Day 16 – Annecy to Albertville

I was up earlier enough to see Sarah go but I had breakfast with her husband, I would have happily devoured their entire loaf of bread but felt that would be greedy! I packed up all my things and got ready to say goodbye; he very kindly helped me down the lift and stairs before we said farewell. I wondered into the centre to see the town again; it is just a beautiful place to be. I didn’t have far to Albertville, so the plan was to relax by the lake, go for a swim and then head down in the evening.

I had cycled for about 15 km before I found a place to relax. I settled in and caught up with some work. I was surrounded by mountains and clear blue water, the lake is supposedly the cleanest in Europe so I was going to enjoy it, after two weeks cycling in the sun, I was hiding under a tree. The forecast was for clear skies all day, but again it was wrong, and another thunderstorm drew in out of nowhere, and everyone was running for cover. It looked like my swim was going to have to wait.

It was still raining, but I decided to just head to Albertville, the route was flat the whole way, but the weather was awful, it only really perked up once I arrived!

It took me a while to find the place I was staying. Xavier and Anouch had very kindly offered me a bed for the night. Xavier helped me with my bike and then took me up where I got a drink and chatted away; they had a 6-month-old who had the bluest eyes. After showering, I helped prepare supper with them, I say helped, I cut two peppers, and that was it before tucking into a bowl of nuts. Once the baby was in bed we chatted away over supper; these guys were quite the adventurous types although since the baby they have had to cut back. What was so nice was they ate ridiculously healthy, and it was fantastic to get a lot of whole food down me. After what felt like a scrummy 5-course meal we called it a night. They set up my bed on the sofa, and after a bit of work, I was out.