what they call the "St. Claire Gate". We had happened upon what is referred to as the "old town". This is part of the city that has no vehicle access. The 'gate' that we passed through is famous for it's old clock and bell that has been regulating the life of the area for centuries. The history of this town was remarkable! We walked up and down the cobblestone road, stopping to look at menus. It was then that I realized how much I wished that I spoke French. I had NO idea what half of these things were. We finally decided to go back to this Gyro shop that was next to the Laundromat. They had pictures on their menu so at least we had some idea of what we were going to be served.

After we ate, we headed back out and decided to go back to the grocery store that we had seen earlier. We stepped in and grabbed some fruit, and other kinds of snacks that would be good to have around for the kids. We needed to find a place to purchase diapers because I only packed enough to last a few days. They didn’t have ones that were Sydney’s size so we would have to find another place to purchase them.

We asked the cashier if she knew of any parks nearby. Again we hit a communication barrier. She had no idea what we were asking. I whipped out a French translation book that I had checked out from the library and pointed to the word “parc” …she then knew what I meant, but had no idea where one was. We figured we would just ask the front desk when we returned back to the hotel.

As we walked back to the hotel, I was still so amazed at the beauty of this town. They had potted flowers everywhere. Their streets were lined with canals...which leads them to be known as the Venice of France. Everything so far was just so beautiful, and so much different from the desert of Arizona. I couldn’t wait to explore and see more of what it held for us. We got back and surrendered to our beds, only to wake up around 2 or 3 in the morning because we still weren't on the right time. We finally got everyone settled again, and slept for a few more hours before the next day.

The following morning we woke up and got ready to see the sights. Annecy is located at the bottom of the French Alps, and one of the main focal parts of the town is the lake. Apparently, it is one of the cleanest lakes in all of France. So we decided to pack our swimsuits and head to Lake Annecy.

To be continued….
Part One Here

Wordless Wednesday - Lac d'Annecy

This is a view of Lake Annecy from the top of a mountain on a rainy day. Still beautiful despite the weather!

For more participants visit the Wordless Wednesday H.Q or 5 Minutes for Mom!

And the Story Begins...

I have spent this past week trying to catch up on sleep, doing laundry, and just trying to get things back to normal. I still feel like I am swimming in a mess, but hopefully will be able to have things under control soon.

I want to start off by saying that our trip to Annecy, France OVERALL was a lot of fun. I am saying this because many crazy things happened, and weren’t exactly ideal, but we definitely made some memories. So as I relay my story to you, keep in mind that I did have a good time. I figured I would start at the beginning, and post our trip in parts because we were there for such a long time it would be impossible to write about it all in one post! Hopefully I won’t bore you with too much detail, but in reality this is more for me to remember our trip…so if it isn’t too interesting. Sorry.

Getting ready for the trip was a whirlwind. I had heard of spontaneous vacations, and this was right up there. When I leave for a vacation, I like to have my house clean. There is nothing better than coming home to a clean house. I wish that I could say that I accomplished that, but I didn’t. The few days before we left was spent doing laundry, and running errands. I was able to get all of our laundry done, but half of it wasn’t put away. I got the dishes done, but the kitchen was still in disarray. Oh well. What I did accomplish was a miracle in itself.

When Shawn first told me about the trip, I was really excited. The next few words that fell out of his mouth had me flabbergasted. He wanted me to pack ALL 4 OF OUR BELONGINGS into 2 (yes just 2) standard size rollerbags. I understood his logic. We were flying standby, and you never know what is going to happen. Instead of having to check baggage we would have it with us, and it wouldn’t end up going to someplace if we couldn’t get on the flight. I thought he was crazy and there was no way that I could do it, but I told him that I would try.

I am proud to say that I was actually able to accomplish this feat! I thought that it would be impossible. I don’t think that we have ever been on a vacation where I have been able to do that. In fact I KNOW that we haven’t, but somehow I did it! In the end…I have to admit that it was a good idea.

Despite the fact that we were flying standby, we were very fortunate to get on every flight that we wanted. There was no waiting for the next flight or getting bumped over and over again. We were very lucky. All we had to do was wait for the actual flights, which time was passed by easily with a good ole pudding snack cup. I do have to say that I was surprised at the condition of the terminal. I had never been to the international terminal before, and boy was that a shocker. I was amazed at how run down it was. In some ways it already felt like I had left the country.

The kids thoroughly enjoyed the flight over. I was a little worried because it was nearly 11 hours from LA to Frankfurt. Luckily the flight left in the afternoon…and ran right into their bedtimes. They slept the majority of the flight, but also had fun exploring a bit.

I don’t know why, but Caden is fascinated with bathrooms. It doesn’t matter where he is…if he sees a bathroom he has to go inside. There have been many times where he says he “has to go”, but he really just wants to see. Unfortunately, he was also fascinated with the Lav on the airplane. Being a flight attendant it grosses me out, and I hated the fact that he thought it was “so cool.” He was a little afraid at how loud it was inside when you flushed, but got over that by covering his ears. I sure hope that he grows out of his love of airplane lavs…they are probably the mecca of all things disgusting!

When we arrived in Frankfurt, we had to change planes and take another flight to Geneva, Switzerland. I find it strange that even though we had already been through security that we had to go through it yet again! We then had to get on a tram that took us out to our airplane that was somewhere in the middle of the tarmac.

We hopped on the plane flew for about an hour and then arrived in Geneva. You would think after all that we would be there, but we weren’t. We met up with the driver that Shawn’s work had arranged to pick us up and then we drove about an hour west to Annecy, France. By then we were burnt toast! I think that we all crashed on the drive over. Talk about jet lag! We arrived at our hotel, and even though we were exhausted decided to take a little stroll around town before we sank into our beds.

More to come soon…

In the meantime, scroll down and check out the contest that 5 Minutes for Mom is having for KooKoo CaChoo Baby Blankets, and the opening of my friends new frame shop!

A Few things that I wanted to mention...

A while back I did a post about my cousin Karma's new business, KooKoo CaChoo Blankets. I still think that they are the cutest and best blankets out there. Janice and Susan over at 5 Minutes for Mom did a review on her blankets and will be giving one away! All you need to do is go over and leave a comment on this post, and you may be the winner! The contest ends on the 28th so hurry and leave a comment...by the way...you don't need a blog, just an e-mail where they can contact you! Good luck!

Also for those of you that live in Arizona...my best friend Rob Brinton aka Robbie aka Julie's husband (yes I was lucky enough to have my guy best friend, and girl best friend marry each other) finally took the plunge and opened up a custom frame shop of his very own! I can't begin to say how proud I am of him and his family. His shop looks amazing, and I really hope he can get his business off the ground. So let everyone you know if they are looking to get something framed head on over to Matage Custom Framing. It is located on the southwest corner of Gilbert and Southern...right next door to Mesa's Frozen Yogurt (which is close to Deseret Book). You can also check out his website here. They are going to be having a drawing for a painting so stop in, enter, and you can win!

Home Sweet Home!

We arrived home on Saturday early evening. I have to say that it is good to be home. It is so nice to be connected again. I missed having the internet, cell phones, and my car! Oh the small things in life! We are still recovering from jet lag, but hopefully by tomorrow we will be back on track. I have many fun stories to tell about our adventure in France, but I need to get my house in order before I delve in. So keep checking back for our full report! This is just a sneak peak of the beautiful scenery that we were able to enjoy during our stay in Annecy, France! If you are dying to see more, Shawn also uploaded all our pictures into "Our Family Pictures" so you can click on that in the sidebar, and see more photos of our trip. I am off to do laundry, and try to get things back to normal. See you soon!