European tour day 6

We woke to the sound of people waking up around the hostel, starting their daily business, doors opening and closing, showers going on and off.  It wasn’t too unpleasant as we had to get up on this glorious morning and head toward todays destination.  Not a long day today but I had a couple of things that I wanted to do and see.  As with every day the bags had to be packed and loaded but now this was down to a fine art.

The route was loaded into the satnav and with a fuel stop located we were soon on our way.  The destination time was 1.30pm just what we needed a relaxing day after yesterday’s long haul.  The first stop for the day was about 20 to 30 minutes down the road from where we were staying at Interlaken.  The place is called the Riechenbach Falls.  It’s an impressive 120m high waterfall and famous because it is where Sherlock Holmes and his arch enemy Moriarty fought to the end, both falling to the deaths.  The falls were lovely and the 10 Swish francs it cost to get up via the vernacular railway was money well spent.  Once up at the top of the railway there is a walk which will take you up to the top of the falls and then around to where the duo fought and met their end.  It’s a lovely walk but not really that easy and if you do want to take the walk I would set aside a couple of hours to make the most of it.  We then ate breakfast at the café, which I think is part of the local hospital, as there was no breakfast laid on at the hostel we stayed at.

 

We then made our way through the lush green countryside of Switzerland, the satnav saying we would reach Davos by about 3.30pm.  We then started to climb up into the mountains, Ian had requested we ride the Grimselpass then turn left on to the Furkapass, we would then take the Oberalps pass/Via Alpsu.  Then end our day in Davos.

 

We wound our way up the mountain but unlike other mountains we seem to just round a corner and there was the snow. There seemed to be no warning that we had reached the top, we were just there. We stopped at a car park to take photos before dropping down the other side, and it was quite a drop as the road laced its way down the side of the mountain. The Grimselpass is a stunning road as it reaches the valley bottom it forks, we took the left fork heading up the Furkapass. This is another amazing road weaving its way up the steep mountain side so steep that they have had to build the road out on stilt bridges so turns can be made. Once we reached the top we stopped again to take more photos but also to see where we had come from, the views were breath taking not only because of it’s stunning beauty but because it was also bloody cold.

 

We worked our way down the other side of the mountain through the beautiful colourful country side. We went through the narrow cobbled streets of Andermatt and started our climb to the top of the Oberalps pass.  However we had made the initial climb some 15/20 minutes only to find the road blocked off.  A man came to the window and said something in Swiss, we looked blankly back at him. He looked at us and said English, we nodded.  He walked back to his seat and produced a piece of paper.  It basically said the road was shut due to resurfacing and might be reopened at 8pm.  Why they hadn’t put a sign at the bottom of the mountain I don’t know as it was the only way up.  So we had to turn around and take a detour.  Thank goodness for paper maps.  Unfortunately this was Switzerland and there was going to be no short cut. Thenstretch of road they had closed was only about 10km long, the detour however was a 4 hour drive.  We dropped back down into Andermattt back along the Furapass turning left at Hospental and headed toward Biasca.  Here we turned left again now heading toward Disentis/Muster.  We were now back on the road we should have been on, the views and sights had been lovely, but today was meant to have been a relaxing day.  As we went through a small village, despite only being about 40 minutes away from our final destination, Davos, I decided that we all needed a break and we pulled into a carpark and found a local restaurant. The break couldn’t have come soon enough and we all enjoyed the rest.

 

 

 

 

One of the roads we had travelled on for a while just made the inner child in me giggle.

 

After a lovely meal, refreshments and ice-cream we decided to make the final push to Davos before it got dark. Here we had hired an 8 birth self-contained apartment. It was cheaper than any hotel, you can get some good deals on apartments in the summer as they are mostly used in the winter for skiing and stand empty during the summer. We found the accommodation easily, parked up and secured the bike then headed up to the accommodation where we had a well deserved cuppa and settled for the night.

 

European tour 2014 day day 5

Day 5

Today we were going to leave France head into Italy then return to France and end our day in Switzerland. The first part of the journey I had ridden before on my very first Alpine bike ride and wanted to share this with the rest of my family as I knew the roads and views were stunning. The rest of the ride would be a surprise to us all.

 

Today would take us from Bourg, up the D1090 through La Rosiere onto St Bernard’s pass then into Italy on the SS26, we would then head on through the Mont Blanc tunnel. Once back in France we would follow the D1506, once this hits Switzerland it turns into a random road we’ll follow this into Martigny then join the 21,9 and then the 11 to get us into Interlaken, then if we had time and depending on the weather we would head to Lauterbrunnen.

