June 10, Friday – Our drive through southern Switzerland led us through farmland, through the Gruyere region – where we stopped for lunch and of course, sampled some wonderful cheese which gets its name from here! We travelled along the northeast shore of Lake Geneva onto Martigny, Switzerland
where we started our switchback journey out of the valley to enter the mountain region where we will enter France. We stop just before the border to gas up and stock up on Swiss chocolates before we carry on into France. The drive takes us through narrow valleys with windy roads reminding us of some places at home.
As we get nearer to Chamonix we see glimpses of glaciers and mountain peaks – we are almost there! The valley widens when we near Chamonix and we see a couple of golf courses – too late in the day to play… but we talk about finding somewhere to play golf soon. We found our hotel easily and we were pleased with the suite with plenty of room to move around for the three of us. The hotel was located near the center of the city and had a view of the glacier hanging down from the Mount Blanc mountain range.
For dinner we found the restaurant, Le Serac serving traditional Savoy region food. We chose not to have fondue, but had other wonderful food with cheese of course, which all three of us really enjoyed. Naturally we had a wonderful bottle of red wine. We enjoyed chatting with our waiter who was familiar with Quebec of course and asked where T had learned French. T explained that in Canada, French is taught in most schools as a second language. He treated us to a shot of the local liquor made from a flower grown in the region after our dinner. We quite enjoyed it. Later as we wandered around the pedestrian only streets we saw bottles of this in the windows of the local regional product stores.
June 11, Saturday. After a good nights sleep and a good breakfast at the hotel, we discussed the day. It was overcast and perhaps would rain, but decided to enquire at the cable car terminal, called Aiguille du Midi, what the weather was like up at the top. We found out that it was clear up above and promptly purchased day tickets to make the trek from the town-site base at 1038 m elevation to 3842 m on the 2 stage cable car, with a travel time of only 16 minutes we are whisked up more than 9000 ft to see Mount Blanc and the ranges around it. M and J enjoyed the journey up (most of it in the shrouds of mist) while T was a little apprehensive of the steepness at which the cable car travelled. As we neared the top, the car was moving almost completely vertical – or that’s what it felt like! Once we disembarked we proceeded to another elevator that took us even higher (this one was inside the mountain). We didn’t feel the elevation change nearly as much as Jungfrau. We figured it must have helped us acclimatize somewhat as we were even higher today.
We arrived at the top to see beautiful blue sky and gasps of delight were audible!! Mount Blanc emerged from the clouds that drifted by in all its glory!
The view was spectacular, with the top along with the sight of its glacier emerging from the clouds. Below was a blanket of white fluff! We did get a glimpse of Chamonix town site way below through an opening in the cloud and some of the sheer mountain faces as the clouds moved.
It was amazing to see such vertical mountain faces, and knowing that people climb this stuff!
It was a long way down!!! We also caught sight of some ice climbers who were going out along some of the slopes - cool to see. Once one is at the end of the 2nd cable, you can catch a gondola to travel over to Italy – which we chose not to do as there was too much cloud to really enjoy the view. We might do this if we come back to the area near spring. We stayed to enjoy the view for a while and then travelled back down – the journey was not so freaky for T this time!
We went in search of a café to soak up the atmosphere and of course enjoy lunch! We found a café that served wonderful omelets and J enjoyed a HUGE pot of steamed mussels in a white wine broth. He shared a few with mom and dad…
After lunch, J had a hard time with his ears from the elevation change, quite painful, so he and M went back to the hotel for some Tylenol and rest. T went to explore the town site and again enjoy being in this mountain town amongst the cafes, shops and tourists milling about. It wasn’t over-run by people, so it was great to walk around and check out the sites.
While out exploring T finds another restaurant to dine at for the evening. It specializes in local cuisine and is a happening place filled with people amongst local antiquities of the winter sports and climbing gear! Cool to see the stuff as well as the old pictures on the walls. The food is again wonderful we all enjoyed the atmosphere.
June 12, Sunday – Today it is time to leave Chamonix! The sun is shining brightly and we see the passenger lineup to take the cable car is VERY LONG!! Yesterday when we went up there was no line – but alas, aujourd’hui il fait beau!! So everyone wants to catch the spectacular view before the clouds move back in (which the afternoon forecasted). We walk over to a patisserie to grab a couple of caps for the road along with a couple of tasty goodies and admire the beauty of the surroundings in the sunshine.
As we leave the town, we stop a couple of times to take pictures of the glaciers and Mont Blanc from ground level – awesome!!.
