The Little Town in France That Should Be on Your Bucketlist
“Little town, in a quiet village…” I couldn’t help but sing the Beauty and The Beast theme song the entire time in Annecy. I didn’t know much about the town prior to booking our weekend away from Paris, and what I expected was the complete opposite of what we experienced.
To actually get out on the lake was just incredible
I booked our weekend to Annecy just a few months before our trip to France. I didn’t know much about the town, and what I expected was the complete opposite of what we experienced. First, one of the only reasons I booked our weekend in Annecy was because it was one of the only places we found that was surrounded by mountains, had tons to do, and was a short distance away from Paris. Other than those check boxes I didn’t know much else, and I was willing to be surprised. In hindsight I’m quite glad I didn’t know too much because my expectations were blown out of the water.
We left Paris at 8am on Friday and arrived into Annecy around 11:50am. The trip was so easy – I love European trains so much, it makes it hard coming back to MTA life. Our AirBnb wasn’t ready for us yet, so we wandered around with all our suitcases until we realized we looked ridiculous! We wandered pretty close to our AirBnb, which was in the center of Old Town Annecy, so once our space was ready, we dropped our things off and headed right back out to take advantage of the afternoon we had, and grab lunch. The first thing we noticed when we got out of the apartment at 3pm was how lively the town was. There was music playing, packed outdoor restaurants, tons of millennials our age, and a laundry list of things to do! I was not expecting the town to be so vibrant, and when I realized what we got ourselves into I was thrilled. We’ve traveled to a few places over the years strictly for quaintness, and Annecy, while quaint, was still such an exciting and lively place to be. It checked off all the boxes.
We had lunch at this cute little place called Tete de Cochon and it was extremely satisfying. The waiter was very friendly, he even tried to help me with my French. He sat down next to me and helped me perfect how I said “I would like” in French. The perfect first lunch in Annecy. Afterwards we finally made our way down to the lake to enjoy golden hour – it was stunning! There were people running, and just laying around, enjoying the view. Jord and I decided to go out on one of the docks to sit and relax. We took in our surroundings; the mountains, the people, the sun and the crazy swans. Side note, locals know the swans in Annecy to be “vicious”, they even have statues of little boys ripping of the heads of swans (barbaric, I know). That night, while not documented, we had an amazing Italian dinner at Le Sapaudia. We waited about 30 minutes for a table and it was well-worth the wait. I highly recommend Sapaundia if you’re in Annecy.
Our first morning we visited this coffee shop, Brumes. I’d heard great things about the coffee being strong and delicious, and wanted to try it for ourselves. It was honestly the best coffee we had in France. I loved the atmosphere inside the little shop as well! We went a couple times a day! Afterwards, we took to exploring more of what the town had to offer, which was a lot! On Saturday’s there are antique and art markets all lined up throughout old town Annecy. We wanted to buy everything, but the only thing we ended up with was a children’s book in French for our Niece. It was cool to wander through the town and look at everything being sold. The art for sale was beautiful, and if our bags weren’t packed to the brim I would have brought some home with us. I had seen people paddle boating the previous day, so we took a stroll through the park to get an idea of costs and the options for the paddle boats. They were 28 Euro for one hour. I wanted to get on the lake around golden hour, since it was so pretty the day before so we went back to the apartment, freshened up and went back around 4pm.
The paddle boats were so fun! A highly recommended activity in Annecy. The lake is so beautiful from shore, but to actually get out on the lake was just incredible. The memory that really sticks with me from our paddle boat excursion is a funny one. Jordan and I went to a beer hall before getting on the boats. I drank about 24 oz of beer before we left for the paddle boats. Mind you, I have a bladder of a baby. We paddled so hard to get out on the lake, and then about 2 minutes into arriving in our “spot” on the water I realized that I should have used the restroom at the beer hall before getting on the paddle boats. We enjoyed as much of the view as we could while out on the lake, but sadly had to book our butts back to shore ( a 20 minute ride back) because I thought I was going to die from needing to pee so bad! LOL. I felt bad because I couldn’t help paddle, so Jordan had to do it himself, against the current. We ended up using a public restroom in the park – which was an adventure in and of itself.
One day in Annecy and brought lunch out on the lake with us. It’s such a cheap, easy way to grab lunch when you’re on the go. Looking back at these photos makes me want to hop back on a flight to France, straight back to Annecy. I can only imagine how beautiful this small town is in the winter and springtime!
XO – With Love, Em
