Saturday 19th: Boat Trip

Before coming to Switzerland we had bought a bargain rover ticket covering bus, train and boat, so even though the clouds were low and the light gloomy we decided to go for it- a boat trip, that is. Interlaken is between two lakes (hence the name Interlaken, I guess), so we took the boat plying the bigger lake to the town of Thun at the far end, about 15 miles from Interlaken. Thun’s history goes back to pre-Roman times and following the Roman occupation in 58BC was an important administrative centre. The castle dates from 1190, and is shown in the photo with other ancient and picturesque buildings.

The boat zigzags across the lake, calling in at most towns and villages on the banks. It’s obviously prime dwelling location and few detached houses anywhere in the area seem to be up for sale for less than £1,000,000, so it’s certain that none of the lakeside houses here would go for less than £2 million

The lake itself is very pretty with small, partly wooded mountains sloping steeply down to the shore, with the high peaks in the background (when you can see them!). Also, the odd waterfall, or what we assumed to be a waterfall rather than the combined effluent stream from the houses on the cliff.

The shipping services started on lake Thun in 1835 with the SS Bellevue operated by an enterprising hotelier. This is the boat in question: a more interesting picture than one of the modern, much larger boat we travelled in.

Wednesday 16th: Schynige Platte

This was a journey by rack and pinion railway, starting from just outside Interlaken, to a plateau 6,500 feet up. The little train is shown in the distance chugging away amidst lovely scenery, looking down towards Interlaken. Our campsite is on the far side of the town not far from the lake.

The plateau is pretty bleak, but is the starting point for many mountain trails. There are farm buildings even at this elevation, and we opened a gate for an old farmer patrolling in his ancient truck. He stopped the truck and shook hands with us, then rumbled off in the truck singing and yodelling at the top of his voice! First hand experience that they really do yodel.


There is also a huge alpine garden laid out on a rocky prominence, but as we’re nearing autumn there wasn’t much life in it. The few plants that were performing were bright and fresh in colour, and an indication of what the garden must be like in spring.

The big views from up here are of the high peaks, and in particular the north face of the Eiger. This is the forbidding photo below: the face is 5,900 feet sheer. Just before we came away we watched a TV programme about the severe challenges the climb presents and how 64 climbers have died since the first ascent in 1938. Chris Bonnington featured prominently, and recounted stories of the extreme difficulties climbers face. It usually involves at least one night on the mountain - there’s even a ledge named “death bivouac”. Bonnington himself climbed it in 1962.
However, right at the end of the programme, we saw speed climber Ueli Steck who scaled the face in 2hrs 47 minutes in 2008! However even-handed traditional climbers like Bonninton are, they must be pig sick that their death-defying exploits lasting for days on the mountain are almost rubbished by some fitness nut tearing up the face in 2¾ hours!

Tuesday 14th: Trip to Murren

The first leg of the journey is by train to Lauterbrunnen, just outside which is located the Steubbach Falls, Switzerland’s tallest, 300 metres high. It was first measured in the 18th century by dangling a rope from the top and adding lengths until it reached the bottom. It is impressive, and especially so in springtime from the volume of melting snow. The picture shows the waterfall apparently showering onto a house roof, but it’s actually well behind the town.

The ingenious Swiss have created a tunnel and walkway behind the waterfall’s base, so you can look through it to the beautiful Lauterbrunnen valley. Unfortunately, the water has fallen such a long way that it has atomised and just creates a mist that prevents you from clearly seeing the valley. The mist also blows back through the observation holes and soaks you, or to be more precise in the photo below, soaks Jane. Now was all that engineering effort worth it?

So on from Lauterbrunnen, up on the cable car to connect with the cliff-edge railway that runs to Murren. Wonderful views of the valley and mountains from the cable car and railway.

Murren itself is a walking resort in summer and a skiing haven in winter, discovered by the English as long ago as 1840. “No motor vehicles”, the guidebook said, but on arrival we were nearly bowled over by a Land Rover. Were we really expecting only milk floats in the 21st century? It was in fact a real town, as opposed to a purely tourist creation, with a number of old wooden buildings, although the example below has been dressed up a bit.

What Murren has got is unparalleled views. It’s on this clifftop 5,300 feet up, with vistas into the valley below and the snow-clad Alps above. You can’t reproduce this panorama with a camera (well, I can’t!), but this is the best I can do, looking towards the Eiger. Question of the day – is that the Swiss national flag in the photo, or the flag on the 18th green? Bear in mind that any balls landing in the rough would need to be chipped back from the valley 2,500 feet below.

