Holiday Day 25 – Two steps back in time

As with the rest of Europe we are now enjoying a heat wave, the temperature in Evian this evening reached 35 degrees, although at least that is what it said outside of the local swimming pool. On the other hand do you think that swimming pools have a vested interest to exaggerate the air temperatures to encourage custom? I think that is a debate for another day. We certainly found a different way of keeping cool.

There are many boat routes on Lake Geneva linking local towns. The one from Evian to Lausanne is a high capacity route that has as its basis the commerce linking the two towns. A cursory examination of the people embarking on the 8:15 ferry this morning revealed that many of them were travelling for work purposes to Switzerland. I suspect that some of the people coming the other way were coming to shop at the market in Evian.

However many of the routes are plied by paddle steamers dating back to the early 20^th Century. They link the towns round the side of the lake. I suspect that this is purely for touristic reasons, as all the lakeside towns are linked by rail with the exception of the French side to Switzerland. So we caught the ferry to Lausanne a direct trip across the lake, itself a lovely experience but more like the Isle of Wight ferry.

You dock at what looks like a beach resort suburb at the end of a metro line. It is dominated by grand old hotels and just radiates money and order. There was certainly no random crossing of the street. It is also expensive, to small bottles of water for 7 Euros!!!

After a wait we boarded La Suisse a very elegant lake paddle steamer. She was very broad with a tapered bow presumably built for speed. We had booked the lunch cruise and were so installed in the lovely wood panelled dining room. The boat had been completely restored to representative of its heyday. As it was so hot we had the large window completely open all the time. Simply we travelled around the south side of lake calling at various towns, making our way to Montreux. The views of the Alps were just stunning framed as they were by the bright blue of the lake. The towns were picture post card, with little chateau and alpine style houses.

It was absolutely perfect as were sheltered from the sun in a lovely lake breeze. All in all it took about three hours to circumnavigate the lake while eating an excellent lunch. Then with Swiss punctuality all the boats met at Lausanne and connected back to Evian.

As we strolled back to the hotel we noticed the funicular. This had originally served the hotels higher up the hill and fell into disrepair to be restored in the early part of this century. It was a lovely old-fashioned trip of about a mile, and even the opportunity to see the workings at the top. It was also free presumably funded by the taxpayers of Evian. As an added bonus Marion got talking to a mother and son from Middlesbrough, he was relocating to the work on the large hadron collider. So we kept to conversation to cable railway technology!!!

All in all this was a great last full day to our holiday. Tomorrow it is back to the motorways to drive to the Champagne area of Marne Valley.

Holiday Day 24 – Annecy and Lake Geneva

Two lakes today and a real contrast. Another very sunny day so we took advantage of the morning cool to walk round the lovely old streets of Annecy. Old houses with vaulted fronts overlook canals running into the lake. The town is full of tourists and it is the first place where we have heard English generally spoken. The lake is all hustle and bustle, with pleasure steamers and pleasure boats, ranging from pedaloes to large motor cruisers. By lunchtime it was beginning to get crowded and hot so we moved on to Evian Les Bains, which is on Lake Geneva or Lac Leman, as it is known locally.

Evian is a typical turn of the century French resort town full of grand if slightly faded buildings and the inevitable casino. It has a long promenade fronting onto the lake, however there is only limited activity. There is the regular ferry to Lausanne in Switzerland that docks every 90 minutes or so and a few motorboats. I was surprised how close Switzerland is, rather like the Isle of Wight to Portsmouth. I was also surprised that given the disparity between the Euro and the Swiss Franc that there is not much evidence of cross-border trade. Everything is quite quiet, the season obviously has not started yet.

This evening after dinner we sat on the promenade and watched the sun go down over the hills. Hopefully I will be able to publish some of the results on my Twitter feed. It was around 23 degrees and just very pleasant framed by the spectacular crimsons of the setting sun. Tomorrow we will be going for to explore on the lake.

Holiday Day 23 – A funny green liquid & Christmas decorations in June

Today we moved out of the South of France and north into Savoy. Our destination was Annecy, which is a historic town at the tip of the lake of the same name. The question was how would we drive between the Vercors and Annecy. The easy way would have been to take the motorway, but the Sheppard’s do not do easy.

We decided to visit the Chartreuse region, this is essentially a high plateau between Grenoble and Chambery, and is the source of the mysterious green liquid of the same name. This complies with one of my rules of drinking, never touch anything green. Apparently two monks only know the recipe! I know this is not quite Coca-Cola but I would make sure that it was written down somewhere.

I hade previously done some research and we had chosen a small family run restaurant to eat deep in the heart of the area, more about this later. The initial run down from the Vercors was spectacular as it involved a vertiginous approach to Grenoble, the only major city that we have driven through twice on this holiday. It was challenging with trams, telephiriques, rivers, and sleeping policeman. Almost inevitably the Chartreuse plateau was reached by a long wind climb out of Grenoble. Again once on the plateau the mountain scenery was spectacular.

