What is tha climate like in Annecy? SInce its so close ot the Italian border it must be pretty warm!
________
Vino 125 (http://www.yamaha-tech.com/wiki/Yamaha_Vino_125)

It's also close to the Swiss border. What makes you think it's so warm?

Well, I don't know the Annecy area that well. What is the climate like????

I have lived here in Annecy for 6 years, and it seems to have 4 distinct seasons. Not too much snow in town; maybe 2 or 3 times per year. Summers are usually wonderful, but of course we had the big heat wave in 2003, and a milder one in 2006. Exceptions to the normal are common....after some beautiful spring weather, we have snow on the ground today, March 31. Typically atypical weather!

Hi Marla

We'll be moving to Annecy in about 6 weeks. I'm curious about the heatwaves that you had. How hot did it get? And were they in August? (I wont have all the kid's summer clothes with us till the end of
june - I'm presuming it wont be too hot before then?). I dont mind the heat but I'm looking forward to leaving behind the very humid summers we have here. :)

I've been in Annecy since the end of September, and I remember that it was still really warm until the middle of October. The winter was actually pretty mild this year, but we did have some snow. Temperatures started to get warm again a few weeks ago, but like Marla mentioned, we had snow again two days ago. The forecast for the first of week of April is 15 degrees C (about 60 F).

The summer will be gorgeous here (or so my boyfriend tells me...) and temperatures reach 30 C easily.

I think the heat waves are part of global warming, because long term Anneciens don't remember having such strong ones. A normal summer here would have a few hot days in a row, getting cooler at night, maybe with a thunderstorm. When the heat lasts longer than that (in a heat wave or "canicule"), the buildings and streets are so hot that it doesn't cool down at night. It seems that the two I have experienced came in July. I just had to learn to live with heat since there is practically no air conditioning here...during heat waves we live like southern Europeans, getting out in the mornings and evenings and lying low in the afternoons. It is also nice to spend the afternoon near the lake, on the Paquier, under a tree with a picnic. Or to head up a mountain (the Semnoz is right here in town, and there is even a bus in summer) Anyway, I have had visitors during the canicule, and it did not ruin their stay.

Do people actually swim in the lake during the hot weather? I noticed there was a big pool on Rue des Marquisants and was wondering if people who live in Annecy swim there instead of the lake?

We will be living in the old town which looks like it is walking distants from the pools and certainly the lake itself.

Yes, people swim both in the lake and at the pools. I like to ride my bike down the piste cyclable to Sevrier or St. Jorioz where the beaches are a bit less crowded. Lying on your back in the lake, looking up at the mountains is heaven.

People do swim in the lake in the summer, though it can be a bit cold. It's the cleanest lake in Europe though!

The pool on rue des Marquisats in outdoors and only open May-September, but there are also indoor pools on Chemin des Fins (Piscine-Patinoire) (http://www.annecy.fr/index.php?id=365) in Annecy, and on Avenue Jean Clerc (Ile Bleue) (http://www.ville-seynod.fr/bougilebleue22005.html) in Seynod that are open all year long.