Switzerland September 2010

Friday 11th: Arrival at Interlaken

We left Alconbury last Thursday, and nearly made Switzerland in one day! Not by design I should add, but we just couldn’t find a motorway services in France to park up for the night: they were totally full with lorries. We often do an overnight stop in services when we plan to cover a big mileage on the first day because you just pull into the next services when you’ve had enough, with no campsite to find or time constraints.

But why the problem this time? Then the penny drops: we’re near the German border, and what’s changed in the last few years is the mass of extra lorries coming from the new EU countries like the Baltic States, the Czech Republic and particularly Poland. We head down towards the Swiss border where these lorries don’t go- and suddenly there’s plenty of room. We eat dinner at 10.30pm, but who cares, and after nibble on a few savoury sticks (Paluski Polish sticks, 99p from Tesco- so it’s no good us complaining about all these extra lorries!)



So now we’ve arrived at Interlaken. The site has the unlikely name of “The Lazy Rancho”, shades of Texas rather than Switzerland, but very friendly & helpful proprietors who speak fluent English.



From our pitch we have a 5* view of the Eiger, Mönch and part of the Jungfrau. It’s interesting how their appearance changes depending on the time of day and weather. The following two photos give some idea of this. The first is taken at sundown and the second in near darkness, both with some cloud.

June 21st: The Suisse Normande

I suppose any comparison with Switzerland raises high hopes- impossibly high hopes. However, the scenery was impressive, with more rocky crags and steep valleys than in other parts of Normandy. The Suisse Normande area mainly follows the river Orne and the photo below gives a typical lovely view, with the Orne centrestage.

Strolling around in Clecy, near where the above photo was taken, we came across an unusual use for ex-WW2 ordnance- as electric fence supports (the rings welded on the side hold the wire). That’s me looking shell-shocked. The battle swung inland after D-Day and the whole of Normandy saw fierce fighting: it’s heartening to know that some expended armaments were put to good use!

It was good to see lots of outdoor recreational activities provided, particularly for youngsters. We saw several parties of young canoeists on the Orne, and these below were having great fun playing a kind of canoe basketball that seemed to exercise their skills at manoeuvring the craft as well as all getting soaked.

June 19th: Alençon Lace

Alençon is a pleasant town with a long history associated with lace making. A typical street near the old town centre is shown above.
In contrast to most towns who go all out to capitalise on their past, there was no evidence visible of their former lace industry at all, nothing in the shops, no café/hotel/restaurant names associated with it etc. This was in complete contrast to Mère Poulard of Mont St Michel, a solitary figure from the past done to death by the trinket industry, and surely a missed opportunity for Alençon with a genuine heritage stretching back centuries.
But there was a local museum with a large lace section, and it was fascinating.

This example is about 4 inches across, and look at the incredible detail! Even the background mesh is created by the lacemaker and there are 9 stages in producing the finished product. It took an astounding approx 1,000 hours to make this 4-inch circle. We saw much bigger works of immense intricacy and skill, representing eras when all nobility, men and women, and high-ranking churchmen were generously adorned with lace. There were about a dozen other lace making centres in France, but Alençon was top rank. The industry started to shrink in the early 19th century and today survives in one small local sponsored workshop.
The museum also contained many works of art, a few with an unusual label alongside. See underneath, where the text of the notice is magnified.

What it says is:
PLACEMENT BY THE STATE
WORK RECOVERED
BY THE ALLIES IN 1945
A further panel elsewhere explains that when the French works of art pirated by the Nazis were reclaimed in 1945, there were some that could not be reunited with their original owners. The state then stepped in and allocated these works to an appropriate museum. So there's a lottery-style win waiting for some worthy relation who can prove his rights of inheritance, but presumably you're disqualified if you have a German name!

June 15th Bagnoles

Bagnoles is a spa town, which have as common features: elegant (= expensive) shops, smart restaurants and well-groomed parks. Adjacent to the town centre is an ornamental lake that Jane is looking into trying to spot the large fish. All very pleasant, if unspectacular.

The chateau here is the council offices, set in a landscaped park with specimen trees and views over the town. It is noticeable how many doddery old folk there are both in the parks and in the town, which is to be expected as Bagnoles is a working spa town, and they are here for the cure. A curious side effect is that it’s difficult to park in town- there are loads of spaces, but they are practically all reserved for disabled badge holders.

This above is the sharp end: the treatment complex. The warehouse type building on the right is the spa hotel and the building backing onto the woods is the treatment centre. The treatment, the cure as they refer to it here, consists of bathing in or drinking the mineral water that is also slightly radioactive. The claims for its range of effectiveness unsurprisingly seem too good to be true. But you do see a lot of sprightly old folk around who, incidentally, also glow in the dark- so keep an open mind!