mercredi 30 avril 2008A day of transition.
We're going from the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azure (PACA) in the South to the region of Rhone-Alpes in the department of Haute-Savoie in the Southeast, near Geneva. The name Provence isn't a region nor a department, it is just a name for the area. Our base for the next few days will be the town of Annecy, which is Didier's hometown. It has approximately 5,000 inhabitants and receives tourists all year round - skiing for the winter, and all sorts of water sports during the other season thanks to a grand and beautiful lake, Le Lac d'Annecy.
Today we visited a smaller laker, Le Lac du Bourget in St. Germain la Chambotte, which was on our way. The two photos you see were taken there.
A word about the geography of France. It is divided into regions which in turn have several departments each. There are approximately 100 departments in France, each given a number, in alphabetical order. How do you know what the number is? Easy, there are two ways other than memorizing them. Just like the U.S., there are zip codes. The first two digits in the five-digit code is the department number. Also, all automobile license plates end in two digits - the department in which they are registered.
For example, the zip code in Paris always begins with 75, and the last two digis correspond to the arrondissement. A common game that French children play during long road trips is to recall the number of each department. I guess that's better than repeatedly hearing "are we there yet?"
