The picturesque French city of Annecy has been selected as the country's candidate for the Winter Olympics in 2018, it has been announced.
According to the Associated Press, Annecy came top in a vote by members of France's Olympic committee with 23 votes, followed by Nice with ten, Grenobles with nine and Pelvoux, which received no votes.
Nicolas Sarkozy, the president of France, "warmly" congratulated Annecy on being selected as the country's official candidate city.
City bids need to have the support of the national Olympic organisation if they are to be accepted by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
The successful bidder will be chosen by the IOC in 2011.
Other cities that have already been put forward are Munich in Germany, Almaty in Kazakhstan and Pyeonchang in South Korea.
Annecy is due to hold its annual International Animation Film Festival in June.
From June 8th to 13th, entries will be shown in five different categories: commissioned and TV films, feature films, short films and graduation films.
Written by Mike Cotgreave
