Wednesday 20th
June 2012 – Thursday 12th July
Camping at Ounans, France and a visit to Zurich, Davos and Montreux, Switzerland returning via Chamonix/Mt Blanc
We took a risk on Camping La Plage, hidden away up in the Jura, not
having been there first to check it out!
Phew, what a relief when we arrived to find it a tranquil, friendly
place where we plonked Kevin by the River Loue, cracked a Cremant and watched
the bee-eaters catching bugs at low altitude as they played happy families over
the river. We sank into a torpor of
retired wallowment for the next few days, planning our vantage points for Days
8 & 9 of Le Tour de France, driving a circuit of magical medieval Franche
Compté where villages which took
us to a little treasure, a “beau” village of France, “Baume les Messieurs”,
nestled in a limestone canyon full of trees and vineyards. Locals living a 21st C lifestyle amid
the bulging walls of old stone houses, sagging tiled roofs, spun-glass windows,
sharp spires….
Nearby Arbois is another village where Louis Pasteur lived and has a
little of that wow factor! With friends
Anne & Richard, we came across a lovely walled garden and the lady kindly
invited us in. Then it was a walk only
100m up the road to see the famous Hirsinger chocolate shop where the French
have voted it the No 1 chocolatier in France!
Naturally we just had to indulge…….
Upping the pace again, we left Kevin in mothballs and headed over to
Switzerland for a week – a couple of days with friends in Zurich who took us
for a couple of days to their family “shack” – a chalet built by the
grandfather in the hills above Davos, a fantastic Winter playground for
skiers. In Summer it’s also a very
relaxing place to stay – and so it was on a clear sunny day in July that we
took the chairlift to the top (2880m) and walked the 1440m descent down to the village. Atop the mountain we could see the nearby ski
fields and the villages way down below.
As we rambled along the ridges we then descended, hiking firstly amongst
the Alpine grasses then to the wildflowers, then down to the highland goats and
lastly to the cows with their jangling bells.
The next night was in Montreux where we went to the Jazz festival to
see Jethro Tull re-do Thick as a Brick I & Il. Ian Anderson was fantastic on the flute and
guitar but it would be fair to say that voice-wise he’s lost it a little.
The next day we shared a couple of days with our new friends from
our recent Croatian cruise at their house near Chamonix/Mont Blanc. Taking the chairlift
up to the viewing platform on Mont Blanc and standing at high altitude, just a
little lower than the 4248m height of Mont Blanc was amazing. Watching the many mountaineers climbing the nearby
peaks captivated us for ages, yet we heard ten days later that 9 climbers had
been killed in an avalanche there – you would have seen it happen from the same
viewing platform.
Our two days at the Tour de France were great fun as we rubbed
shoulders with thousands of happy, light-hearted locals cheering on as the
riders flashed past. Risking life and
limb to grab the freebies thrown from the caravans ahead of the race is almost
as much fun as the event itself.
