Encore Annecy

I returned to Geneva after a thoroughly satisfying weekend in France to ensure that all was ready for Son B and the teenage grandkids who would arrive on Monday.  Sure enough, the visitors arrived in due course.  They were functioning principally on adrenaline because none had slept much on the transatlantic flight.  Here are the grandkids are boarding the flight from Paris CDG to Geneva Cointrin.

Since the adrenaline fix seemed to keep them up for it, I drove around to give an overview of Geneva and the international organizations area.  Then we stopped by one of the grocery chain stores so that we could stock up on what they might actually eat - in addition to some of the specialties that I hoped they would try.  They seemed to enjoy seeing how displays and products are different.  Still, they were impressed by the variety of products that are available in Switzerland.

Then, predictably, they all crashed.  They had the rest of the day to get settled, nap, take short walks, and, of course, do what they most avidly wanted to do.  That was to get caught up on the World Cup matches being played in South Africa.  Both Prince C and Princess C are passionate soccer (aka "football" to the rest of the world) players.  Indeed, their visit had been postponed just so that they could all view the US-UK game in the US!  Fortunately, we had several networks broadcasting the events, although not all broadcasts were in English.

The next day, we all headed back to Annecy, there to meet up with Sweet V and Friend G so that Friend G could travel back to Switzerland with us. 

Once Prince C and Princess C had caught sight of the Annecy castle, however, there was no question as to how we would spend the time before the 2:30 pm meet-up.  So, up to the castle we climbed.

The castle in Annecy was built between the 12th and 16th centuries and served as the residence of the Counts of Geneva, among others. Several times the victim of fires, the castle was abandoned in the 17th century and later repaired to serve as a barracks until 1947.  The town of Annecy acquired the castle in 1953, restored it and installed a museum there.

And yes, this hole is exactly what one imagines that it is! 

After having lunch along the main canal, we took a walk along the lakefront.

Then we met up with Friend G and headed back to Switzerland.