Switzerland 2009

SWITZERLAND WRAPUP

2009-07-30T11:56:00.000-07:00

Well, our month in Switzerland has flown by and it is time to move on to Brittany, France. We have enjoyed the Swiss countryside and find the roads to be in excellent condition and everything is very clean. We never see papers or trash on the shoulders or in the town.

As we have found in farm communities in other countries, the Swiss farms are criss-crossed by nice cement tractor roads. These roads are about 10-12 feet wide and are not open to automobiles, so they make wonderful bike paths. We can ride for many miles on these tractor roads and run across an 0ccasional cyclist and a rare tractor, and sometimes some locals taking a stroll, but never an auto roaring along. I love cycling on these roads. We do see lots of cyclists, both touring and out for a day ride. Lots more women cyclists than we see in other countries.

When we returned from the Alps Don spent the first day working on his photos and putting up more reports on the blog. He was so happy to have nice, fast internet and a good spot to work again. We also had to devote quite a bit of time to solving our annual problem with our website. Every year, despite our attempts to forstall this, our site goes down when it is time to renew the listing. That happened again while we were in the Alps and we had to contact Hostonce several times, but finally got the site back up again.

Over the past few days we did some more country bike rides, visiting places we have been earlier in the trip, and covering some new turf as well.

Today we went to Pontarlier to get our rental car. I took the opportunity to go to the Geant Supermarche to buy a few things and confirm my belief that food is super-expensive in Switzerland. The Swiss keep telling me it is very expensive in France, but I think the things I buy are much cheaper in France, even with the exchange rate at $1.40 to 1 Euro.

When we got back to the house we packed up, had an early dinner, gassed up the car, cleaned the kitchen and bathrooms and tidied up the rest of the house. We washed the car yesterday, and the darn neighborhood cat walked all over the roof with its muddy paws. So now we are all set to go. Our nice neighbor, Veronique, came over and bailed me out on my typical problems of getting my laundry out of the washer, and she promised to wash the linens for us tomorrw because we are leaving at 5am to get to Paris in time to meet the LeBreton Family.

Great cycling in Switzerland. Well worth a visit.

CHAMPERY MEMORIES

2009-07-27T14:40:00.000-07:00

July 26, 2009

Time to leave our chalet with a beautiful view. Don needs his internet and the folks at home are wondering what happened to us.

I went out in the morning to check Jean-Louis’ apricots, which need another week to be ripe, and then I picked my last raspberries before we had our breakfast, cleaned up and headed out on our roundabout route back to Estavayer-le-lac.

We said goodbye to our treacherous driveway, snapping a few photos to confirm our memories of it, and made our way out of Brignon, past Sion and west along the sparsely traveled freeway. I wonder what our Swiss visitors think of our freeways, with 4 or 5 lanes and bumper-to-bumper traffic. Swiss freeways have two lanes, one for each car using it.

We decided to go up to Champery, the nice little ski town at the Portes du Soleil, to see if it is cute and quaint and what changes have occurred over the 25 years since our gang went skiing there.

Champery still retains its character. When we arrived they were having a market day, with lots of fresh produce, bread and cakes, bolts of fabric, wine, handicrafts and such. Musicians were playing in the plaza and there were lots of people in the street.

We checked to be sure that our comfy Pension Souvenir was still in operation, and then strolled the main street, looking at the produce and goods, enjoying the musicians and sunshine. Some changes have been made. The gondola has been moved down the hill, and the train station has been moved down there too. Most of the new building has been kept to traditional style, but Don groused about a few big condo buildings that were too modern. As we strolled around the town we shared all of our good memories of Kirk, DJ and Gary and our $99 trip on People’s Express and our wonderful stay in Champery.

After leaving Champery we went down the mountainside to the Lake and drove around the east side. We stopped at the lakeside Chateau de Chillon and ate our picnic lunch nearby as we watched the interesting boats ply the waters. There was a steam paddlewheel boat full of tourists, and an interesting Chinese junk, and lots of motor boats zipping around the lake.

Montreux Switzterland's Riviera

After lunch we went on to Montreux, where the famous jazz festival is held. Don set Trixie (our gps) to take us to photo-op sites, and we stopped and started our way through the bustling town, Don leaving me parked in many illegal spots while he jumped out and snapped a shot of something, we aren’t sure what.

