23 July 2018

Yes..........Another Non Wargaming Post

Finally got around to putting in another blog entry, it has been 6 weeks but I have a good excuse as I had been away for a month. Each year myself and my wife Jennifer usually plan one big trip which involves hiking or cycling. This trip was actually planned for 2017 but had to be cancelled as I ended up being quite ill last spring with a prolonged hospitalisation. To prove that I was all recovered, we decided to take a hike in the Bernese Alps.

The hike itself was 9 days, but we attached a week in France before and after, and I then spend the last 2 weeks in Montreal with my daughter and son. It was really a great trip although I have to say that hiking was much more arduous than our walking trip through Tuscany 2 years ago. We did about 16-20 km of walking per day (10-12 miles for the metrically challenged).

We have been to France many times but not to the south east, aside from the Côte d'azur. There is a very convenient direct flight from Montreal to Lyon which is quite close to Switzerland so it was a good choice as a starting point. Anyway, I will let the photos do the talking, my apologies for so many.

Lyon
View of the Rhone and the Saône Rivers from the Notre Dame de Fourvière
We stayed in the Vieux Lyon which was quite nice
Somewhat of a peculiar hotel, I fell down a staircase in our room on the first day and was not even drunk, a bit of an inauspicious start as I really as I got a pretty big hematoma on my hip and flank!
But as you can see this did not stop me and I was quickly in good fettle
Lyon Hôtel de ville, je crois.

Parc de la Tête d'or.

I was surprised at how many animals there was in the zoo

I am not sure why my wife so liked this wall painting



One of the highlights of the city is the museum detailing the Roman city of Lugdunum. Really quite impressive 7 floor display. The amphitheatre has been restored as above and hosts a major festival each summer.
Of course the reason I wanted to go to Lyon as it is regarded as one of the major gastronomic cities in the world, this restaurant was so good my wife made us go twice!
The Hike

Wengen
So on to the hike, we rented a car in Lyon and made the 4 hour drive to Lauterbrunnen.  We could of easily taken a train but our trip back from Switzerland involved a somewhat complex detour so we went with a car. Wengen is car free so we had to park in Lauterbrunnen and take a 15 minute train to Wengen. This sounds complicated but it was very simple as Switzerland is probably the best organised country in the world.


There are really no words to describe this part of Switzerland so I will just present our photos with a very occasional commentary. I believe this was the only cloudy day.
Walking to Kleine Scheidegg

The path to Grindelwald, we spent 3 nights in Wengen hiking about.

Grindelwald
View of the Eiger from our hotel room
Sunsets were quite spectacular
A trip by Jungfraujoch to the Jungfrau is a must, 4000 metres! 


Eiger on the Mönch, finally no clouds
Gondola to First

Wetterhorn to the right and Schreckhorn on the left.
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One of the lakes around the First
Walking from the First back to Grindelwald, this was a relatively easy descent but some of them were quite tough on the knees, especially when you were dropping 1500 metres in 1 day!

Start of the hike from First to Meiringen
Meiringen
Going to Meiringen was a really an important part of the trip to me as would be known to any fan of Sherlock Holmes


Reichenbach Falls
Meiringen

The red star marks the spot where the final struggle between Holmes and Moriarity took place

Annecy
I thought I had more photos of Annecy, a lovely small city but very crowded when we were there and very, very hot. We rented a boat and went out on the lake, the swimming was great.
Pérouges
An interesting walled hilltop medieval city which we stopped at on the way back to Lyon

Lyon
It was good to put my feet up after 2 weeks
Well this was a fantastic trip, I could go back to Switzerland tomorrow. My friend Nick pointed out to me that we never made it to the Schilthorn, next time! If I was a younger man, I would think of immigrating there. I know it is expensive, but it was nice to be in a place where everything works and I have to admit the older I get the more I appreciate civic pride and respect for one another that the Swiss people so clearly demonstrate. I was in Basel some years ago and I really thought I was hallucinating but it was not so. I found it quite difficult this time to return to the US.

21 comments:

  1. Beautiful country, would love to go some time. I think your reference to 11,000 meters for the Jungfraujoch should be 11,000 feet though! We have mountain passes at 11,000 feet plus here in Colorado. Always a magnificent view.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was great there, actually 13,000'! It has been corrected.

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  2. Looks like a wonderful trip - with the sad exception of no sailboats!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well there are no sailboats in London either.........but maybe I am wrong ? Thames. Enjoy your birthday.

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  3. Wow very nice, some excellent and beautiful images, very jealous.
    cheers John

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  4. It is good sometimes to have " non wargaming post" !
    Especially to have a report of such quality ... photos and text!
    Thanks for that and happy you have a good time in France!
    :-)

    ReplyDelete
  5. What a superb travelog - you both look like you had a marvelous time. Makes me want to hoist a pike and eat cheese. :)

    ReplyDelete
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