On Wednesday, students from CILFA took a tour of the city of Annecy with their teacher, Frédéric. Since French classes had just resumed, they first got to know each other over a meal at Bonlieu.

They then headed to the lake to admire the colors of the water and the “Pont des Amours” bridge. After a stop at City Hall to see Annecy’s new logo, the group was treated to a surprise demonstration of the alphorn, a traditional instrument from our mountains. It is a wooden wind instrument that served various purposes in the past: it was used to warn villages of danger and to call villagers to church. It was also used by shepherds.

The students wrapped up the tour at a café, where they naturally practiced French as a foreign language in a friendly atmosphere by introducing their respective cities. We thus took a journey through French-speaking places such as London, Sarrebourg, Angkor Wat, Seoul, and New Delhi.

In Annecy, events take place all year round—it’s impossible to get bored! To learn more about what there is to do here, on Lake Annecy, and in the surrounding area, check out the beautiful website of the tourist office: https://www.lac-annecy.com/

CILFA offers a wide range of educational activities throughout the year. These activities are cultural, linguistic, and sometimes sports-related, and usually take place off-campus. They vary depending on the season: https://www.tezdev.cilfa.fr/activites-pedagogiques/

To wrap up, a poem by Oscar David about Annecy:

Annecy! A bright city on the shores of the crystal-clear waters,

You gaze at your balconies and your swift sails

In your lake, modulating its eternal poem.

In the evening, you recline in languid, sensuous poses.

And the intoxicating scent of your fiery roses

Rise from the lake to the heavens as the ultimate offering.

Oscar David, in Lake Annecy, Colmyr-La Puya, Published in Annecy by Imp. Commerciale d’Annecy, 1928.