After driving along the lakeside for several miles we cut across Vevey to the fast road and headed north for home.

It was good to be back in Estavayer and Don turned on the tv to watch (nap) to the last leg of the Tour de France, with the racers on the Champs Elysee. After that he went upstairs and set up his computer and got online right away to catch up on email and download and stitch his photos. Alas, he discovered that our annual nemesis is back to haunt us. Our website is down, the domain name is up for grabs, our renewal in limbo. Every year we go through this with Hostonce. It gives Don such angst. So we wrote them an email and we will see if we get any answer.

Dinner, a few Skype calls home, a little tv and off to bed. There is supposed to be a big storm tomorrow, but Don has lots of work on the reports to keep him busy.

SEARCHING FOR THE MATTERHORN

2009-07-25T20:30:00.000-07:00

JULY 24, 2009

Friday

Friday we thought it would be cool to see the Matterhorn. We drove up a long canyon to Zermatt, only to find that the cost for the ticket on up the hill from Zermatt was prohibitive ($80.00 per person). Don hit up the ticket guy for a retired tram operator discount, but no dice. The weather was cloudy and visibility wasn’t that good anyway, so we returned home.

The weather forecast for today was partly cloudy in the morning and rainy in the afternoon, so we decided to drive up some of the Alpine canyons to see if there was any chance of a peek at the Matterhorn that way.

The morning was sunny and nice, with a strange, snakey cloud hanging in the valley over Sion. We drove out on the twisting country roads, up and down over the mountainsides until we got to Val d’Herens. We traveled up the long canyon, admiring the dramatic, sharply pointed cliffs on either side—Dent de Perroc and Pigne d’Arolle—3800 and 3900 meters high, snow-capped and rugged. When we arrived at the end of the road in the village of Arolla, we realized that we could not see the Matterhorn, even at it’s majestic height of 4478 meters, because the mountain ridge between was just too high.

So, being the intrepid optimists that we are, we decided to go up the next canyon over, to Ferpecle. That road was even more narrow and rough than the road to Arolla, and often we would meet cars coming down on the one-lane road. Somehow one of us always found a little wide spot to scoot over and let the other go by.

As we drove along the road to Ferpecle we went past a lesser mountain called Sex Pey, through several quaint villages with slate-roofed houses, and then we saw the spectacular peak called Dent Blanche. This mountain is 4500 meters high, and the Matterhorn is hiding behind it. No joy on seeing the Matterhorn today, but the drive was great.

Throughout these remote valleys we saw little villages, sometimes just two or three houses, waaaaaaaay up on the side of the peak. How the heck do they ever get there, and do they ever come down? No roads to be seen up there, so it must be a challenge.

Along the way we picked out a nice bench, overlooking a village, green pastures and craggy mountain ridges, and had our lunch in the sun and Alpine air. Can it get any better? I don’t think so.

11 miles away, 420mm telephoto zoom, FZ50 Lumix

MATTERHORN SUCCESS!!!
July 25, 2009

The following day we decided to try another canyon in search of the Matterhorn. This time we drove up to a little town called Zinal. Again the mountainsides are pocked with improbable Swiss villages, teetering high up the Alpine peaks.

The road to Zinal is an engineering masterpiece, with roadway wedged into rock crevices, tunnels under mountains and bridges spanning 400-foot gorges. Don and I marveled at the intrepid Swiss who made their way up this valley in the 18th century, before roads and tunnels were in place. How the heck did they get so far up the valley when the access is only a steep gorge spewing a roiling gout of snowmelt and steep cliffs dropping several hundred feet down rocky crags? What prompted anyone to explore his way up this treacherous route, and once they got there, did they ever come back out alive?

Zinal is a charming village in a green grassy meadow. The Swiss style buildings keep the atmosphere quaint. There were hundreds of people in the town to go hiking, mountain biking and parasailing, but it still felt like a little town and not Verbier, thank goodness.

In Zinal we found a tram, which services the nice ski area. They run in the summer too, to take hikers and mountain bikers up the mountainside. The price was moderate, compared to Zermatt, and after ascertaining that we could, indeed, see the Matterhorn from the top, we took the tram up the mountainside.

