Day 19 Swizz Mountain exchange for French Lake (30 Dec 2022)

 30 December 2023

Meyerskappel to Annecy

High up on our rooftop suite in Mary's wooden house, dawn broke over the rolling hills, dotted with little gingerbread houses. While Arno was still getting ready, I went for a little Alpine rural village stroll with the host's 'Berner Sennenhund' (Mountain dog).

The Bernese Mountain Dog is an original farm dog from the foothills of the Alps around the Swiss capital of Bern. He was kept by the farmers there as a guard, draft and driving dog. Since the long-haired, three-colored farm dog was particularly common in the village of Dürrbach, the Swiss initially called it "Dürrbächler".

Walti and Mary outside their woodchip claded house

Elsabe and Hugo in their garden on the hill

Our host Mary went to the bakery again. This time she brought a gift for the children in the from of a traditional round sweet Three Kings Cake. (Read more on the link about this Swiss tradition which revived in the 1950's.) After picking the kids up at their host families, saying our last farewells to Elsabe and Hugo, we just had to drive back to Mary and Walti. We knew the kids will fall in love with their dog!!!

Snacking away on the King's Crown

I found the lucky charm...so I was Queen for the rest of the day!!!

Our route took us over the hill, direction Bern. The natural beauty of the lush green farmlands, sprinkled with wooden houses...a feast for a travelers eyes.

We only had 3.5h to go, so when we stumbled upon the Krambly Cookie Expereince we pulled off the road. Elsabe has mentioned something about a cookie factory, but nothing could prepare us for the selection of treats we found inside. Any sweet or savoiry treat you could ever have imagined stretched out infront of us. The best part..... you could help yourself to as many taster cookies as you'd like!!! Needless to say, we induldged ourselves in this extravaganza!! (Unfortunately I totally forgot to snap any pictures here...) After this roadside-snack-stop, we were setttled for the rest of the journey and arrived fairly early in Annecy, France. (Country number 8!!)

All of us were very curious about Lake Annecy and the city on it's northern shore. Over the years living in Scotland, may of our friends visited this holiday area in France, albeit for skiing or summer fun. We entered the city from the north and headed straight to the well-priced Zenitude Hôtel-Residences Les Hauts. Now we were very confused, because the hotel was marked as 'close' to the lake front AND mountain, but from our bedroom windows, we could barely see the lake... Good thing was, the rooms were very clean an comfortable and Arno and I had our own suite!!

Suspense was stretched as far as it could go, we had to go and investigate this so called European tourist hotspot!! We listened to lady gps and she took us down-town. The underground "spirilling" carpark was a first!!

 It was still light outside, so we decided to explore the lakeside first. Such a beautiful setting, but I guess the hype will be even higher in summer. As dusk was setting, we were drawn to the music coming from the cristmast market in the old town.

 We started to understand the lurr of the small cobbled lanes, little steps leading to another little street, with small-hidden-door-houses. Hide-and-seek paradise!! I managed to find a glüwein shack and the rest got some pancakes and hot chocolates. Taking in the Sunday eve street performers, clinging to a distant hope that the little drizzle will turn to snow...