Gruezi/Bonjour from Switzerland
Morning view at Nendaz breakfast @ NandezWe are lucky to be staying for a few days in our friend Margaret’s holiday apartment in the ski area of Haute Nendaz in the Rhøne Valley in southern part of the country. We get a great view of the Berner Alps on the north side of the valley.
Sunset Nendaz (towards N.E.)
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Sunset Nendaz (North)
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We didn't go all the way!This whole town is covered with traditional chalets and large apartment blocks in the shape of traditional chalets. It has been great to relax and to explore this area. One of the walks has been beside a Bisse, a water course for irrigation, these were built hundreds of years ago. The one we walked by was built in 1700 and took us gradually up the valley to the small town of Planchouet with great views all the way.
Cuppa and Lunch at Furka PassWhen we visited Switzerland in the 1970s it mostly rained so we did not get good views of the alps - they had also had late snow (it was May) and the passes were closed. We had to use the Simplon tunnel under the pass with the car on a freight train wagon back then! We have had clear warm days this time so the passes are clear. To get to the Rhone Valley we drove over the Furkapass from Lake Lucern. This is a spectacular road with razor back turns as we zig zaged up and down.
Baden - beautiful evening walkBefore this we had a delightful couple of days staying with Margaret in Baden where we were very well looked after. We explored the medieval town and the spa one day,
Stein Castle, Aargau
Pilatus Klum, 2132 metres (7000 feet)and then had a day trip to Mt Pilatus by Lake Lucern. This mountain is 2132 metres (7000 feet) - we got to the top on a cog railway that at times went on a gradient of 48%. The rail system is now 125 years old, the carriages still have some of the original running gear! Safety checks must be quite regular, or so we hoped. From the top of the track we climbed up to the various peaks (up steps). The views were breathtaking over Lake Lucern and over the farmland. Swiss cows still wear cow-bells and we could hear these from the top of the mountain!
Dossenheim doing the real touring work!At the end of our last blog we were heading for Heidelberg where we met up with friends Dave and Irena from Plimmerton. We all stayed with their friends Ina and Uli (although Uli was away).
Heidelberg student jailWe had a great explore of Heidelberg where Dave had gone to university. When we briefly visited in the 1970s we were impressed with how laid back and friendly this city is and it hasn’t changed. At the university we visited the old lecture theatre that looked more like a church; the student prison where students were held for minor misdemeanors, like letting the pigs out to run around the town, up to early last century. (Dave tells us that the was not a beneficiary of this place!) The graffiti is fascinating. We sampled the local food and beer and indulged in magnificent German breakfasts provided by our hosts. Also visited Ladenheim nearby which is one of the oldest towns in Germany and has Roman ruins. Because we had not had a chance to see Uli we arranged to meet everyone again in the Alsace region of France where they were heading next on a cycling trip.
Freiburg town hall!We headed for Freiburg in the Black Forest, a part of Germany where we had not been before. This is a great university town with lots of winding cobbled streets and old buildings punctuated with huge gutters in the town - kids bring their small wooden boats to town to tug them along these! We climbed to the old Schloss and had great views. Happened to visit on market day so that added to the trip. Found a café in a chocolataire and indulged in a hot chocolate (these are made with liquid chocolate in Europe and are becoming an essential food group). Drove into the nearby hills to hike in a beautiful valley with waterfalls and towering trees.
Turckheim town gate +stork's nest on top!We headed into France and to the very perfect medieval village of Turckheim. This area of France has often been part of Germany so the names sound German. We set up camp in the sun and while we were having a cuppa we were visited by some storks who just wanted to hang out with us. We learnt later that the town is known for them. Met up with all the others who had arrived earlier on bikes and had a great meal together at one of the ‘caves’ and lots of laughs.
Alsace vines.Next morning we sadly said goodbye and headed south driving some of the Route des vins de Alsace. The whole area is a patchwork of grapevines and it was full on harvest time. At one of the processing centres we were able to watch (no samples…) the first stages of wine production, pinot gris!
We then made our way to near Geneva crossing into Switzerland near the very beautiful Lac de Joux. We spent a lovely evening with Marion and James who are part of Marg’s wider family, whose house overlooks Lake Geneva (although it is in France). The next morning we decided to vote in the general election in person at the NZ Permanent Mission in Geneva. We were treated like royalty and the person who usually does the voting was away so the guy who helped us had the manual in one hand! Colin, who has had contracts training voting staff in the past found this fascinating….full marks to Genevre!Tomorrow we head back to Germany eventually making our way to Berlin. We have really enjoyed meeting and staying with friends, it certainly gives a richer insight into the country