At the end of the tram ride we found a mid-mountain café and we walked around trying to find a spot to see the Matterhorn. It seemed like that search for the end of the rainbow, we just needed to get a little farther out on the cliff and we would see it. Just past that ledge, we could see the elusive edge of the Matterhorn, razoring up toward it’s majestic apex. We eventually walked out on a ledge and then there was a capricious cloud that was nestled in a cliff. It kept drifting in and out over the Matterhorn view. Every time it would move out and Don got set up to take the picture, out snuck that naughty little cloud, covering up parts of the mountain, so we couldn’t see. We finally just waited it out. After awhile it decided we were not paying attention, so it drifted back in between two peaks, and snap! Don got the photo before that rascally cloud could muster its wafts and sniggle back out to block the view again.

As we sat in the meadow, waiting out the cloud, I enjoyed the charming Alpine wildflowers. There was a cute spikey orange one, and a strange fuzzy mauve flower, darling blue bell-shaped flowers and teensy white ones in a mass, lots of yellow buttercups, and a magenta colored blossom, all curled around itself.

After awhile we took the tram back down and sat on a bench watching the parasailers drift over the valley while we ate our lunch.

CASTLES AND MUSEUMS, DE RIGUER

2009-07-22T14:30:00.000-07:00

July 22, 2009

We decided to do some touring of the local points of interest today, so we set off for the town of Sion. There we visited the two castles, Tourbillon and Valeres. Each castle required a steep hike.

We got a good parking spot in the garage and hiked up to the first castle, Valeres. It is a typical medieval castle, with cobbled streets and big stone ramparts. We stopped at the museum there, but it didn’t open until 11am, so we visited the church and then went back down the hill and up the next hill over to visit Tourbillon. The climb was steep, long and hot, but there was quite a lovely view. I can’t imagine the lady of the castle being willing to come down to the village for any reason. The trip back up the hill was too daunting. I am sure she would have to be carried in a chaise, and those poor porters, what a job.

We hiked back into Valeres to go to the museum, which was interesting. The whole presentation was a trip through time, so the displays started with prehistoric times and continued into the Roman occupation and on through the Dark Ages and the Black Death, the middle ages, present time and a prediction about 2150. It was a nice visit

By the time we got home it was about 2:30, so we decided to skip lunch and have an early dinner. I made a nice spinach salad, with spinach picked fresh from the garden, and hardboiled eggs, tomatoes, fried potatoes (also fresh from the garden) and salmon. It looked very pretty and it was quite yummy.

TOUR DE FRANCE CONCLUSION

2009-07-21T21:19:00.000-07:00

Schleck, Contador, Armstrong

Well, it is really the day before the final stage, but this is when the winners are determined. And the winners are:

1^st place: CONTADOR

2^nd place: SCHLECK

3^rd place: ARMSTRONG

Congratulations to these riders for outstanding performances!

DON’S COMMENTS ON THE TOUR DE FRANCE

Geralynn writes the commentary and I take the pictures, however, I feel I need to make some comment about the Tour de France, organization, media coverage and fan strategies.

After many years of following local races, the Coors Classic, and the Tour of California, I have to say the Tour de France is the most exciting and the hardest race in the world. I know every year that the Tour of California sponsors proclaim that the Tour of California someday will surpass the TdF in stature. I think that will be a long time coming.

It is hard to describe how difficult the Alps stages of the TdF are. The switchbacks and climbs are far more technical than anything we have in California. When we build a road in California it is very wide, with long, sweeping turns. The turns and climbs and descents in Switzerland and Italy are very tight and treacherous and the roads are very narrow. Bike handling skills, as well as endurance, are much more important on a steep, tight descent, coming off of the frigid mountain passes.

Team Astana, Lance Armstrong as a team leader, and Johan Bruyneel really controlled this race and managed it very well. In my view there wasn’t any time in the tour that Astana didn’t have things very well in control. The combined experience between Armstrong and Bruyneel far surpasses anything I saw in the other teams. It is my opinion that if Contador had been riding for any other team he would have had a tough time winning the TdF. (OK maybe! he is one the great riders.) He doesn’t seem to understand the team concept. I have to agree with some of the reporters. Had he been able to control his efforts, with the team, Astana could have had one-two-three on the podium on the Champs Elysee. Not to sell Columbia and Garmin teams short; they both did great jobs from the standpoint of team efforts. Especially Columbia with Hincapie’s leadouts for Cavendish for 6 stage sprint wins, although I have never been a sprinter fan.

