Winter road trip part II - Annecy.

Our drive from Mâcon to Annecy could have been quite spectacular but for the fog but we caught the odd glimpse of the scenery when we had an occasional lift of the cover or exited one of the long tunnels. We arrived,as we knew we would, early for getting into our apartment so decided to head over to the lake,park the car and go for a walk to take in the views.

Marching around Mâcon. Winter road trip part I.

Off on our winter road trip, heading down to spend some time at Richard & Francoise in Provence. We decided to take in Annecy en-route as it was a place we wanted to visit before heading back to Scotland,if we ever get there! Friends had suggested an overnight stop here at Mâcon, something they do on the way to Marseilles (where we are heading also) to break the journey . 

We arrived mid afternoon, a bit later than planned as we had another tyre pressure warning which meant a detour to a service station. Of course it was totally unnecessary as we checked them all and were ok but topped up anyway as to justify the visit and the heavier than usual load, before simply resetting the system, better safe than sorry I hear you say. 

Mâcon, in the heart of southern Burgundy,sits along the Saône River.  The charming historic center, with its Romanesque tile roofs and colorful facades, gives it a distinctly southern feel which makes it ideal for a walk around. 

After checking into our hotel we headed out to enjoy what was left of the afternoon and the evening taking in the main sites.

The streets were quiet for a Saturday evening although there was a lot of locals out celebrating Halloween with their families.

We did just under 7 km so we justified stopping for a refreshment, though not at this establishment as the clientele seemed a bit fearsome!

We had dinner at a delightful little Italian (I know!) restaurant, run by Italians where we had two courses and limoncello cocktails for 41 euros all in!

Mon Banc Dominical — My Sunday Bench, by the lake at Annecy.

 

Not sure they would let me live on this street!

Snapped these windows on Rue des Joyeux in Le Grand-Pressigny on our walk on Monday, as I  have done many times before. It always strikes me as quite a handsome facade and even though the windows and shutters colour would not be my choice (nor the Mayor's?) it seems to work here!

Monday's walk around Le Grand-Pressigny.

 

Back to the 70's/

 

Yesterday Pauline took us back to the seventies for our meal, starting with Prawn cocktail followed by what do you think for main and desert ?

Mon banc dominical / My Sunday Bench - memories of Seville!

 

Oh deer, hounded out!

 This was the scene as we headed out for a walk this morning young hounds on the scent of some deer that had been chased into the village streets from a hunt ('La Chasse') which we could hear going on on the other side of the river.

Paulie saw two young Roe deer  trying to get out of the road leading to the church but then turned right and fled as we approached unfortunately they then turned right again taking them back into the village and towards the pack of hound. In their panic they tried to get through a set of gates by bashing against them several times. 

I managed to shoo them away from the gates and get them to head in the direction out of the village - which they did in a hurry!

Thanks everyone for your anniversary wishes.

I thought we already had the last rose on our climbing rose at the back of our house back in September  but no, just days before our anniversary this rose began to blossom. It timed its appearance perfectly as it was placed beside Pauline's morning coffee on our anniversary. 

Pauline and I would like to thank everyone for their good wishes on the day. 

Barrou bench.

 Au bord de la Creuse.

Autumn sunset.

Over at friends for dinner on Thursday night and watched their sunset view, one they can never tire of and one that changes with the seasons. Quite magical.

Autumn skies...

Window spotting...

 

Two windows from our walk around Le Petit-Pressigny on Saturday.

This morning's walk.

After missing yesterday's organised walk we did the La Guerche to Barrou one this morning. We passed by these once-bright sunflowers now with their heads hang heavy and dark, stalks bowed by the weight of the season’s end. Before we went out we checked the forecast which implied we would get back before any rain. It lied and we got caught in a shower at the halfway point so came back a wee bit drookit for the second week in a row.

A walk around the 18th Art & Lard festival in La Petit-Pressigny.

It's alive and well at L'Art et Lard the annual autumn arts and local food festival held in the village of Le Petit-Pressigny in the Touraine.

You can visit today,the second day of the festival.

Work of street artist Mickael Busseau.(BuS)

Products and art were on display as usual in front of and in the church,

As well as houses and gardens of local residents.

Above paintings by Gina Bardin.

Above is my favourite piece of the day.