Travel day…

Before we left on this holiday, we planned to go into Paris for a day or two but, once we got to the restful and relaxing Bourgogne area and settled in, we had no burning desire to head into a busy, yet exciting, city.  Instead, we both love the mountains so today we headed southeast into the French Alps.  We scooted down the autoroute until we got to Bresse (the only place in all of France – maybe the world – where chickens are protected by the French government), then started in on the back roads heading first into the forested mountains, then into the higher, snow-capped peaks.  We could start to see them as we closed in on Annecy, and they got better the further we went.

    

As we entered Albertville around 5pm, we thought we should find a place to stay but didn’t want to stay in the city.  With the help of the friendly lady in the tourist information centre, and a handy guide, we ended up 16km out, in the mountains, at La Tour de Pacoret – a nifty ancient and charming establishment that put a little dent in our holiday budget.  Regardless, it was cosy, elegant, and modern without losing any of its charm, and our dinner was very tasty.  As we were on the second floor (after climbing 16 stone steps up a circular staircase comme les chateaux of olden days), we were able to leave our shutters and our windows open to allow the air to circulate – no air conditioning and it was a warm day.

   

I’m pretty sure we might have eaten one of these guys for dinner…   🙂