Trips

Tues., 5/10/22 - Chamonix

Today was a long day on the motor coach. We left Dijon at 9 AM, had a coffee and bathroom break at 10:30, and a lunch break at a large stop along the highway. We shared a ham and cheese baguette. Another rest stop on the highway to take pictures of Mt. Blanc and arrival in Chamonix at 3:00. The scenery through the French Alps was magnificent.

Chickens for sale at a toll road stop for lunch. One chicken is 41.62 Euros - more than $42.00 USD	On the way to Chamonix
On the way to Chamonix	Mont Blanc, the highest peak in Europe (left-center under the large black cloud)
On the way to Chamonix	Glacier - On the way to Chamonix
The town of Chamonix was about one-third open because skiing is over and summer vacations haven’t begun. We looked in shop windows (the French call this “window licking - in French, of course) and decided on an ice cream in an edible cone cup. We found a pizza place open so we bought a Margarita pizza and took it back to eat in our room.	Commemorating the site of the first Winter Olympics in Chaminox in 1924
River Arve - full of glacial "till"	Ski jumping practice hill
Beautiful tulips	Jet trails over town
Gondola to the top	Wed., 5/11/22 - Annecy and Grenoble Today's drive took us through the French Alps on some definite "country roads" to Grenoble. Definitely "mountain driving" in some places. The tour included a three hour stop in Annecy, a cute old city on a large lake, Lake Annecy. The lake is 20 km by 4 km (12.4 x 2.5 miles) and the water has been cleared of sewage and factory waste so it is now glacial green and very clear.
A modest 4,913 ft. pass	A comfort stop at the top of the pass produced some wonderful scenery and a neat restaurant with a display of old skis.
Chapel atop the pass	Vintage skis
Annecy is called Little Venice or Venice of the Alps because it has town shops along canals carrying water from the lake. The town has tulips and flowers planted everywhere so it is quite colorful and pretty. Laurent walked two blocks with us (his tour) and the rest of the time we were “free” to explore and have lunch. Marge and I strolled the town past the fortress tower and the “Island Palace” through all of the little town and then stopped for an ice cream treat - Gale had coffee ice cream, Marge had chocolate and cookies. We then walked over to the park by the lake and sat on a bench under huge trees - redwood, cedar, lodgepole pine, sycamore, chestnut, and many others - and ate our cheese and crackers and read. On our way back to the bus (3 PM departure), more boats were out on the lake. There were three classes of sailboats and a bunch of kids in kayaks. There were many bicycles and people walking and picnicking. It was a beautiful day.
Palais de l'Ille Palais de l'Ile is a 12th-century castle on an island in the river Thiou. Listed as an historic monument in 1900, and often described as a "house in the shape of a ship," it has been a prison, a courthouse, and an administrative center. It is an original structure, the oldest parts of which date from the 12th century.	Kayakers and sailers on Lake Annecy
After the stop in Annecy, it was on to Grenoble for a short, overnight stay in the city that hosted the 1968 Winter Olympics. The buildings that housed the athletes are high-rise buildings near the tower that held the Olympic flame. The torch at the top was removed and sits in the park across from our hotel - Park Hotel Grenoble. The ice arena was in town but all of the skiing events were held in the surrounding the mountains.
Olympic Torch	Wall mural
Thurs., 5/12/22 - Grenoble to Nice Today was another long ride along a very twisty narrow road through the spectacular French Alps, along the Var River, and down to Nice on the Mediterranean Sea. We call the coast the French Riviera but the French call it Cote d’Azur, the Blue Coast. (Mediterranean Sea in Latin is the Sea in the Middle of Land.)
Mountain village	3854 ft. - descending toward the Mediterranean
Field of poppies We stopped to take pictures of a poppy field. Here they are weeds, like dandelions. The farmers hate them. They are invasive.
Graffiti on a barn	Typical French Chateau (or Castle) perched on the highest point around
Nice is on the Mediterranean Sea. (The airport is built on filled in sea bed.) The Greeks were the first to settle here and then the Romans. In 1860, during the Italian unification, the House of Savoy allowed the Second French Empire to annex Nice from the Kingdom of Sardinia in exchange for French support of its quest to unify Italy.  Eventually, English tourists discovered the temperate climate here and came to escape English weather. There were no battles this far south in WWI. In the 1920s, US tourists came to swim in the sea. In WWII all this area was occupied by Italy, then the Germans in 1943, and the US forces came and liberated Nice in 1944. Nice gave the world Bridget Bardot in the 1950s and now Nice and Cote d’Azur get 22 million visitors a year coming in both summer and winter. Nice is a favorite place for global conferences and conventions, like the Cannes film festival. For the “Old Town at Night” optional tour, our bus took us on a five-minute ride to old town and back. We walked on the pedestrian way where a truck driver drove over people celebrating July 14th (Bastille Day) in 2016, killing 86 people. There are now bollards protecting the walking area. Laurent pointed out the Nice Opera House, several places to eat dinner, the yellow building where Matisse had a studio, and pointed to the waterfall that was once part of a fortification. We then had two hours of free time to find dinner on our own. Our choice was an Italian place where beer and lasagne were served for 50 euros. We are forming an opinion of Insight optional tours which is not positive. The bus ride back drove around one square with a statue and lights - that was Nice at night.
Allianz Riviera stadium in Nice	View from our hotel room
Nice - pedestrian mall	Fun sculpture (photo from the moving bus!)

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