EUROPE : France/Germany : Day 8

Day 8 :FRIDAY, 30th September.  

We were greeted this morning with a sunrise and blue sky

My foot feels a little better and gave me no trouble through the night, which could have been due to the bandaging and/or the panadol.  Our neighbours came over before leaving, to ask about my foot and to say 'auf weidersehen' and about 30 minutes later, we also left.  Disappointedly, the sun disappeared, reappearing from time to time throughout the day but the good news is, we have had no rain, a bonus!  Driving along the road, we spotted a sign for Grottes de Glacier so we took a detour to see what there was to see.....firstly 

 The Abbey de la Grace - Dieu

and then we came to the the Grottoes.  Mike went off to make enquiries and this is what he found out : The cavern, lying undiscovered for millions of years, contains the fossils of prehistoric animals.  On an hour-long visit, under the beam of a lamp, three dinosaurs emerge from the darkness, one herbivore and two carnivores, corals, sea urchins, crabs, a metre-long fish and much more.  Though we weren't in any hurry, Mike decided he didn't want to spend an hour with dinosaur fossils and I certainly didn't want to hobble around in a dark cave, 

so we just enjoyed the drive through the countryside, 

stopping in the village Passavant for coffee and chocolate eclairs in the Bar/Tabac.  

We then went on through Baume les Dames

and having made a couple of detours in order to purchase fuel, only to find the service stations either closed or out of said fuel, and getting slightly lost and frustrated, we finally found success, filled the tank and arrived at the Rhine River,

stopped for a while to watch a couple of barges go through the locks and are now in Germany,
more specifically in Freiburg, in the Europa Park Stadium car park in an area designated for motorhomes when the stadium is not in use, along with seventy four other motorhomes.  There is a big football match being played at the stadium tomorrow between Freiburg and Mainz so we must leave between 10 and 12 which is not a problem, at this stage tomorrow's destination has not been decided.  

 

EUROPE : France/Switzerland : Days 6 & 7

 Day 6 : WEDNESDAY, 28th September.  

More rain through the night.  Mike took a load of washing to the nearby laundry this morning, then came back for breakfast after which we both went back to transfer everything to the dryer and while that was happening, went for another walk before retrieving our clean clothes, packing up and leaving.  First stop was the motorhome services, then the supermarket and we were on our way again.  It was quicker to back track a little to go to the north of the lake back into Switzerland,  and to drive on the motorway, stopping at the motoring  services on Motorway 9 for coffee and a break for my driver.

We had a view of Lake Geneva from the cafe and alps in the distance

and as soon as we returned to the motorway, the rain came bucketing down, with poor visibility, and lasted 40 minutes until our arrival in Yverdon les Bains in Switzerland, our stopover spot for tonight.  

After about an hour, the rain eased so we donned coats, grabbed our Aldi brollies and walked into town,

 

enjoyed our meander through Yverdon and had drinks at the Kalaya Lounge Bar.  Drinks were served with a small bowl of pretzels, nuts etc. and then, pizza slices...all included in the cost of the drinks!  What service.  

Day 7 : THURSDAY : 29th September. 

Our stopover spot last night was next door to a large Petanque Club with more than 40 rinks, and which more than likely plays inter city competitions.Archery is also played there and it is all adjacent to a sailing club.

We took our brollies and went walking this morning along the path beside Lake Neuchatel, 

along with people walking their dogs, a jogger and a twitcher armed with his tripod, binoculars and long lens camera.  Our first port of call after leaving Yverdon was at a town called Grandson 

where we stopped for coffee and pastries at the chateau cafe, did not tour the chateau as it is in the process of having extensive  repairs, then went for a stroll.  

Town Church

                             We stopped just out of St Croix to fill the water tank while having lunch 

and shortly after crossed the border back into France.  

 

Next stop was Chateau du Joux near Pontarlier, and it was closed but we took photos of the exterior.

 On the walk down the hill back to the car park, I stepped into a little gully, fell into a puddle and hurt my right foot in the process.  It was quite painful, I couldn't put any weight on it so Mike went on to the m/home and drove up to collect me.  We then drove on to our overnight stop at Nancray and just after we arrived, the sun came out from his hiding place!   A couple from Heidelberg arrived minutes after we did and Mike started chatting with them, telling them what I'd done.  

