With the same strategy we were heading into our little Europe tour. Apart from a few fixed cornerstones (total time frame = 3 months, spend time with my family, show Paris to Yang Ke, visit several friends) we had nothing else fixed.
When the news of a reunion party with my French university classmates landed in my inbox, many of whom I haven’t seen since several years, we therefore quickly adjusted our plans, rescheduled our flight a few days earlier and were set for our first destination: Grenoble in South Eastern France.
We landed in Paris after an uneventful flight with Aeroflot and headed to the lovely town of Lyon, for a short sunny stop on our way to Grenoble.
Apart from beautiful historic squares and buildings, Lyon also shows off two pretty rivers and some very charming antique alleys.
Grenoble, while a happening student town, is not a real tourist destination by itself. However at the base of the French Alps it offers lots of excursions for mountain lovers in summer and winter, and invites to explore more picturesque smaller cities further up the mountains. We therefore decided to head towards the Alps and crossover to Switzerland with next major target set to Zurich.
First up was the little known Chambery, standing in the shadow of more popular Annecy. Lacking a beautiful lake like Annecy, we were more than compensated with an impressive old town. As capital of the royal family of the Savoy in the 14th to mid 16th century, it has a rich history and a well preserved homogeneous city center inviting you to explore its little alleys and backyards.
Apart from a historic castle close to the city center (which was closed due to the terrorist attacks), Chambery’s most famous landmark is the unusual Indian inspired elephant fountain.
We still had lovely autumn weather and Yang Ke enjoyed the colorful greenery.
We even took the opportunity for a little hike up the neighboring hill.
We continued our journey to Annecy, the quintessential French mountain village, with a charming old town set right next to an azure lake with high mountains in the background.
Annecy has several charming spots in its historic center and along its little river and with the right weather is a great place to spend time in cafes and exploring its delicatessen shops.
As particular highlight comes an old dungeon set right into the middle of the river, which includes a little but interesting museum.