In my limited ability to understand French, I think the French news and television reporters have really come around to appreciate Lance Armstrong. Most everything I heard on the commentary was very enthusiastic and positive about him. Plus, it certainly helped that Lance did some great interviews on French tv, expressing his love for France and the TdF. And, I also think the fact that Team Astana allowed the breakaway riders from other teams to win the stages, as long as they didn’t threaten the overall standings in the race, went a long way to create a very favorable public opinion of Astana.

I don’t think I will ever watch the TdF on Versus again. I will try to go to live feed on the internet. EuroSport did an outstanding job covering the race, start to finish, with only two or three commercials in an hour. I never lost track of what was happening in the race. Before I left California I was watching the Tour on Versus and at a stage finish they cut to commercial in the last kilometer! The finish was being challenged and we never got to see the riders cross the finish line. That is an indication that Versus has no clue about cycling and what the TdF is all about. EuroSport knows what it is doing when it comes to their coverage of the TdF.

TOUR DE FRANCE MARTIGNY TO BOURG-SAINT-MAURICE

2009-07-21T20:17:00.000-07:00

July 21, 2009

This morning we jumped up early and packed our lunch, lawn chairs, water and supplies and headed down the road for a good place on the switchbacks on the race course from Martigny over the Col de Grand Saint Bernard, through a corner of Italy and on to Bourg Saint Maurice, France. In spite of our early start, we just made it onto the course before the road closure at 10am. We headed up the hill looking for a place. There were some exciting switchbacks right at the top of the mountain, but we were worried it would be too crowded.

We found a great spot near Orsieres where there were several sharp switchbacks and we could see quite a bit of the road. We set up our chairs and table and settled into wait for the race. We had about three hours before the racers were expected and I was sure it would be boring. But, no. Lots of things were going on, plus I had my trusty Monopoly. A truck passed by throwing out boxes of chalk, so Don chalked Lance’s name on the road. We people-watched and ate our lunch and then the sponsor floats began to come along. Don was the swagmeister, garnering plenty of trinkets tossed out of the floats as they passed. I, standing 10 feet up the hill, got nothing. Don really hammed it up and all the pretty float girls gave him candies, and hats, wrist reflectors and key fobs, a coin purse and whistles and a bunch of other little things.

At last the riders passed by, making the hill look like an easy downhill, they were going so fast. I jumped up and yelled, “Hooray Lance” and he was gone. After all that waiting, we got our 10 seconds and now we all packed up to move out.

Most everyone was going downhill, but of course we had to go uphill. That meant driving a block and then waiting 15 minutes until the local gendarmes allowed us to move on to the next blockade. We finally reached the summit and continued along the switchbacks down the other side of the mountain. Many of the small communities were still celebrating, with musicians playing and beer flowing. We followed the road down the hill, and then Don decided it was time to go back home. He was looking for the signs for the tunnel that runs through the mountain instead of driving back up and down the switchback road. I kept telling him where to go, but he wanted to argue with me until I reminded him that we were now in Italy and the Col Saint Bernard was now the Montagne Sant Bernardo. We entered the tunnel and were appalled to have to pay 23.6 euros ($33.50)for the passage.

PARTY TIME IN MARTIGNY

2009-07-20T15:39:00.000-07:00

MONDAY, JULY 20, 2009

After such a busy day yesterday, we just hung out around the house today. It is a rest day for the Tour as well. The sky is blue and clear and the mountains are just beautiful. Don worked on his photos in the morning, while I did some laundry. We kept saying we should go out and do something, but we were just enjoying the peace and beauty of the back yard so much, we couldn’t tear ourselves away. The day passed by, sunny and blue, as we lazed away the afternoon.

