Jul 2007

We left the Chateau (very reluctantly) after Camilla got off the phone to her parents. With the Lonely Planet as our only guide it seemingly offers sufficent information to get oneself around Europe yet we feel that it is notably inadequate when travelling by car.

Destination 1 - Strasbourg (3+ u-turns later)

Strasbourg has two crowning features we were in search of, their gothic cathedral which rivals all others in sheer height (142m) and adornments on the facade, and Little France; which is a network of locks, cobblestone streets, 15th century 1/2 wood houses with bowing walls and cafes.

At the 6 o'clock chime of the church bells we left the sunny evening behind us as we had a long drive ahead to Luxembourg. A vital teastop in a wheat field to enjoy the sunset calmed us before searching for the campsite, location unknown.

Destination 2 - Luxembourg (u-turns unknown...)

We drove and drove and drove before finally pitching the tent 20 minutes before the next day. There was a benefit to staying so close to town as we packed up early and were able to explore town during sunrise. Feeling enthusiastic for the final visit of a European city we headed into Luxembourg at around 7am. Shrotly after leaving the car parked in a prime location we walked a short way before Steve realised the camera battery had died.

Seeing this cute little capital without photographic equipment was not an option so Camilla remained in the sun on a bench while Steve ran back to the car. On his return he found to his horror a damsel in distress. Poor Camilla was standing on the park bench surrounded by a pack of hungry wolves. It was difficult to tell from her vantage point at such a height what exact breed of yapping chihuahua they were!

A cappucino and croisant was the only medicine for such a fright and pennance for Steve's dessertion in a time of need. Full of energy we explored the streets and walked to the palace, stocked up at the farmers market, admired the Spanish fortifications carved into the rock and viewed the village below from the city perimeter. Although it was only a short visit it we found Luxembourg to be a delightfully picturesque city to conclude our european site seeing adventure.

Our final objectives for this stage of the trip seemed simple. Find Frankfurt Hahn airport, confirm the car dropoff location, settle in accommodation nearby and use a washing machine. Clearly our fundemental assumption that Hahn airport is in Frankfurt led us astray as it is actually about 90km south west of the city. To add to our confusion the freeway detour for works took us past the correct turnoff, argh! Finally, to ease our concerns we found that Sohren, the only reasonable sized village near Hahn didn't have a laundromat.

Thankfully, our delightful family run hotel owner offered their sunny backyard to dry out the tent, helped with a load of washing and was perfectly positioned next to the quaint traditional German guesthaus and restaurant Camilla had her eye on for dinner. We feasted (understatement) sitting in the sunny courtyard eating and drinking as we reminisced with delight at the wonderfully friendly people, diverse culture, spectacular sights and fabulous food we have shared in Europe.

22 - 24 July

After a heavy night of rain our campsite now resembled an extension of lake Geneva. Undeterred we set about organising ourselves out of the mud with our sights firmly set on a chateau in the Burgundy region of France.

In the lovely town of Beaune we found the tourist office to be helpful yet the attendant staunchly refused to make a few calls on our behalf to secure accommodation. It was left to Steve to again practise his french and was warmly laughed at by our chosen receptionist. Although many of the local establishments were full (or exorbitantly pricey) thankfully our first choice from the brochure was free, well available at least...

Chateau Challanges is a resplendent 18th century manor house set on 15 acres of parkland and gardens. To our great delight our room was decked out in typical french period furniture, upholstery and wall paper. We felt more french than ever just standing in the room.

It was a very hot afternoon so our first priority was to have a swim, before a classic impoverished backpacker selfcatered meal of soup, bread and tea overlooking the vineyards at sunset. Over the coming 2 days we spent our time reading LOTR, exploring Beaune, indulging in regional wine and filling ourselves with buffet breakfasts.

This was a magical last fling to send off our time in continental Europe topped off by receiving phonecalls from Camilla's best friend and parents.

Our trip from Chamonix took us through some splendid gorges and out into open pasture land and before we knew it we were back in Switzerland staring squarely at the enormous water spout in the middle of the lake. It needs to be noted here and now that having left some of the most spectacular scenery we have ever seen it is difficult to get excited about a spout of water in a lake, but there you have it, just like Canberra they must have a reason for shooting water 140 m into the air.

The campsite was average by European standards which we have become accustomed to, however it was well positioned by the lake and afforded a short drive into the heart of Geneva.

We spent the afternoon mixing sightseeing with restocking on supplies, in particular more gas and a teatowel, to cook tea and then wipe down the implements before the next round. Geneva is nicely set out with a sweeping boulavarde complete with trams and exorbitant shopping; much of which we cannot resist looking at then muttering under our breath what a waste of money but oh how it would look sweet on my wrist...

A quick visit to the church and stroll through the pedestrian arcades and that was about all the 'city' we could handle so we ran for greener pastures in the botanical gardens. Dear Geneva, we pique niqued in your botanical gardens unauthorised and we are not sorry, please change your policy at the first convenience as it would attract additional visitors to your lovely gardens, sincerely The Halls. A few chapters of middle earth, poor Frodo, Gandalf and the rest of the Fellowship of the Ring what tribulations they endure.

Back at the campsite it was time to experiment. Who said that selfcaterers should not enjoy the warmth of fresh popcorn on a stormy afternoon. After finding that the oil has now permanently burnt to the bottom of the pan we tried to enjoy the soft fluffy morcels which was easy to do. The rest of the afternoon was spent sitting in the car reading LOTR as the rain came down in sheets. Steve took a moment to eat one of the miscellaneous berries hanging over the fence and thankfully woke up the next day without ailment.

