Travel Diary 26

I must admit that having observed Paris traffic and driving habits I was not overly excited about having to try and drive in it, let alone drive down unfamiliar roads while trying to navigate. Fortunately, none of the horrible situations I could have got into ever eventuated as it turned out that it was a Saturday when we left and of course, most people are not working so the centre of Paris was quiet by comparison to a workday. For which I was very thankful.

We picked up a Renault from Europa which has signs to its offices posted at a Car Park. The taxi drives wound his way down to L6 underground and after unloading, paying him off I went in search of the office to organise the hire car. I found someone at the desk and he just looked at me as if I was an idiot and repeated in broken English, “First floor”. After saying it three times and ignoring my paperwork, he walked off. Guess “First floor” it is!

As you no doubt have guessed, the offices are located on the first floor of the building above ground and all the signs direct one down to L6 underground where delivery and return of the cars takes place! No worries, I got the correct paperwork after 55 minutes and a deposit of 2000 Euros for any damage and which would be returned to me if there was no damage.

Back down to L6 and this time the guy working here was all smiles and very willing to help. I can’t be such an idiot after all!! I have the correct paperwork and have been to “First Floor”.

Turns out the car we got is a Renault SUV, model name of KADJAR, 6-speed auto, brand new with only 97kms on the clock, all sorts of mods and cons and other bits and pieces and I have no idea how to even start the thing let alone drive it! I quickly moved back to idiot in the eyes of the guy working there! Never mind, I confused the issue of idiocy when not even he could get the GPS working!! But between us we both did and hence we ended up equal in the idiocy department! Well, I thought so!

I must admit this is a nice little car. We got the diesel model, but like all small to medium cars in Europe, it goes like the clappers. I had to watch my foot on the autobahn, as it was so easy to look down and see 145kph on the speedo! And it just didn’t feel like it. Of course this meant a new game of avoiding speed cameras. Fortunately, the European authorities understand the need for speed and don’t really like fining people, so they put up signs where the speed cameras are and everyone slows down and when past, they just floor it again! Very well worked out and given the autobahns are three lanes, it’s a highly understandable attitude.  I’m all for it!

First stop was Epernay. A smallish town in the centre of the Provence of Champagne. I think Kerrie could drown, oops I mean live, here quite easily!! We stopped at a hotel in the centre of town run by a local bloke called Cristopher. Nice guy with a droll sense of humour and we got on fine. He showed me pictures for the hotel back after WWI and it was all bombed out while the building next door was still intact. Pointing to a broken beam poking out of the rubble about first floor height, he said, this is your bedroom!!

The place was rebuilt and he bought it 7 years ago. I can recommend this place if you are ever in Epernay. When we asked for a nightcap each, Kerrie wanted a Cognac and he asked me how much for her! I said better ask her! He did and confusion set in. So to sort this out, he apparently said OK, I will stop poring when he says enough and looked at me. I never heard him and was blithely sipping my Sambuca and looking at this glass for Kerrie getting fuller and fuller and I’m thinking, what is going on here? Cristopher is looking at me and Kerrie is just staring. Just before it reached the top, she said “OK That’s enough!”

I’m looking and thinking “Well I hope so! You can’t any more in there!” I say “That’s a nice drink Kerrie!”.

To which she responded “Well you were supposed to say stop!”.

I go “Ahhh! Didn’t hear that! Never mind, I’m sure it won’t go to waste”.

And it didn’t!

That night, I walked around the town talking a few pictures and just having a bit of a look-see. Pretty little town, clean and neat and this was confirmed the next morning when we walked up the street known as Avenue de Champagne.

This street has any number of major and minor Champagne houses situated here and each offer wine tasting (for a price) and some offer accommodation and nearly all are new, expensive buildings that fit with the image of places like Moet and Chandon or Verve Clique etc. The street is immaculate, modern and one day when the trees grow large, will be a magnificent Boulevard. Best part is, no cobblestones!!

Anyway, we tried some Champagnes and Kerrie was in raptures. Best part of the trip apparently. I don’t like bubbles, so only had a glass or two. Anyway, about four o’clock we called it quits and back to the hotel for dinner and an early night.

The next morning, I got up early as usual and did a wander around some other parts of town looking at the Sunday market being set up. Full of fresh fruit and vegetables and herbs and plants I was unfamiliar with. Reminded me of La Provence! Lovely stuff.

After packing and thanking Cristopher for a good time and making him a member of the Kiwi recipient club, we drove through to Bern, Switzerland about 5 hours away. Less as the crow flies but one has to head towards Zurich first, then turn south over the border.  There are other routes much more direct, but smaller roads and would take a lot longer.

We arrived at the border after driving around looking to buy the Swiss Vignette because we had been warned, if you turn up at the border without it, you are in all sorts of trouble. And that is apart from the long queues to buy one and they are more expensive at the border.

None of which is true as we found out. After driving around for 45 minutes looking for a petrol or somewhere to ask where can we by them and do the prices vary etc., we ran out of options because it was Sunday and everything was closed and we were still in France. In the end I just stuff it, I’ll plead ignorance and apologise and see what happens.

We drove up, a border guard said “Do you have the Vignette?”

I replied “No, not yet. Where do we buy them? We have tried some places along the highway, but no one stocks them. So I thought I would come here to ask”.

