Today we had no hesitation returning to yesterday's boulangerie for another el-chepo but el-yummo breakfast in the old town of Annecy. Being a Monday morning, it was nowhere near as busy as yesterday's market mayhem and we sat and ate and contemplated things and people and they passed us by. There a lot of dogs here in Annecy, which Kym particularly likes. They are allowed into the shops and are very well behaved - it's funny. One dog was even carrying its owner's morning paper around in its teeth! And no, we have not yet had any problems with doggy-doos, nor have we seen much either.
We strolled along the old town streets afterwards and visited the old prison on the island in the middle of the city. As it was still not too hot, we decided it might be nice to walk along the Annecy promenade to the other side of town and check out the Imperial Palace Casino Hotel. We walked right around this mammoth structure and all the way down to the beach. Not much to see at the beach - it looked like hardened mud, yet there were plenty of people there. We went up to the casino to see if we could try our luck. Kym doesn't mind a flutter now and then, but we could both read the French sign at the entrance well enough to understand that shorts, sneakers and beach-wear were not permitted. Oh well, we probably saved some money that way. We can gamble whatever money we have left (yeah right) at the salubrious Crown Casino back home in Melbourne - lol.
To try a different walk back home, we decided to follow the signs to Albertville which seemed to take us through the newer commercial centre of Annecy. There was a Galeries Lafayette store there so we popped in, primarily to cool down. Kym wanted to try some perfumes, so we charged over to the lights and glamour of the perfume section and Rod noticed all these men in dark suits walking around, all looking the same and all on high alert. They seemed to protecting someone. From what we now gather, there was a sheik's wife in the store and she had four bodyguards to escort her around while she threw bottles of perfume into her personal assistant's shopping bag. We went upstairs to escape the commotion, and there was even a guard up there looking down on her. She must have been big-time sheik material, as there were two top-of-the-range black Mercedes outside with the drivers waiting. We wonder whether she must have been staying at the Imperial Palace Casino Hotel??
Walked back into town and checked out some more of the card-shops and sales. Heaps of things on sale still. Popped into the supermarket and grabbed some lunch for today and some breakfast for tomorrow morning, as we have an early start tomorrow. The train for Arles leaves at 8am.
Dinner tonight was back at La Table d'Elise in the old town and we thoroughly enjoyed a Reine pizza, green salad and some champagne to celebrate our last night here. The owner also celebrated our return by giving us a complimentary shot of a local drink - something like Grasgrois? (I will check later on the name). We think it was pass-out poison as we both couldn't walk straight after that. LOL. So we meandered through the small, bendy streets of the old town before returning to the hotel to pack once again and finish off all the food and drink we had accumulated over the last few days.
Tomorrow will take us way down south to Arles - where Vincent Van Gogh went mad. The place where he painted over 300 paintings, not one of which still remains there. It should be great fun staying down by the Rhone River. Until then, bon soir!
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