Au revoir to Annecy!

Well, I'm sorry for the long lapse in updates. I lost my wifi the first week in Annecy & we couldn't get it resolved. Finally I'm back at it. Of course I am sitting in the lobby of a hotel in Avignon, since that is the only place this hotel provides wifi for their guests. We have a nice little group down here doing emails, etc. Let's go back to Annecy! I really love that town - it is quite an interesting combination of architecture from the original walled old town and now the new apartment & other developments in modern style. This is the perfect city for me with my love of the outdoors & exercise. I've been walk/running around the lake (that is figuratively). Plus just walking up & down the paths to the chateau provide a good workout. As usual, I have found my favorite local hangouts for coffee, lunch, etc. Plus I met a really lovely British couple one day at the grocery store, so I stop by for tea occasionally. Then there are these fabulous buses that make stops at all the towns around the lake, so I do that & explore some other towns, etc. Had a wonderful visit from Greg, Diane, Gavin, Dylan & Kim. It was way too short, but fun seeing them enjoy Annecy like I do. We took a boat ride around the lake, which gave us all a new perspective on everything. The boys seemed to like everything we did, especially swimming in the lake. There are so many fun differences that I notice in life here. The TV stations only come on for specific programming & then they are off. So if you watched tennis one day on channel 14, it doesn't mean that same channel will cover it the next day. And, shows along with most other things, don't run on the hour. Most begin at 20 minutes or 10 minutes before the hour. Great thing is I haven't seen a drug commercial since I've been here. All their food commercials have disclaimers at the bottom of the screen, saying to eat 5 servings of fruit & veggies a day & remember to exercise. You would think that I wrote them! The people in Annecy have been wonderful and very helpful and patient with me trying to speak French. I definitely plan to return some time in the future. But, for now my time is up and I am taking the next two weeks to see what other beautiful sights there are to see. I wasn't planning to come to Avignon, but it just worked out that way. I have been traveling all day, so will give you my take on this town in a few days. I haven't been successful in posting my Annecy photos on my blog, so they are on Facebook.