So we are in the Detroit airport waiting for our connection to Phoenix.  I’ve been reflecting on what a great adventure this has been.  I’ve learned some important things about traveling to Paris and taking a long trip like this and I want to remember for next time.  It’s been four or five years since our last big trip and apparently I forgot lots of things.  

Paris-What to wear for a long or short trip

1.  Comfortable shoes.   You will walk lots and if they aren’t Nike’s or Mephisto or another comfort brand, you won’t be happy.  Nix on the chic.  Black Nike’s are fine. 

2.  Layer.  It was so cold in mid-May and is even cold now in mid-June.  54 degrees and rainy today, June 10th.   Wear a camisole under your shirt for extra warmth.  You can take it off in a bathroom if it gets too warm.

3.  Bring fewer clothes.  I brought too many things that I didn’t need this trip.  You can wash almost everything in the bathroom sink.  I brought laundry soap, but didn’t use it.  I washed everything with the hotel shampoo and used heated towel racks for drying.  Not every hotel has these, so be sure your stuff will be dry before we leave for next destination. 

4.  For a month’s stay, you can get by with three pairs of pants plus the one you wear on the plane, one skirt, one dress, three long-sleeved shirts, three short sleeved or sleeveless shirts, two sweaters, a jacket, two or three scarves, jamies, 3 pairs of socks, and undies for 5 days.   I bought most of my clothes at J Crew. 

Pants:  1 lightweight wool-black if you’re going early in season -will be cold
            1 dark wash or black jeans with a little spandex
            1 light colored chino capris
            1 chino pants
Shirts:  3 lightweight long sleeve shirts with collars that can be washed in the sink and dry overnight-J Crew has good selection
             1 long sleeved lightweight cotton turtleneck that can be washed
            3 short sleeve or sleeveless shirts that can be worn alone or under sweater or jacket
Sweaters:  1  pullover navy or black-cashmere if possible for extra warmth
            1 or 2 lightweight cardigans in a solid or print
Skirt:  1 pencil skirt in black stretchy or dark denim
Dress: 1 lightweight washable dress-I didn’t wear mine this time because it was too cold, but may need it next time.
Jacket-Neutral color-grey or black
Scarves-1 warmer cashmere or wool, 2 lightweight
Hat-panama hat-covers your hair so you don’t have to mess with it every day and protects your skin from sun

5.  Bring all glasses including bifocals and an extra pair or readers.

6.  Make sure your cell phone works with a sim card and wifi hotspots.

Other notes to self  about how to make the long trips we take easier:

1.  Try to reset your biological clock before you leave for overseas trip by going to bed earlier every night for 4-6 weeks before the trip.  Only change by 15 minutes at a time for 3-4 days.  This worked great for us this trip and was best trip ever for dealing with jet lag.  

2. Once you arrive, walk everywhere.  You will be eating lots more than you normally do, so if you want your clothes to fit, walk wherever you can, even if it’s raining.  Use an umbrella.

3.  Hike when you are in places where you can.  See above.  

 4.  Shower at night.  That way you can get up in the morning, have breakfast, and go do your planned activities without delay.

5.  Bring a travel alarm or two.  None of the hotels we stayed at had clocks.

6.  If you want flexibility in your schedule, don’t book a hotel until the night before you will be in a place.  You will change your mind and want to stay for a longer or shorter period than you thought you would.

7.  Research as much as possible the places you want to be beforehand so you don’t waste time or miss something because you ran out of time.

8.  Buy sample size packets of skin care products.  Travel size bottles are bigger than I want when trying to minimize my luggage.  Paula’s Choice has little packets for cleansers, moisturizers, and hair products that don’t take up much space.

9.  Use large ziplocs or packing envelopes to organize everything and/or use the space saver bags that you squeeze the air out of, but be prepared to re-squeeze when you take something out that you need.

10.  When you re-pack, keep the stuff you use most on top and the stuff you don’t use as much on the bottom of the suitcase.

