2010 Trip to Europe part two.

This is a continuation of the 2010 Trip to Europe.
Tuesday June 23, 2010 until Tuesday June 29, 2010

We received a call from Alan about 9 pm letting us know he was at the Lausanne rail station. He had been unable to call before as his cell phone would not work in Switzerland. Dave was just going out the door as we were worried and thought we had better go to the station and wait. All three arrived tired at 9:45. Something to eat and it was off to bed.

On Wednesday we showed them downtown Lausanne. They have a good subway in Lausanne with a north south line and an east west line. We can be at the end of the north south line at the lake in about 20 minutes. Downtown shopping in less time. Alan and Jen seemed to enjoy the walk around town and Kylie did well. We purchased food supplies and baby supplies when we got to our subway stop on the way home. We are about a 5 min walk from the station and stores.

Dave was in Lausanne Switzerland in June 1963 with CanEuro Student Journeys and this is one of the reasons we wanted to return. Today,Thursday and tomorrow are a visit to the past and 47 years later with a granddaughter under tow. I sure would not have said this would happen 47 years hence.

Thursday we are off to the Chateau de Gruyeres (castle) and of course the Gruyere cheese factory. A great castle visit and the cheese factory was fun with good cheese purchases. Later in the day we stopped at the Nestle Cailler Chocolate factory. All the chocolate you could eat at the end of the tour. Some of us were not feeling to well. What a wonderful day.

Friday it was off to Chateau de Chillon a place still vivid in my memory after 47 years. It was Lord Byron and the "Prisoner of Chillon" all over again. I had put my initals under Lord Byron`s signature and now a plastic cover is over that signature and preserved my initals as well. Alan verified. This is a great castle on the shores of Lake Geneve and we spent 5 hours touring. After we went to a small park next to the Chateau and Kylie played in the water. An idealic setting with the castle in the back ground. The drive home was through great vineyards flowing down to the water. A wonderful day.

Saturday we went to the watch making area of Switzerland called La Vallee de Joux (Lake of Jura) which is the watch making area. Unfortunately being Saturday all the factories were closed. These large factories have been in this area for years and a small town grown around them. Many small towns with a factory like Giraid Perregaux. The drive was great through the rolling hills and valleys. A mountain bikers paradise. We came out of the hills through all these small villages at Nyon on Lake Geneve.

Sunday morning we stayed close to home and did washing etc. In the afternoon went down to Ouchy and walked west along the lake looking for some swimming area for Kylie. We found a hugh swimming park but it all cost money. As a side note we are finding just about all items more expensive then Canada and Holland. We kept walking west and found a public beach area. The waves were bigger today so Kylie found she was getting knocked over. Jen went for a short swim to cool off. The rest of us stayed under a tree to keep cool. We have since learned this area has an average tempature in winter of 14 and summer 24. We have been averaging 28/29. We spent the balance of the day walking having ice cream and just enjoying the people watching. Of course the world cup is big here and in the centre of the Ouchy area just after you get off the subway is a big screen (and I mean big) television and viewing area. Each time we have been by this area the crowds are watching a game. We have also caught the spirit and are enjoying watching the games and also Wembelton Tennis.

On Monday we gave Alan and Jen the day off to celebrate their wedding anniversary. We agreed to look after Kylie. Alan and Jen went down to Ouchy and walked the lake, had a wonderful lunch with lake view and spent the afternoon visiting the Olympic Museum. We took Kylie to the Lake Sauvabelin which is not far from the house. Kylie was able to see the animals in the small farm area, go to the big playground and we also climbed the great tower and have a wonderful view of all of Lausanne and the surounding area. We can see the tower from our deck so I took a telephoto of our deck from the tower. Kylie was tired and started to fade so we got her home for lunch and a nap. We too napped. After Kylie's nap it was again off to the playground near us. Alan and Jen returned about 6 pm after having a fun day. We too had a good day with our grandaughter.

Tuesday Alan, Jen and Kylie left about noon on the train and we spent the balance of the day walking along the lake and exploring some other areas of Lausanne by car. It is always lonely and quiet after company leaves.

Wednesday June 30 we decided to drive and stay over night in Zermatt the home of the Matterhorn mountain. The drive took about 2 hours 30 min through some beautiful wine country. We took the motorway which lasted about 2/3 of the trip the last 1/3 was the drive up into the mountains. I would like to make a couple of points here one being we had no idea that Switzerland had such a wine industry. The vineyards we have seen are far more then we have in BC. We have learned that 98% of the wine is consumed in Switzerland and only 2% exported to Germany. The wine itself is a real treat and I can see why it is all consumed at home. The other point I would like to make are on roads. The roads here are great. We could learn a thing or two about building roads like if they come to a mountain they go through the mountain no matter how long and if they come to a valley they just build a bridge no matter how large or long. This goes for most first and secondary roads. Also when they are doing repairs to a motorway for example rather then eliminate all the white lines they just put down the brightest orange lines I have ever seen and you know your are in a construction zone and people slow down. Last point at this time is villages high in the mountains. As we have been driving the various roads we can see towns high in the mountain ranges. The churches stand out but so do the homes perched up high and on our drive today most of those villages are surronded by grapevines other days it was grazing land for cows etc.

