Annecy
On the train coming into the area of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of southeastern France, everything seemed to take on this dreaminess as I looked out the window. The mountains watching over our journey, a bit of rain in the distance creating multiple rainbows along the way. I felt like the rainbows were my very first sign that I was in the right place. I sat watching outside contemplating could this be my place? Is this where I may choose to build a nest?
When Annecy was first suggested to me, I immediately thought that there was no way that I was ever going to choose to live in a place that experienced full on winter with snow! Having been raised in Michigan I had chosen back in 2003 to leave Michigan for the warmer climate of Arizona and never look back. Last summer when I was searching for my initial spot to land in France and Annecy was suggested, I immediately dismissed it but in the months since then there have been a number of occasions where I have been speaking with people and it would come up or I would ask if they had been there and so far without exception everyone’s response has been, “Oh my gosh, I love it there! You would love it too, you must go.”
Not one to ignore signs and synchronicities, I decided to take a four-day weekend and take the train from the Dordogne to Annecy.
Leaving the Annecy train station bundled up and prepared for the cold, I was not prepared for rain. I was in the Alps region, I was prepared for the cold, but the rain felt warm. A 7-minute walk to my Airbnb in the middle of the old town, I found myself hoping that I had chosen the right spot to base myself in.
Kicking myself that I hadn’t prepared food for the day. I had thrown some ginger biscuits in my bag when I left in the morning and thought I would pick up food at Gare du Lyon when I made my connection in Paris but alas Paris traffic had another plan with me running through the station just making the TGV for Annecy. I sat down and decided I was grateful for my forethought to put the biscuits in my bag since they would now be lunch.
When I arrived at the Airbnb, I had an hour to get settled and connected before my workday would begin, I needed to find food. It was 6pm so there would not be a restaurant open at this hour since 6pm is early by French dinner standards and with only an hour available that would never be long enough to have a proper French dinner anyway.
I walked out the door of the building and onto one of the main streets of the old town in search of an open marché. After a bit of time I happened upon an open boulangerie, the savior of most food planning mishaps in France. A baguette would solve my hunger, and I would solve the plan about food in the morning, when it wasn’t supposed to be raining.
The next morning opening the front door of my building I was met with all the bustle of a French market in full swing. Between the market, the crowded, cobblestone street, the locals mixed with tourists, my initial impression was that it felt like being at Disneyland, just getting off a ride and being let out into a busy shop. As I wandered up the street and began to hear French as people navigated their purchases it began to feel a little more like normal. I continued my walk emerging from the old town to the expanse of Lake Annecy in front of me and the mountain faces just beyond it. That feeling of perspective began to sink in, that feeling I always seem to get when looking at an amazingly wide view of the beauty of the earth and all her glory, amazing! My stomach wasn’t immediately calling my attention, an espresso in the morning is usually all I need until afternoon so I had time to walk along the lake to take it in, to gain perspective.
There is both a walkway and bike path that goes all the way around lake Annecy. The path is 42 kilometers (26 miles), a perfect cycle ride but not today.
Today I would wander this place and visit several cafes along the way, I wanted to feel this place, more importantly I wanted to pay attention to how I felt being here.
I walked around the lake taking in the crystal blue color with the sandy bottom here in the Alpes. It was overcast and there was a chill, but it certainly wasn’t enough to keep anyone indoors, everyone was out and active with people walking around the lake or biking, even kayaking on the lake. I had read that this place is known for its outdoor activities, I can attest to it since the evidence was everywhere I looked.
I spent my morning wandering and then found a spot to grab some lunch with outdoor seating so I could still people watch. After a lovely curry chicken sandwich I moved on to a nearby café. I wanted “un petite café” (an espresso) and I really felt pulled to write. This pull did not go unnoticed, it has been ages since I really felt pulled to write like a visceral need in my body to pour words out onto a page. I didn’t have my notebook in my bag so I sat down, ordered my espresso and pulled out my phone’s notes application. I feverishly typed as the words just flowed out. It felt fantastic to allow this process to occur, to honor its presence.
After a day of wandering mostly along the lake and allowing myself to sit and write I went back to my Airbnb to settle in, I was tired from a day of exploring, I was going to respect the signals that my body was sending me and have a hot shower, watch a movie and get a good night’s sleep. When you are basically living in Airbnb’s as I am doing during this initial exploration in France you really take notice when you find yourself in an Airbnb that has a comfortable bed, a comfortable couch, a nice shower, a fully equipped kitchen and a great coffee machine.
These last few months living in a medieval stone village house that is very old I have come to appreciate that while these places look very charming in pictures it is very important that you find one that has been upgraded to include simple things like central heating and modern double paned windows if you value staying warm in winter.