11.  Keep hand sanitizer in your purse and saline nasal spray.  Use nasal spray several times before, during, and after the flight.  I’ve read it’s supposed to protect you from getting colds when flying because it’s so dry in a plane that it encourages germs.

12.  Drink Smart Water or electrolyte water the day before and day of flying.  Same thing as 11.  You get really dehydrated on a plane and need extra to stay healthy.

13.  If you’re going to be gone more than three weeks, make sure you receive your bills online and can pay them with online billpay.

14.  Bring a foldable duffle bag if you are going to be staying in different hotels every night.  That way you don’t have to lug the big suitcases every day.  You can put what you will need for three or four days in the duffle and leave the big suitcases in the car.  

15.  Wear compression “flight” socks on the plane for flights overseas and/or take aspirin the day before and day of flight.

16.  Write a blog about your trip and take lots of photos.  You’ll never remember everything that happened unless you write it down accompanied by many photos.  Do it for yourself and if no one but you reads it, that’s OK.  You’ll appreciate it in the future when you want to remember hotels, restaurants, excursions, and activities.   It’s easier than a travel journal and you won’t lose it. 

June 10th

So Dan and I spent the night at a hotel in the Paris airport.   This morning, we packed all our stuff, exited the room and headed for the elevator.  It was just the two of us as the doors to the elevator started to close, when a man in a hurry rushed in.   I took one look at him and knew who it was.  I looked at Dan and he mouthed “Do you know who that is?”  I nodded with a smile.

When we exited the elevator, Dan had to go print out  our boarding passes while I gathered the luggage and put it on a large cart to haul through the airport.  I was standing there in the lobby with McDreamy (Patrick Dempsey) a few feet away from me waiting for  Dan to take care of our boarding passes.   McDreamy was talking to someone and I was trying not to look at him.  He  must get so sick of gawkers trying to strike up  a conversation.

After a few minutes he started to walk away and as he did so, he looked right at me.  I blurted out “Hi McDreamy”.  He said, “Hi, how are you?”   I was speechless and didn’t answer.   He walked over to the bar that was next to where we were standing to talk with someone else.

 HA!  He is handsome. No, I did not take his photo.  This is another from Google images.   I wonder what he was doing in Paris.

I can’t believe that the weather in Paris is still cold!  When we arrived yesterday afternoon, it was 54 degrees and rainy.  Today when we left, it was 52 and rainy.   Geez!

June 8th

We only have one morning left before leaving for Lyon, France, where we will spend the night and fly to Paris on June 9th.  

Looking at the Eiger from our balcony our last night

The hotel across the street from us

Our last day in the Alps, we only had a few hours left because we had to drive to Lyon and it was a four hour drive from Grindelwald.   We decided we wanted to go back to Grindelwald First because the hike to Lake Bachalpsee would be opening that day, June 8th.    The hiking path had been closed because of the unseasonable amount of snow.   We had hopes of hiking to the top of the mountain where this crystal clear glacial lake reflects the snow-covered Alpine Peaks. 

We took the gondola ride once again to the top of the terrace at Grindelwald First.  (See yesterday’s post)

There are so many hiking paths in the alps.  We didn’t have time to take a single one.   

Next time we come, I’ll do much more planning.

What a hike this would be!

The air is so fresh.  I never had any allergies the entire time.

When we reached the top of Grindelwald First, we saw this sign.  Lake Balchalpsee went to the left, and the Fast Flyer zipline went to the right.  I wasn’t sure how long the hike would be, but knew it couldn’t be too far.   This was the first day the trail was open because there had been so much snow this year.  It seemed like we were one of the first people to hike it as well because we got on the gondola around 9:40 and it normally doesn’t open until 10:00.   

The beginning of the hike to Lake Bachalpsee

The views were gorgeous, even more so than on the terrace.

A funny looking snow drift that looked like a head with a face

There was a lot of snow still on the trail.

