Continuing on in Europe!

July 4.09 – Looked around Avignon left at noon.

Drove up another mountain pass and deep gorge. Made it to the top of Mont Venoux where the Tour de France actually rides. 10,000 cyclists blast up this mountain road and it’s a steady steep climb up. Drove down very slowly with a 10-12% grade it wasn’t friendly to the brakes.

Drove into the night and slept in a rest stop just past Grenoble.

July 5.09 –Annecy arriving around 10:30am.

Another hot sunny day so made our way to the public beach along Lac Annecy. A busy place with loads of people riding bikes, sunning, walking, even a bike race passing through which I found out was part of a triathalon. I could’ve made the race!! These guys looked pretty serious though. This is one active place. The water is the cleanest in all of Europe for a large lake. It is turquoise and clear. A beautiful temperature. The people are lucky here to have such an amazing lake. Mountains surround the lake except where the old town of Annecy is tucked away. I looked up towards the top of the mountain and suddenly saw about 30 paragliders way up there floating along the ridge. Came back and cleaned out our fridge for dinner then took advantage of the internet. Went for a late night run with Meg. Tired and went to bed in the house while the rest of the clan choose the caravan.

July 6.09 – Annecy – 2nd night

More glorious sunshine. Getting ready to explore town with Corry’s daughter, Marie. Ended up spending another night as the day was so beautiful, it was hard to leave. We made some tortellini and went down to lac Annecy with our dinner, mom and I had a swim at 8:00pm, the water still so warm and inviting. Lots of people are out riding their bikes, swimming, hanging out having picnics. Parking our caravan is always a challenge and takes patience to drive around town and find something on the street as there are height restrictions getting into parking lots. After dinner we walked around the old town area again and found a creperie for some dessert. Homemade dark chocolate sauce with almonds all wrapped up in a sweet wheat flour crepe was quite yummy. Mom had hers with chocolate and coconut and Geoff had an espresso ice cream sundae. We’ve finally figured out how to order coffee in France and now we’re leaving. Café crème is how you basically get an espresso with warm milk on the side. If it’s a petite café crème you get one shot of espresso with a little water added, but if it’s a grand café crème you get a more regular size looking cup with milk included. This is important information for coffee lovers in order to get your cup of morning java just right! As all of Europeans go, they love to eat late. All the restaurants are full of families and couples enjoying a full meal at 9:30 or 10:00pm. I just can’t eat so much food that late, but everyone here seems to love it. Took some great night shots as you can see in Geoff’s, Annecy Select photos he posted on facebook. They’re on my site as well. More pics to come, but it’s hard to keep up with the days. No rain or thunder today. The moon is making it’s way to fullness and should be ripe by tomorrow night.