The weather was less than cooperative for our first few days in Europe (perhaps Mother Nature was offended by Ryan bringing his Ninja Turtles shirt?), but we could still easily tell how charming Annecy was. It is a quaint little town on a lake set amidst beautiful mountains. I explain this because due to cloud cover, you will see zero mountains in the photos below. Don't worry - the post covering the next day will more than fulfill your mountain needs.
After we arrived we spent a little time wandering around and getting the lay of the land. Part of getting the lay of the land for Melanie and I was determining which scarves we thought were most deserving of a new loving home in our purses. We selected a store about halfway down the shopping aisle with a wide variety and a price tag 3 euro lower than it's neighbors. We were proud of ourselves and tuned out Ryan telling us we could find scarves for 10 euro because what do boys know about shopping?
As we headed back towards the main part of the lake to find a bite to eat Melanie and I heard the soft beckon of MORE scarves. As we headed over to determine if we needed to give these poor guys a home as well, Ryan spotted the price tag of 10 euro and proclaimed himself the Jim Kramer of the scarf market. As those of you familiar with Ryan might guess- he continued to refer to himself as the market pricer for all items throughout the remainder of the trip.
View of the little river off of the main lake. This is where we went shopping and ate lunch. You can see the tip of the prison on the left of the bridge.
We are so France-y.
Palais de l'Isle. This is an old prison in the middle of the river. It's apparently the symbol of the town and one of the most photographed monuments in all of France.
The side of the prison looking back towards the lake. On a clearer day you would see some mountains in the background. You can faintly see some... just use your imagination to extrapolate.
This was a pretty little side street off of the main alley we were walking down. I'm not sure what's up there but it probably wasn't scarves.
I believe that Ryan took this picture to forever immortalize his scarf market genius.
Nothing says "I blend in and am not American" like a mobster hat with a tourist camera.
Around lunch time we headed back towards the bridge and selected an Italian restaurant to eat lunch. I don't remember the name of the restaurant but if you ever find yourself in Annecy, look for the red awning. The food was delicious and our waitress had far better English than our French which was always a good thing. It was during this meal that I learned "oh la la," does not mean to the French what it means to us. Their utilization of it is more like "uh oh!" For instance the waitress said "oh la la" when she saw Jake pick up the knife. Leave it to Americans to try to make something sound sexy that isn't.
Mama & Jake.
Ryno & I. Hard to say whether I loved the cappuchino or my husband more.
After lunch we decided that since we'd been in Europe for more than 24 hours and had no gelato yet that the situation needed to be rectified immediately. We high tailed it to the nearest gelateria and topped off our meals like real Americans.
The presentation at this place was second to none.
Gelato is very manly.
We did a little more wandering around town to work off our newly acquired calories. At first we were attempting to find the bank in Annecy which partners with BoA so that Ryan & I could stock up on euros (in Geneva they use Swiss Francs). When that mission was a fail we decided that photoshoots were the next best option.
Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, the medicine go down, the medicine go dooooown.
That boat is a restaurant. This view is looking out onto the main lake. Again - use your imagination to photoshop some huge moutains in back there.
Precious McClain family photo. Where's Jake is the new Where's Waldo.
What? You say people don't like Americans? I can not imagine why.
My Mom likes flowers, so I was actually taking this for her. It was not intended to be quuuuite so frolic-y. Maybe the gelato went to my head.
This was our view on the walk back to the car. Makes it hard to leave, doesn't it?
We headed back to the car to make our way home as it was getting to be early evening and some of us needed naps - shockingly none of them were Jake. We embarked on one of the funniest roadtrips I've been a part of. Little known fact- GPS technology is not quite as strong as Jonathan's "feel." On a completely unrelated note Jonathan's "feel" took us on a scenic route back to Geneva which gave birth to Melanie and Jonathan's version of "shove it in your face**," which will henceforth be referred to as "Angel." En route we also spotted a cool bridge and decided to pull over and take pictures.
Huge observation bridge overlooking a canyon.
I am actually surprised that Ryan got that close to the edge given how high up we were.
Fabulous view.
Bridge love.
After we arrived home, Melanie spoiled us with an incredibly delicious dinner of salad and vodka pasta. Seriously, it was amazing. We spent the remainder of the evening relaxing over a bottle of wine and laughing at the Hangover 2. Getting to see Europe is the experience of a lifetime. Getting to do it while staying with close friends is a blessing. Absolutely flawless day. Next up... Chamonix & Mont Blanc.
** Shove it in your Face: Ryan & I's trademark game. Upon a disagreement of facts, when both parties feel strongly, the game can be invoked. Upon of invocation, the point in question is googled. The winning party tends to obnoxiously yell some variation of "face shoved." We are nothing if not romantic.
1) Empty camera bag still around neck, check for awesome.
ReplyDelete2) You look like you're about to throw your bag in the air like Rhoda in that flower picture for your madre.
3) A legit smile from Ryan??? True bridge love.
4) The two asterisks after "face" looked like the end was something naughty. Read: Disappointed.
5) However, that may be the best game ever.
Note: You can never have too many scarves.