Dan is not a hiker by choice, but goes along with me because I like it.  This hike was pretty much all uphill and after about 30 minutes, he wasn’t very happy.  I wanted to keep going and Dan was trying to be a good sport about it.  The views were so beautiful and I really wanted to make it to the Lake.  It would be our last thing before leaving the alps.

 

We stopped several times along the way to breathe.

I’m sure it won’t be much further.

Another couple got on the trail after us, but soon they were ahead.  I was afraid we weren’t going to make it to the Lake.

Another couple along the way got ahead of us.

The woman stopped to rest on a bench overlooking the Alps while her husband forged ahead.

There was a little hut along the way.

You could see the whole north face of the Eiger straight on.

You could see the village so tiny below.

Oh no, not another hill to forge before we make it to the top.

After about 45 minutes of hiking, Dan wanted to turn around.  He had been a good sport.  I agreed, but reluctantly.  Later, we found that the hike is about 2 hours round trip.  So we had been more than halfway there when we turned around.   Next time we come to Switzerland, I hope I’ll find a hiking partner.  Any volunteers?

We had to go down before we reached the lake.

This is what we would have seen had we made it to the lake.  Thanks Google images.

I really want to go back.

On the way back down

As we went back down, more people were starting to come up the trail.

And a parasailer glided above us.

Taking the gondola down.

Don’t these hiking trails look like fun?

And this is just the Grindelwald area.  There are dozens of other areas to hike.

What are these goats doing on the patio of someone’s house?  We saw this from the gondola on the way down.

So we left Grindelwald and headed for Lyon around 12:30 PM.  We made it there by about 4:45 and it was rainy.   There, we arranged all our stuff in the suitcases and boarded a plane for Paris the next day, June 9th.   We arrived at the Paris airport in the evening and went to Sheraton Hotel, which is in the airport in Paris.  We would spend the night and get up early for our flight to Phoenix.  

The adventure was almost over.  Many people say that there’s no place like home after a long trip like this.  Not me.  There’s no place like Paris, Provence, the Routes des Grande Alpes, and Switzerland.  I don’t want to go home!

June 7th-Afternoon

I wish we had more time.  If I could plan this trip again, I would take days away from Narbonne, Nimes, and the French Riviera, and give them all to the Swiss Alps.  Of all the places I’ve visited, this is my favorite and definitely worth the time of coming back some day.  We leave June 8th in the afternoon and there is so much more to do and see. 

We talked with another couple who had hiked to Murren after taking the train to Lauterbrunnen, and then a cable car to the top of the mountain. They said it was spectacular, but we didn’t have time.  The cable cars usually close around 6 PM.

But, we decided at least to take the train to Lauterbrunnen.  The views from the train are so incredible, we couldn’t lose.   Besides, the ride is less than an hour.

On the way to Lauterbrunnen

Little train stop along the way

We had to change trains at Klein Scheidegg.

Wow.  Look at that.  We said that constantly.

WOW

Another little Alpine town along the train.

 Many of these Alpine towns can only be reached by train.  There are no cars in these towns.  It’s absolutely true.  You have to walk, bike, scooter, or take the train to get places.

The alpine flower fields are such a dramatic contrast.

Getting close to Wengen, another town with NO cars.

Lauterbrunnen from the train

Getting closer.

 By the time we arrived, there was not much time left.  We had about an hour so we took a hike to the waterfall and climbed to the top.  Not much to see from the top.  I think you can take a tour and go under the falls.

Huge waterfall at Lauterbrunnen

A little cemetery

A long climb, but a big disappointment.

It was time to head back.  Last train back to Grindelwald was at 6 PM and we didn’t want to miss it.

Grund is the last stop before Grindelwald.

Tomorrow morning, June 8th, is our last day.  We don’t have to leave until 1 or 1:30, but have to drive to Lyon, France where we will catch a flight to Paris on June 9th.

