Let’s talk a bit about history first. The city use to belong to the county of Geneva until the French revolution. After many other wars and conquest, Annecy became part of the Kingdom of Sardinia but is French since 1860.

Nowadays, the city has became a very famous touristy spot… Indeed, Annecy is lucky to have a lake at summer and mountains at winter. The old city is legendary because it looks like a small Venice with beautiful pebbles paths and houses, its canals, churches and its old middle aged castle.

On October 16, 2009, the International Olympic Committee announced Annecy as one of three cities bidding for the 2018 Winter Olympic Games, along with Munich in Germany, and Pyeongchang in South Korea. If chosen, Annecy will be the fourth French city to host the Winter Olympic Games, after Chamonix (1924), Grenoble (1968), and Albertville (1992).

Approximately 20% of the “Annéciens” are against the Olympic game because they are afraid it might attract to many people, destruct the authenticity of the city and ruin the environment… Of course, many of the inhabitants fear a massive increase of the local taxes. The Olympic Games are meant to cost at least 230 million euro to the city… This is an hard issue and some people say it has already gone too far since Annecy already invested 700 000 euro in the communication plan…

For more information, have a look at the official website: click here