July 1, 2012

Vieille Ville

Annecy's Vieille Ville, Old Town, which has retained its 17th-century structure. The streets are cobblestone, there are water pumps everywhere, and buildings look like they have remained unchanged for decades. So foreign is the idea of  an "old town" to a Tokyoite, one Tokyo-born woman who was with me in Annecy asked if the city had been rebuilt in this way.

 Running through the town at 8 in the morning.

 Looking up at the church walls.

 A modern touch: Gaultier-designed Coca-Cola at the supermarket.

I love the canals, with their clean-looking water that effortlessly reflect the sky.

Instead of public faucets, there are public pumps.

A tiny little frog spitting out water into a well.

French keyboards drive me crazy. Take a closer look.


Preparing for the dinner rush.

 One big friendly dog.

Scenes from a Lake

Lake Annecy in France, near the Alps. Explanations need not apply.









A Home for the Birds

 A public bird sanctuary in Annecy, France. That such a thing exists is incredible, but it was too good to last -- I saw two sanctuaries in town last year, but found that all the birds had been transported to the larger one. 

A home for little sparrows. 

Zeroing in on the turkey.

There's no way around it...it is ugly.

It's wearing its feathers like armor.


Unsurprisingly, the peacock was  showing off. Though I must say, I was impressed when it hopped up onto the branch.

Saturday Market

The Saturday market in Annecy, which is held a couple minutes' walk from the Bonlieu building. It's much larger in scale than the Tuesday and Friday markets in the Old Town; you really could do your week's shopping there.


 Crate after crate of fresh fruit and vegetables.

Round zucchini, which I must try sometime.

A large paella, simmering.

Wouldn't it be more convenient to sell these in a store?

Absolutely mouthwatering, especially with the potatoes cooking in the fat pooled at the bottom.

Dried fish which you soak in water to eat.

 There were a handful of stands selling the French version of Asian food.

After a week without rice, that fried rice looked incredibly appetizing.

With all the farms nearby, it's not hard to find fresh meat, but you can also get fresh fish caught in Lake Annecy.

Green tomatoes -- do they taste sour?

Dates from Tunisia.

They say that you choose tomatoes for their roundness and firmness. That would not apply to these.

Pale asparagus.

The mountain of pineapple miraculously did not fall over. I liked the melon man, who had a made up a little song for selling them and was singing it at the top of his voice.

Things That Are Sweet

 (Annecy, France)

A lucky moment for the bride-to-be (and the photographer).

A different shop with markedly different taste in wedding dresses.

The clutter behind the curtain bothered me.


A happy "lunch" of raspberry and ground cherry/lemon tarts, with mint green tea. The raspberries tasted so fresh!

 Chocolate lipstick! In dark chocolate and milk chocolate.

 If I had stayed longer, I would have sampled everything in the shop.