Eventually we got ourselves together and went into Sion to find internet and get some supplies. We stopped at the pharmacy first and asked the pharmacist where we might find internet. He very graciously offered us the use of his, and gave us the logon. So we sat in the waiting area of the pharmacy and checked our email and bank balances. While I was waiting for Don to have his turn I picked up a book that was among the magazines on the coffee table titled “Monsieur, comment va l’amour?” (Mister, how’s your love life). This is a 30-page booklet with a glossy cover and it turned out to be an advertisement by Pfizer discussing erectile dysfunction. It is illustrated with cartoon-type drawings of bodacious, buxom beauties and a poor, hapless man red-faced in bed, comparing himself to the David sculpture, and finally talking to his doctor. Each page is illustrated with very funny and frank drawings. When I got to the page with a sketch of a heart and an erect cock, with the headline (The heart and the cock, the two motors of life!) I almost lost it imagining this book on a shelf at Longs. Thank goodness it was my turn on the computer. I was having trouble keeping my chuckles from bursting out into guffaws.

In the evening we went into Martigney for the big Tour de France celebration there. Lots of people on the street, bands performing, guys with beer everywhere, kids hanging over the fences. Everyone was having a good time. We saw two folk dancing performances with the groups in traditional costumes. One was a story of the shepherds and their girls, happily dancing in the village. Then the bad ogres or wolves or bears (I really couldn’t tell what they are, except they are bad guys) came down the mountain and attacked the village. The ogres were ominous and threatening and danced all around jumping over towards the little kids hanging over the fences. OOOOOh! They would jump back and look scared, but finally decided they were safe enough. The group of little boys standing next to me, about 5 or 6 years old, were quite impressed with the ogres. After awhile the shepherds came out with their staffs and scared the ogres away and then the shepherds and girls danced happily around the square again.

The crowd was very well behaved and every one was having a good time at the party. After a couple of hours we headed home and off to bed.

TOUR DE FRANCE PONTARLIER TO VERBIER

2009-07-19T19:00:00.000-07:00

JULY 19, 2009

Sunday morning we took a drive up the mountainside to Nendaz. There is a huge ski complex there and they are having a special program for the race today, offering transport to Verbier by wa y of lifts and trams. The cost of 15 francs is nominal, so Don decided to do that to get to the race, instead of battling traffic in and out of the venue. I get to stay home and work on the report, walk around the area, eat apricots and enjoy the scenery.

We went into Sion looking for an internet connection, but everything is protected, so we gave up and headed home so Don could pack up and head back up to the lift area. It will take about an hour of lift travel to get to Verbier. The race should end about 5pm and I am hoping he will be home by 7 or 7:30.

When we got up this morning the sky was gray and cloudy, and there were even some sprinkles. But as the day progressed the sky cleared up and it turned into a gorgeous blue day for the race. The poor racers have been riding in pretty steady rain for several days. I am looking forward to Don’s arrival home to hear all about the race and see his photos.

Don got home about 8pm and said he was really glad he took the ski lifts into Verbier. It was the easiest, least crowded and most interesting way to get to the venue. Of course he had a great time at the race and came home with lots of photos of fantastic ski lift scenery, as well as lots of race shots.

(Don’s Note:)

I have been spoiled down through the years because as an official at the race, I get credentials and can go anywhere I want. I really miss having that pass around my neck, getting me into great locations. My original plan for Verbier was to move farther down the hill on the switchbacks, but by the time I arrived, at about 11am, the village streets were so crowded with people it was nearly impossible to move. I found a good spot on the barrier at the 200-meter sign on a nice turn. I realized that if I left my position on the rail I would never get that close to the course the rest of the day, so I stood for almost 3 hours with both hands grasping the rail to protect my front row position. This meant that all of my wonderful lunch packed away in my day pack, stowed near my feet, was inaccessible. If I dared to let go of the rail and bend down to get my pack, my rail position would be lost forever. I learned that this was the only technique to protect my position after watching others lose their spots in a moment of inattention.

The last 200 meters of the course were much steeper that I expected, with two turns. I think it was about a 20% grade, very steep! My advise to anyone wanting to see the tour in person is to go extremely early and stake out a position and hold it for the many hours until the racers pass by. Take a lunch. The only way to get up on the high Col would be to go the night before and camp out overnight or ride up early in the morning if you are strong enough. Cars are not allowed. Posted road closures generally were three hours before the racers were expected to pass by, but that doesn’t guarantee that you will get on the road before it is closed. The local police count cars and evaluate the crowd and they often close the road, at their own discretion, before the posted time. So, my technique was to watch the race in the early afternoon, and then try to get back to the house in time to watch the finish on tv. On the days that I didn’t actually go to the race, we would do a bike ride in the morning we would do a bike ride in the morning and get back to the house in time to watch the TdF race on tv. That worked well for me.

