TRAVEL WITH SERENA -- GUEST TRAVEL WRITER STACIA FRIEDMAN

Travel editor Serena Brower is on assignment, so I’ve invited a guest to blog for her today. Stacia Friedman is a travel writer who contributes regularly to TheCityTraveler.com, StaciaSleptHere.blogspot.com and regional and national magazines. Stacia’s is also a buddy fiction author who has written a travel mystery. Sauced in Armagnac, set in southwest France, is currently making the rounds of publishers. The novel’s protagonist, Fedora Wolf, is a travel writer with a weakness for French pastry (and men) and a knack for being in the wrong place at the right time. You can read more about Stacia at www.StaciaFriedman.com. -- AP

"Merci beaucoup" to Anastasia for inviting me to contribute a travel article to the Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers blog!

Fitting an armoire into the overhead rack of a plane is not a rational thought. But it was one I contemplated as I drooled over the treasures of the outdoor Antique Market in Annecy, France when I was there in June. Medieval weapons, Louis XVI furniture, Art Deco perfume bottles, Jazz Age flasks, bisque dolls with human hair and dishes that Josephine must’ve thrown at Napoleon. Everywhere I looked, there was another collectible screaming for my attention and VISA card. (Ah, so that’s what naughty French postcards really looked like!)

The Annecy Antique Market is located in the picturesque, older part of town where canals thread their way under romantic bridges and swans glide in search of croissant crumbs. Think Venice with a French accent. I paused on a bridge to admire landscape paintings from another era. Further up, where the canal flows into Lake Annecy, the largest, purest lake in all of Europe, artists displayed contemporary watercolors of local scenes for tourists wanting to take home the magic.  I tried to breath it all in. The lure of satin opera gloves from the Belle Epoch. The delicious aroma of fresh baguettes wafting from the boulangeries. Gypsy musicians playing for spare change. Begonias blooming in window boxes of brightly painted houses. And in the distance, para-gliders sailing like birds of Paradise through the clouds from snow-capped mountain peaks.

Aware of the limitations of my carry-on bag, I passed on the armoire and consoled myself with a fresh almond croissant and café au lait. But I’ll be back. With a truck.

If you go, Annecy is located in the Rhone Alps, a half-hour drive from the Geneva Airport. The Antique Market is held on the last Saturday of the month.

Ah…something to dream about if I ever win the lottery. If I ever have an extra dollar to buy a lottery ticket, that is. Thanks so much for stopping by, Stacia. The Annecy Antique Market sounds like a must-stop for anyone traveling to Geneva.

So dear readers, what do you think? Will you be adding Annecy to your vacation wish list? Let's hear from you. Our Book Club Friday guest author is giving away a book this week. Post a comment to be entered in the drawing. -- AP