Dahlia & Lance's Travels: August 2007

Europe Travels – 16- 23 August 2007

Another week flew by packed full of interesting and beautiful places and a few restful days. On one particularly clear day we decided on the spur of the moment to take a trip up to the Jura mountain range, west of lake Geneva. There were many switch backs, beautiful green valleys with golden haystacks, and high chalky cliffs with gushing springs and waterfalls. (Cascades du Herisson and Cirque de Baume) The highlight of the day was an art exhibit at a restored abbey (Abbey of Baume) and the village that surrounded it.

Another day we headed up the “Rue des grand Alps” to a medieval festival at a ruined abbey up in the foothills mountains (Abbey Saint Jean D’Aulps). Although the festival itself was more intended for kids, the views, scenery and beautiful medieval music sounding through the open spaces was delightful. The weather was wonderful and the sky above the skeleton of the abbey was gorgeous. People with medieval costumes strolling around, and little “knights in training” with armor and cardboard swords were cute to watch. Hearing the music with the costumes in these surroundings made it feel so right and even more beautiful. After lunch we took a hike into a really impressive gorge, carved by the river to a depth of 120 m and was believed to be the work of the devil in the old days (Gorge Du Pont du Diable). We ended the day at Le Gets, a really cute Alpine village that is high up in the mountains above Morzine, where we visited a very interesting museum with an incredible collection of mechanical music instrument, from their earliest history.

Monday we finally had a chance to visit our charming village of Anthy Sur Leman. Walked around the center of the village, the church and down to the lake where we found a cute little fisherman’s dock and a couple of restaurants overlooking the water. We later had a lovely fish dinner with Perch with Raymonde at La Gal Anthy.

Tuesday was a rainy day that seemed like a perfect opportunity to visit a wonderful exhibit of Chagall’s paintings at Martigny, celebrating his 120th birthday. The town was lovely and the “Pierre Giannada Foundation” museum was a really wonderful cultural center with a terrific lineup of art exhibit and concert by first class artists and built over Roman ruins. It was somewhat like Pasadena but with an old European flair, and alpine scenery surrounding it. On the way back we tried to visit an old Chateau at Aigle but it was raining and late, however, we managed to get tangled in the narrow streets of the town, and had to squeeze through a gate only a hair wider then the car. We had to pull in both mirrors, and hold our breath till it was over.

On our final day here, we went to visit the CERN (European Center for Nuclear Research) nuclear physics facility, which boasts a bunch of world records in several categories of technology and particle physics. The 27 km diameter accelerator and collider is built 100 m (300 ft) underground and seems like a mind boggling enterprise, and the array of question it proposes to tackles are equally mind boggling, including structure of matter and anti-matter, and others that I won’t even try to mention as they really go way over my head. It was really fascinating however to visit the actual detector which dwarfed the group of visitors deep underground, and getting an explanation how they intend to unravel the structure and sub particles of a proton.

Today, it was hard to say good bye to this lovely area and the cats that we’ve grown to enjoy. Raymonde (our host) insisted on driving us to the Geneva airport which made it so much easier.

Week 5 Map - A=Baume, France & Jura Mountains; B=Geneva (CERN); E=Anty-sur-Leman, F=Les Gets, France, Saint-Jean-d-Aulps, Gorge Du Pont du Diable; D=Martigny, Switzerland

Lance at CERN with Particle Detectors being Installed In Background

Dahlia on Tour of CERN (European Center for Nuclear Research) with Our Guide and Diagram of Particle Detectors in Backgorund

