Over the hills and far far away

Monday 7 September

OK guys - this day is out of synch - this is really the post for last Monday - the day that things went a little awry!

The day started beautifully and with much promise. We left Les Rhodos after a lovely breakfast. Its amazing the difference in breakfasts that we experience and while it was very continental, Pascal kept the coffee, warm milk, croissants and lovely bread coming. It amazes us how many people there are at breakfast as the hotel was very quiet overnight - no partygoers, no revellers. I guess most people are just happy to be in such lovely surroundings. As we had arrived in the early evening and had just a tad of trouble finding the hotel which was actually on a rural route out of the town, we had not had time to look around.

Waking this morning, the air is amazingly clear with a clarity that is hard to imagine. In the early morning light, the steeple of the church gleams and beckons us. After saying our goodbyes to Valerie and Pascal and leaving some little reminders of Australia, down into the village we go. The church is billed as baroque, but is not gilded and gaudy as some we have seen. Like most other things in this little alpine gem, it is a genuine place that reflects the life of its community.

Just beyond the church there is a little souvenir shop that has reasonable prices. Helen is looking for a new travel buddy as Laura the ladybird is not really photogenic. We find the perfect buddy - Pierre Le Jean Bear! And I find the cutest small MARMOT backpack - I'll never forget my first trip to Europe when I saw one in the wild and nearly drove myself and everyone else crazy cos I didn't know what to call it! I think that a little girl might get it before too long.

The mountains look stunning in the morning sun - the permanent snow (ice) high on the slopes of Mont Blanc glistens in the sun and the clear air allows the myriad of colours up here in the high alps to positively shine. The lady in the souvenir shop is very friendly and when Michael comes in and thanks her for her help in finding our accommodation last night her face lights up and she gives us a free local magazine. Us spending money probably helped as well!

The air up here is clear - really clear. There is a sharpness that seems to accentuate individually all the crisp clear scents, oh, and the mountain smell of cows - got to experience it to appreciate it (or not!) Sinus appears to be a dim memory for those of us who suffer it from time to time. We have watched the cloud nursery over the last 12 hours - those high mountains where little wisps of clouds begin, sometimes dissapate and sometimes coalesce to form small then larger and larger puffs of white cotton wool.

We leave Cordon and head down the valley to pass through Sallanches in the base of the valley where we turn and head towards the famous ski resort of Chamonix, Mont Blanc and the Simplon Pass en route to Italy. We are travelling the road that twists and turns through the valley that squeezes its way between the various ranges in the French Alps. And all the while, we have Mont Blanc towering over us on the right, a steady reassurance that we are continuing in the right direction - a bit unnecessary as there is one road, and only two directions, forwards or back! The scenery is breath-taking. We never tire of it and Helen when she puts the camera down for a little just constantly makes comments.

On the opposite side of the valley to Mont Blanc, the mountains are not quite so high and so at this time of the year, right at the end of summer, they are snow free. They are also of a very different composition. The are below the tree line and so there are a myriad of fir trees - about 6 or 7 different types that boldly cling to the sharp steep slopes. Where the slopes are too steep for trees, you get lots of earth slip, with loose rocks and dirt sliding down to the next small ledge and then sitting there in growing piles. Above this towers sheer rock faces that would no doubt send some of the extreme sports junkies into a frenzy of excitement.

All of a sudden we find ourselves caught in the traffic of Chamonix. Even in summer this town is a-buzz. High above us we see what has become a (frighteningly) familiar sign of the hang gliders silently riding the thermals, round and round and round. And around town we can see the trim, taut and muscle-calved bodies of the summer hikers that you see all around the high countries in Europe. We Aussies like to think that we live in the great outdoors - let me tell you, we don't. Oh sure, we spend out days sitting in the great outdoors, but here where the summer is short and intense, they spend every minute of the day making the most of the amazing opportunities at their disposal. They walk, well, hike or trek is probably a closer description, across the hills and valleys for hours and sometimes days on end. They hang glide, they climb, they mountain bike down the slopes. They really live in the outdoors. And then of course summer is over and they all head indoors for the next 9 months - hehe.