Back to Zermatt. You cannot drive a car into Zermatt. You have to stop at a village called Tasch which has a hugh parking garage right next to the rail station. We decided to stay overnight in Tasch in a hotel right across from the train station. Our hotel room was not ready but we were able to check in and park our car in the hotel underground parking. We were on the train to Zermatt by 12 noon. Arrived in Zermatt 15 minutes later and immediately went to the Gornergrat clog railway station. We arrived at the 3100 metre Gornergrat mountian top at 1 pm. The trip to Gornergrat on the Matterhorn Railway, the longest cogwheel railway in Europe, and has been in operation for 111 years. At Gornergrat we were surrounded by 29 "four thousanders" which contains the largest Swiss mountain and the third longest glacier. The panoramic view is spectatular. We stopped and had lunch and right after started up a trail to a higher viewing area but the altitude got to us. We are at 10,500 plus feet and both Marilyn and I found the trek to the higher area a chore. We took our time but lost breath and felt a little dizzy. A big lesson to us is we need to get into walking shape as all around us were Swiss senior citizens with their hiking boots and polls taking these wonderful hikes in their stride. ( A note, most of these people live on the side of a mountain so no wonder they are used to hiking.)Having said that, we still need to get into better shape. It would have been wonderful to take some of these trails but not this time. As for the Matterhorn it was the only mountain in cloud which we understand is quite common but it changed every minute and by the time we went to get the clog rail back down it was clear. A site to behold. The rail trip is not cheap but well worth the experience and something we will never forget. We arrived back in Zermatt at 4pm. Spent a couple of hours exploring Zermatt which is a lovely town and with the Matterhorn as a backdrop very picturesque. As you would expect it is a tourist town and has all that goes with tourists. We got back to the hotel in time for a small rest and had a racelette dinner in the restaurant. The dinner was great and a Swiss treat. Again a wonderful day.

On Thursday, Canada Day, we decided to take our time getting home. We took all the small roads through high villages, lots of grazing land, lots of vineyards all that you would expect of Switzerland. We kept our route coming around the east end of Lake Geneva right past the Chateau de Chillon where we stopped in Montreux for lunch. Every year in Montreux they have a Jazz Festival known through Europe. This years festival was July 2 to 17th. The downtown area was busy with vendors setting up for the festival. We had a lovely see wall walk and lunch by the lake. We continued west past the UNESCO Vineyards of Chillon some of the oldest in Europe. We went past the villages of Vervey, St. Saphorin, Lutry and Pully before arriving home about 4pm. The heat was getting to us so we had a beer and rested.

Friday July 2nd we drove to Neuchatel and Fribourg. At Neuchatel which is on a lake by the same name we lucked out by having a tour guide whose specialty is history in the Chateau de Neuchatel. I know, another castle and we were only going to have a quick look but this lady guide got a hold of us. She knew the castle and church but because the beginnings of Switzerland took place in Neuchatel she was able to provide us with how the country came to being. A very interesting story and gave us the answers we needed to know. By the time we had lunch and left for Fribourg it was mid afternoon and hot 30+c. We got to Fribourg a neat town on a winding river with and upper and lower midieval town sites. We were tired and hot and did not give it justice but enjoyed what we saw. A stop for a beer was in order even for Marilyn who downed it quickly as it was thirst quencing. We arrived home about 5:30. Another great adventurous day.

We have less than a week left so on Saturday we went downtown to the Saturday market where farmers' stalls of vegetables, fruit, cheese, bread and meat were set up on all streets. Lots of stalls to choose from. We also had to go to the Nespresso Boutique to pick up our coffee and replace the pods we have used. As you know Nestle is a big swiss company and this coffee machine called the Nespresso is big over here. Marilyn also got her Swiss Watch, we had a crepe lunch then picked up food supplies and were home by 4pm. Again it was a hot day in fact so hot we could not sit out on the back deck even with awning out.

I am writing this on Sunday where in the afternoon we may go for a walk in the woods. My foot is healing slowly and getting better. Alan had done a wonderful job helping my heal spirs which he confirmed is my problem. He took the Podiatrists licence exams in the Netherlands and passed. He is now looking after peoples feet including mine. He is fixing my problem which will be a slow process and will include a needed orthotic.

Monday we will drive to Bern the capital of Switerland, Tuesday we may go to Geneva, on Wednesday a boat cruise on Lake Geneva with a stop at Evain in France, you know the water company that started all this bottled water thing. On Thursday it is clean up at the house here. We will catch the Subway at 8:30 Friday morning to catch the 9:25 train to the Geneva Airport for our 12:25 flight to Amsterdam then a train to Masslius and a 3 day visit with Alan, Jen and Kylie. We leave on a 7:30pm flight out of Amsterdam on Tuesday.

In case we do not do any more updates it has been a wounderfull 2010 European Holliday with lots of new things tried and places we have seen