Bonjour,

We arrived at Lyon, but then promptly left our tour group for two days. Our friends, Debra and Gary Lang, came with us to France. Debra has a friend in France that she has known for something like 16 years, but had never met in person. Her friend, Karen, picked us up at our boat in Lyon and drove us northeast up into the foothills of the Rhone-Alps region. She drove us to her friend Jacques’ house which was near Vaulx. But Jacques doesn’t live in town; he lives on the edge of this area in farming country. For our part, we were delighted to be invited along and it was the best part of the trip. Most of the trip felt like we were visiting France. These two days felt more like we were living in France.

Jacques lives in or near Vaulx, between Sillingy and Rumilly, and near Lake Annecy. His family has lived in this area since 1740 but not in his house. From here, it is only about a forty minute drive to Geneva, Switzerland and the Italian border is also very close.

1. This is Jacques house. The group, from left to right is Jacques, our friends Gary and Debra Lang, Karen, and Vicky.

2. From Jacques backyard, this is the view looking northeasterly.

3. This view is also from his backyard, looking more southeasterly.

4. This view is easterly and between the two prior views. If you follow the mountains from right to left, the last mountain on the left is Mont Blanc, or White Mountain.

5. I took this photo of Mont Blanc from our bedroom window and zoomed in. Mont Blanc is the highest mountain in the Alps at 15,780 feet. It is near the Italian border and was the site of the first winter Olympics in 1924.

Voila,

Bill