We woke to lovely blue skies with just a wisp of thin white cloud. Breakfast was the same as yesterday, as this was the only hotel we would be staying in twice. The bright skies lifted our spirits as yesterday was a little on the grey side. I was really looking forward to today’s drive as I had ridden it before a few years ago and knew what sights we were in for.

I love this road from Bourg to La Rosiere, it winds its way up the mountain side through villages and forests and as you climb the views just get better and better. We did make one little mistake and came off the main road and dropped into one of the villages. I could see from the Garmin that the road would join the main road again so we kept on going. What I hadn’t banked on was the very steep assent from the side road back onto the main road. We managed to pull out ok, but my brother Ian and son Martin both struggled to get out. I ended up standing on the main road and directing them so they could get a run up to get out. My mother told me off for picking the route as I tried to explain that I’d never been there before and wasn’t aware of the slopes.

 

However this was soon forgotten as we arrived in La Rosiere and found somewhere to park.  The sights were just as I remembered them, if not better. We saw snow-capped mountains, forest lined valleys and far down below we could see the town of Bourg. We took a break here for a photo opportunity before carrying on our journey up to and through Saint Bernard’s pass. This part of the drive is quite straight forward but, despite being June the road was still lined with snow, in some places feet deep. As we passed the monument we once again pulled in for another photo opportunity. We took selfies next to the monument, threw snowballs, and watched Marmots play on the mountainside.

We hadn’t gone far, and because of the stops we were now running behind our time schedule. We set off again and passed into Italy here the roads got interesting again as they wound their way down the side of the mountain. It’s funny how parts of the road you remember and other parts you don’t. We made good time and we were soon at the entrance to the Mont Blanc tunnel.

 

Unless you have to or you want to, I personally would avoid the tunnel and go the long way around. I had decided to add it to our route as some of the family had not experienced it before. I did however forget how extortionately expensive it is. Once through we stopped to regroup and take a break. It was then I noticed a view that I had seen the last time I’d came through. There above was Mont Blanc, snow-capped in all its glory.

Our next stop was going to be in Chamonix. We were going to visit a tourist attraction called Walk into the Void where you can walk out into a glass box, high above the valley, to get a true panoramic view. Unfortunately we were well behind time so sadly decided to give it a miss.

 

I was now into new territory, I had never been this way before.  Despite the road being a normal size carriage way it seemed wide, but then everything seemed bigger, the mountains the forests the skies etc. We were making up time and enjoying the ever winding roads that rolled through the countryside. We left France and entered Switzerland the roads wound their way through spectacular wild countryside.

 

Soon, way below us, like a model village appeared the town of Martigny. We weaved our way down the mountainside, the town spread out in front of us, once on the valley floor we followed the 21 then the 9 toward Aigle, the valley was flat and was a mixture of towns, villages, and perfect square fields. Hugh mountain ranges framed both sides. At Aigle we left the 9 and joined the 11 heading toward Interlaken. This road left behind the man kept valley base and we were once again back into the natural green wilderness.

We travelled up the 11 for a short while when I decided that we had made good time and all deserved a break to stretch our legs and have some lunch. We stopped at a hotel on the main road called Hotel Le Relais Alpin, for no other reason than it was there. The views were breath taking and coffee and hot chocolate were the order of the day.

 

It was now mid-afternoon and I guessed we had a two hour drive to Lauterbrunnen.  As the weather was nice, I wanted to see it today in case tomorrow was not as fair. We then of course had to find the hotel. After a nice rest stop we once again headed off up the 11, this  was a nice road to drive and once we got to Spiez we followed the lake into Interlaken and then onto Lauterbrunnen.

 

 

We arrived at Lauterbrunnen in the early evening.  In the pictures it is depicted as a small rural village that’s dominated by its waterfall that falls hundreds of feet from the mountain top to the valley bottom, but in reality it’s not quite as the pictures suggest and has multi-storey car parks and a massive railway station. I was a little disappointed to be honest. However put this to one side and walk towards the waterfall and you can see its beauty and wonderment. We enjoyed our time there and even walked our way to the viewpoint below the waterfall, making sure we took plenty of photos. We decided that we would also eat here and found a lovely restaurant just on the edge of town.

 

Evening upon us we decided to make our way back to Interlaken to find our hotel, surprisingly it wasn’t that far away and we had passed it on our way to the waterfall village. We booked in, just in time to see the sunset.