In order to escape the clutches of another city we found our way around the lake, past the United Nations Place (for the second time) and out into the French countryside. All we had was the trusty Lonely Planet to guide us on our lofty quest for Burgundy.

Switzerland has been jam packed with natural wonders, hidden gems and good friends. We will be back, hopefully sooner rather than later.

We have been to many mountain environments yet cannot get enough so we decided to make a short detour via Chamonix in France before heading to Geneva. This may have been influenced by the fact that we have been craving the food a little, in part the ease of using the little French we know and most importantly because we are here anyway so why not.

Chamonix - Vallee Blanche est tres formidable - 18 - 20 July

Regardless of our surrounds, once we arrived in Chamonix we were interested in little else than relaxing by our perfect campsite in the forest, going shopping for muesli, cheese and salmon and most importantly admiring the glaciers which can be seen from every avenue. Day 1 was spent as mentioned above without variation except for an incredibly loud thunder storm to lullaby us to slumber. Today, 20 July we topped our mountain experiences yet again with a magical adventure.

We started our walk from Le Mont in the valley at 1054m aiming our sights at Les Pyramides on the Bosson Glacier at 1890m. This seems like a reasonable stroll up the mountain path for around 2.5 hours, yet the most difficult aspect of the walk was peeling ourselves away from each vantage point as they appeared between the trees.

Climbing higher we were enjoying the sting of exercise after yesterday evenings indulgence of beer, wine and smoked salmon and blue cheese sandwiches (the later prepared out of the back of the car under another spectacular glacial further up the valley). Our destination at Les Pyramids was reached in the good company of a German teacher living in France teaching German (if you catch our drift). Steve spent his final gasps of breath trying to establish what small-talk basics his language skills allowed. In the meantime Camilla had selected the perfect lunch position to have a stunning view of the sheer cracks and crevasses in the glacier.

During our time near the ice stream we were lucky enough to witness the marvel of a car sized hunk of ice breaking from the mass and crashing into the rock below. As if this environment does not present itself as a hostile place, a thunder storm erupted as suddenly as the fall of ice and we found ourselves surrounded by the rolling sounds as we descended through the clouds, sun shower and forest back to the safety of the internet cafe where we now sit. Chamonix has been the sophisticated, beautiful and challenging finale to our alpine experiences on this trip, and what a finale it has been, bravo bravo.

Note: To all readers, we are ecstatic to be featured on the front page of the Travellerspoint website, thanks for your interest in our escapades and kind comments during the trip so far.

Reluctantly we left the spectacular scenery of Grindelwald and drove onto a car carriage for a 15km train ride through the mountains from Kanderstep to Goppenstein. Sitting in the car while the train jumped and jerked in an almost pitch black tunnel was a little unnerving.

Following endless bends in the winding rounds we arrived in Tasch and pitched base camp by the river next to the train shuttle to Zermatt. In the afternoon Camilla relaxed listening to her iPod, drank wine and ate her share of the cheese whilst watching Steve scramble through the brambles up the very steep hill behind the camp site. After a staggering 30 verticle metres it seemed self evident that the additional 2000m would have to be left for another day.

Zermatt - 17 July

We held off on purchasing our tickets to go to the highest lifted point in Europe until we confirmed a clear view from the warmth of our sleeping bags. Bingo, we could see blue skies smiling right back as well as our final destination a mere 2500m above us up the valley. The short cogwheel train trip to Zermatt gave us enough time to overcome the excitement of seeing the Matterhorn for the first time. Although it was only a quick glimps there is no mistaking the curves and rugged beauty of the Matterhorn.

Itching to get higher we dashed through town and jumped on the first cable car to Furi, then Trockenersteg and finally without hesitation to Gletscher Palast, Matterhorn Glacier Paradise at a whopping 3883m. Making friends with a Canadian family we swapped photographic equipment and hints regarding travel in our respective countries. Interestingly Grandma Canada was previously a nurse at Concord Hospital among other hospitals throughout all of Australia. At the top of Europe it is difficult to articulate (partly because the air is so thin up here) just how wonderful it is to be young and healthy living our dreams and seeing such remarkable environments.

Camilla had devised our descent along one of the longer routes which would take us beneath the Matterhorn, via the glaciers and to some of the best vantage points in the Swiss Alps.

On the trail we spent nearly three hours walking the rugged landscape. Beneath our feet were shards of slate, shale, granite and other rocks in various colours and compositions. Impressive boulders the size of houses were scattered as if thrown by a giant all around us. As we glanced up from the difficult path we caught the changing wig of clouds the Matterhorn wore throughout the day.

At the end of the navigatable glacier cut valley we ascended sharply for about 100 metres looking out over Zermatt, numerous glacials and valleys, and most importantly an awesome tea stop. At Schwarzsee Paradise we admired the tiny chapel by the lake then descended below the chairlifts deep into the forest to Furi. Our legs were burning and thankfully we made one of the last chairlifts back to Zermatt. Our reward, not that we necessarily deserve one, was a hot pot of Cafe du Pont special Fondue. We will write little here regarding the Swiss national recipe for fear of retribution, however it can be said that we soo eargerly devoured the thick melted cheese dish that it may not have assisted in us getting a restful night so sorely needed.

Having now visited so many stunning mountain environments throughout the trip our only debate is which will we return to first during the ski season.