LIFE IN OUR ALPINE CHALET

2009-07-18T20:30:00.000-07:00

After making our way out of the valley we went through Martigny and took the next valley northeast to Sion where we will have our next home exchange. We found the house with little trouble, nestled into a mountainside, up a very steep road bordered by a 20 foot rock wall on one side and a 4 foot deep ditch on the other side. We drove up to the house above, turned around in their parking pad and slowly made our way back down the road and into the narrow parking space at the foot of the stairs.

Karen and Jean-Luis were at the house to meet us and we had a very nice visit while we had appetizers and drinks. Jean-Luis told us that he grew up in the house just next door, where his brother now lives. He loves this area and hikes and skis almost every week, except when they are traveling. They do a lot of home exchanges and have traveled to many exotic places. Soon they will go to Scotland and Karen is particularly excited to be able to attend the Scottish Tattoo, a marching and drum performance at Edinburough Castle.

We enjoyed a dinner of barbeque, potato salad, home-grown beans and green salad, with a delicious cake smothered in raspberries for dessert. Jean Luc has a nice garden here at the house, with potatoes, squash, lettuce, many fruit trees and raspberry bushes. We get to pick raspberries every morning for breakfast. The two huge cherry trees are laden with fruit, but it is too late to pick it. All along the road up the mountainside here are apricot trees, branches drooping on the ground, so loaded with gorgeous, orange apricots.

Our house, set into one mountainside, look s out across the valley, over Sion, to more snowy, jagged peaks. The view is awesome. The house has several floors, with the living area and kitchen on the ground floor, several bedrooms on the second floor, a tv room and the kids dorm on the top floor. Lots of steep spiral stairs to go up. Thank goodness there is a bathroom on the ground floor and the floor where we sleep.

OFF TO THE TOUR DE FRANCE

2009-07-18T14:24:00.000-07:00

OFF TO THE TOUR DE FRANCE

July 18, 2009 (our 44^th wedding anniversary!!!)

On Saturday, July18, we packed up and headed for the Tour de France race route. The riders will start on Sunday in Pontarlier, France and come down through Yverdon les Bains and on to Lucens, Romont, Gruyeres, Aigle, Martigny and finish up in Verbiers. We picked up the route near Yverdon and followed along the pretty, rolling green hills. The enthusiasm for the race in Switzerland is very high. In many cities we see decorations, bicycle art and welcoming signs to the Tour. The sign-posters were out marking the route with some great arrow signs. As we neared Verbiers we began to see many huge parking lots set up for the crowd. Every cow pasture in the valley has been commandeered for parking. Pretty soon the police were stopping motor homes from going any farther, but we were allowed to continue up the valley. Then we started to climb up, a very nice hill climb (well, ok, they are the Alps, so I guess I shouldn’t call them hills). There were several steep spots, but most of it looked like it would be cake for the riders. As we neared Verbier we began to see motor homes, campers and tents staking their spots for the night. Hundreds of fans were already in place. There were tents on roofs of garages, hanging on steep hillsides, in the rondo of land in the middle of switchbacks. There were flags of every color and country. And there were crazy 20 something guys, already drunk and dancing on the course. Every ten feet Don was yelling at me to take a photo of this or that—the people, the bicycle art, the colorful flags, the scenery, the cluster of tents, the long line of motor homes, the nutty guys doing guy stuff.

Verbier is a fancy ski town trapped up a steep hill in a canyon. There were already thousands of people in the shops and restaurants, on the streets and plazas. I was getting claustrophobic—can’t get out of the canyon, can’t get away from the drunks, eeeeeeeeeeek!

On the other hand, the nature is stunning and peaceful. Dramatic, snowcapped peaks, a cluster of little chalets nestled in a green valley, colorful flowers in pots and window boxes everywhere.

We eventually headed back down the mountain, scouting out places for Don to park tomorrow and a quick way to escape after the race was over.

July 17, 2009 FRIBOURG

2009-07-17T13:48:00.000-07:00

We also hopped over to Fribourg to see the ancient, medieval city. We parked on the Route des Epouses, where the brides walk down the hill to the huge, old church to get married. The arch over the street has words of advice to the couple, be true to your new spouse and honor your vows. We saw a pretty young bride, bouquet in hand, and her attendant at the top of the street preparing to meet the bridal party and make their way to the church at the bottom of the hill.