We have a 3.5 – 4 hour trip through to the southern alps , Hautes- Alpes region to Crots, France where our next stop will be. This trip takes us through wonderful scenery, small alpine ski towns as well as through natural parks. In the French Alps we come across a bike race with a number of racers and later once we looked it up on the web, found it was the Criterium Du Dauphine, 6th (192.5) km stage where they climb and go back down about 500 m 3 separate times, an annual race in France. As M was driving the 30 km speed limit in the town, one of the racers gently tapped the car so we knew he and 5 other racers needed to pass us. Some incredibly long hills these guys had to ride up and down - impressive to see!
Our trip took us through Albertville, through our longest road tunnel yet at 13 km long Tunnel du Frejus, into Italy (near Turin), then quickly back into France! A pretty drive that reminded us of the Rockies, except here there are many more villages along the way. Once back into France we continued into territory that had a number of walled fortresses/towns important in the 17-18th centuries in keeping the French colony safe from attacks from Italy. A number of these places are listed as a collective UNESCO site – really neat to see the walls still standing and the villages still inhabited!
Our destination is Crots, a small French village, to the Chateau de Picomtal. It is a castle built in the 16th century, that was recently restored as is a B & B. What a great find this place was. As we drove up to it, we marveled at the size and beauty of it.
It was originally only 1 tower built in the 13th cent, as a military lookout tower, then added onto to house the army in the 15th cent. It had been owned by one family for 120 yrs, before being sold and restored by the present day owners in the late 90’s. It has 9 suites with beautiful flower gardens enjoyed by all who visit. They also offer guided tours to tourists. We had a 2 bedroom suite with J’s room being in one of the round towers. The ceilings were very high, filled with antiques, handpainted ceilings, fabric walls, some original hardwood and mosaic floors, stained glass from 1898, original fireplaces – very cool.
M thought it was pretty cool that its possible to purchase your own castle!
On the recommendation of Sharon, who is originally from Boston, we went to a country inn, Les Peuliers for a wonderful dinner. The place was out of the way, but is widely known for great food at great prices. We definitely could attest to that having just spent a week in Switzerland and Chamonix! It was a great atmosphere to soak up the local culture! Just what we enjoy.
June 13, Monday We decided to drive to one of the fortified villages about 30 km north of where we are staying to Mont Dauphin. This fortress is built on top of a hill with easy access on one side on the plateau. Designed by a Frenchman Vauban who was responsible for hundreds of these structures when Louis XIV charged him with protecting the French borders.
It was quite something to walk over a drawbridge equipped with barred iron doors, and spikes that could drop down from above, and enter the fortress built hundreds of years ago.
Within the walls, we saw stone buildings which once housed army and village residents now home to restaurants, shops, hotels and even homes. It was quite an intricate setup with trenches and traps for the enemy forces.
J and M discussed strategy of defenders and attackers as they walked through the site. T reminded J of how his Playmobile knights and castles were fashioned after these kind of historic structures. He thought that was neat.
Once the tour was complete, we found a small café with a garden within the village to enjoy a lunch. Outside the village we some animals, and J even got to feed a goat.
We travelled back toward Crots and went to the lake near Crots where we had spent some time there yesterday waiting for check-in time. We started to play some football but unfortunately J sprained his finger trying to intercept a pass. Nothing that an ice pack couldn’t remedy although he did complain that now his hand was freezing. We went back to the castle and got J situated with his Ipod and the ice pack, while T and M went out to the garden to read and just enjoy the setting. Sharon had suggested another restaurant for dinner, with a Turkish theme. We drove up the mountain about 10 km and had a great dinner, J got his favorite cheese pizza (made the way he likes with loads of mozzarella), T and M shared an assortment of Turkish mezzes (appetizer size helpings), and all had a wonderful view of the valley.
We even had a treat of watching a hawk play in the wind high above the valley floor, not moving his wings at all, just sitting stationary in the sky.
June 14 Tuesday – We awake and have breakfast at the castle. We have now found our desired places to stay during the first two weeks of July, so we use the Net and the ability to print and fax at the castle to confirm with bookings and secure with a deposit. Again Sharon is thoughtful and helps M pick a route to Monaco that will not add time, yet will be more pleasant that taking the 4-lane highways. We stop at a local bakery to find some pastries and quiche for snacks, and then at a local cheese shop where find more wonderful cheeses (although J thinks that they smell strong versus his favorite – mozzarella). Then its off with Navi showing the way.
