Jeannine & Roger's French Cheese Odyssey

Annecy - 25th April

If you are rich and like quick boring trips then Annecy is, by toll roads, an hour from Bourgoin-Jallieu. For those that like to see the scenery and drive through small towns it takes around two hours. Because Annecy is in the Northern Alps it is a lot colder and you can see the change in housing style to more chalet like homes with steep roofs to keep the snow off.
Today is Annecy’s market day; we got there in time to see the produce stalls and then went straight to the bakery and bought 2 small soft baguettes, one had olives and parmesan baked in it and the other cheese and ham. We later went back to the same shop for a sweet treat. Food being a priority and crowds being a pain, there is no photo of the market, only this after shot of our bakery and the council cleaning up the market mess.

Annecy also has lots of history so rather than explain it all here are some images

Palais de l’Île

Pont des Armours (lovers bridge)

Basilique de la Visitation

ANZAC DAY 2023 - To commemorate ANZAC day we have donned our poppies and completed some war-themed geocaches...
1 - Stalingrad Square where a temple once stood and the local Pastor smuggled in Jewish war refugees and gave them false papers

2 - Joan of Arc who had nothing to do with WWI or WWII, however Annecy had decided to get a statue of her, which finally turned up in 1942. The then mayor decided it could be erected (on a much bigger plinth) in front of the town hall for as long as the war was on and then had to be relocated.

On the way home we stopped at Lake Bourget and Aix les Bains (a pretty lake resort) and visited their war memorial. 

Cheese Experience No.4: Today’s cheese experience was the two cheese baguettes which we purchased for lunch. Both were quite salty which could have been the cheese type or the olives and ham that were baked into it.  A salty cheese fact In keeping with the ANZAC theme: there is evidence of cheese recipes from 200BC that emphasise the importance of salt to develop the flavour, preserve the cheese and help with the health of the soldiers. The military were given rations of cheese everyday to maintain their salt levels and wellbeing.  Much later in WWII the American’s still realised the value of cheese to soldiers so their lunch rations included Swiss cheese (similar to Emmental) and America processed canned cheese that was salty. The Crusaders from the 14th century ate particularly well and bought local fresh cheese on the march. The Crusaders from the 21st century are from Canterbury.    

Finally, a random home-made wreath for ANZAC day