The highlight of the day was the lunch stop. It was a large restaurant in a small quite isolated village. Front of house was Madame who was very jolly with her husband the chef appearing at irregular intervals. We were the youngest people eating there and certainly the only foreigners. The dining room followed a trend whereby the Christmas decorations were still up. We have noticed this before; I suppose that it saves work. The remarkable thing about the decoration was the abundance of plastic flowers; they were everywhere including the toilets. Some were even lit up. The whole place was a blast from the past. However the food was good so Sunday lunch was enjoyed.

When we arrived in Annecy Marion was unwell with a tummy bug, so I spent the early evening walking round the town. It has an old part centred round canals not unlike Bruges in Belgium. The old town leads to a long promenade around the lake. It was crowded with promenaders, even at one point there was a tea dance being held. I look forward to exploring further with Marion tomorrow.

Holiday Day 22 – A Massive Drive

Today was a fantastic drive and a poignant history lesson. We left the cottage before 9am with a quick stop in Villedieu for coffee. We had run out so had to make do with water and croissant for breakfast. It was lovely driving weather as we left our Provencal idyll. The drive north was one of superlatives all the way. Firstly we drove through Nyons and along the gorges east of there. Then we turned north up a remote valley it really was La France Profond. The scenery gradually changed from the vine dominated Provence to a more rugged landscape with little or no agriculture. There were the odd very small villages but really the area was very isolated with no habitation and few cars.

After two hours we reached the town of Die, from there we turned north to the Vercors. We stopped in a charming little hamlet for coffee along with the majority of serious motorcyclists in Southern France. Then it was twenty kilometres of twisty climb onto the Vercors plateau. The view from the top of the climb was just amazing. It was to presage things to come.

We stopped just outside of Vassieux for a picnic. This area is really haunting. The Vercors is a plateau surrounded by mountains that in WW2 must have been very remote. It was a centre for the Maquis from 1943 onwards. In June of 1944 having received what they though was the mobilisation message from London on the BBC they rose up and declared and independent republic. The Maquis thought that the allies would support them, however what happened was that the German army brutally put down the rebellion. Most of the villages were razed to the ground and many of the inhabitants were slaughtered.

We tried to understand this more by visiting the memorial to the resistance; a modern museum built 20 years ago that also serves as a memorial to the conflict. It told the facts of the rebellion very effectively, but two things were very moving, the names of all of those who died written by children in lead plaques and then a remarkable belvedere that framed the whole area where the conflict had taken place. It was totally silent but you could see in front of you the small hamlets where each massacre had taken place.

Discussing this later we agreed that it was one of the great achievements of Europe that we should not take for granted that the major nations are now at peace despite these recent brutal conflicts. That is something that we should not throw away lightly.

We completed the day by driving through two fantastic gorges. On the Combe de Laval we were suspended 3000 feet above the gorge on a twisty narrow road. It was just awe inspiring. In the Gorges de Borne we climbed through an ever-constricting valley that seemed ready to crush us. Together with the earlier climb these were three of the most awe-inspiring drives that we have undertaken on this holiday.

And so finally to the small auberge where we are staying tonight. It is delightful with a very slow rustic dinner and lots to drink. It rounded off a perfect day.

Holiday Day 21 – Leaving our cottage

So it is now two weeks since we arrived in Provence, and tomorrow we leave to wend our way slowly back to Scarborough. The time in Provence seems to have gone very quickly and it is probably right to reflect on our experience here.

It is a very beautiful part of the world; we have discovered many new gorges and mountains for the first time this year. The villages are exquisite perched, as they are on mountainsides accessible only through small alleys. This time of year is great because it is not the peak season of summer tourism and temperatures are more moderate while still being hot. A rider would be that in the first week of our stay here we were plagued by quite high winds from a northerly direction.

The house that we have rented is well situated, particularly for the nearby village of Villedieu that is only a five-minute walk away. The village has three cafes all well worth patronising, all of which you sit in a typical Provencal square amongst both tourists and locals.

There is only a very small mini market in the village but there is a good boulangerie only 4 kilometres away, and the town of Viason has all the facilities that you could want, as well as a fantastic market on a Tuesday.

The cottage had a few teething problems but has been an excellent base and has proved very comfortable. The swimming pool is excellent and has been heating up nicely over the two weeks.

We have thoroughly enjoyed driving out for lunch, particularly eating on terraces over looking Mount Ventoux. The cuisine has been rustic but full of taste with lots of use of olives and olive oil as well as the local vegetables and fruit that are abundant at this time of the year.

So we leave with regret, but it is truism that if life were all holidays you would not enjoy them so much when they occur. I am sure that we shall be back in the near future. Tomorrow we move onto the Vercours, and area near Grenoble that is rich in history and is also a region of great natural beauty. More will follow over the weekend.