The Airbnb in Annecy was warm and comfortable, something that I have been struggling with in my Airbnb in the Dordogne, the contrast made it very clear that in my next moves I needed to prioritize some things to take care of my own comfort.
On my second full day in Annecy, I had signed up for a food tour, we were to meet at the Le Pont des Amours. (the bridge of love). From there we would go to four different places one for each course of the meal trying some of the local favorites. I met the guide and as it turns out on this day there was only one other person on the tour, an American woman from Minnesota who was in France on a one-year visitor’s visa while she focused on learning French. She was retired and was looking to stay in France for a year before moving to another European country after that and perhaps another language. This woman loved to talk so as we walked to our first destination myself and the guide, Sylvie learned all about her and her decision to come to France and her experience thus far of living in Lyon. Over our second course we were talking, and she asked me about why I hadn’t decided on Lyon and why I wasn’t going to language school. I explained that I felt that my focus in my move to France was different from hers, my approach is to focus on building a well-rounded life here. Yes, I am continuing my study of French every week but in addition to my two weekly online classes my focus was using my French in navigating my life here. Her focus was going to a daily full day of course work and trying to achieve a certain grade level.
It was just clear to me that my focus was different, my focus on building a life and yes, French is a part of that, but I am also considering what else is available for me in terms of a community.
During the dessert course, Sylvie suggested that since we were both working on learning French that we try to only speak French. While I had a moment of feeling intimidated, we began, and it became very clear that I was much more comfortable speaking and could follow more of what was being said to me. I attribute this to the fact that my twice weekly course work has focused mostly on conversing and listening in French rather than the traditional school courses focusing on grammar. I am sure if we were going to take an exam on grammar that woman would have likely done much better than I but in the end, I think I feel more empowered about navigating life in French and that to me felt like a win. She isn’t wrong, it is just a different focus and a different approach.
That evening I decided to wander over to the Christmas market. Today was the first day of the Christmas market opening and everyone seemed to be up for it, it was packed. My thoughts of wandering the market and having hot chocolate quickly changed, I had zero desire after a full day to stand in a line of 40 people to wait for hot chocolate so I just wandered through to take in what was being sold. Hats, scarfs, Christmas ornaments, etc. All of this, Christmas, while very pretty just wasn’t where my focus was, it wasn’t why I was in Annecy, nice to see but perhaps another time.
On my final day in Annecy, I packed up my Airbnb and moved to a different Airbnb for one night before leaving on the 5AM train on Monday. This was not my original plan but a notice from SNCF that a WWII mortar shell discovery near the Annecy train station and a subsequent closure of the station for one day led me to change my train to return on Monday morning, but my Airbnb couldn’t be extended so I booked just a studio very near the train station. Thankfully I was able to take my bag over to the new Airbnb and leave it for the day while I wandered the city.
My goal on this final day was to walk, to take in as much as I could. Today turned out to be beautiful, blue skies, sunny and warm. Everyone was outside. I found a spot for coffee and started what would ultimately look a little bit like a café crawl around Annecy. I would stop to have a coffee and then set out to wonder before checking out another café in another area of the city. I found the shopping area, I covered the old town, I sat and read for a bit in the park by the lake. As the sun began to set, I noticed that while my brain was telling me that I really needed to get to the Airbnb, have a shower and get to bed since I had such an early morning, I also noticed my heart continuing to pull me to stay outside, to walk down one more street, to take more of its in. It was at that moment that I decided that I needed more time here.
The following morning, I made my train which was going south to Valence and then changing to the TGV to Bezier before I would switch to the regional train to get me back to the Dordogne region. Goldilocks had been to Annecy, tasted the porridge and was intrigued enough to know that she needed to go back and try more.
Below I am sharing the questions that I am contemplating as I continue this journey of where to make a nest and build a life in France in the hopes that perhaps you too may find some value in contemplating these questions in your own life either in your notebook, morning shower or daily commute.
- When I am called to do something, do I follow that call?
- How can I take care of myself right now?
- How can I provide more comfort for myself?
Finally, some breadcrumbs of things I am working on.
- Expanding on my experience planning to help individuals choose their dream and put together a plan to achieve it
- Sharing my own planning process with others
- Connecting with Writing Wisdom again
More to come on all of these things as well as my continued goldilocks journey in France.
I blog because I love the process of questioning my life, questioning my beliefs and questioning the stories that I tell myself. If you want to question yourself, then subscribing to my email list will ensure you have an opportunity to do that. I blog about once a month so you will not receive a ton of emails from me, only what I hope to be the best questions that we can ask ourselves to move our life toward our dreams each day.
In love,
Renée
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Beautiful blog entry Renee! I felt like I was there with you experiencing all of the magical, inspiring, adventurous moments travel has to offer! Looking forward to reading more of your adventures. Lots of love, Zoey
Thank you, Zoey!