Annecy and the Vanoise

Annecy

We set off early in the morning so as to arrive in Annecy in the morning and thus have a good part of the day to visit the city. Annecy is called the Venice of France, because it's crossed by two canals and the houses, just like in Venice, face onto the two canals. Well… the definition is a bit of a stretch. Annecy, with its 50,000 inhabitants, has been the capital of Haute-Savoie since 1860, the year the region was annexed to France. The charming little town overlooks one shore of Lake Annecy.

The history of this city begins in Roman times. Savoy remained in the hands of the Romans until 408 AD, after which it became part of the kingdom of Provence; in the fifteenth century it became part of the possessions of the House of Savoy.

We visit what is called the old town, its churches, its houses, its winding streets crowded with tourists and shops. We also stop to enjoy the sun on the shores of Lake Annecy. The lake is navigable and you can take part in one of the many cruises that are organised on the lake. A cycle path runs alongside most of the lake, another way to get to know this place.

The castle overlooks the old town and from its esplanade you can enjoy a beautiful panorama over the rooftops of the city and the lake. Inside there's a museum that isn't particularly interesting. The combined ticket, 6.50 euros, allows you to visit the castle and the Palais de l'Ile, in the latter the prisons are particularly interesting. We've all seen the Palais de l'Ile at least once, it appears in all the tourist brochures that present the city. It's the fortified house standing on an island in the middle of the canal.

The day flies by and in the late afternoon we leave splendid Annecy heading for Termignon in the Vanoise. We pitch our tent in the only campsite in the town. The air towards evening is very cool and the temperatures drop a lot during the night. The Vanoise national park is located in the Savoie department on the border with Italy.

Col de la Vanoise

Today is a beautiful sunny day and we have all the time to walk in the Vanoise national park without any particular time constraints to respect.

The Vanoise national park is the first French national park, established in 1963 to protect the almost extinct ibex. In the neighbouring Gran Paradiso national park there were, in 1823, only about a hundred of these splendid animals left. This was in fact the date when hunting the ibex was banned (in Italy it is a protected species precisely because, as in France and other Alpine countries, it seriously risked extinction). The Gran Paradiso National Park was created in 1922, a few years later (1943) in the Vanoise, thanks to the French Alpine Club, a nature reserve was established which after various vicissitudes became the current national park in 1963. The park encompasses a vast territory made up of high mountains, suffice it to say that 107 peaks exceed 3000 metres, green and wide valleys, splendid alpine lakes and several glaciers, although many are now in clear retreat.

We leave our car in the Bellecombe car park (whose road starts directly from the village of Termignon). Even the car journey offers many views of the mountains. Marco has chosen the path that goes into the heart of this valley and takes us to the pass and the Vanoise refuge. The route is a bit long, at first it's flat and passes alongside a small lake where many fishermen are already at work. Then we reach the Plan du Lac refuge where the view opens up over the valley. The path then descends (losing 350 metres of elevation gain) down to the Pont de la Renaudiere. After crossing the bridge the climb begins. We climb up to the Entre Deux Eaux refuge and from here it continues towards the valley with a slight descent (there you go… all that effort for nothing). We cross the Croè-Vie bridge and the real climb begins (550 metres of elevation gain).

The path then continues into the wide valley with a very long gently sloping path where you encounter lots of marmots. Along the route you can admire two beautiful alpine lakes. Finally we reach the Vanoise pass where the refuge of the same name also stands. The views along the path are splendid and the view over the Grande Casse and its glacier is stunning. The Grande Casse, with its 3855 m, is the highest peak in the Vanoise national park. The return is made along the same route as the outward journey. All in all, there and back is about 20 km but it's really worth it.

From late June to early September there is a shuttle service from Termignon to Bellecombe and from here to the Entre Deux Eaux refuge. So for the laziest it's possible to shorten the trip a bit. In this way the initial descent or the final climb are avoided… but.. it's not the same thing!

Pointe du Gran Vallon

Today we choose a shorter itinerary than yesterday's, but equally panoramic.

We again leave our car at Bellecombe (2307 m), and take a dirt road to the left of the car park that leads to some alpine pastures. We leave the dirt road shortly before it ends and continue diagonally towards the south, first on pasture and then on scree (not even a trace of the path) towards the little pass between the Petit Vallon and the Grand Vallon at an altitude of 2750. I climb the Petit Vallon, while Marco continues towards the Grand Vallon and then joins me on my summit. The two peaks are very panoramic. We return to the car park following roughly the same route as the outward journey.

Our mini holiday is over… we head back home satisfied with the three days spent in France and the beautiful days we had. A foretaste of the holidays.. sometimes you need it…