We're down to the last 11 days now. Just time to wander north into Switzerland, see some of the landmarks there, do some hiking and then head back to Paris, assuming it hasn't been washed away by then....
Tonight we're stopped in a small village called Corps. About an hour south of Grenoble. It's a municipal campground with only about 20 sites, but it has some unusual attributes: toilet paper, toilet seats, and water available at our site. The water in the showers is also decently warm. Not hot, but warm enough. And all for about 10 Euros.
There are big mountains here and I think the really big ones are hiding in the clouds. It would be nice to see them but at least we aren't being inundated by floods. Some cloud we can manage.
Sunday. No clear skies when we get up, but little surprise there. A short drive brings us to Switzerland where we get a 2 second look from the border guards before being waved on. It's Sunday and traffic is light, the roads are wide and quiet. We're heading for Visp which is the valley access to Zermatt and the Matterhorn.
A quick Google maps search earlier has identified a campground which we quickly find and get set up. Here, the language options seem to be German or English. Amongst the information we're given is one gem. Free bike rental for up to 4 hours. And it happens to be open today.
After completing the passport scanning, deposit paying and such, we head down the Rhone valley on our free bikes past two small villages which offer good photo opportunities. And it's sunny and warm.
After, fortified by a beer and snacks, we drive in the direction of Zermatt to explore. New highway construction with tunnels. Possible trails through some of the highest vineyards in the world. Stuff for tomorrow. It's time for supper.
Monday we visit Zermatt. First we drive 28 km to Tasch. There we must use pay parking. Buy tickets ($20 each) for a 10 minute train ride to Zermatt. There, the common option seems to be C$150 each for another train ride to a peak at some distance from the Matterhorn. We opt to hike and do what any climbers would do: head towards the mountain. In a couple of hours we are at about 2500 m and close enough to the mountain that we can study the route up the SE ridge, examine the glacier (where 4 of Whymper's first ascent team ended up after falling 1700 m), observe a Swiss Alpine Club hut not far away... All under clear blue skies. Our return route takes us higher before dropping down to Zermatt. Past weathered Swiss pasture shelters, weathered wood, stone roofs, meadows with sheep....
We buy some lunch. It reminds us of how expensive things are here in Switzerland. Here is a photo of our $30 lunch.
Exiting the car park later is a strange experience. I drive to the exit and feed in my ticket. Won't accept it (at least that's what I think it's saying because of my poor German skills..). Catherine mentioned seeing an obscure sign asking if you've paid for your parking yet. I park again and walk back into the "terminal" where I'm directed to a machine that accepts my ticket and my credit card, returning both after exacting the appropriate toll. I try to drive out again, this time successfully. Is it just me or is this an awkward way to do things? I can think of one better place for that payment machine. Wanna guess where that would be?
Our campground has a communal fridge. We have cold beer in it which we appreciate after the day's explorations.
Tuesday, we hike through some very high vineyards before driving off towards the Interlaken area which is just on the other side of the mountain range we're looking at. It's an all-day drive, however.
The first pass is still closed from winter snow so we drive on. A second pass is closed. Fortunately, there is still a way around and we arrive at Lauterbrunnen early on the afternoon. Quite a stunning drive.
We are now in the valley that counts the Eiger and the Jungfrau among the towering sentinels at its end. We can sort of see them. Showers seem imminent.
The next day, skies seem likely to clear, so we take a cable car to a high point and hike for another 4 hours, with great views of the large peaks at the end of the valley. The Eiger, the Jungfrau, Monch. All in the 4000 m range. It rains for the last hour of our hike and basically keeps raining. We pack up and leave the next morning.
Some driving in a downpour, some convoluted routes, more construction, more long tunnels, bring us out of Switzerland and back into France. It's interesting how little fanfare there is about changing countries here...nothing. A border control officer talked to us for a couple of minutes and that was it.
We're now in the Hautes Saone region of France. At least the weather is starting to clear, for the moment.
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