After a long good bye to Lyon, we headed for Genevé Switzerland. This was another last minute decision being that we had time to kill before we met my friend Dave in Nice, France later in the month. We arrived in Genevé early in the evening and we were quite happy that our campground was situated right on Lake Genevé. Lake Genevé is a pristine, crystal clear alpine lake surrounded by incredible mountain ranges.
When you think of Genevé, you think of precise time pieces (home to Rolex), chocolate (a chocolatier on every corner), cheese (holey cheese), bankers (swiss bank accounts), and neutrality. Neutrality, that is exactly what you get here. I would even say it's a bit lackluster. All in all, it's quite a beautiful city but it lacks that certain energy that most European cites have. It, also like the rest of Switzerland, is very expensive. A two day visit is quite adequate. There are a few highlights though. There's an old town area with the typical cafes, restaurants, and cobblestone streets. The promenade area along the lake is a great place to bike, roller blade, or just watch the boats sail on by. The one site that I was interested in seeing was the Jet D'Eau. The Jet D'Eau , literally jet of water, is a fountain in the Genevé harbor that shoots up over a hundred and forty meters into the air. It's quite impressive seeing the fountain as it sprays upwards. It's almost as though it's a big exclamation mark in the middle of the lake.
Now that we've seen all that Genevé had to offer, we were ready to find greener pastures. Two fellow caravanners from London suggested that we visit the Swiss Alps area of Jungfrau and on their recommendation we set out for the Swiss Alps. Interestingly, Switzerland has three regions; French, German, and Italian. It's an odd feeling when the road signs, street names, and store fronts, go from French to German without even the slightest warning. Replacing the Merci with Danke proved quite challenging for me.
Switzerland may not come directly to mind when you think of the world's wine growing regions but they have a very healthy wine industry. Switzerland is bordered by France, Italy, and Austria and the Rhone River carves its way through the southern part of the country. So this is prime grape growing real estate with only one problem, elevation. Most of the grapes are grown along the Rhone, near the lakes, and in lower elevations where a cooling effect similar to the affect that San Pablo Bay plays on the Carneros region, takes place. The climate is suited for growing light bodied Pinot Noirs, Gamay, and countless indigenous varieties.
The drive to the Jungfrau region was nothing less than spectacular! Beautiful emerald green rivers, placid glacier lakes, green rolling hills sprinkled with red roofed towns, and of course the majestic mountains. It's hard to keep your eyes on the road with so much magnificence surrounding you but when your navigating the hairpin turns on roads so narrow; roads that you feel you're performing in a circus tight rope act, it's mandatory that you concentrate on the road. I'm sure glad I wasn't diving. I just sat back and enjoyed the view while Bruce clung to the steering wheel as if someone had super glued his hands around it.
Once the nerve racking drive was finished, we arrived at the campground. This was no ordinary campsite. It lay on the floor of a valley surrounded by hills so green and lush that you were envious of the cows that were chomping down on the grass. There were towering mountain ranges in almost every direction you looked. It felt as though you were in the cuffed hand of a giant. The valley is very reminiscent of Yosemite. The most amazing part of the valley was its waterfalls. We were situated at the base of a 930 meter waterfall. It was truly breath- taking. At night the fall was lit up in a spectacular hue and being only meters from the base you would fall asleep with the soothing sound of the falls ushering you into a very peaceful night's rest.
Waking up with the walls of the valley encompassing you and the snow-capped mountains glistening with the first rays of morning sunlight, was an amazing feeling. I couldn't wait to get out and enjoy this most beautiful area. There was so much to do and see here. It's considered one of the top outdoor adventure areas in the world. From skiing, mountain climbing, para-sailing, gliding, and on and on. We met people from all over the world including many from California and Colorado. The James Bond movie, "On Her Majestys Secret Service" was filmed here and what a great back drop for a movie. Wherever you were, be it in the valley or in the small villages, you would look up and see hang gliders or para gliders often just meters above the roof line of the villages.
Our adventure wasn't quite Bond like but we did do a bit of mountain climbing. OK it was with the help of a ski lift but it still was a challenge to keep from repeatedly saying “WOW”!
The Jungfrau region has waterfalls galore. There are all kinds of special tour packages available to give you the alpine adventure you dream of. The package we chose had a great highlight, a tour of underground or inside the mountain waterfalls. To get to the falls an old miner's car steadily trails you up the steep incline. As the temperature began to drop, the darkness of the shaft enveloped us. When the shaft doors finally open, a rush of cold air awakes your senses from the darkness of the mine shaft, and a few steps later you are treated to a spectacular site. Over 20,000 liters per second of icy water plunging its way through the caves. The falls are well lit and you can perch yourself at different vantage points in the cave as the mist and deafening roar of the falls envelopes you. It was another “WOW” moment.
One of the nicest parts of the camping experience is meeting fellow caravanners. While at Jungfrau, we met Pete and Sue from the Liverpool area, the famous hometown of The Beatles. On our last night there, we were invited over to their site for snacks and wine. Along with a few more caravanners, we had an impromptu wine tasting of sorts as well a terrific conversation.
Once again I found leaving difficult. I wanted to wake up with the crisp morning air in my lungs, hearing the icy river rushing by and the sound of the thundering waterfalls as it crashed into the walls of granite below. After much thought we decided we better start heading south. The constant adding of a few extra days in most every place we visited had begun to eat away at the time. We needed to be in the French Rivera to meet my friend Dave in less than one week. Dave is one of my dearest friends and helped spur my interests in wine many years ago.
