To Annecy

May 3, 2022

It’s moving day, and as often is the case the state of the weather clouds our thinking. Looking out the window we see reason for concern in a complex gray sky; and turning for wisdom to the weather forecasting apps for enlightenment we find mixed messages. Lying Weather.com says that it’s raining as we speak, should stop in an hour or so, and then resume about one. YR, the weather app recommended to us by our friend Rich, is more optimistic. For one, it passes the first test of weather forecasting quality and gets the current state right - it says it’s dry now, which matches what we see looking out the window.

(And parenthetically, we’ve been comparing the two apps ever since we were in Figueres five weeks ago and can concur with Rich’s opinion that in this part of the world YR is definitely more reliable. Thanks, Rich!

And how do I remember that we started using YR in Figueres precisely? Because YR reminds me of this daily! In a quirk that baffles both Rachael and me, it persists in bringing up Figueres as the default, no matter how many times I remove it from its saved location list. It’s locked in, on my iPad only. Very strange, but just a point I need to remember - there have been a few times I’ve been pleased to see how unexpectedly sunny the outlook is until I head-slap and remind myself that it’s Figueres I’m staring at.)

In any case, both apps indicate that we should get our miles in early today; so we mobilize to leave our shoebox by 7:30.

(Another parenthetical aside. Did I forget to mention we’ve been living in a shoebox for the last three nights? It’s a super-efficiency unit, with 98% of the floor space taken up by the bed and the other 2% dedicated to access aisles, a chair, and a skinny table with a drop down leaf for an eating space - but you have to sit on the bed to eat there. For the last three days we’ve been shifting around and adjusting ourselves to give each other access to the bathroom or the dining table. We’re pretty happy to be moving on!)

A complex sky greets us this morning as we contemplate our chances of getting into Annecy dry.

You didn’t seriously think we’d make it out by 7:30, did you? We do pretty well though and are on the sidewalk not long after eight, staring at our Garmins and asking each other why neither of us remembered to load the route for the day. While Rachael takes the Garmins, phones and iPad back into the hotel lobby where she’ll have WiFi access to load the route, I stand guard over the bikes on the sidewalk and enjoy the charming street scene. It’s time for school and the streets and sidewalks are full of college kids chatting and vaping as they presumeably walk toward class, parents bike along with a kid or two on back or walk alongside a youngster weaving along on a scooter.

So it’s nearly 8:30 when we finally start biking. Still, pretty good. With only a 35 mile ride ahead we’re optimistic about reaching Annecy dry by early afternoon. After a few somewhat stressful and confusing miles escaping town - Chambéry this morning reminds me a bit of Taiwan, with its complex street scene with cars, bikes, scooters and peds coming at you from all directions - we’re finally out of town and on the pleasant bike path to Lake Bourget, the same route we biked two days earlier. Once there we round the end to follow its eastern shore, the one opposite Le Chat, to Aix-les-Bains.

On the lakefront bike path, approaching Aix-les-Bains. To get the right impression, imagine the varied sounds of birds and frogs rising up from the reeds as we bike past.

Along Lake Bourget, with Le Chat rising above the opposite bank.

So I’ve blabbed away most of my time budget this morning and Rachael reminds me it’s time to ride soon, so I’ll fast-forward through the rest of the ride to Annecy. Over the next 20 miles we climb about 1,500’ to a low saddle at the northern end of the Bauges Massif, the next pre-Alps formation to the north of Chartreuse; and then drop down the other side. Along the way we come to the unexpected highlight of the ride, the narrow bridge spanning the dizzyingly deep and narrow Abime gorge.

It’s a good ride. We arrive dry. Everybody’s happy.

Approaching Gruffy, only 3K off now. we’ll find nothing especially noteworthy when we get there, but I like the name. The bridge ahead is worth a look though.

Pont de l’Anime, erected in 1887 to join the communities of Cuny and Gruffy. I’m sure there’s a great story here if anyone cares to research it.

Dizzyingly deep chasm beneath the bridge. It’s no wonder the good citizens of Cuny and Gruffy were eager for a safer shortcut.

A last, Gruffy-side look back at a remarkable feat of engineering.

Video sound track: Black Frost, by Grover Washington, jr.

We arrive at our apartment hotel about one. Unsurprisingly our room isn’t ready yet, but the host is great. Checks us in, checks our bags and bikes into storage, and says he’ll phone us as soon as the room is ready. We were thinking we’d find a cafe but then we look around the spacious lobby and decide to just sit here in the sun (it’s not raining yet!) and enjoy our bread and cheese we’re still carrying.

An hour later our host walks up, tells us our room is ready, we gather our gear and head upstairs. We’re in an apartment on the fifth floor with the plan to stay here four nights. We immediately fall in love with the place. Especially after escaping from our three nights in a shoebox, the place seems vast and comfortable. And best yet, there’s a dynamite view from our window toward old Annecy with the cathedral and iconic Saint Maurice Church rising up from it and the Alps soaring dramatically behind. Wow.

Our home for the next four nights. We approve.

Our view for the next four days. Four enthusiastic thumbs up.

Rachael immediately heads out to the store to provision us for the next four days. I take a short nap, and then when I wake up I research the rides around here. There’s a wealth of choices, as I see when I uncover this ride map:

Plenty of options here, for whatever level of difficulty moves you.

I come up with some candidate rides to discuss with Rachael, keeping the uncertain weather conditions in mind. It looks like we’ll have one rainout day, and Rachael’s definitely taking a hike one of our days here; so who knows how much riding will actually occur. When Rachael returns we talk this over and she proposes changing some reservations and staying here a fifth night.

Which we’ve done. We check out our bookings over dinner and confirm that it’s doable - we’ll drop a second night in Lyon, shift a few other bookings, and stay here five nights. Which will be incredible, I’m sure. We just got here and I’m missing unbearably beautiful Annecy already.

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Ride stats today: 35 miles, 2,000’; for the tour: 1,406 miles, 71,100’

Today's ride: 35 miles (56 km)
Total: 1,406 miles (2,263 km)

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