June 7th  Morning

According to the information in the guidebook, one of the few places where the glaciers have penetrated deeply into the valley is in Grindelwald.  The best overview to see them is from Grindelwald First, a popular excursion destination that can be reached by an amazing gondola ride leaving from Grindelwald, and it’s only about a ten minute walk from our hotel. 

This morning’s view from our hotel.  It’s been sunny every day.

The entrance to Grindewald First

 The most popular attractions at Grindelwald First are the idyllic Lake Bachalpsee, theme trails such as the Flower Trail and the Marmot Nature Trail, as well as the high alpine trail to the Faulhorn summit.  Also, there is a zipline called First Flyer that is 800 meters long, 50 meters above the ground, and goes at speeds of up to 80km per hour (50 mph).   

On June 7th, most of the trails and zipline were closed because of the snow.   We were told that there hasn’t been this much snow in 50 years.   The trails and zipline would open on June 8th. 

Our gondola

 We left at 10 AM, as soon as it opened.  The ride to the top was about 30 minutes and had two places to get off for other hikes.

 Many of the photos were taken through the glass of the gondola, so they aren’t very good.  But, it’s difficult to convey what we saw in photographs anyway.  You have to go there to see for yourself.

I love all the cute Alpine houses.  Most of them are given names as well as dates of construction.

Lots of cows in the valley.  And they all have cowbells.  You know when they’re coming.

Beautiful views from the gondola

In addition to photos being taken from gondola, the lighting was full sun, so you can’t get great photos without a lot of manipulation of the aperture, etc.  No time for that.

One of the dairy farmers working outside

Cows lining up politely waiting their turn for a drink.

There are two stops along the way to the top.  This one, called Bort, has a restaurant and playground for children.

Riding into Bort

Leaving Bort behind

We saw many dozen waterfalls along the way.

You can’t imagine how beautiful everything there really is.  Just breathtaking.

Farmer taking his cow for a walk

The second stop-Can’t remember its name.

Getting closer to the top

We arrived at the restaurant at the top of Grindelwald First

Not that crowded compared to Jungfraujoch.

Panoramic views

Lots of Parasailing

On the way back down

Since the trail to Lake Bachalpsee would open tomorrow, June 8th, we would return for the hike.    This was morning.  Then we had to decide what to do in the afternoon.

June 6th

 In my previous blog entry, I mentioned that we are staying in Grindelwald instead of Interlaken.  I like Grindelwald better than Interlaken because it is more scenic and quiet.  You have a much better view of the Eiger Mountain and the Alpine village below.

The Jungfrau, which means “maiden” in German, is one of the main summits in the Bernese Alps situated in western Switzerland. Together with the Eiger and Monch, the Jungfrau forms a massive wall overlooking the Bernese Oberland and is an amazing sight.

Our experience with The Top of Europe

First, let me say that the experience we had today cannot adequately be captured with photos or text, but since I took over 200 photos, I will attempt to convey some of the magnificence of this extraordinary experience of our journey from Grindelwald to the top of the Jungfrau.

Before we left home, Dan found out about a 3-day pass and a 6-day pass on the Jungfrau Railway system.  You can’t see much detail from this map, but you can see that there are many places you can visit with your pass.  The pass includes the cable-ways, boats on the two lakes, and buses as well.  There are so many excursions and hikes, you could stay here months and not see everything.  The 6 day pass is $250. per person.

We only scratched the surface of what you can see in this area over a period of two days and one morning.   Our first excursion was to see “The Top of Europe”, the Jungfrau.   We took the train from Grindelwald to Klein Scheidegg where we changed trains to take another train to the top of the Jungfrau.

We caught the train right outside our hotel, The Derby, in Grindelwald.  It’s one of those quiet trains, so no worries about loud noise at night.

We caught the 9:17 AM train that would take us to the Jungfrau.  This train ride would be about 32 minutes and then we would transfer to another train that would take another 52 minutes to the top.

Dan’s looking at a brochure of what to expect along the way and when we get there.

T

The views from the first train

More views from first train

Changing trains at Klein Scheidegg

We were never that cold.  It was much colder in Paris.