We drive along the lake in the valley, which is really the headwaters of a dam, both along the lakeshore and higher up where we can see the surrounding mountains. M is watching the altimeter in the car, the lakeshore is at 890 M, then as we climb to move over to the next valley we quickly get to 1360 m. We had seen a number of cyclists and we admiring their fortitude to decide to do these hills. The road is beautiful, yet windy, and J finds it a little difficult. We drive through the French Alps countryside, enjoying the small towns, the wonderful mountain views, and the many turns (some of which are in rather steep canyons, where T notices that the guard rail type stone blocks are actually too low to stop a car should one need such assistance). We all note how M’s niece Holly would NOT like this drive very much!
We make our way to Monaco and all notice how the mountains go almost to the coast. There are no flat areas here on the French Riviera, although the mountains get smaller, even the hillsides right off the water are a few hundred feet high. Of course this allows houses to be situated all through the hills with views of the beach.
We arrive in Monaco and after some effort to locate our hotel on Navi we arrive at our hotel. Amazingly there is a place to park the car about 100 ft from our hotel, and we had hardly seen any place to park while driving the last 5 km! T learns the hotel has a parking garage so we take the car there and get checked into our room. We find it’s an apartment style room, with a kitchen, large living-room area with a pull out bed, a separate bedroom, and a good view!
J and T head off to the pool, while M gets some fruit and yogurt for breakfast and then does a workout after a highly focused 4 hour drive on the mountain roads. M cools off in the pool before we head off to find dinner in Monaco.
We find a French restaurant not far from the hotel with a menu which is not too pricey. Everyone enjoys a wonderful meal on the terrace and see some very expensive cars drive past.
June 15 – Wednesday To explore along the promenade was the order of the day. We set off after breakfast down toward the water but we came across a shopping plaza – where we bought J a new outfit of clothing for dining out. There was only 1 boutique catering to teens in the entire place – the rest, higher end shops. We do manage to find an outfit he likes and has agreed to wear – so we quickly buy it, regardless of the price… Armed with his purchase, J struts out with M and T in search of the promenade along the harbor. We walk along the down-sloped streets to Princess Grace Boulevard. This road is also part of the Monaco Grand Prix race circuit (held in here in May). We enjoy gazing and admiring the blue sea as well as the variety of yachts and sailboats anchored off shore.
Outside the Grimaldi Forum we come across the Champions Promenade, where encased in the sidewalk slabs were bronzed footprints of superstar soccer players.
M and J had a great time talking and recognizing names of greats. We had to be sure to tell Uncle Pat about this. We even took a couple of photos to send to him. The harbor is lined with big rock with very little beach area. As we walk along toward the Monte Carlo Casino Hotel Resort, we came across a small strip of public beach, and a larger beach where one pays to rent a chair and umbrella - this is common here in Europe.
We found a restaurant down by the beach to have lunch at – again everyone was pleased with their choice. We conversed with a few locals throughout the day who told us that Monaco is very expensive to live, life is somewhat artificial, very safe, service workers tend to live in France and Italy – which are very close and commute. After lunch we trace our steps back along the waterfront to check out the harbor. We are amused as well as amazed that we think of 50 ft boats as small compared to the 100 and 200 ft yachts we see anchored – quite a sight.
J and T talked about which ones they would like to own. We walked away from the water front and came across the Monte Carlo Casino
– with the posh high-end vehicles parked out in front on display. We did try to get J in to have a look around – to see what a casino actually looked like inside, but we were denied as the guard was sure he was not yet 18.
Outside the casino it is beautifully manicured and landscaped, teeming with tourists – just like us! It is so hot that we decided to stop at the outside café for a refreshment. J and T order lemonade and iced tea. M orders an iced tea and a margarita. How convenient the price wasn’t listed for that cocktail… it’s the most expensive cocktail he has ever had! - We laughed about it.
It was time to wander back to the hotel – walked through some beautiful parks, and along a busy street, which happened to have a Tesla car office and a Tesla sports car on display. M promptly opened the door to this shop, as he had done some research on this electric car manufactured in California. M had a great conversation with the gentleman – who graciously allowed J to sit in this race car which had been driven by Michael Schumaker and Sebastian Vettel!
He was in his glory – grinning from ear to ear! With thanks and brochure in hand, we left the showroom.
