Day 5, 22 May 2008, Zermatt to Annecy

Route

"Have you looked outside? It's worse than yesterday." Those were the words of the Air Zermatt guy at the heliport when I called this morning. No helicopter tours today and we've pretty much exhausted our list of things to do in Zermatt when the weather is shitty. At breakfast, Angela and I proposed calling an audible and getting out of here and heading down the road to Annecy, France. Adam and Carlisle have raved about it, so I checked online and found a hotel and we decided to kiss Zermatt and her clouds goodbye.

Not to be deterred, we (Adam, Carlisle, and I) took the cable cars all the way to the "Matterhorn Glacier Paradise," a 12,700ft. panoramic viewing deck and "glacier palace." Aside from climbing the stairs to the highest elevation I have ever been to (12,736ft ASL), this was a completely useless expenditure of time and money. There was absolutely nothing to see; it was cold; and it was snowing.

Back down in town, we hooked up with Angela (who had been unsuccessful in her shopping efforts), had some yummy sausages for lunch, and got the hell out of there. The drive to Annecy took about 3 hours and went along the shores of Lake Geneva before heading south to Annecy.

This was an excellent decision. Annecy is an absolutely lovely town on the shores of a 9 mile long glacial lake that empties through the town by way of several man-made canals. The weather this afternoon was perfect as we strolled along the lakefront promenade, down the canals, and past the gelato stands (twice). Annecy is called the Venice of the Alps, and I can see why. We had dinner at a place right on the canal and strolled back to the hotel. Assuming the weather is OK tomorrow, we're going to take a lake cruise and then head down the road to Aix-les-Bains.