Hello from France—Happy Bastille Day!

Looking out onto the lake in Annecy, France, past ‘le balcon,’ the balcony of our little room. So lovely to be here.

On Sunday, we traveled from England under the channel on the ‘chunnel’ train to Paris, then to Normandy to visit with Gilbert’s widow Huguette (for those of you who have read my story, Finding Gilbert. He was the French orphan my father tried to adopt during WWII). Huguette is so lovely and kind. We visited the cemetary above Omaha Beach, always so moving. She coddled us with delicious food. Landon had a cold and she mothered him. What a gift she is.

Yesterday, we sped across France on the TGV, past fields of sunflowers, tidy farms and villages wound around church steeples. Then the majestic mountains and this beautiful lake. The trains are so fantastic here and always such fun. So much better than driving. And we covered the distance from San Francisco to San Diego in three hours while we ate breakfast, talked, snoozed and read! Can’t do that in the car!

Today we rented bikes and will be riding each day for the next week — today it was a trip around the lake together, about 20 miles, then Landon took off for another two hours up mountain roads. I lounged in the room and pedaled up to a Brocante Marche — an antique faire and bought a tiny souvenir for 4 euros.

We’re staying in a little two star family run hotel about 4 km from Annecy — lovely and sweet and much more reasonable than the ones in downtown Annecy. Tomorrow, I go to a spa — have to include that in my stories about the region!. Ooh, la, la.

Tonight, ‘feux artifices’ — fireworks for Bastille Day.

Good thing we’re riding so much — the pain au chocolate is amazing.

Diane