Medieval Street in Aigle, Switzerland That We Had to Drive Through

Typical Swiss and Savoy Balcony Decoration

Another Photo of the Gorge of the Bridge of the Devil

Hiking in Gorge of the Bridge of the Devil

Dahlia at Abbey at Saint-Jean-d’Aulps

A Dual at the Medieval Festival

Troubadour at Medieval Festival at Saint-Jean-d’Aulps

Lance at Ruins of Cathedral at Saint-Jean-d’Aulps

The Village of Anthy-sur-Leman

View from Our Exchange House in Anthy

Another Scene in Baume

Small Street in Baume

Cathedral in Abbey of Baume

River Coming from Cave Near Baume

Waterfall Near Baume, France

Abbey of Baume in the Jura Mountains

Bails of Hay in Jura Mountains, France

Jet d’Eau (Jet of Water), Symbol of Geneva

Field of Sunflowers

Europe Travels – 10-16 August, 2007

Anthy Sur Leman is a lovely small French village on the south shore of Lake Geneva. There is little in way of “town center” except for a church and boulangerie/patisserie without which it seems a French village cannot exist. For all practical purposes one needs to have a car to get around in the area, although there are some buses that serve the area with some frequency. The Swiss city of Geneva, is only about 30 miles away west along the lake, Swiss Lausanne is just across the lake. The famous spa town of Evian is about 8 km away. The nearest town is Thonon Les Baines, which has a nice harbor and lakeside promenade a few medieval buildings as well as hot springs and spa.

Our exchange home is spacious, comfortable and beautiful and the four of us (the two of us and our friends Alex and Naomi from Israel) had plenty of room to spread out without even using the upper floor. It has a view of the lake and a large grassy yard and best of all, a vegetable garden with tomatoes, giant squash and a gigantic fig tree bearing endless sweet wonderful fruit. What a treat!!!!! Joining us in the house are two black cats with totally opposite personalities which we’ve learned to enjoy. Domino, the dominant one, is really a neighbor’s cat that acts like he own the place and tortures poor Myrtille, who is sweet and shy, and belongs in our house. The temperatures have been pleasant, and even on warm days, the evenings feel nice and cool

Friday was a beautiful sunny day after the rain and we, along with our Israeli friends Neomi and Alex, decided to start exploring close to home. We walked around the lakeside promenade in Thonon, had coffee overlooking the water and enjoyed the harbor, marina and the medieval buildings near the harbor. On the spur of the moment we decided to hop on a boat headed to Yvoire, a small medieval village, west of Anthy. We found it to be a real jewel and a feast to the eye!!! It was full of nicely restored medieval buildings, overflowing with flowers baskets of red geraniums, purple petunias, and an assortment of yellow orange and other flowers in a symphony of colors. A beautiful church with a shiny silver steeple anchors the center, water views and a yacht harbor and little shops and galleries everywhere. In short a true charmer! It still retains its city gates and walls. We had a wonderful three course lunch and headed back charmed and happy.

The following day we drove a half hour to Geneva to explore the city and celebrate Neomi, Alex and Dahlia’s 60th birthdays all occurring in August. We had a wonderful lunch at Relais de L'Entrecôte, a well known restaurant that serves the same delicious steak meal to everyone for lunch and dinner every day. The famous jet fountain of Geneva was off for the day in preparation for a huge firework celebration was planned for the evening (in our honor??) but we left early to avoid the crowds. We walked around the old town, the lakeside promenade and the main shopping street, but were not particularly impressed with Geneva.

Sunday promised to be perfectly clear, a perfect opportunity to drive to the Alps and the famous ski town of Chamonix, France an hour and half drive from Anthy. We arrived at about 10:00 am and took a cable car the size of a small city bus from the town up to a peak called Aiguille du Midi. From the town of Chamonix the peak looked like a speck surrounded by snow and almost straight up. The cable car went up to a ridge, where we got out and changed to another cable car the same size. (See http://www.compagniedumontblanc.fr/plan_aiguilledumidi_ete.php for a map and click on the hot spots for views and even a webcam!!!.) This cable car seemed to go almost vertical and we reached the peak after whizzing above the rocks and arrived at an altitude of 3,840 m (12,600 feet). The peak had a number of buildings and balconies hanging from the sides of the rock with restaurants and ice tunnels. Mountain climbers were out on the rocks and a number were hiking down to the glacier below. But wait, there was more! We then got in six person cable cars that traveled in groups of three for a half hour trip to Hel-Bronner in Italy. The cable cars traveled over an enormous glacier called the Mer de Glace (Sea of Ice) and came very close to Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in the Alps at 4808 meters (15,774 ft). After having a latte in Italy we returned to Aiguille du Midi where we admired the view, all of us feeling a little unstable from rocking in the cable cars and from the thin air. We arrived back in Chamonix in time for a late lunch and took a long scenic way home through twisting roads and vineyard. It was definitely a peak experience!