View from intermediate station and glaciers

Jungfraujoch is Europe’s highest altitude railway at 3454 meters above sea level.   The train runs partly through a tunnel hewn out of rock, where two intermediate stations have breathtaking views from the middle of the Eiger North Wall and over the glaciers. 

Once we arrived at the Jungfraujoch station, we followed signs that said “Tour” to take us through all the “attractions” on the Jungfrau. 

We finally arrived at the top.  Follow the signs that say “Tour” they told us.

First we walked out on a big deck to see the “Sphinx” vantage terrace at 3571 meters above sea level.

The views were amazing, but the place has been “Disneyfied” with lots of attractions.  When we first arrived, it was early so not too crowded.  By 12:30 or so, the place was hopping with people from all over the world.  And it’s early in the season, so I can imagine what it would be like in another month.  The information I read about said that in high season, up to 5,000 people visit per day. 

They have five restuarants and a bar.

They sold watches too.

You can experience the history of building the railway.  That is quite a story too.

The ice cave was really cold.  The floor was ice, but too cold to be slippery.

The only time we were cold was in the ice cave.

Lots of carvings in the ice cave.

In the ice cave-posing booth.

Seriously Disneyfied.

After the ice cave, we went outside to warm up.  Yes, it was warm outside.  We had to take off our jackets.  The next area we went to was the “Plateau”.  Basically it’s an area you can walk outside in the snow overlooking the alps.

Walking out on the plateau was a little tricky to get the hang of walking on snow with sneakers.

We walked to the top of the plateau.

Great view from the plateau too

It was warm (relatively).  People were in their T-shirts.

Dan’s having fun

lunch

We took a walk on a snow-covered path.  With the altitude and the snow, it was really difficult to see even with sunglasses.  Dan took off his sunglasses for a photo and had to put them back on.  You really can’t open your eyes without shades.

I felt a little dizzy at times because of the altitude.  But, not bad.  Could still hike.

There was another area where we could take a hike.

Kept the shades on.

Time to return.

The alpine villages are beautiful.

Back to the hotel in the late afternoon.

Lots more to do.  Grindelwald First will be tomorrow.   More on that in the next blog entry.

June 5th

We are winding down our trip with only a few days left to go and I can’t believe it’s almost over.  
Today was a travel day.  We drove from Chamonix to Interlaken, and then to Grindewald, Switzerland.   The drive was 252 km.  (I’m doing metric now-Ha) and took about 3 hours. 

The drive along the way was pretty at times, but we were on the motorway and there were very few places to stop for photos.   We did stop for lunch at the Swiss equivalent of a truck stop.

At this Auto-Grill place, we discovered that the people in this part of Switzerland speak German.  Dan thought that this was the part of Switzerland where they spoke French.  Switzerland is divided into two language section, one that speaks French and one that speaks German.  Rats!  And I was really beginning to learn some French.  When will I ever get to use it again?

We originally planned to stay in Interlaken for three days, but the hotels there were pretty booked except for one that was $400 a night, so we drove to Grindewald, which is about 20 km east of Interlaken.  That was a really good idea, because after seeing Interlaken and then seeing Grindewald, the latter is a much better choice.  

Dan found a room at the Derby Hotel that was reasonably priced and has a fantastic view.   The room is a suite and has two balconies.  I think it’s the biggest place we have stayed on this entire trip.  We will be here for three nights before driving to Lyon where we will take a flight back to Paris.  We’ll spend the night at a hotel in the Paris airport on June 9th and take an early morning flight out to Phoenix on the 10th.  This amazing journey will be over, but we will have so many memories.  And we’ll have the blog to look back and read.

Hotel room at Derby Hotel

En Suite

View from balcony

Another view from balcony

When we were in the Narbonne area, we went to Fontfroide Abbey, and I wrote a blog entry about it.  Fontfroide Abbey is highly regarded for their great wines so while there I tasted some different ones.

