Mon, 21 August 2023
Vertical Climbed: 86 meters (282 feet)
Vertical Descended: 70 meters
Rating: 3
Geraldine woke at 6.30; we’d planned to get up an hour earlier. After a cool shower we were on our way at 7.15. Not a moment too soon. It was already warm and humid. Runners were out in force on the lake side. Doing their pre-work sport.
Our plan was to walk 10km then stop for breakfast. Breaking the back of today’s return. I had a blister on my left foot and a hip that was hurting. I thought of Kennedy: We choose to do this tour, not because it is easy, but because it is hard, because that goal will serve to measure the best of our energies and skills.
Coming out of Annecy I was attacked by a wasp which was, and still is, extremely painful. At least my other foot was getting blistered so that balanced things out. Initially we were by the lake but after Sevrier at 9km the path heads inland. At 11km we stopped at L'abri cyclette (L'Abri Cyclette (labricyclette.com) for breakfast. It is possible to return to the lakeside just before St Jorioz as far as Bordon/Duingt. We continued on the cycle path as it was the easier option. At Duingt there is a chateau to visit but again we wanted to press on and took the tunnel and the last leg to the Bout du Lac and the Port du Doussard. The beach here is not great, very stoney to get in the water. There is a medieval tower at the end of the nature trail and we took the nature trail back to where we parked the car; past where the old village and church is located.
There are plenty of cafes on the cyclepath and it is relatively flat. About 50% of the route is shaded, we had feared it would be too exposed. We arrived at Doussard around midday. 4 hours of walking. It would be nice to be closer to the water and we shouldn’t have zapped the section around St Jorioz as it would have been refreshing to take a dip in the lake waters.
Very hot; mid 30C. Lots of cyclists.
