Instasamedi {14}

Instasamedi for the first week of September?

It's all about slippers, sun, school kids & a swan.

{OK & geeky alliteration too.}

Saturday slippers.
{samedi, Annecy, chez nous}

Autumn-coloured ancient auto.
{dimanche, Annecy, near chez nous}

The day before back-to-school...
This girl who I saw at a local bookstore must have been happy, don't you think?
{lundi, Annecy, Librairie Decitre}

Back-to-school bikes.
{mardi, Annecy, high-school down the street from chez nous}

Afternoon rush hour... one tourist boat coming in & one heading out.
{mercredi, Annecy, le lac}

Cute retro packaging on my brand-new box of baking soda? Yes please!
{jeudi, Annecy, chez nous}

Swan-tastic!
{vendredi, Annecy, on the shores of le lac}

Les Scènes du Week-end {35}

Vitamin C + fresh freezing-cold air + Sophie + sunset 

= super weekend.

Fresh-squeezed Saturday-morning OJ has become quite the tradition.

Saturday afternoon, we drove through a few local villages...

.... & then up & up through the icy forest...

... until we reached le Plateau des Glières,
which is well-known as a cross-country skiing destination in the winter,
but is also famous for its role in the French Resistance during the Second World War.

Bonjour, blue sky!

Moi, freezing but festive!

Pretty-good self-portrait for the two of us who could no longer feel our fingers!

Sunday afternoon down by the lake...

... avec mon amie Sophie !!!

And a beautiful sunset, to finish it all off nicely.

J'adore mon amie Laure...

... & she's visiting Annecy for a few days... youpi !!!

Les Scènes du Week-end {31}

So does anybody remember way back when 

every Monday I was posting

"Les Scènes du Week-end" 

with ten photos showing you my Saturday & Sunday stuff?

Hmm?  Nope?

Well, no worries. It's been quite a while...

But I've decided to get back to it in 2012, 

because it's a fun feature that I enjoy sharing with you

& that I love reading par example, 

on Pughs' News or Exquisite Banana.

So, without further ado, here are the scenes from this past weekend.

Get ready for lots of shots of fruit & veg,

time spent in the kitchen 

& not much more.  

You see, I was still working on getting over this beyond-nasty flu.

It's almost gone!

And it will NOT be back.

{Unlike les Scenes du Week-end... haha!}

Squeezing oranges for OJ on Saturday morning

"Happy New Year" on local bus

Zillions of galettes des rois at the supermarket {remember my post about them over here?}

I came back from the supermarket with everything I needed to make leek/potato soup

While I stayed in for a cozy afternoon, FQ went skiing with a friend at a local station de ski {as you can see, he's almost as much of an Instagram maniac as I am...}

After making soup, I took down all the Christmas decorations {le sigh...}

Even if our neighbours still have their festive lights up...

Sunday morning = heart-shaped pancakes {I know, it's not quite Valentine's Day...}

Post-pancake walk & swan-sighting down by the lake

Our friends' cat, EP, who we are feeding as they are away on vacation at the moment

Et voilà !

Les Scènes du Week-end {29}

This weekend we took it easy & didn't go very far from home.

But there were some lovely things to see just down the street.

There was a local apple/pear/honey festival 

we checked out on Saturday afternoon.

there were great prices on apples & pears grown in orchards just outside Annecy

& lots of yummy local juice too

as you can see, some pumpkins & squash snuck into the festival

& a local jam-maker too 

{We didn't buy any jam, seeing as
my husband is an expert de confiture,
so we have tons of jars chez nous...}

Sunday morning it was foggy,

so the mountains we can usually admire from our balcony

were mostly hidden.

However, that didn't stop me from admiring
the colour of all the local trees.

Have I mentioned I love autumn?

view of the neighbours' pretty fall colours from notre balcon

FQ made a huge batch of delicious pumpkin soup

& also gingerbread cake for dessert.  

Miam !!!

I love soup almost as much as I love autumn

After lunch, we went down to le lac for a wander in the fresh air.

oooh, pretty

J'adore voir les feuilles dans le lac...

more pretty fall trees outside of Annecy's fancy lake-front hotel/casino

But really... let's be honest, ok?

Local fruit festival? Fun.

Husband who makes soup & cake?  Nice.

Lake & lovely leaves just down the street?  Pretty.

But the best thing about this past weekend?

My new iPhone started working!!!

Whee!!!!!!!

Canuck case?  I love it more than autumn & ALMOST as much as the iPhone!

Les couleurs de l'automne

It's only been a week or so here in Annecy 

that it's starting to be quite chilly, especially at night.

Résultat ?

The gorgeous autumn colours

have really made an appearance.

J'adore les couleurs de l'automne...

I snapped this photo the other day down by the lake.

It amused me how the orange leaves on that beautiful big tree

were just next to the bed of pansies that still looked decent.

Dear Tree,

You are gorgeous.

Keep it up!

Dear Pansies,

Aren't you a spring flower?

Um, it's fall {& not far from winter!}

Nice to see you anyway.

Dear Rue de France Readers,

Thanks for stopping by.

I wish you a lovely last weekend of October!

bises,

E

Moi, ma mère & le lac

The other day, my parents & I drove around le Lac du Bourget,

which is located not too far from Annecy. 

 It is the largest & deepest lake located entirely within France

& is impressively beautiful.

{We're not too shabby either, non ?}

This weekend is my parents' last few days in France during this visit.
Le sigh.

But we have fun plans for the next few days.

We're going to Chamonix, 

so stay tuned for lots of mountain/glacier/fondue photos next week...

Bon week-end !

Les Scenes du Week-end {20}

It was very hot here this weekend.

Très très chaud.

 The temperature rarely went below 30 degrees C, even at night.

Ugh.

I'm not a fan of such weather.

I know I should be enjoying these last few weeks of real summer,

but it's hard for me to not be cranky

when I'm feeling sweaty,

droopy 

&

generally

just too hot.

I've been missing Brittany & its cool ocean

& dreaming of crisp autumn weather.

But you know what?

I really shouldn't complain.

You see, I live in a beautiful part of the world,

with lots of lovely places to swim nearby.

So this weekend was all about the water 

{the lake on Saturday, the river on Sunday}

 +

the shade

+ 

my new best friend, the Evian water spritzer!

home-made peach crisp

my addiction

I think whoever owns this rowboat needs to lend it to me

perfect lake-side reading material {thanks, Erin!}

check out my new sunglasses... or the peoples' legs behind me!

thank goodness sandwiches don't require cooking

Annecy's most famous restaurant/tour boat

the last of the tomatoes from our balcony garden {it was even too hot for them!}

down by the river

nerdy clock showing the temperature in our kitchen... at bedtime

It's supposed to continue to be hot most of this week.

I have one more week of vacation, so

until it decides to be less than 30 degrees, 

my plans look something like this:

In the morning, 

standard-transmission driving lessons at the auto-école {eek!!}

Lunch of cold stuff, eaten in front of the fan.

Afternoon at the lake, in the shade with my book.

Evening on our balcony.

Oh & doing laundry & a little packing before next weekend,

when we will attend a friends' wedding

far from Annecy.

I'd love to tell you they're getting hitched

in Iceland or Denmark or Scotland.

Unfortunately that would be a lie.

You know where they're getting married?

In Spain.

Oh woe is me.