July 17, 2009 ROMAN RUINS AND MOZART

2009-07-17T13:45:00.000-07:00

ROMAN RUINS AND MOZART

Friday, after another dramatic thunder and lightening storm that lasted all night long, it was still too wet to ride, so we took a driving trip and ended up in Avanches to see some Roman ruins. What a pleasant surprise we were in for. There is a large coliseum right in the town, and it could probably seat several thousand. They were have a Mozart concert series there at night, and it was all fixed up with modern seating and a huge picture of Mozart, so it didn’t really have the ancient feel. But the surprise was in the other ruins a bit out of town. It was a huge settlement with two fancy gates to enter the city, a theater which could seat 9000 people, a large bath house, some temples and several other structures. The signs were good and in English and the visit was very interesting.

Tour of Estavayer

2009-07-14T22:24:00.000-07:00

Monday our neighbor, Veronique, very nicely offered to give us a tour of the village. Estavayer is a medieval village of about 4500 people established under the Savoie reign. The Savoies were French and they controlled the town until they lost the land in a war in the Middle Ages. The chateau and the village walls still stand. The chateau is still in use as government offices. When we enter the town we go through the ancient stone portal. All around the town we see frogs hanging from wires, and there is a frog museum in the village, to be visited another day. The frog is the symbol of Estavayer.

After our stroll around the village with stops at the church, chateau, ramparts and other points of interest, Veronique took us out to a private campground and beach, which is owned by her brother. She grew up in the nearby area of Corbierre and her father owned the chateau there and the lands. He eventually sold off the chateau and kept a small house and some land for the family. The beach and park area are just lovely and would be a wonderful place to vacation.

Following our tour we were invited to the Brasy home for lunch. There we met Veronique's husband, a local policeman, and her brother. She gave us a beautifully presented luncheon of fish with a flavorful sauce, rice and salad, with a special local pastry for dessert. We sampled several of the local wines with our meal.

We had a good conversation with the policeman. It seems like a good job to be a policeman in a small peaceful village where you know everyone.

Monday evening as we were watching Catwoman we heard a loud bang and then the flash of lightning shone through the window. We have had a very dramatic storm all night long with huge claps of thunder and brilliant flashes of lightning, waking us up from time to time during the night. The rain continues on into Tuesday morning, but the thunder and lightning have subsided. Car tour today, I guess.

2009-07-12T23:13:00.000-07:00

SWITZERLAND

July 9, 2009

Our 2009 adventure takes us to Switzerland and France. We started our first day very early, rising at 3:30am to catch the shuttle to SFO. Our flight left at 8am via Air Canada to Toronto and then on to Geneva.

Air Canada has never disappointed us. This trip was very nice. The seats on the plane are wide enough and have plenty of legroom. Also, Air Canada equipment has those nice individual screens for each seat, so I could select the movie I wanted to watch, start it when I want

ed to and stop in the middle for a potty break. I really like this feature. Don was happy because each seat also has a power outlet for computers and a USB port for charging cell phones or MP3 players. The first leg of the flight I sat next to an Indian man and his 4 year-old son. He was very quiet and didn’t make eye contact or speak to me at all, but that was fine for me. We didn’t get an

y food, so I passed a few snacks to Don when the drinks arrived and we were fine. We had breakfast at the airport before the flight.

From Montreal to Geneve I sat next to a very interesting guy who runs mountain treks. Although he is “retired” at age 70 he still guides groups up Mont Blanc every yea

r. We had a very interesting talk about social and ethical issues, Barak Obama and the world’s expectations of him, and what the future holds for society. It was a stimulating and interesting conversation and I reluctantly stopped talking and let him watch his movie and go to sleep.

Don, who sat across the aisle, met an interesting couple who had arranged 3 home exhanges for their trip. They owned several apartment units in New York City that they rent on a vacation basis, and they are able to use these units for their exchanges.

When we reached Geneve we took the train to Estavayer-le-Lac. I was supposed to telephone the neighbor, Veronique Brasy, but I lost the number, so we caught a cab from the gare and I just knocked on her door when we arrived. She very cordially welcomed us and showed us around the house.

