85: Our Last Day in Annecy and a Short Time in Dijon, France

Welcome to the 85th weekly post of our Baby Boomers Move to France blog.

We are into our 57th week in France 8/30-9/5/26 having spent 3 months in Duras and then roughly a month and a half in St Germaine de Confolens before settling in Chabanais.

We have been in our home in the village of Chabanais in the Charente department of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region of France since the middle of December 2025. You might remember that we actually closed on the house on Thanksgiving Day, but it took a couple of weeks to get fully moved in.

Our home in Chabanais, France

Things on the agenda this week:

• Cindy’s 1000 meter race
• Pick up Dan and Rhonda in Geneva
• On to Dijon
• Then the Saone River

Weather forecast:

Warm in Dijon all week

Why this Blog?

Long story short, we are Mark and Elizabeth Beiley (EB), “Baby Boomers” that have moved from Venice, Florida to the beautiful French countryside as retirees. After a little over a year of planning and fretting we sold everything in Venice and made the move on 1 August 2025.

We publish a brief update of our adventures every Sunday to share our experiences, tips and mistakes.

If you are wondering what got into our head and inspired us to make the move, check out some of our earlier posts. Again, if you have questions about our adventure, drop your questions in the comment section below.

This Weeks Daily Update

Sunday: Aix les Bains and Cindy’s Pink Dragons win their heat in the 1000m race.

Sunday is all about the 1000 meter race. This is Cindy’s first time to paddle in a 1000m and she is excited and ready to go. She says it was a blast despite the fact that the race was fraught with capsizes and a couple of crashes.

Later we attended the team fare well dinner. A great group of ladies and a very nice event. Oh, and dinner was good. Then back to the condo to pack and prep for the drive to Annecy.

Monday: Pick up Cindy and Wes and Karen. Then brunch at the Belvedere de Chambotte.

Despite the GPS we had a heck of a time finding Cindy’s hotel. I think we drove around in circles for 15 minutes before we pulled over and Don got out to find out where the heck we are. He got it figured out and guided us around to a parking spot across the street from the entrance of her hotel. In addition to Cindy, Wes and Karen were joining us on the drive to Anecy. We managed to stuff all of the luggage into the van and the six of us were off to an amazing lunch. More winding hair pin turns up the side of the mountain to the Belevedere restaurant. Great food and service but, the views of the lake took center stage.

After lunch we drove back down the hill and arrived at Annecy in less than an hour. We found our next AirBnb and parked in the street in order to get our bearings. Cindy had the codes for the gate and the key lock box. The codes worked and she went in to scope out our new digs. Meanwhile Don and I went over to parking fee kiosk to figured out how to pay for parking. Done.

We started lugging our baggage up to the 3rd (fourth) floor apartment. Normally this would not be a big task, but the elevator is only big enough for one person and a couple of suitcases. We are kind of use to this situation by now and we made pretty quick work of the effort. Wes and Karen hung out with us while we waited for their place to be available. They were staying with a group of about 8 people a few blocks from our spot.

Wes and I tried parking the van in the available garage. Aint no way. The turn is too tight, and the garage is too narrow and our rental van is a BEAST. If I somehow managed to get into the garage I wouldn’t be able to open the doors to get out of the van. We made arrangements to park in the street near where Wes and Karen where staying. Free parking on the street and easy to park. Unfortunately, overnight we got a ding in the side of the van. Oh well I guess it is to be expected on busy narrow streets.

We drove Wes and Karen over to the house and we hung out with the group an hour or so. EB and I decided to go back to the apartment while Don and Cindy continued to visit with her teammates. EB navigated us on a walk through a very nice park along a shaded stream. Very nice and soon we were back at the apartment. Don and Cindy joined us a bit later. A couple of glasses of wine later we called it a night.

Tuesday: A walk around the town, lunch and a boat ride on beautiful lake Annecy

What a beautiful place. EB and I found a picture for our collection of pictures of places that we have traveled to. We will just have to find a place on the walls of our house for it.

We found a nice restaurant and had lunch then walked over to Lake Annecy and scheduled a boat ride on the lake. OMG! The pictures don’t do it justice. The canals leading out to the lake are lined with shops and flowers. There are some chateaux on the banks of the lake, and the sheer cliffs are majestic and serve as a great place for hang gliding. There were at least 30 people hang gliding taking advantage of the updrafts along the cliffs.

Wednesday: Pick up Dan and Rhonda at Geneva airport.

There was no rush to get to Geneva but we had to be out of our Airbnb by 10AM so we got to Geneva about 5 hours before we need to pick up Dan and Rhonda. We went ahead to park at the airport in the long term parking area. This was great as it was not a very long walk to the terminal where Dan and Rhonda will come out.

This gave us an opportuntiy to catch a train into Geneva and walk around a little. Geneva is a pretty town, but it is a big busy town. Lots of bicycles, cars and buses.

Somewhere along the way my left eye started bothering me and my yearly eye infection flared up. It seems like this happens when I spend a lot of time in the sun.

There is a very pretty fountain where the Rhone River enters Lake Geneva. It shoots water about 145 meters into the air.

We found another fountain in a park that was just right for a photo of Rosie and EB.

We had a lovely lunch at a cafe near the fountain. Afterward we stopped at a little gelato shop and had a scoop while Don climbed a stairway to a cathedral. I declined the climb. LOL.

We walked back to the train station and took the short ride to the airport. We were still a little early so went into the Montreux jazz bar and had a drink.