We went back to the hotel. But unfortunately for J the pool was closed for maintenance. So we had an ice cream bar and just hung at our room. Then we went to the sane restaurant as the night before for dinner. J chose the duck confit and it was fantastic, while T had the swordfish and M had a pepper steak while enjoying a good Chablis. We had a good chat with our waiter who told us more about working in Monaco, and how it’s so different than when he lived and worked in Paris. Like others we had encountered today, he said life here is like nowhere else. He gave an example that a couple of weeks ago, he drove his motorcycle to work but when he parked it he forgot and left his wallet on top of the seat. He then went to work for his 6 hour shift, and when he went back to the bike, there on his seat was his wallet untouched.
June 16 Thursday – We awake to another beautiful day on the Riviera. We workout in the morning, then breakfast in the apartment before we pack up and move 20 km west to Nice for a couple of days. We have noticed that even though we chose to spend these past two weeks seeing different places in Switzerland and France by only spending 2-3 days in each place, we don’t like spending so little time in each place. Its very different than spending a week where we can get a sense of the area, but in 2 days we seem to be leaving just when we find out where the good spots are.
We get Navi going for the drive to our hotel in Nice. The road takes us along the coast, higher up so we can get some good views. When we arrive in Nice we have to get downtown to the old section to find our hotel, and really notice the traffic and how slow we move. It’s a lot different than being in the rural areas where we have spent much time. Our hotel is only a 3 minute walk from the promenade by the seaside, and there are tons of tourists. Again there is no place to park anywhere. T jumps out of the car as we drive by, while J and M scout for a place to pull over, luckily about 3 blocks away we find a no parking zone where we are the third car to park there. We walk back to find T and again the hotel has access to a parking garage, so off we go and after going down 5 floors we finally find a spot. After taking our bags to the hotel we walk around to find a place for lunch. As we are ideally located with this hotel we only have to walk about 100 yards by which time we have already passed 2 other restaurants before J reads a menu that meets his criteria. The restaurants are located along pedestrian only streets,
so sit outside on the terrace and enjoy people watching as we wait for our food.
J knows we are close to the beach, so he wants to go there for a few hours. M agrees to accompany him, while T goes in search of some sandals, which she has been admiring on feet as well as shops. It is very warm today likely around 30. M finds some on the scant amount of shade on the stone beach while everyone else on the beach is soaking up the rays and he has a tan!
T enjoys taking in the sights and sounds and then joins the boys on the beach. We’ve decided that we certainly prefer sand beaches as these rocks are hard on the feet! J has a great time in the water and spends a couple of hours playing.
After dinner we decide to walk down along the promenade and enjoy the breeze as well as M and J get a gelato.
June 17 Friday - After getting dressed we walk out of our hotel and cross the street to go to a boulangerie in search of quiche and cappuccinos. We find what we want, choose a table outside along the storefront and enjoy breakfast. Yesterday we saw people parasailing at the beach and J and M want to find out if J can go. We walk down and chat with the guys and it’s a go. J is very excited and we head back to the hotel so the boys can get their swimsuits on and T can grab the camera.
It’s not hard to tell J is excited, he quickens his pace down the street, occasionally glancing back to see how far dad is behind. The boys get ready and we chat with the guys in charge. He tells us he has been seeing lots of Canadians this year – he comments that our economy must be strong. He says that in France it is difficult to find work as the immigration of Africans has resulted in a loss of jobs for French citizens. He says he has a job for the summer but come winter, it will be difficult, he may have to leave. The boys get all geared up and the camera is ready. The lift off is quick and the boys really enjoy the flight.
They are given a couple of opportunities by the boat operator to drag their feet in the water before soaring once again. They arrive landing on the beach as the operator said they would and both have wide smiles!
We walk along the promenade in the opposite direction of last evening and enjoy the sea breeze before returning to the hotel to change and go in search of something to eat.
This afternoon J wants to return to the water – it is high overcast, so it is not as hot as yesterday. The waves are up so it’s a good day to body surf and play. He spent a couple of hours in the water and watches the jets arrive every 5 minutes or so to the nearby airport. J who has a keen interest in planes was trying to identify the planes as they flew overhead. We end the day with another walk alonmg the promenade with a gelato.
This afternoon J wants to return to the water – it is high overcast, so it is not as hot as yesterday. The waves are up so it’s a good day to body surf and play. He spent a couple of hours in the water and watches the jets arrive every 5 minutes or so to the nearby airport. J who has a keen interest in planes was trying to identify the planes as they flew overhead. We end the day with another walk alonmg the promenade with a gelato.
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