I usually prefer reds, but I tasted one white that was amazing.  My future daughter-in-law, Stacey, loves white wines, so I bought her a bottle as one of her birthday presents.  What was I thinking?  The bottle would explode in the suitcase in the baggage compartment due to pressure and we could never get it through security.  Duh.

We only have four days left and we have to drink it.   I feel bad, Stacey, if you’re reading this.

We opened the bottle and poured some wine in your honor, Stacey.

Cheers!  Happy Birthday, Stacey (belated)

Even Dan had some in your honor.

Don’t be too sad, though.  We’ll ask Arizona Wines if they can import some great French wines for you

The plan for tomorrow is that we will get the VIP pass for Jungfrau where we will get to do lots of stuff, including another ride up to another majestic mountain, but this time in the Swiss Alps.     We will see how much we can do because there is rain in the forecast, but mostly in the afternoons. 

I’m enjoying every minute of our last few days and I’m sure we’ll have another adventure tomorrow.

June 3rd and 4th

We arrived in Chamonix in time for lunch and found a hotel called Auberge de Manoir.   We were happy that the proprietor spoke English.   After getting settled in our room, we had lunch and then just walked around town until dinner.   We attempted a little hike, but decided that it wasn’t what we had hoped, so turned around.  There was not enough time to do both of the things we wanted to do, the cable car up to Aiguille du Midi and the train to Mer de Glace.   We would do those things tomorrow.

Dinner was at a terrific place called Revola and the food was amazing.  The owner spoke English for which we were very grateful.  It is always a challenge when no one speaks English especially in the smaller towns.

There are two tomatoes missing from this salad.  We keep forgetting to take photos before diving in.  The dressing was a lemon something and really good.

Dan had beef with potatoes.

I had the lamb.  It tasted better than this photo looks.

The view from our hotel room.

Cute little room with a balcony and view of the alps.

 In Chamonix, there are two attractions that are almost mandatory.  The first is the Aguille du Midi cable car ride to the summit which is 3,842 meters.  The Aguille du Midi is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif in the French Alps. The cable car to the summit, the Téléphérique de l’Aiguille du Midi, was built in 1955 and held the title of the world’s highest cable car for about two decades. It still holds the record as the highest vertical ascent cable car in the world, from 1,035 m to 3842 m.

 There are two sections: from Chamonix to Plan de l’Aiguille at 2,317 m is the first section of the ride.   At this point, you get out of the cable car and then get into another one that takes you  directly, without any support pillar, to the upper station at 3,777 m.

The tramway travels from Chamonix to the top of the Aiguille du Midi – an altitude gain of over 2,800 m – in 20 minutes.

We reached the halfway point, took some photos, and then got into the tram that would take us to the top.

This is the cable car before it is loaded with people.  We would take this to the top.

View from the window of the cable car

At last we reached the summit.  Now we would take some stairs to an even higher point.  The views were absolutely breathtaking.   And it was a little harder to take a breath at that altitude.

I took about 100 photos.

Dan took a couple as well.

Looking straight down into the town below.  No subtle drop-off here.

People looking from the deck

The absolute summit.  You can take an elevator to this.

We saw some climbers below.  I think they take the ride up and then hike down.  I can’t imagine.

Going back down to the cable car after some hot tea in the cafe.

If you look closely, you’ll see some workers on the side of the building.

Dan really loved it.  It wasn’t that cold either.  It was sunny and beautiful.

Someone built some snow people by the stairway.

Dan didn’t want to leave.

The next cable car was coming.  We would have to decide if we would stay or take this one down.

We decided to go so we would be able to see the next attraction before the expected cloudy skies in the late afternoon.  View from inside the cable car.  It’s crowded!!

Really crowded.  Standing room only-about 75 people.

I wasn’t next to a window, but behind someone who was, so I could see outside the cable car some on the way down.  I took some blind shots with the camera by holding it above the head of the person in front of me.  I could see two people walking across the snow with backpacks. 

What were they doing?

Oh, para-sailing.   We didn’t get to see them take off though.