We had not planned to stop, but then again we had not planned anything specific anyway! Helen makes a comment about the cable car and it was then we realised that she had never been up a big mountain, so off the major road we pull, passed all the beautiful people, passed the boutiquey shops and up tight little streets to the cable car terminus. There were two options: we could get the cable car up the mountain, or two cable cars - the first up the mountain and then another across the valley and up to a higher peak.

"In for a penny, in for a pound," was Helen's response to her preference. And so up we go. She sat with her back to the slope, looking out across where we had been, and watching the valley floor falling away from her as we climb the slope, while I the chicken always look up. The Brévent cable car allows you not only to get to the starting point for walks and hang gliding, it affords the most incredible views across to Mont Blanc. The Mont Blanc range peaks at 4810 m, the Aiguille du Midi (3842 m), and then there are the fascinatingly stunning Chamonix needles to one side and the range Fiz Diosaz with the valley below. Some of the most interesting scenery you will ever see!

The day is sunny and high on the plateau and then the Brévent peak, it is intense and I suspect that you would get burned very quickly. After gazing in wonder at the top of the world all around us, Michael takes off to scale to the top observation deck on the plateau, while Helen and I are quite content to have a coffee. Its not long before Michael is down joining us. After about an hour and a half all up, we head back down to the car and set off again.

We left Chamonix and continued up and down the hairpin bends through the mountains. And we continue to pass the crazy crazy cyclists who seem to relish the conquering of these hills. God knows how some of them don't have heart attacks halfway up - I mean there are some seriously toned bodies pushing those pedals, but then again there are also some who look like rank amateurs who don't have the handle on the gears and need apply much more mind over matter to achieve their goal. In fact, some of them look quite unhealthy (read podgy here) and their tight lyrca suits could not hide the obvious - ugh.

The valley through the mountains continues to wend its way along their base. Some times we head up into the passes to cross one peak, only to be greeted by yet more over the top. Up and over the Col des Montets (a mountain pass high in France) and then the Col de la Forclaz back into Switzerland for a while. We see Martigny down in the valley and skirt around its outer edges. It looks very very familiar with its slopes of vineyards and Michael and I realise the that it is all too familiar and dredge back through the memory banks to remember that we had been through here before on the day we visited Evian from Manigod! As we leave Martigny we are hugging the right bank of the Rhône River. Kate, as requested, is delivering us along the back roads - gosh some of them are better described as back back roads!

When we get to Sion, Kate insists that we need to take a ferry. When I programmed her this morning she had told me there was a ferry. But her directions take us not to a lake or a river or anywhere else where we might catch a ferry. It does however, take us to the railway station where we could get a car train through the Simplon range! But, not expecting this, I haven't checked the timetables. Usually with a ferry, you just rock up and wait for the next one to leave. ! So I quickly re-proramme her and we resume our road route. We might have been able to catch a train, but we want to go OVER the mountains so we can see the views!

The Simplon Pass is a high mountain pass between the Pennine Alps and the Lepontine Alps and connects Switzerland and the Piedmonte region of northern Italy. Up and over we go through beautiful forested areas with streams far below us. We traverse half open tunnels that hug the side of the slopes and at one point, a waterfall cascades down over the tunnel providing for a vista through a watery veil - very very beautiful. And its not too long before we are at the top. As with may of these passes, the top provides an opportunity for entrepreneurs to set up restaurants, hostelleries and touristy outlets, and this one is no different!

We are hardly over the Pass when off to the right we see the top of a church, peeking from a valley below. It is really intriguing as there doesn't seem to be a community down there and so we pull over in a rest stop to take a better look. WOW - it is so tall! And off to one side is a long, much lower building that resembles maybe a monastery, maybe a barracks. But the very unusual thing is that these two buildings are out there, isolated, on their alonesome. Wow, this definitely calls for a closer look. I take the next road that leads off to the right and away we go. The buildings are much closer to the road than they looked. And whatever this building it, it is not a church. Its 8 stories high. There are no explanation signs so we have no idea what either of the buildings are. Michael takes heaps of photos though.