Dave is currently in Portugal on the Isle of Madeira visiting with friends. It will be interesting to see how quickly he can adjust going from an incredible villa to a RV(caravan). While in Madeira he will be keeping track of everything he is drinking. If he brings enough material and some bottles for tasting I will do a section on Portugal.
Bottle of the night: The 2005 Mercury Premier Cru Burgundy. Premier crus are substantially better than village wine but not as good as a grand cru. You can find some great values in this category. This was a good wine. Bright cherry and berry flavors as well as a bit of wet earth. The wine paired well with the roasted chicken and potatoes I purchased from the local butcher shop.
Our next destination will be Marseilles France. We left the beautiful Jungfrau region in the late morning just as the rays of the sun created a rainbow in the falling mist of the waterfall Jungfrau. Feeling thankful for the experience here in the Swiss Alps we headed towards France.
The drive high above the azure lakes, churning rivers and medieval towns was such a peaceful journey. The snow capped mountains, deep valleys, and jagged granite cliffs, bring to mind just how incredibly powerful the glaciers that formed this region's high altitude mountains and low valleys must have been. The drive was just incredible, until the road dead ended at a railroad station.
We slowly drove to a toll booth window where the toll taker asked our vehicle weight and length. The toll taker spoke no English. Our questions of “why are we paying a toll” and “where does this road go” were answered sternly in a deep German accent. “Go to the stop light”. We did as told, very reluctantly I might add but travel is full of adventures, I thought as we proceeded towards the stop light. After putting ein and ein together we figured out that we were to drive our caravan onto a train and be transported through a tunnel through the heart of the granite mountain. After a 20 minute wait our proceed light went green. We followed the line of cars before us. Still not sure of the outcome, we drove the caravan straight onto the train, which was little more than a covered wagon on train tracks. One by one, the cars lined up on the flat bed of the train and parked. As the train began to move towards the tunnel, we pulled out our packed lunches and enjoyed the dark 20 minute train ride. The tunnel was very dimly lit and with the exception of the occasional oncoming train there was no sign of life. Just as we finished our sandwiches we emerged from the darkness of the tunnel. The brightness of the sun was almost blinding. We had to squint just to see our way off the train. It was quite an experience. We drove the caravan away from the docking station towards our destination only to realize that the road we had chosen had been temporarily closed. We had to navigate our way through what was tantamount to a small quarry. After negotiating our way through boulders of granite and heavy work equipment, we breathed a sigh of relief and headed on our way.
The ride south was just awesome. The Alps seem to go on forever. Every mountain peak seemed to out-do the next peak. Vine covered terraced slopes planted to best absorb the sun rays, stretched out for miles. I was really feeling this drive, until we arrived in the town of Sion, where at a stop light a friendly pedestrian told us the door of our caravan was swaying open. After hoping out of the truck in mid-day traffic in order to check the door, we realized somehow at the quarry, significant damage to the caravan had occurred, most probably the work of a granite boulder. As we partially blocked a busy intersection a very impatient lady began to repeatably honk her car horn and make rude gestures. I had to essentially direct traffic around us till we could get our door to shut. It was quite intense standing in the middle of the wide boulevard and in my best English sign language, directing German and French speaking drivers. Its funny how you do what ya gotta do. Thanks to our trusty GPS Mio, we found a Camping area only a few miles from where we were. We pulled into the camping area and assessed the damage. It looked pretty bad, twisted metal and broken latches. We didn't even know if we would be able to set the caravan up due to heavy bending of the main support brackets. I felt fairly confident that we could at least do enough temporary repairs to get us through the night and there was a bright side. The fact that our predicament occurred in the heart of Swiss wine country didn't escape me.
Sometimes the totally unplanned travel stops can bring the greatest joy. The unparalleled dramatic beauty of Switzerland's wine country took my mind away from our current travel problems. We decided not to stress out too much, take our time repairing the damaged caravan and stay and enjoy the cool village and its' viniferous offerings.
The town of Sion was a great place to get stuck in. Although the city is only small to medium size, it had a gastronomic flair, quite a few wine bars and tasting spots, all located within walking distance of the towns' center. The town was literally surrounded by steep vine planted hillsides and mountains. Wherever you were in town you could always see the vines and the mountains. Considering all that lies ahead with repairs and lost time, I still found myself happy to be here.
Tomorrow will be spent repairing the caravan. Hopefully my next posting will be from somewhere in the south of France with a fully intact caravan.
Bottle of the night: 2005 Domaine Riviera Beaujolais. The appellation is Beaujolais- Villages. Villages, must come from the hillier northern part of the Beaujolais region. Villages are a step down from cru designated wines but they are still distinctive. Beaujolais are under appreciated and therefore great values. Since today was a very warm day in the Sion region. I decided a light red wine would be a great offset to the warm weather. A Beaujolais seems to fit the bill just fine. Fairly low in alcohol, at 13% the wine is fruity and almost refreshing. Gamay based wines tend to be bluer in hue than most other red wines and this one was no exception. The wine had a nose of fresh picked berries, bubble gum and even banana. The banana nose comes from the rapid fermentation of the grapes. Drink Beaujolais young and enjoy with your favorite cured meats. Think charcuterie.
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