Monday, yet another clear day, we drove to Montreux on the eastern end of Lake Geneva. Our first stop was Chateau de Chillion, a medieval castle in the lake that was built to protect the entrances to the passes to Italy from Lake Geneva. The castle is in a lovely setting and we took a tour, going through the dungeons, which included a hangman’s noose. Also of interest were the toilets that consisted of a long drop to the lake. We then drove to the Promenade of Monteux on the lake, had lunch and walked to the train station where we boarded the Rochers-de-Naye cog railroad for a trip high above the lake through farms, pastures and chalets to a mountain peak with a great view until the clouds moved in.

Next morning we headed to Annecy, which has a very quaint picturesque old town. It was market day and there were stalls selling a dizzying array of colorful fruits and vegetables and tasty looking local cheeses and sausages, and if that were not enough, there were boulangeries and ice-cream stores everywhere as well. The town is build along a series of canals flowing from Lake Annecy. It is a very cute town, but as one would expect at the height of the summer, was full of tourists. Sadly, it didn’t stop us from sampling a gigantic chocolate croissant and the local ice cream..

Taking advantage of the weather Wednesday, we drove to Evian-Les-Baines, famous for the Evian mineral water and spa and boarded a boat for Lausanne, Switzerland, a fairly large city across the lake reminiscent of San Francisco for its hills. It was a hot day and the streets of Lausanne very steep. We took the bus uphill, visited a couple of cathedrals and a wonderful exhibit, of Fantin LaTour paintings at the local “chapter” of the Hermitage. But Lausanne was not much to write home about. Before going home we stopped at Port-de-Sechex, a little lakeside village about a mile from our exchange home and had a wonderful fish dinner at a restaurant overhanging the Lake watching the sun set over Lake Geneva.

Thursday was finally a rainy day allowed us to kick back guilt free, relax read and catch up on the blog. It was actually nice to watch the steady rain with doors wide open allowing a cool breeze to flow through the house. In the evening we were invited to the nearby house of Raymonde Chezeau, the mother of Sophie Chezeau with whom we are exchanging houses. The company and the meal were wonderful indeed. Raymonde lives in an artfully designed home with a spectacular view of the lake, and, as if to order, the rain stopped and we were able to enjoy the views from the deck.

Neomi and Alex left us Friday morning on another clear day which again was too good to pass up, so we stopped for a croissant at our local Boulangerie, and headed to the Jura Mountains across the lake. More on that in the next section.

Map of Week 4 Travels: G=Anthy-sur-Leman, France; F=Geneva, Switzerland; D=Annecy, France; B=Chamionx, France; H=Montreux, Switzerland

Sunset on Lake Geneva at Restaruant at Port-de-Sechex

Alex, Naomi and Dahlia at Dinner at Port-de-Sechex near Anthy

Spa at Evian-Les-Bains

Palais D’Isle in Annecy

Canal in Annecy

Sausages at Market in Annecy

Bread Shop in Annecy, France

Chateau Chillon from Cog Railroad above Montreux

Steam Paddle Wheel Boat on Lake Geneva

Chateau Chillion near Montreux, Switzerland

Bridge Between Peaks at Aiguille du Midi

Scene near Mont Blanc from Cable Car

Lance, Naomi, Dahlia and Alex at Aiguille du Midi, the Alps Peak above Chamonix

Cable Cars over Mer de Glace (Sea of Ice)

Climbers from Aiguille du Midi in the Alps near Chamonix, France

Alex and Naomi at Lunch in Relais de L'Entrecôte in Geneva

Street in Geneva

Yvoire Harbor

Yvoire

Dahlia at Yvoire near Anthy-sur-Leman

Harbor at Thonon-Les-Bains Harbor near Anthy-sur-Leman

Europe Travels – 3- 10 Aug, 2007

On Friday 3 August, we lingered at the Zimmermann’s home in the morning and got a late start to the day. From there we drove a few miles and took a ferry across the Rhine to a cog railway that took us up a mountain to the ruins of Dragonfels Castle for a beautiful view of the Rhine River and a distant view of the spires of Cologne Cathedral. After a walk around and a late lunch we took the tram back down and drove up the Rhine to Koblenz, Germany where we decided to spend the night.