Heading down-It’s a really long drop to the bottom.

We made it back.  Wow! Was that a spectacular experience.

Lunch was at the same cafe as yesterday.  As we were sitting waiting for our food, we looked up and saw the para-sailers who we had seen earlier on the cable car. 

Beautiful sunny day-in the 60s.

After lunch, we set off for the second attraction of the day, the Mer de Glace.  The Mer de Glace (Sea of Ice) is a glacier located on the northern slopes of Mont Blanc. At 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) long and 200 metres (660 ft) deep, it is the longest glacier in France.  The thing I was most looking forward to seeing were the ice caves. 

We would take a little train.

They allow dogs.  Aww.

The Mer de Glace glacier used to be all the way to the front of the photo and beyond and as high as the color change on the side of the mountain.  As you can see, it has receded dramatically.  

Very sad that the glacier has receded so much.

There is a little museum that tells you all about glaciers.  Very interesting, but kind of depressing with their recessions and global warming.

The ice caves you can see in the center of the photo.  We wanted to go down and see them, but they were closed for repairs.  We were told they are not safe right now.  Disappointing.

Still can’t believe that it has receded so much.

We got back to Chamonix late afternoon and it was clouding up a bit.

As I was downloading photos from the day and beginning to write the blog entry, Dan said “Come quickly and look out on the balcony”.

The sun was setting and the mountains were pink from the reflection.  The moment was magic.  Truly.

I didn’t think any of the pink would show in the photos, but am grateful that it did show some.  WOW!

What a day!

I love the tunnels here because one side has large windows!

Made it through Col Du Lautaret.

Snow was in a mound across the road and a barricade in the distance.  FERME!

We passed through some Alpine towns on the route to our new destination, Albertville. This one is called Flumet.

Albertville is best known because it was the site of the 1992 Winter Olympics.

Between Albertville and Flumet, a new dam was being built.

We were so close to Italy, there were signs for Milan.

We reached Albertville on Sunday. The town was pretty much deserted.

There were no restaurants open for lunch, so we had to settle for pastries.

Since there wasn’t much to do, we headed for the tiny town of Beufort, a little ways from Albertville.

The drive to Beaufort was beautiful with lots of alpine fields with mountain background.

Really nice drive

Sunday and the town was pretty quiet.

We saw a few tourists and a single bike rider.  Really cute town.

As we drove further ahead and higher in altititude, fog started creeping in.  And it was getting colder.  We were wondering if the roads might have black ice, so we headed back to Albertville.

Much sunnier as we headed back.

We found a place to stay the night called “La Roma” in Albertville.  I love the tree they have in the front parking lot.

Tomorrow, the 3rd of June, we would head to Chamonix, France for our next adventure!

Routes des Grandes Alpes Day 2

June 1, 2013

I didn’t include these images from last night’s dinner at one of the few open restaurants in Valberg.  We were their only customers, but the food was really good.  We had honey pork ribs, fries, and salad.   And a friend came to join us .  .  .

The owner’s dog sat at my feet during the entire dinner and let me pet her.  Aww.  Most of the restaurants we went to in Paris allows dogs.

No one that we encountered in Valberg spoke English, so we had to get by on Dan’s broken French.  He has been able to order our meals and speak to the servers pretty well most of the time.  Good job, Dan.

Speaking of restaurants, France rarely serves dinner before 7:30 and the dinner is always more than an hour and often times two hours.   I think I mentioned that in an earlier blog.   We have had a difficult time getting used to that schedule.  That means dinner is not over until at least 9 and more often later than that.

Other than that, I have liked almost every other thing about France.  Most French people are very friendly and polite.   Everyone greets you with “Bonjour”.  The food is usually exceptional and there is always something interesting to do or see.   I have learned to speak some French these past few weeks.  You have to learn some to get by. 

Now on to Day 2 on our Routes des Grandes Alpes.

