October over? Already? Proof once again of that old Groucho Marx adage "Time flies like an arrow, but fruit flies like a banana." Seems only a little while ago that "the incident" shut down all hope of data taking at CERN this year, and now suddenly "the defining election of our generation" is upon us and the days of cold and darkness have descended on us all.
But not without a blaze of glory to mark the descent.
This was the view out our window at the beginning of October...
We had a few great days of sun and color, but then also a week or two of dreary cold, drizzle, and fog. One tends to get in a rut around here just like the weather.
With weather like this, who wouldn't sign up to go to a church men's retreat Oct. 17-19 near the idyllic tourist town of Annecy nestled between the mountains and lakes one hour south of Geneva? (Well, the women, I suppose...) I went to a similar retreat in the spring (reported here).
I have not much to report from the men's retreat itself, except this: You might have thought that being overseas one might escape much of the political hulabaloo surrounding the election, and you'd be right, for the most part. No TV ads, newspaper ads, etc. to disturb one's peace. I disturb it enough on my own poring over internet articles and poll analyses - yes, I know, the equivalent of reading trashy fiction.
(K managed to get our absentee ballots in the mail on the Saturday I was at the retreat. We could only vote for federal offices - President and U.S. Senate - since our residence is here).Still, the last place I expected to be confronted by the ugliness of extreme political views was at a men's retreat; and the last person I expected to express those views would be a pastor, from the "pulpit" no less. Not our pastor, mind you: he's what the British used to call "a brick". I like him quite a bit. No this was a pastor from another church that was also participating in the retreat. And just by way of giving an example of an opinion as a form of communication (like we don't know what that is), out of all the countless possibilities, he decided to share his personal political opinion of the current U.S. President, and none too diplomatically. A few proverbs leapt to my mind, literal and figurative...
Such opinions are dominant over here, as most of us already know, so being of a contrary bent in that regard (I believe there's more than a grain of truth to this man's view) I tend to keep mine to myself among the locals. Suffice to say it colored the last couple of hours of the retreat for me. But I made up for it by venturing solo into the town of Annecy after the retreat was over to enjoy the weather and take in the town.There's just no describing this kind of idyllic beauty, you have to see it for yourself - or the next best thing, see the pictures from someone else who's seen it for himself. ;) Don't forget, you can click on each one for a larger version.
First of all, even if it had nothing else going for it, there's the lake and the surrounding mountains, and the walkway along the lakefront...
But wait, there's more! There's a big central park for lollygagging, goggylalling, and general lazing about, or running about and playing if you're age-challenged:
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Got your interest? But what would you say if I added a waterway, and boats, and bridges with flowers, and a merry-go-round?
Got your interest? But what would you say if I added a waterway, and boats, and bridges with flowers, and a merry-go-round? 
Here's the Hotel de Ville which is French for City Hall, with a pyramid of flowers in front:
Across from city hall is the shopping district, really quaint and quintessentially European. The first bridge is a frequent hang-out for artists, professional and otherwise, people selling their wares, and swans looking for a French handout. People dawdle in front of store fronts and eat at sidewalk restaurants.
This is an old prison converted into a museum with surrounding eating establishments...
Here's a movie of the surroundings, and I think you'll hear in the background what sounds like birdsong, but it's a guy on the bridge (the one with the hat) hawking a little whistle contraption for 3 euros apiece. You put it in your mouth and wet it, and then manipulate your tongue and lips to make all sorts of piercingly loud whistles and calls. I had to buy one!
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And finally, on the way home, I stopped at "the fancy bridge", really the "Pont de la Caille" over the "Usses Torrent". Dial it up on Google Earth if you're interested... I took a bunch of pictures, but really, they look just like the pictures here, just not as many. And you can see my pictures, and all the pictures from Annecy, at our dropshots website.
Hope you enjoyed it,
-PKBD
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