The past few days, Caley has been out of town for pre Tour, and then le premier jour de la Tour de France au jour'dui!! Pardon any misspelled Franglish...that's how I get by :)
I've been trying to get out on my bike, and so far I've only taken two days off, I think...I'm not sure, the days kind of melt together, I'll probably be shocked when Caley walks through the door next week, thinking he was going to be gone longer or something.
My first big ride this past week took me up to awesome climbs, the first gave me stunning views of the lake and all the para sailors, the second was up one of our favorite roads with beautiful luscious switchbacks. My second big ride took me up to the top of Semnoz which we've ridden before, but came up the other way, it was suuuch a long climb and very hot in the sun, almost ran out of water! So I treated myself to some gelato and an espresso at the restaurant at the top.
One night I hiked up the hill by our house and stumbled upon a little jazz concert! Sooo cool, and a very pretty setting.
Other than that, I've been hanging out at the lake some, and there is always a ton going on :) So many people! Annecy is quite the tourist attraction, for good reason.
I haven't ridden my bike this much in years! Seriously! It's awesome :) The legs are toast today after a 13 hr week (actually 3 days) and I feel like I've earned a day to sit in the coffee shop and get some work done for my fellowship and maybe even a little school stuff...or maybe I'll wait a little longer before diving back in...
Two days ago, Caley and I went on a totally epic 5+ hr day. Proof:
The only thing that got me through was the thought of a swim in the lake and a big juicy hamburger!! We filled both cravings, ending up a nice little cafe to watch the Euro 2012 France vs Spain game. We also discovered the Noctibus (late bus) which means we can stay downtown later than 9pm without having to walk home! Yay!
Photos and video from the ride up Glieres:
Yesterday Caley and I climbed up le Semnoz, a big hill right outside of Annecy. There is a little ski area at the top, and they have nordic in the winter as well! Talk about a stunning 360 degree view of the Alpes. I felt like we were somewhere near Aspen or Vail, it felt that alpine, and there was a delicious cold breeze at the top. Caley gave me a very misleading estimate of where the top of the climb was....a couple of times....as the videos show you, I was soooooo tired from the day before, and barely crawling up the hill :)
Tomorrow Caley heads to the Tour! It won't start until July, but he is going to a couple product launches before hand, and I will be here in Annecy. My plan is to keep riding enough so that when Caley gets back and we head down south for another adventure, I will kick his butt up Mt Ventoux! (hahahah, right, not in a million years)
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Click here for a little snippet of our day :) Or view below, I was on my phone and couldn't figure out how to imbed videos at the time
I better be careful, or this place really will become home....
Our last day and a half in Venice was just as wonderful and magical as the first 1.5 were. Totally exhausted from our first full day of wanderings, we took it pretty slow, waking up just in time to get down to the breakfast part of our "bed and breakfast" hotel, hanging out at the hotel for a few hours so Caley could work,even taking naps during the hottest part of the afternoon. Our big event was a Vivaldi Concert performed in a beautiful old church. Another favorite sighting of the day was an incredible church we stumbled upon that was made entirely of different colored marble. I'll try to add captions to my photos, but I counted at LEAST 10 different colors of marble. We didn't go inside because you had to pay, and I don't think my skirt covered my knees = too scandalous to be allowed, Oh Catholics...
The Vivaldi concert was so amazing. They played the Four Seasons, then a few other brief pieces from other Venetian composers, but my favorites of the whole night were the three encore pieces! The soloist was soooo passionate, had greased back hair, eyelashes so dark it looked like he was wearing eyeliner, and as Caley put it, it looked like he was making love to that violin :) Hahaha, SO Italian! His last piece broke a bunch of strings on his bow, what an entertaining performance!
Now we are back in Annecy, and still don't have internet...we missed the phone call from the service provider to set up yet another appointment...and they haven't called back today. I'm so unbelievably frustrated by this complete ineptitude and ridiculousness! They make Comcast look like business of the Year! Caley says I just have to adjust my expectations...
We had a great ride up Col de la Forclaz, a former Tour de France climb! There were a bunch of names painted on the road from previous tours. Unfortunately they don't go up this year, but they do go up another one nearby that is a Hors Categorie! We are going to ride it at some point, but I think I need a few more rides in my legs before we try it. At the end of the ride we stopped to take a swim in the lake. I have never seen a lake that is so clear and clean as this one! Something about the rocks that the rivers flow through before getting here filters the water, and gives it this absolutely gorgeous turquoise color that reminds me of the Mediterranean, just surrounded by Alpes.
Ok, enough rambling, here's what you've all been waiting for, some pics!
Also, here is a taste of the Vivaldi Concert. Caley was recording a bit of the encore for some work live update test thingy, but I'm going to borrow it for here :)
Wise words from my love over an incredible dinner right on the water in Venice. After a day full of wandering, gelato, magical bridges, hidden palazzos and churches, I couldn't help but marvel at how far we've come in the last 2 years. I used to have a five year plan....needless to say, I had absolutely no idea we would be here, together, embarking on the most fantastic summer of our lives.