Our house is really nice. The rooms are very spacious, especially for a European house. The upstairs rooms have a very nice view of Neuchatel Lake. There are 3 bedrooms, and office, a very large living/dining room and a nice, spacious kitchen. In addition there is a full basement.

Later that evening we went into the town for dinner. We selected a nice outdoor pizza place, and the host seated us, but no one ever came to take our order, so we gave up and went home and made ham and egg sandwiches. How nice that the Zurbruggs left us plenty of food.. We went to bed at 11pm, although I did sneak in a nap in the afternoon. I slept very well and woke up about 4am. Not bad for the first night.

On Saturday we had some breakfast and then went to the supermarche tobuy some supplies. I just about had a heart attack at the price of food. Things are very expensive here. I bought a small chicken and it was 7 francs. Since a franc is worth a few cents less than a dollar my little chicken, which would have cost $2.50 in Sunnyvale cost almost 3 times that in Estavayer. I found all of the food to be very expensive here. I hope France is better.

In the afternoon we did a nice, easy bike ride north along the lake and through some little towns and vacation home complexes to Portalban. We turned inland and found ourselves in farm country with corn and wheat, chard, tabacco, and potatoes. We went through Delley, St. Aubin, Missy and on to Estavayer. Don held back on his silage lecture, with an effort. The countryside here is rolling hills and forestland, farms and mountains. Our ride was mainly flat on paved and hardpack roads, with very little traffic. 30 kilometers today.

Now Don is taking a nap. One bad thing that happened—I needed to charge my Zen, so I double-checked the correct adapter with Don and plugged in the charger. After a few minutes my Zen made a funny noise and died. Darn!! But, I brought a backup. So I opened up my backup and tried to transfer some books onto it and

I can’t seem to get that to work either. Drat! I may h

ave to steal Don’s.

Sunday we took another nice ride, this time south along the lake and then up a 15% grade into farm country again. At the top of the hill we stopped at a tidy farm to buy a kilo of cherries at the honor stand. Don took a few photos and went over to look at the cows marching up the hill picture, and the farmyard dog was barking up a storm, so the woman came out to check and see what was riling the dog. We had a very nice chat. People seem to be able to understand my

French. We told her about our bike route, our vacation plans and our family and she, in turn told us about her two sons who are doing their military servicethis month. She liked us so much she invited us to come back for a longer visit and a drink later this week. We promised to return, took a photo of her in front of her farm and away we went down the hill into Montet, Bussy, Morens, Rueyres-les-Pres, and back to Estavayer. The weather has been cloudy, but rather muggy and warm.

A bit about the cow art. These are art pieces which depict a path winding up a hill with cows marching along followed by a farmer. There are several of these pictures here at the house, and we see them everywhere. If I understood the explanation we got from the farm lady the artist lives in Gruyere and his pictures are very popular folk art in the area. Each cow on the path represents a year at the location of the farm or house, I think. I will check this out with our host, Marc Zurbrugg, next time I email.

Our new friend also told us about her sons and some competition they participate in—lutie or ludie.. We think it is a cowbell-ringing contest, but this is another question for Marc. It has something to do with special pants, I deduced from our conversation. And the prizes are usually a cow or a huge bell or some kind of merchandise, never money.

After looking online and in the French-English dictionary we figured out that the farm boys participate in a special sport, Schwingen or Lutte. Click the link here to see more. Anyway, it is not cowbell ringing at all. It is more of a wrestling match where the participants wear special leggings or pants made of potato sacks. The winner is named the “King of Swingers (Schwingen)” and receives a bull for his prize. This is a very old and traditional country sport. I bet the Backroads folks NEVER get this kind of stuff for their $5000!

An update on my Zen problem—I got my backup to work after all. Sometimes I just have to let the unit use up all of its charge and then recharge it and it seems to work again. That is what I did this time. Sadly, I think the one I was using is a dead duck. I think the noise I heard was a component getting fried by the electric current. Now I only charge on the computer. Don is blaming the charger and it is the only one I have, so I will use the computer for the rest of the trip. I don’t want to lose my last one right at the start of the trip. I looked into buying some more units, but the price is double what I paid for my last order.

Well, Don is watching the Tour de France and I am going to take a shower and have a drink of water. More another day.

To see more photos of our trip click this link.