It seems that the weather has broken, or at least that's how it seemed in Chamonix. When we arrived, the weather was grey and cloudy, as it has been for much of our trip so far. But we've been lucky- the rain seemed to stop at the most opportune times, allowing us to view some amazing sights before retreating back into rain, rain, rain. The only really awful day we had was the day we visited Montmartre and the Eiffel Tower. Even that wasn't too bad- it stopped long enough for us to see the view at the top of the tower.
When we arrived in Chamonix, the cloud cover was absolute- we couldn't see the mountains at all and were resigned to the fact that we weren't going to get to see the amazing views we had hoped for. But as the evening wore on, the cloud cover broke up- while we were eating dinner (in a Chinese restaurant, more on that in a minute) the clouds over out and we could see the mountains for the first time.
We had decided on Chinese food because after three days in Lyon, we were 5 coursed out. We just wanted a light meal. It turns out that we were the only white faces in the restaurant- the rest of the diners were Asian (Chinese) tourists that seem to travel in packs of 20-50 everywhere we go. When the mountains broke through the clouds, all of the Chinese tourists jumped up and ran out to the back patio to take group shots, selfies and shots of the mountains. It was really kind of cute. When they came back in, one of the group broke out a guitar and they were singing Chinese folk songs and the owner of the restaurant was passing out shots. They were having a great time. Brian and I just grinned- we were sorry to leave them.
We loaded up our stuff in the morning and asked the desk clerk about the route we wanted to take- through the mountains as opposed to the highway route. She said- "I took that route one time- by mistake". She then made a puffing noise and shrugged he shoulders- a gesture we have come to understand means every thing from "what can you do?" to "that's really messed up."
So we started out. We had Garmin programmed and when we made the turn off for the mountain route, Garmin spent the next half hour trying to convince us to turn around and go back. We're so glad we just ignored the prissy jerk.
The road was winding, through wooded and rocky terrain. We saw waterfalls, fields of cows (with their bells round their necks ringing) small towns that were completely charming. SO glad we took the back way.
We stopped for lunch in a small town bistro that only the locals frequent. The owner and I agreed that his knowledge of English was on par with my knowledge of French. The food was great. He insisted on giving me an extra glass of wine and Brian an aperitif. We arrived in Annecy feeling like Lewis and Clark on their arrival home.
Look close, you can see Mount Blanc in the back ground
You could hear the cow bells ringing from the bells hung around the cows necks moving around in the pastures
Lunch, place only had six (6) tables.
Yvonne's, croquet monsieur, she said it was the best lunch she has had in France
My Steak Tartar with frites, raw egg in the cup and finely diced cochons
They give you the mixings on the side, raw egg, worcester sauce, mustard and tabasco and fresh ground black pepper
Back roads are always the way to go.
ReplyDeleteVery beautiful!
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