It wasn’t long before it was time to greet Dan and Rhonda. We eagerly waited at the gate and we were so glad to see them. For sure they were exhausted but we had about a 3 hour drive to Dijon from the airport. We plugged the address into the GPS and were off.

Our host, Jeremy, met us at the Airbnb and gave us a detailed tour of the place. We had a little drama when we arrived at the Airbnb as we were told to turn into a little arched entry. I couldn’t get the van in. Dan said he could back it in. I was good with that, but it was still a very tight fit. In the end Jeremy told us to park in the free parking spot about a block away. It was a short walk and easy parking. More my style. We unloaded the van and I parked up the street. Poor Dan and Rhonda were beat after their long flight from Los Angeles and connection in Paris to Geneva and then the 3 hour drive to Dijon. It was so good to see them though.

The Airbnb is in a converted winery and is really a nicely done conversion with modern appliances, a washer/dryer combo and even AC. It is beautifully furnished inside and even the outdoor patio is well appointed. In a word. “gorgeous”. Thank you Cindy.

Thursday: Shower drama and chill out day.

Dan and Rhonda slept in and I flooded the condo when I took my shower. I didn’t realize what was happening until Elizaberth came running up the stairs into our shower room and said that water was running out of the light fixtures downstairs. Luckily, I stopped her from using my towel to soak up the flood so that I could dry off after stepping out of the shower into the flood. Cindy called Jeremy and he was here in 10 minutes, In the meantime, EB had found a basin to catch water as it rained down from the light fixtures into the living room. The rest of the towels in the house were placed on the floor and much of the water was soaked up pretty quickly. Jeremy had a crew here pretty quickly and reparis were underway in no time. What a great way to start a morning!!!

When Dan and Rhonda woke up we walked over to a really nice little restaurant for brunch.

Back at the Airbnb the repair guys cleaned up everything and said all is okay and a guy would be back the following day to finish up the work.

We broke out the marbles game and spent 3 hours battling it out. Lots of fun and we called it a night.

Friday: Truffle hunting

The workman arrived to finish the flood repairs. EB decided to stay at the Airbnb with Rosie and wait for the work to get done. Rosie wasn’t allowed to be at the truffle hunt and EB had already decided to stay at the Airbnb.

The truffle hunt

Don, Cindy, Dan, Rhonda, and I had a short drive to the truffle hunt meeting site. It was attended by roughly 20 people. Mostly English speakers.

Our guide, Nicholas, is a professional truffle hunter and did a very good job of explaining the world of truffle hunting to the group. The big hit of the event was his truffle hunting dog. By the way just about any dog can be trained to be a truffle hunter. Any dog except dogs with flat faces.

Truffle hunter

What the heck is a truffle? I thought they are something like a mushroom. We learned that a truffle is a rare, edible underground fungus that grows near the roots of specific trees. This is a key difference from regular mushrooms that grow on top of the ground. Another thing about truffles is that they only grow in ground that has limestone in it and also need an adequate amount of water. The hot, dry weather that we have been experiencing this summer has greatly limited the number and size of truffles this year. Chefs care about truffles because truffles are prized for their intense, complex aroma and flavor that can turn a simple dish into a luxury meal.

So, to find a truffle you must dig below the grounds surface anywhere from just a couple of inches to 12 or 15 inches.

How do you know where to dig? Well, the professionals look for ground that has limestone in it and certain trees and a peculiar feature that is called a “witches circle”. This witches circle is caused by the interaction of the soil, tree roots and fungus. I really didn’t get the whole picture so not even going to try to explain it any further. Also, the professionals don’t just start digging. As you know dogs have a tremendous sense of smell. Since the truffles have that intense aroma, dogs are able to smell them. The pros train a dog for the job, and it is amazing how the dogs can find the spot. The dog will start to dig, and the owner stops him before the truffle is damaged. The owner has a special tool that is used to do the final digging. It is truly amazing. On a good day the dog can find a truffle every 20 seconds.

Lunch

After the truffle hunting demonstration, we all joined the guide in the nearby restaurant to have a three-course meal, and all courses included some version of truffle seasoning. It was all very good and was paired with a tasty wine. I have a new appreciation for truffles.

Saturday: Sightseeing in Dijon

A short tram ride took us to the center of Dijon. Thanks to Don for figuring out the tram system. The weather cooperated and our walk around the town was really nice. There was some kind of a big set up for kids to run through an excersize circuit. It looked like the kids were having a lot of fun. This was all set up in a very pretty park.

We walked further into town and found very nice pedestrian areas.

We stopped in a nice little wine and cheese bar shared a bottle of wine and a charcuterie board then back to the tram.

I took way too many pictures. I will have to fit some in where I can in future postings.

So that was our week.

A visit to Annecy then met up with Dan and Rhonda in Geneva, then drove to Dijon, France for sightseeing.

French Lifestyle and Culture

Sorry, I’m going to skip this section this week. Doesn’t mean that there is nothing to say but I just ran out of time. Traveling, wine tasting and sightseeing takes a ton of time. LOL!

Next Week (la Semaine Prochaine)

• Canal boat ride all week.

Weather forecast for next week

Forecasted high temp of 33C (91F). Overnight lows getting down to 11C (52F). Partly cloudy most of the week with a low chance of rain. We will be on the Saone River most of the week.

Signing off for the week

As always, we sign off wishing you all a good week and remind you to take care of yourselves and your family.

Keep in touch and leave questions, suggestions and comments below. We really enjoy hearing from you all.

Wishing you a good week (Bonne Semaine)

Mark and Elizabeth Beiley

Babyboomersmovetofrance.com