A gallery of our wanderings for your viewing pleasure:
We stopped on one bridge after hearing music echoing down the canyon of buildings
I took this video as we reached the water after getting endlessly lost in the multitude of tiny alley ways that snake all over the island
This next video was at dinner, how impossibly romantic! We were trying to be sneaky so we didn't have to pay the guy to keep playing just for us :)
Cafe sitting is so quintessentially French, I have been sitting in a cafe all day, and do not feel the least bit French. I do not have a gaggle of friends, no cigarette dangling from my fingers, and I am the weird one on a laptop. Caley and I have discussed this numerous times, how is it, that Europe has not caught on to the internet? I can't decide if they have it right, and we Americans sitting in our own isolated worlds typing away, updating twitter and facebook are willingly destroying our own society. Or if they (the Europeans) are just living in an outdated backwater. I do believe Americans have perfected the concept of a coffee shop, they just don't exist here (at least that I have found, and I'm very new to the whole continent...)
What they lack in internet and coffee, they more than make up for in picturesque scenes, fashion, and general joie de vivre. I hope some of all of that rubs off on me!
Last night I went on 2hr ride, on the bike path! I felt kind of silly at first, but this is no ordinary bike path, it goes forever! I ended up in a whole other town! Though I must admit, I still felt strange all kitted out for a bike path ride....I can't wait for Caley to be home next week so we can do more actual rides up in the hills. I was feeling less than adventurous totally on my own for the first time.
Here are some photos from today and yesterday!
Tomorrow I head to Venice to meet up with Caley! I can't wait, Venice is on my "bucket list" and always has been!! Can't believe we are spending a few days there!
These first two are me interviewing Caitlin on our rainy tour of the CIA campus!
These next two were supposed to be pictures, which accidentally turned into videos...but I like them :)
I have been super productive today! (and there is so much day left!) Took the trash down to the scary scary basement trash place...three doors that close behind you and branching hallways, and the fear that the elevator will not come back for you..... bought my train tickets for Sundays adventure to Venice, and went to talk to the SFR (french phone/tv/internet) people AGAIN. Apparently our new French phone number was not written down on the correct page...so they failed to call us to set up an appointment for a technician to come to the house again! So, this time, we should expect a call anytime next week, and if they don't call by NEXT Friday, we should come back...OMG I AM FRUSTRATED! Is it because we're American???? And then I remember how much fail Comcast can be...but still, really??????????????????? This cafe is getting a lot of money from us for the foreseeable future...
The past two days have seen some progress for us here! We found a cafe that has internet, and got my bike put back together so we could get out for some rides before Caley leaves for Italy tomorrow! Yesterday it rained on us a little at the end of the ride, but not to bad, and I wish I had stopped for more pictures! The roads around here are incredible, after you get off the main roads, they are literally like bike paths that cars just happen to drive on. The road surfaces are super nice too!! It's so awesome I can hardly believe/describe it!
Our ride today had sooooo much climbing! My leggies hurt....Caley and I keep joking that this summer is going to launch my professional cycling career. We say it with a nudge and a wink, but regardless, I'm going to be in such great shape if I can keep it up! Yay!
French Internet is a fickle, almost mythical creature. You must sneak up on it in random bar/cafes and set up meetings with shady telecom technicians who never actually show up...but, I hope to update this blog more regularly over the summer so interested parties may keep track of our adventures!
The past two months have been full of excitement and happenings in the Cassidy-Fretz household! Caley took off for the giro in early May leaving me with just a little bit of packing and moving left to do, that of course actually turned out to be waaaaayy more packing and moving than anticipated. I spent the last two nights before the first up until at least 1am which made for very interesting days at school... But in the end it all worked out and I think we'll get our security deposit back!
The last week of my school year was spent in the spare room of. Caitlyn and Zack Vestal who were the most gracious hosts ever! We even got out for a ride around red rocks and a run on the apex trail. Sebby never quite adjusted to being in the same house as another cat, oh good, we'll never become crazy cat people :)
My next adventure was visiting my favorite sister at her new home in Hyde Park New York! I had a 12hr layover specifically designed to drop off the
Kitty and visit Caitlin before heading over the pond. It was an amazing day and hopefully I can figure out how to post pictures via the mobile platform because I have some really good ones from that afternoon!
The next adventure entailed a weekend in aix le Bain for a magic wheel press launch with Caley. I spent a good portion of it asleep but did sit one person away from David Millar at dinner! Next was on to our new home in Annecy le vieux! We've basically been running around trying to figure out Internet and checking out the local markets getting dinner with journalist friends before they head back to their respective countries and devoutly wishing for the rain to be gone!
We finally got out for an amazing ride this afternoon and it was sooooo awesome! Hoping to get out for a long one tomorrow!