And then the day went belly-up.

As I started the car, there was this dreadful asthma-like hacking, coughing noise. The last time I had ever heard anything like it was years ago when my girlfriend, Carmen's car did a cylinder. Whatever it was, it wasn't good! I quickly drove down to the base of the hill where the barracks were and tooted the horn as Michael had disappeared somewhere around that imposing edifice. He re-appeared and I called him telling him there was a problem. A quick look under the bonnet and he (and therefore we) were none the wiser. All I knew was that we had to get somewhere and fast. Helen laughed (as she does when she is anxious). She told me later that my whole demeanour changed. There she was trying to calm me by telling me such things as "Its probably only a blocked fuel line or dirty fuel". But I would not be convinced. This car has been the extension of my arms, legs and breath for the past eight months and I had a horrible feeling coursing through my very being. Yeah, yeah drama queen - but it does make for interesting reading.

So we crept up from the valley and back on to the highway through the base of the Pass. Its all down hill from here - through a stunning gorge (not that I am taking too much attention) and very downhill! It was about now that the engine warning light came on - intermittently and then persistently. I coast into a Shell service station at Gondo just before the Italian border. The lights were all one, but the only fellow there spoke only Italian and Michael could not make himself understood. So we continue to limp forward. We have to pass through a tunnel that was 2.5 kms long - "One of the longest tunnels in the world", thought Helen "when the engine light is on!" before emerging to pass through the Italian border, manned by one of the gruffest men we have yet to meet. By this point, we are seeing lots of signs for the town of Domodossola and so following my instinct that this might be a larger town, we head for there.

Turns out that we could not have come to rest in a more appropriate location. As we come off the highway we see a sign for a mechanic and Michael goes for help. He brings two non-Italian looking Italians back to the car. They don't understand us until Helen points to the engine warning light in the manual and he laughingly says one word "Caput" and toached the engine. The then mutters Opel (European equivalent of Vauxhall) and points across the road saying what we interpret to be they are closing as he points to his watch.

Michaels now off at a frantic sprint. He comes back a little later to say that the mechanics have gone, one of the office girls speaks some English and we can leave the car there (before 7 pm when the sales staff finish and its now 6:30 pm). And as I said, the perfect location - the Opel dealer is 100 m up the road in one direction and in the other is the Hotel Internazionale. So he heads there - yes they have a vacancy, with wifi connection and he has booked us in. We quickly unload the car at the hotel and he takes it over to Opel.

My god, what an exhausting afternoon.
We head down for dinner as soon as the Restaurant is open at 7:30 pm. Plaza de Toros might not be silver service, but the food is wholesome and tasty given our frantic hunger. We have a strange mix, pasta for starters - Helens with Salmon, mine was gnocchi with tomato and Michael had Penne Arribiata. The waitress then collected the plates and gave us dessert menus, obviously not realising that we had ordered a 'main' meal. Helen and I both had Veal with Limone and Michael had Torneades - all served with chips, no veges or salad! Desserts then followed - Helen and I shared a Creme Catalan and Michael had lemon sorbet.

Up to the room and to very uncomfortable beds - well, Michaels and mine was while Helens obviously gets less use and wasn't too bad she reported. Who cares. We are in civilisation. We are safe. More news on the car tomorrow.

So, Italy or Switzerland?

Now I know Dad got his phobia about flies in Europe! We have noticed more here than anywhere else since we left home. Last night there were a couple in the apartment bothering about us all night - we thought we had got them! Ha ha. Early this morning there was a particularly bothersome one who wouldn't leave me alone so I was up before the alarm. Then the bloody thing came into the bathroom with me. Aha gotcha! With a deft flick of the wrist he was gone. What??? Another one? B***** hell. Got it too, only to find that when I got out of the shower there was yet another - how fast can these things breed? Surely not that fast. Seems that last night he invited the rest of his gang over - the only window open is the 1 foot square bathroom one. So I walk around with the fly swat - I will not resort to the spray can (yet).

