Archives

All posts for the month July, 2014

Geneva to Zermatt

Posted by Jim St. George on July 16, 2014

Posted in: Switzerland. Leave a Comment

Chris, me, Joey, and Mark, with Gabriela and Athena in front

When our friends Chris & Joey announced a couple of months ago that they were moving to Geneva for a job with the U.N., we thought “Hey, we won’t be too far away. Why don’t we visit?” A few emails later and we were set for a mid-July stop in Switzerland, between our early-July visit with Marc & David in Corsica and meeting friends in Nice in late July.

Posing in front of a huge fountain in Lake Geneva

The only question was what we would do between Geneva & Nice, a question we hadn’t answered yet when we got to Geneva. It was only on our second day there that we decided to stay in Switzerland for 10 days before we go back to the beach. Three observations so far: we had fun with Chris & Joey and their two girls Gabriela and Athena, Zermatt is every bit as beautiful as I remember it from nearly 40 years ago (Mark’s most recent visit was a much more current 30 years…), and it’s really expensive here.

OK, first Geneva. I’ve heard for years that it’s not the best place in Switzerland to go and – except for seeing friends – that’s pretty accurate. We actually had to take a city bus into France (it’s right on the border) to take a cable car up a mountain to walk around for an afternoon. The city is right on Lake Geneva, of course, and that’s … OK. Except for the prices – a hamburger in a restaurant costs $30 or something, main courses all start around $40 for the cheap items – nothing too remarkable.

Athena & Gabriela. They’re six-year-old twins and were just adorable!

The tip of Lake Geneva, where it flows into the start of the Rhone River. We were actually in France to take this picture.

Then it was a train ride to Zermatt. You have to love Swiss trains: comfortable, quiet, extremely punctual. And they go through some pretty spectacular scenery. We got into Zermatt and it was pretty much all overcast with intermittent rain. Great weather for hiking, we thought.

This was the view from our hotel our first morning. We thought that was a good omen…

Alas, the next day the skies had completely cleared, we had a spectacular view of the Matterhorn from our hotel, and off we went on an ambitious 12-mile hike up into the mountains. It was simply jaw-droppingly spectacular. Definitely a tough climb – we climbed a total of about 1,000 meters over those 12 miles – but so totally worth it. We just kept stopping to take more pictures, to gaze at the views again and again. And the weather was so nice, the sun so brilliant, that we both got a little sunburn on our necks. After how many months in the sun in Southeast Asia and then the Mediterranean I wouldn’t have thought that would be possible.

Be prepared: we loved the scenery up there.

The start of our long hike

That hut up there was our first stop along the way, after a pretty steep climb

Still early, we weren’t sure if the Matterhorn would be clouded in or not

OK, now we’re confident we’ll get a good view

The route was well marked

What’s not to like about this?

Best walk in the world

A panoramic view

A snowball fight on July 15th!

Mid-trail selfie

There were sheep up there too, including one who apparently was too warm

It was a tough hike, but we were happy campers

By the end we were pretty exhausted so we’re going to take today a little lighter. But the weather is great again this morning, so we should have more great photos soon.

From here we’re taking the Glacier Express, a seven-hour train through the mountains to St. Moritz, and then we’re going off into Liechtenstein for a couple days before ending our Swiss adventure in Zurich. What a life where you can just decide on a whim to spend a couple weeks in Switzerland!

Oh yeah – lots of Alpine flowers up there. Who’d have guessed?

More flowers

And one more shot of them. The varieties changed as we moved up and down the mountain, but they were all beautiful and tiny.

Farewell to Corsica

Posted by Jim St. George on July 10, 2014

Posted in: France. Leave a Comment

The view of Corte on the walk from our hotel

After lunch, this was my reading spot: a rock in the river. Pure, unadulterated heaven.

Two weeks in Corsica just hasn’t been enough. Beaches, boat rides, visiting with friends, interesting food, good wine … and today mountain climbing! After bidding adieu to Marc & David, Mark & I headed up and inland to Corte, a little town perched up in the hills. We had a great little hotel right on a river in the Restonic Valley, just 15 minutes by foot from town. In many ways it was my fantasy stay – rushing river, pure nature, cute little town. Everything you dream about getting away to. So on the first day we could hang out in the outdoor area of our hotel reading and listening to the roaring river and then walk into town for lunch and sightseeing.

The butterfly bushes were in full bloom, smelled great, and looked fabulous with my shirt

Today, though, we did a hike. It didn’t sound like it would be much, although the woman at the hotel who told us about it made clear that it was a hike, not a walk. A little walk from the parking area at the end of the road, an hour to the first lake, 45 minutes to the second. How bad could that be?

Well. It was a serious climb, up several hundred meters on very rocky trails. Up. And up some more. And then up steeply; in some places they had installed ladders and chains to get you up. And totally worth it. The day was cool and overcast, which ain’t bad for hiking, and along the way we started to feel as though we were back in Patagonia, one of the greatest hiking areas we’ve ever seen.

At the start of our hike we had no idea we were going way up into those peaks

So that was it. Hiking. I should add, the drive to and from the trail head was terrifying: extremely narrow, usually with no guard rail or anything. When two cars met you slowed to a crawl, and the car on the outside had pretty much no margin of error. But … we survived.

Tomorrow we have an early flight to Geneva where we’ll spend a few days visiting with our friends Chris & Joey and their two girls. After hiking in the mountains today, Switzerland will feel pretty normal!

That’s where we’re headed

Working our way up

View from the top!

When we got up to this second lake, it was foggy and cold and gloomy … and beautiful

Lunch at the top. And yes, that was a long fall if you slipped…

The towel was for warmth as it alternated between cold and foggy and cold and sunny

The happy couple ready to climb down

And for a little sophomoric humor…. Corte tries to make very clear what is not acceptable behavior. Alas, we can confirm that dogs can’t read picture signs.

Corsica With Friends

Posted by Mark Sullivan on July 7, 2014

Posted in: France. 1 comment

David, Marc, Mark, and Jim take in the stunning Réserve Naturelle de Scandola

From Ajaccio we rented a car and traveled north to meet our friends Marc and David, who’d just flown in from Toronto to start a well deserved vacation. We picked them up at the airport in Calvi and then settled in the nearby town of L’Île Rousse. Here their stress and jetlag were relieved with a virtually perfect day on the beach. It was all sunshine, fine warm sand, crystal clear water, a great lunch, and lots of catching up.

The next day we got a little more adventuresome and traveled southwest to the town of Porto and its spectacular coastal surroundings. The two-hour drive took us through the rugged mountains of Corsica and endless stomach-churning hairpin turns. After a coffee break and a lunch in lovely Porto, we spent the afternoon on a little rubber boat touring the soaring mountains and jagged cliffs of the Réserve Naturelle de Scandola to the north and the Calanques de Piana to the south.

The scenery was so spectacular that it easily justified the difficulty of the journey, but by the time we got back to L’Île Rousse we were thrilled to be out of the car, off those winding mountain roads, and ready for another car-less day at the beach just steps from our hotel.

But then Jim discovered that his kindle was missing and recalled setting it on the table at the coffee shop in Porto. Marc found the name of the coffee shop using google Street View, we called them, and yup, they have the kindle — just two hours and countless hairpin turns away. Now Jim and I cannot live without our kindles. So it’s Monday morning, and Jim got up early to get the ordeal over with. So Marc and David and I are headed to the beach, hoping Jim is back in time for lunch!