Searching for cheese in the Haute-Savoie

Wednesday, Sept 28

When last we spoke, Alisma and I were arriving in Dussard in the east of France.  It turns out the reason Alisma picked this place was that a clerk in a cheese shop said she had to come here when she mentioned we were coming to France.  Alisma then looked it up and saw a picture of Annecy, a town not too far from our hotel.  She worked it into our itinerary.  Good thing as this place is amazing.  You should all come here.

Here is the view from our room

Good morning mountains

Hotel L'Arcolod

We drove into Annecy early for some petit dejeuner (breakfast, probably misspelled).  I think I joked about scurvy in my last post and then promptly got a canker sore so I had some yogurt and fruit for breakfast instead of just bread and coffee.  But they had chocolate croissants which I hadn't had yet so we ended up going back later for one of those too.  Then we walked around for a while.

Scenes from the drive to Annecy.  We passed a castle, that's a thing here.  I didn't get any pictures from the road because I knew I would have a better view later.   We were definitly in the Alps with the soaring mountain peaks and green valleys and blue lakes.

Annecy town is on Annecy lake.  Annecy is the French city you imagine when you think of a small French city.  There were canals everywhere, with swans just floating about like decorations.  Tall, old buildings with narrow lanes and little shops everywhere.

After breakfast we took a boat tour of the lake.  

This isn't a very good photo but it shows the colour of the water

In the centre of this picture is a castle where
some Compte's family has lived for a
1000 years, 27 generations

Here's the castle we saw from the road
(one of three on the lake)

City walked, lake boated, it was time to go find some of that legendary cheese.  Alisma had mapped it out a bit but it was hard to tell when places were open, or even for that matter what we were heading for.  A cheese shop, a farm, who knew.  

We drove up mountains and down winding path/roads down mountains.  The roads were so narrow that we usually held our breath as we passed oncoming traffic, hoping not to fall off the road.  But we never did.  French drivers are very good drivers.   

Eventually, we made it to our first stop which turned out to be a farm.  With a posted sign that they open for Vente (sales) at 4pm.  It wasn't even noon.  We could hear people working in the barn but we just petted the animals (donkeys, dogs, goats) and headed back down the mountain.  

Then we searched for the next place.  And searched, up hill, over dale.  We were getting hungry.  And I had to pee.  We saw some signs for a hotel restaurant so we followed those to the top of a mountain (never a good sign for the cheapos of the world).  We went in the back door and saw the menu.  20 Euros for the cheapest dessert, 25 for a starter.  Nope.  Back in the car, and back down another mountain.  Poor Alisma was getting car sick from the windy roads and hairpin corners.

This is the back of the restaurant we couldn't afford.
We couldn't even afford a picture of the front

Eventually, we gave up and bought a pizza at a bakery in some town or other.  We ate part of it in the car, feeling very sorry for ourselves.  As we were leaving, heading to yet another mystery cheese location, we happened upon a formagerie on the side of the road.  CHEESE!

We bought three kinds of cheese and a bagette for 4 Euros.  Butter was 60 cents.  60 CENTS!  Unfortunately, we didn't need butter but we definitely needed cheese.  Then we found another place where we bought a fourth cheese.  This shop also had a milk vending machine in the parking lot.  I took a picture of the shop because the name is so awesome (cheese shops have a fairly pungent odour by the way)

We bought some fruit and veggies in a further attempt to keep our teeth.  And then we had a wine and cheese party for dinner.  All four cheeses were crazy creamy and tart and smooth and so, so tasty.  Kraft is the devil.  We have been ruined for cheese in North America.  

I will stop for the night here. 

Next day.  Now I am eating tiny artisan sausages as I write this.  In five flavours.  Every bite is a surprise.

Thursday, Sept 29

Ok, back to the blog.  The next day we left the Lake Annecy area.  It was a long drive to Montpellier, on the south coast of France.  We had planned to stop for breakfast in Albertville (of Olympics fame) but we couldn't find a parking spot.  Driving in cities is still a bit stressful but I am definitely getting better at it.  I know how to find traffic lights now.  

We kept ending up on toll highways with no turn offs or little villages to stop at.  At some point, we gave up and pulled into a rest area, gas station and bought some coffee and sweet bread.  Not exactly the culinary experience one wants in France but it was way better than any gas station food ever offered in Canada.

We stopped about half way in Avignon.  This is home to the Palace of the Popes.  Apparently, from the 12th century to the 13th century, Avignon was home to 9 popes.  Something to do with making the French happy (and probably trying to keep the land the popes had acquired over the previous centuries but that my be my interpretation).

Here is some info if you want to know more about it than me:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palais_des_Papes

Anyway, shady history aside, it is pretty impressive.  After the popes and a few revolutions, it was used as a hospital and as army barracks.  Now they have spent the last 100+ years trying to restore it to its former glory.  UNESCO site.  Oh, and there is a bridge to nowhere which is also something historical.

That is a Golden Virgin Statue

This is the tile floor which I loved.
Loved enough to take this picture in a no camera area

The nine popes if you care to zoom in.

The exit, where we turned left instead of right

We got a bit lost looking for the bridge but that allowed us to wander through Avignon city which is quite beautiful and quaint.

Eventually, we made it all of the way around the palace back to the front to the bridge, Pont Saint-Benezet aka, Pont d'Avingnon.  Made famous by the song (which I have never heard but Alisma had).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pont_Saint-Benezet (the link to the song is on this page too)

This picture is mostly about those two pigeons on the floor. 

Drawbridge

After we wandered the palace, the city and the bridge, we sat in the Palace courtyard and ate the rest of our cheese from the night before.  The Brie type one was even better after being in a hot car all day.  Yum.

Then we drove the rest of the way to Montpellier and found our hotel, Hotel des Frenes.  I am going to try to quickly finish up today's adventures as well even though this is probably too long already.  We leave France tomorrow so it will be nice to start a new country as a new post.  

Friday, Sept 30

We still had the car until 4pm today so we drove to the beach, about an hour out of Monpellier.  I should back up a bit and discuss shopping.  Amazingly, I have not bought anything except food, lodging and transportation so far (and a toothbrush to replace the one left at the AirBNB with the fleas).  But that all changed today. 

We arrived at the beach (I'm sure it has a name but Alisma has gone to bed so I can't ask her) and it was threatening rain.  Alisma went and stuck her feet in the Mediterranean even though it was cold.  

I figured out where we were. Palavas-les-Flots. This is still a working fishing village.  The river is lined with fishing boats and there were fish mongers lining the street when we arrived.

Selling fish 

Waiting for the workday to end

Well. I thought I could do it, but this is it for tonight.  My wifi is weak so the pictures are taking too long to upload and I am tired.   You can hear all about the rest of the day in my next post.