Paris to Annecy in less than four hours, TGV is impressive. That made it possible to visit a friend of mine in Annecy for the weekend. After meeting up with my friend at the train station, we grabbed some croissants from a shop for breakfast and dicussed where to visit for the two days. The plan was: Day 1 - visit Chamonix and Day 2 - visit Annecy old town in the morning and a nearby village Le Grand Bernand in the afternoon.

Chamonix was the host for the first Winter Olympic Games in 1924. This French Alpine town is one of the most popular winter destinations in the country.

During the weekend trip to Annecy, I had a chance to visit this charming ski resort for a day trip. It is located very near to the point where the French, Swiss and Italian borders meet. Italy is just at the other side of Mont Blanc, linked by a tunnel.

From Colmar to Strasbourg, we continued our travel in the Alsace region of France. The Germanic name “Strasbourg” means “the city of roads”. Due to its location just west of the French-German border, Strasbourg captures the cultures of both sides.

The old city (Altstadt) centre of Strasbourg was built on the island formed by the two branches of the river Ill. We started out visit at Ponts Couverts (covered bridges linked by medieval watchtowers) in the Little France (La Petite France).

Heading east on the Autoroute, towards Alsace region, a friend and I started the weekend trip from Paris early on a Saturday morning. The itinerary included two Alsatian cities – Colmar and Strasbourg as well as a brief visit to Baden-Baden across the French-German border.

Our first stop Colmar, is a charming city famous for its picturesque houses and medieval buildings. We started our city walk at the Little Venice (La Petite Venise). Yes, it’s indeed a postcard-like little area in the city with a canal that has beautiful settings on both sides.