I finished my special train trip at Montreax on Lake Geneva, and continued around the lake by train to Lausanne, which surprisingly is quite a big Swiss city on the lake, but more French than Swiss. Too big and bustling for me, but I managed to book online a little guesthouse that had 1 room left - somewhere close to the roof - so I had a great view over the town. I had arranged to collect my car the morning after, and spent the few remaining hours of the day plotting my exit from the centre of town. Then, after dinner, I catch a glimpse of a BBC weather report for France and the Alps, and it forecasts very bad weather for a few days, possibly more. The main concern is fog.
I waited until the next morning for a final report (no better) and I could see the storms coming in from across the lake, very dark and misty. I made a final decision to cancel my 4 day car trip, there seemed no point. So off on the train and buses, to Annecy.
There was some bad weather about, but for the next 4 days it had cleared (mostly) by midday and then sun rays came through and lit up different parts of the town and Lake.I was really annoyed that I had cancelled the car (with a penalty) but I didn't have the crystal ball I needed - and that was that! There were great day trips around, but too much hassle with the public transport, you really needed a car!
Best part of Annecy was the very substantial Sunday markets (wonderful Chinon quality nougat in huge blocks, a real blow for the diet!) clothes, shoes, vegetables, fruit, cheeses, pastries and all things gourmet and good. The walks around the lake foreshore at twilight were very scenic, with changing lights and moods on the lakes surface and the surrounding mountains. The old town isself was a larger size Basque town (similiar to Dordogne in the streets and buildings) but surrounded by quite a large more modern township. I also had an interesting stay at a 2 star, run by 3 gay french guys, who were so hospitable and so gentle and so accommodating! But I didn't like their taste in room decor, it was a nightmare of blue paint (even the floor boards stained blue) and a tiny box of a bathroom. But the view down the canal from my bedroom window was from the cover of a french book on basque buildings, very pretty during the twilight hours.
Decided to leave the area 1 day early, and track back to Montreax (on the lake) for a nights stay, as it was so pretty and was also halfway up to Zermatt, next stop for a 3 day break.
My thoughts so far is that I love the countryside and the smaller towns, and bigger places not for me
