Waywards swap two legs for two wheels in Annecy

 In Geneva for the Lionesses' semi-final on Tuesday evening (which is a whole other story for a different kind of blog), Strictly Lady Lloyd and I continued our European trip with a train ride to Annecy. The 40km circuit of Lake Annecy seemed a bit much of a hike for our 48 hours here, so we investigated bike hire. To be fair, we're not the first people to have thought of this. Apparently, up to 7000 people a day choose to cycle the lake in summer, and nearly a million every year. The first place we approached had no bikes left, but Veloc'annecy came up trumps. Not only did they have bikes available but, crucially, bikes with baskets (for our rustic French picnic). We headed off just after midday this afternoon.

On the advice of the helpful staff in the cycle shop, we opted for the anti-clockwise, 'classic' route: Annecy → Sevrier → Saint-Jorioz → Duingt → Talloires → Menthon-Saint-Bernard → Annecy-le-Vieux. A smooth, gradual tour until the end. (But more of that later.) 

We took our first stop near Beau Rivage. A place of personal significance for SLL and a beautiful, shady spot from which to admire the clear waters of the lake.

We stopped for lunch on the outskirts of Duingt. It seems that the landscape designers around the lake understand the importance of benches (and could probably be counted on to make a few helpful suggestions for the team responsible for the South Downs Way). We took full advantage, spreading out our Monoprix-purchased picnic of tabouleh, tomatoes, emmental, brie, crisps - with fresh baguette from the local boulangerie. Delicious.

We found toilets and a tap to fill water bottles at Le Bon Wagon, and continued on our way, around what we have affectionately been describing as the 'finger' of the lake. Certainly it was this area which provided the most stunning views and beautiful mini-beaches and swimming areas. It would have been worth waiting to get round this far to stop and have lunch.

The forecast was for overcast, inclement weather, so I hadn't bought swimming stuff. I shan't make that mistake when we return. I was so tempted to jump in around Agnon and, in spite of the forecast, we were blessed with sunshine all afternoon. 

Just after Agnon, the cycle path ran out and we had to transfer from the cycle path to the road. I was still smiling away at the stunning views when I suddenly found myself in the path of oncoming traffic. With the new hip still being road-tested, my sudden breaking left me skidding off road and resulted in me taking a little tumble. A handsome Frenchman was travelling in the opposite direction and helped to right me, checking my bike over as I dusted myself down. He was concerned about my injuries which I protested (while wanting to cry) were nothing serious, just a scrape.

'A beautiful place to have a scrape,' he said, in his sexy French accent.

I thought he meant my knee but, on reflection, he was probably referring to Lake Annecy. 

It went a little bit downhill from there. Or rather, I should say, uphill. A very steep climb, some would say a 'bastard' of a climb, in and around Talloires. It involved some stretches of getting off to walk and push and curse. I suffered a small sense of humour failure before Menthon-Saint-Bernard in blazing sunshine with a sore knee. It was a great relief to begin descending once more. There were some pretty villages beyond, but we were very pleased to see Annecy appear.  Our trip took around 4 hours in total.

We stopped once more at the Monoprix, after returning the bikes, for some ice. No, not for the knee.

Now, where's the duty-free gin?