(Annecy, France)

When I heard that Annecy was called “the Venice of the Alps”, I interpreted it to mean “the Venice of the Alps that only insiders know about.” And in the Canadian context, that is probably true.

However, in Europe, Annecy seems to be quite well known indeed. And while I am glad that I’ve been to Venice, I also don’t think I will ever go again unless I need to fly into that airport for some other reason. The Venetian crowds, and the shrinking local population, can make it a daunting proposition except in the early morning and the late evening.

So, how does Annecy compare? Well, Annecy isn’t exclusively composed of canals, like much of Venice. And the smell of Annecy is much better. But, on the day I arrived, the crowds in Annecy were approaching Venetian levels. As were the number of souvenir shops, ice cream shops, and English-language menus. I love gelato as much as anyone, but still…

Annecy *is* beautiful. And the mountains in the background make it even easier on the eyes. But after an hour or two downtown, I was tired. I wanted to go to a restaurant that only locals knew about, that didn’t have English menus, and were focused on serving (and retaining) their local clientele. My first impression was that I wasn’t going to find that in Annecy.

It has a castle, of course. But it also has the Pont des Amours (“Lovers’ Bridge”, pictured below). This nicely located but fairly non-descript bridge reminded me of Juliet’s Balcony (as in Romeo & Juliet) in Verona, Italy. It seemed overtaken by what people wanted it to be. And just like Juliet’s Balcony (and house) may not even be the real thing, the name of the Lovers’ Bridge may in fact refer to paid love rather than romantic love.

So, as noted, my first impression of Annecy was not a particularly great one…at least, when compared to the “undiscovered gem” that I had envisioned. Such impressions can easily happen, especially when you arrive at a bad time. For example, there’s nothing worse than arriving the day before garbage day (especially when every business puts their garbage out early).

And I guess it is important to remember that I formed this impression on the day I arrived from Canada. I was certainly jet-lagged. I also had some technological challenges. And then there was that substandard crêperie experience I wrote about in my previous post.

I was aware of these circumstances, and the biases such circumstances can create, but I still wondered how Annecy could triumph over my initial impression. Throngs of tourists really aren’t my thing (even though I may contribute to the problem).

Stay tuned to find out whether Annecy met the challenge!