At that stage, I could barely stand so the lady came over to talk to me, and very kindly bandaged my foot for me.   

The sun stayed until evening and was very welcome, 

just after 7pm the mist started rolling in so we expect a cold night.  

 

EUROPE : Switzerland/France : Days 4 & 5

 Day Four : MONDAY, 26th September. 

It rained early on but we left Willisau in sunshine, taking the scenic route for most of the way,

continuing on the motorway for the remainder and stopping at the services on the motorway for coffee and a shared foccacia.

  

Nearing Interlaken, 

we stopped at a car park to take photos and got talking to a group of 6 German people about to have a picnic.  We took photos of them, 

they took photos of us, 

we declined their invitation to join them and as we were leaving, one of them came rushing over to ask us to come back to have a group photo with them 

and forced us to take some of their home made cake, an offer we just couldn't refuse!

We then continued on to Lauterbrunnen, bought tickets to Schilthorn, a four cable car journey to the mountain where scenes of the James Bond film "On His Majesty's Secret Service" was filmed. 

Going up

and up

 and up

                                                                           

at the top

                                                                             

the clouds lifted enough to enable us to see Jung Frau 4158m

as well as Eiger 3970m and Monch 4099m

On the way back down the mountain,

 we stopped at Birg 2677m and walked the Thrill Walk

It was an expensive exercise but one we'd read about and didn't want to miss.  "We're only here once!"

It was quite late in the afternoon by the time we returned to the motorhome so our planned visit this afternoon to the Trummelbach Falls will now take place tomorrow.   

After a stop in Interlaken West to visit the Co-op,

we drove up the mountatin to Habkerk, our proposed overnight stop which afforded absolutely stunning views.  

Beers at the nearby Alpenblick Restaurant and a long chat to Adrian, the owner with his wife Vroni, capped off our day, which not even the rain could spoil.

Day 5 : TUESDAY, 27th September.  

 Rain, rain, rain!  

This morning's view from the motorhome door.

In order to arrive at the Trummelbach Falls at opening time, we left Habkerk a little after 8am to drive back down the mountain.  Driving through Lauterbrunnen which we first visited in 1969 when it was a quiet, sleepy village which tourism had not yet overtaken, we barely recognised the place which is now a hive of activity with tourists from all over the world.  Our memory of the Falls is of just two or three at the lowest level so are not sure if the others were open to the public then or if, being on a meagre budget, we couldn't afford to visit the higher levels. The waterfalls are formed by melted snow from Jung Frau, Monch and Eiger Mountains creating tunnels through the mountain.  There are ten individual falls at various levels which requires a considerable amount of climbing but is well worth the effort. 

The Trummelbach Falls 

After leaving Trummelbach we continued on to Saanen, stopping at an Aldi shop there to buy umbrellas as the weather ahead was looking decidedly iffy, and we wondered if today's intended  destination, Glacier 3000 would be closed.  The main reason for our visit to Switzerland (we've avoided coming here on previous trips as it is so expensive) was to go up the mountain and do the Tissot Peak Walk, which is the only suspension bridge in the world that connects two mountain peaks.   The disappointment on later discovering it was closed was eased a little by yesterday's visit to Schilthorn.  

We stopped in Gstaad,, had coffee and a bite to eat, then wandered around the town for an hour or so

         then headed for Glacier 3000 as it was on the way to our proposed overnight stopping spot.   

The signs all said 'Closed", 

and we assumed it was because of the weather but a young lady in the office told us there had been a fire in the restaurant at the top of the mountain and the cable car and walk would be closed until at least 12th November, far too long for us to wait around.  

As winter approaches the farmers bring their cows down from the mountain to lower ground. Intresting to see and hear them clanging their way down,

We carried on through the mountains 

                       to our chosen stopping spot, didn't like what we saw so continued on 

and we are now in France, parked on the shores of Lac Leman, the French side of Lake Geneva at Evian les Bains.  

We went walking along the extremely attractive forshore, called in to a wine bar for drinks and watched the ferry which travels across the lake between France and Switzerland.  The rain continues.