We had looked at Turin and Geneva on the net last night. Due to a G8 meeting in Italy, they have suspended the Schengen Convention and all entry into Italy requires checks at the border crossings - this will cause some delays according to their website. So we decide against Turin today and will instead go to Geneva and Lausanne in Switzerland. Then as we say goodbye to Chris and Mike who are returning to the UK for a specialist appointment re her knee operation, Mike suggests that we look at going over the mountains to Evian, further around on Lake Geneva. So, in the car we head initially for La Clusaz and then with map out, we plan an itinerary that takes us high into the alps follwing the Route Des Grandes Alpes and down to Lake Geneva and Evian (yes, as in the water!) Which actually doesn't even see us leaving France!

From Manigod we cross the Aravis Range to La Clusaz through the Col de la Croix-Fry and the Col des Avaris and on through St-Jean-de-Sixt and le Grand-Bornand and then through the Col de la Colombière to Cluses on the Arve River. Then it is almost due north through Taninges, then Montriond, Saint-Jean-d'Aulps and Le Biot all on the River Danse and the outskirts of Thonon-les-Bains before finally reaching Evian-les-Bains on the shores of Lake Geneva and opposite Lausanne in Switzerland. Oh, what is a Col? That is a mountain pass! Up steep climbs with lots and lots of hairpin bends and then down the same on the other side. You would not want to be prone to being car-sick in this sort of country. For weeks we have seen deer warning signs (like the kangaroo ones back home) but until today, had not seen any deer. Then, right before our eyes, a doe and her fawn take their lives into their hooves and dash across. I guess we were pretty lucky really, god knows that most Australians will never encounter a kangaroo on the road either!

The mountains in summer are a magic place. The air is crisp and much cooler than in the valleys and up close, the colours are very vibrant. But there is a haze that builds very quickly so that by early afternoon, when you look out across the valleys from a height, you could be forgiven for thinking you were looking through a piece of gauze. There must be some sort of annual floral competition run in France. All the small mountain communities are ablaze with colour - flowering plants are to be found in every container and crevice, with signs proudly declaring that their town was a winner in 2008, 2007, 1981 or some other time! The most vibrant pots contain a mix of pink and red geraniums and tuberous begonias. And the daily life of many a village is on show for all to see, with bedding airing out the windows and washing on verandahs.

And so to Evian. Not surprisingly, the roundabouts coming through the town display water features, as do many of the parks. Evian water fountains - well what else would you expect! The town certainly makes the most of it's link with the famous mineral water and every cafe or bar has tables covered with Evian umbrellas. We didn't actually go to any of the spring outlets! Gosh, didn't even think of it. But we did go and have a look at the Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption church just across the road from the visitor centre with its imposing panels of 'the way of the cross'.

But Evian's best link to water has to be the amazing location sitting on the banks of Europe's largest lake - Lake Geneva. This is such a picturesque setting and the lake itself is stunning. The water is so clean and clear that not only can you see patterned little fishes swimming, you can actually see the rocks at the base of the lake. Lake Geneva straddles France and Switzerland so that the ferries and other commercial traffic fly both the Swiss and French flags. The water is busy with a ferry cruise (solar powered), a Paddlewheeler boat, water skiers, pleasure craft and even one of the 50 or so remaining professional fishermen were all out on the water. And there were airforce jets flying by, low over the water that was absorbing quite a bit of their noise.

We go to visit the tourist information centre but ... you guessed it - lunchtime! So we went further down town and on the water opposite the Evian Casino there is a small ferry doing cruises. Very economical too. So on we hop. Turns out this is the first solar powered ferry on French waters. It operates almost totally noiselessly and the captain is happy to explain to the other passengers all about it. He has given Michael and I an A4 book with the same information translated into English. Guess that saves him having to say everything twice, even though his English is quite good. We are the only two non-French speaking passengers.