Leaving Valberg

Lots of tunnels along the way to Col du Cayolle

Glacial springs are abundant

As we were climbing on the mountain roads, we got out of the car from time to time to take photos, if there was a place to pull out.  Often times, we were unable to stop to take photos of the most scenic places because the roads were so narrow and there was nowhere to pull over with the car.   When there is something that I just had to photograph and the road is too narrow, I take the picture from the car.  Not the best, but better than nothing.

Dan looking at the mountains

As we continued along, we saw a sign by the side of the road that read “Source Var”.  We learned that this was the source of the River Var that runs through southern France and through the Alps.   I thought it was really interesting because I have never seen a river source before.  I guess they do begin high in the mountains!

Source of the River Var

Another surprise for us was the weather.  Even with the elevation, the weather was warmer than when we were in Paris.  I had on a light sweater and was comfortable.  It must have been in the 60s for that part of the day-I’m guessing around 10:30 AM.

There were very few cars on the road in the morning.  We only saw one or two all the way up to Col du Cayolle.

One of the few cars along the way

We kept on driving and increasing in elevation until we reached Col de Cayolle, the first mountain pass.  We were very happy to find that this one was open and we could drive through.   But we were not expecting what we saw.

This one looks like a volcano from the past.

As we approached the pass, the road became a very small single lane with walls of snow on both sides.  It’s a good thing we were the only ones up there on the pass because I don’t know how  we would both be able to get through at least on parts of the pass.  I couldn’t even open the door for a photo in many places.

Hope there is not another car around this bend.

A marmot crossed the road in front of us.  Too late to get a photo.

Who would possibly drive on a road like this?

.

There’s someone.  We’ll try not to hit him.

You could practically reach out and touch the top of this great mountain.

A little past the peak, there was a house.

At least we could see a little of the road ahead.

Beginning of the descent

Today is June 1st, 2013, and this is what we see.

Descending

Roads still narrow, but at least you can see ahead of you.

Maybe not.

Riding kind of close to the mountainside

Glacial melt

Approaching Barcelonnette just in time for lunch

A Saturday morning market

Which one should we choose for lunch?  OK, Cafe de La Paix.  We sat outside and it was warm.  Note the bike on the right of photo.

We are learning to read menus.

A friendly man with his bike who we met while eating outside at the cafe.

I didn’t know there were so many varieties of olives.

The vendor was closing, but made time to sell us some marinated sun-dried tomatoes.  They were very good and spicy!

After lunch, we headed out again hoping we would get to go through another pass.  We don’t scare easily.   Along the way, there was some really picturesque scenery. 

Lots of Alpine fields with flowers

Going to the next mountain pass, the “Col du Vars”

We were really disappointed-it was not anything like the previous pass.

Where’s the snow?   No glaciers here.  Where did they go?

We were disappointed that the pass was not like the previous one, but happy that we at least got to go through Col du Cayolle.    Dan looked at the map and thought the next stop should be Briancon, which is also the highest town in Europe.   

Briancon  is a great fortress town, walled and fortified by Vauban to defend the region from Austrians in the 17th century and it’s really interesting to see. The town has two parts: the lower town is at the junction of the Durance and Guisane rivers, and the upper town is the walled area at the top, fortified by Vauban and including the Fort du Chateau fortress at the peak. 

Entering historic area of Briancon in the upper town

A gargouille is a small canal that runs down the center of the street. The only two towns in France with gargouilles  are St. Martin Vesubie in the Alpes-Maritimes and Briançon. We have been to both now.    Maybe our claim to fame?

We were in St. Martin Vesubie on May 31st.  I posted this photo a few days ago.

Historic part of Briancon

As we were leaving the historic part, we heard church bells and crowds cheering.

A wedding!

Fun watching the bride and groom

That was last night.  We had dinner at one of the restaurants in the historic area.  Dan and I agreed that it was the worst meal of the trip.  Oh, well.  No complaints here.   It had been a pretty darn good day.  We had been to the top of the world, or at least as close as one can get without actually flying.