The major concentration of castles along the Rhine is from Koblenz to Maintz and the next day, Saturday, 4 August, we were treated to views of many castles on both sides of the River as we droved up the west side of the Rhine. We first visited Stozenfels Castle which required a long walk up a winding road through a forest. In the castle there were two weddings being conducted in the garden and we took a tour of the castle which had been restored in the 1890’s by Germany royalty. It was very nice with a lovely setting and view of the river and other castles nearby. From here we drove to Shoenburg Castle which is largely a ruin but has a very romantic hotel and restaurant built among them. We had strolled through the ruins and had coffee in the restaurant. We thought this castle was the most impressive of all the ones we saw that day. Next we stopped at Sooneck Castle and climbed around the ramparts, but decided to skip the tour. From there we proceeded up the river to Reichenstein Castle just before closing and where another wedding was finishing. We walked around the inside where the walls were covered with horns of all types of antelope and deer hunting trophies and there were displays of ancient armor and armaments. The castles were closing and we were a bit saturated so we drove to our Heidelberg hotel where we spent the night.

On Sunday, 5 August, walked through the old town of Heidelberg where there was bicycle race in progress. We walked through a number of quaint streets and took a tram to the castle above the city. Heidelberg Castle is huge and much of it is in ruins but it is very impressive never the less and affords great views of the city. After lunch we drove about three hour to Colmar, France and arrived in late afternoon. After checking into the hotel we had a walk around the town and had dinner in on of the squares. The town is very quaint with old half-timbered buildings and cobblestone streets and flowers everywhere you look, it was beautiful. We had a very nice three course dinner with Alsace wine where there were two wonderful street singers. It was delightful!

The next day, Monday 6 August, we hadn’t quite had enough castles so we drove to the Haut-Koenigsburg Castle which required long drive up a hill and steep hike with dozens of other tourists. This castle had been magnificently restored around the turn of the century, by Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany. It is very large and much of the old wooden draw bridges and ramparts had been rebuilt according to original plans and includes reproductions of original furniture and ancient cannons and other weapons. It was a very worthwhile visit. From there we proceeded back toward Colmar along the “Route d’Vin’ (Wine Route) with may beautiful medieval villages through vineyards where may of the famous Alsace wines are made (including some of our favorites such as Riesling, Muscat and Gewurztraminer). The first town we came to was Zellenberg which is not in the guide book but a street sign said it was an old medieval city. It was a wonderful place with almost no tourists and had a high tower at the entrance, the old city walls were intact with may very old buildings and flowers everywhere. After we lunch we drove to Riquewihr and Kayserberg that were in the guide book and were slightly more quaint but mobbed with tourists with difficult parking. At Kayserberg it started to rain to so we headed back to Colmar to our hotel.

Hard rain was forecast for the next several days so on Tuesday, 7 August, we decided to drive to our next house exchange at Anthy-sur-Leman, France on Lake Geneva. Before leaving Colmar we visited the Dominican Church to see the lovely painting of the “Virgin in the Rosebush”. The drive to Lake Geneva was mostly freeways and passed near Bern, Switzerland, where we stopped for a few hours to see some of the sights there. It was somewhat interesting, with a few old towers, cobblestone streets and arcades but a bit of a driving nightmare (even with the GPS). An hour or so later we were descending to Lake Geneva and after driving along the French south shore arrived at our lovely exchange home in Anthy.

Wednesday and Thursday (8-9 August) were rainy and we settled in, met our friends Alex and Naomi who flew in from Israel to spend a week with us and caught up on our reading.