The tour lasts 30 minutes and just travels up a couple of kms along the French side of the lake only. There is quite a bit of history though along here and some very impressive real estate including the home that once belonged to the founder of DMC tapestry threads (my favourite) Jean-Henri Dollfus, a former home of the Lumière family - famous for the roles they played in cinematography (see our post for Lyon in February when we visited their museum) and the former Spa Baths that are now the cultural centre.

Cruise done we find a seat in the shade overlooking the lake and have our lunch. We have brough ham and chicken, cheese, tomato and lettuce with us and this morning in La Clusaz Michael bought 2 'small' (not) bagettes. We make up sandwiches and just bask in the scenery and air off the water. Gosh, this is very hard to take - right!! NOT. It is now after 3 pm, so we decide to turn for home. Now the decision needs to be made re the route. Do we go into Switzerland around the Lake through Lausanne and then Geneva before we turn south for Manigod (192 kms and just under 3 hours)? Or should we head for Mont Blanc and go across the other passes we have not seen (205 kms and 4½ hours)? No, no points for correctly guessing the longer route!

So I program Kate to take us via the Valley of Abondance (no, not a spelling mistake) then Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, Saint-Gervias-Les-Bains, Flumet and back trugh La Clusaz to Manigod. We stop at La-Chappelle d'Abondance and admire the church murals and I take the opportunity to have a refreshing drink from the town spring - with water coming straight off the mountain, clean and clear and sweet and cool.
This route takes us through the Col de la Forclaz and up through Morzine and into an even more twisting and climbing area through the Pass de Morgins. I was amazed at Morzine - high in this pristine environment, lying down in the valley, this sizeable city is complete with heavy industry bellowing out the detrius that is associated with it. And around the outskirts of the city are agricultural fields! Hope the locals know what they are eating with their fruit. Our next stop is in Morgins in Switzerland with its very unique bell tower. Now, the Swiss have a unique way of funding some of their road costs. It is compulsory to purchase a road tax vingette to travel on the motorways - even if you are only on it for ten minutes! So when we arrive in Morgins Michael goes to find one and eventually gets it at the Post Office. It is valid for a year and was €30 - pretty good considering that I think this was what we paid in 2006. And now we have it so there won't be any hassles going into Switzerland next week or when Hels gets here. From Morgins its back onto the Route Des Grandes Alpes to Chamonix-Mont-Blanc.

Now, this is where Michael got really excited. He got to see his first glacier in the wild. And then in quick succession, got to see three more! The Bionnassay glacier, the Mer de Glace glacier, the Bossons glacier and the Argentière glacier. Mont Blanc, western Europe's highest mountain however, continued to shield her face from us with clouds. But the views were nonetheless impressive and breath-catching. And we saw many of the other mountains in the Chablais Alps that run along the border between France and Switzerland. And we even got a light bit of snow as we were travelling through here - not enough to settle, but there were flakes on the windscreen! So we now turn north west slightly and head back for Flumet where we came through the other day and then we retraced our steps into La Clusaz and finally Manigod. With our photo stops, we pull into the drive at the chalet just after 8 pm.

The last hour of the trip is interesting. We have been having a Cow kind of day with bells, models, cutouts all on the agenda. We watch as a young man moves his cows higher onto the hills after milking. It is incredible that they can even lift their heads as they are all sporting HUGE bells on wide leather belts around their necks. We pass at least five apricot vans - produce from farms along the route, but don't stop - we are pushing for home now. And as we come back over the Avaris Mountains we experience a fantastic sunderstorm! Yes, although there was some thin cloud, it was still sunny. Thunder and lightening, not very frightening, but I'm telling you the torrential downpour that accompanied it added a new dimension to driving these already hairy roads!! Once over the top though, there were clear skies and dry roads - they had not had a drop, but with the weather predicted to get wet, the farmers were taking no chances in getting their grass crops off quickly.















To finish the post for today, how is this for a picture? Taken out the car window from up in the mountains once we had passed through the storm that was still soaking the valley below!

P.S.
As I write this, the forecast storms are hitting here. Lots of lightening and a good amount of rain. Guess that grass will be growing quickly again if it is sunny again tomorrow!