She said “You can buy from me!”

Beauty! Got that sorted. So 40 Euros later, we now have permission to drive on Swiss roads for a year! Nothing less available or will do! But remember, no road tolls in Switzerland.

We reached Bern in just on an hour later only to discover that the road we needed was blocked off and guarded by Police. We had to turn around and then check out streets and maps and GPS and try to work out roughly in which direction to go as the GPS insisted we go where we couldn’t and the only thing is to drive a few kms away down the road and try again from a different direction. This worked and we got sent around back streets and down one lane roads and through lights that weren’t working and down roads that had metal barriers down both sides and we were thinking “What’s going on in Bern?”

We found out later, that the whole place shuts down tomorrow as a stage of the Tour de France comes through Bern. I had no idea. Part of the Tour de France goes through Switzerland?

Apparently so! We also found out that they would be blocking the roads off from around 8.30am and if we wanted to get out of town we had to be on the road before that! Potentially a bit of a challenge as our normal start out time is closer to 9.30 -10.00am.

So, we had an early night at the Hotel Landhaus. I had booked this place online as it had good advertising and is located very near the centre of Bern and beside the River. Also the picture of it looked good.

Turns out, the building is not called Landhaus at all. That’s the name of the building next door. The “Hotel’s” building is attached from the photo one cannot see it is a separate building! I had booked this in March and had asked a question to which I received a reply the day before we arrived. Then a second email arrived saying the manager couldn’t meet us when we arrived. In fact, no one could.

So please use this security code to let yourselves in and your room key is in this drawer in this cabinet in the hallway. We have no parking, but that is not a problem as there is plenty of parking across the road and I will see you in the morning. Thank you for choosing to stay at Hotel Landhaus etc!! 

As you can imagine, that made me wonder a bit!

Anyway, we found it all including the Park and Pay across the road! The room was nice, but the place is hostel and old with renovations incomplete, no lifts and we were on the third floor, so cart your bags up the spiralling wooden staircase please. Pass the communal bathrooms and toilets on the way as well the kitchen with signs saying keep clean and put away things after using them etc etc.

We looked at each other and went “Mmmmmm!”

Never mind. It all worked out in the end.

That night we wandered up the hill to Bern central old quarter. We crossed the fast flowing deep river coloured a dark blue that most rivers fed by snow or glacier melts have and checked out the sights while looking for somewhere to eat. The first place recommended to us had expensive prices and two brown bears in an enclosure next to the river. So we joined the other tourists and looked at them for a few minutes while they ignored us and lay there, bored out of their minds.

Then up another cobblestone street checking each restaurant as we came to it. We were surprised to find that Switzerland is so expensive. Everything was in Swiss francs which required converting to Euros and then Aussie dollars and it is expensive! We ended up sharing a pizza and a wine each which set us back about SA40 for the Pizza and SA15 for the two glasses of wine. We made sure we enjoyed them!

Switzerland is expensive. Wages are high by comparison to surrounding countries and prices are therefore higher as a result. Much like Australia only more so. Particularly food, alcohol and diesel! The three things we needed most of!

However, after a good night’s sleep and a good breakfast, we left just before 8.30am. Just as well as the men were already hard at work blocking off roads. Fortunately, we had no problems getting out and off to Interlaken we went.

We never did meet the manager! Just the cook, whom we paid before we left! Interesting Hotel, to say the least!

The whole point of going to Interlaken was so Kerrie could see a Chalet in the mountains. A wish she has had for a long time. An hour and 58kms later we were there.

Driving into Interlaken takes one along the lake shore with mountains getting higher and higher along the route. Interlaken itself is situated on a strip of land between two Lakes. It is a small place. Full of Hotels and tourist traps! But clean, neat and really very pretty.

Our Hotel was the Hotel du Nord, run by an Englishman who obviously knows the hotel trade and had things working really well. I asked him if we could borrow some scales to weigh our bags as we had to fly out in a day or two and by then we were close to the limit and probably would have excess luggage. I wanted to repack things to minimise the excess as British Airways charge like wounded bulls for any excess. So it is a case of load up the free bag each as close to the 23kg limit as one can and then pay for the rest packed in a separate bag.

The Hotel did not have a scale, but the Manager took it on himself to go downtown and buy one we could use! Talk about service! Very impressive!

We used the rest of the day to find our way to the middle of the three mountain towns high up in the lower foothills of the mountains. Caught a train that took us up to the third village which is really just a ski resort in winter and a base for hiking in summer.

On the way up, as we got higher and higher, we saw over the valleys and across to peaks and mountains all around. Eagles were flying above us and cows with bells were in the fields below and around us. Chalet style hoses with steep roofs occasionally were seen through the trees along with hikers slowly wending their way upwards towards the village. It was a magnificent sight and reminded me in some ways of Queenstown in the South Island of New Zealand.

At the top, which is not the mountain summits, but simply as far as the railway goes, we got off and did a quick check. Nothing to do except eat, look and admire the view which is exactly what we did.

We found a place that sold us a roll each and a beer and sat down in the bright sunshine to admire the view. We looked across the valley at the Eiger, the Monch and the Jungfrau. Two of these mountains, the Jungfrau and more so the Eiger are renowned for climbers and have claimed their fair share of lives over the years. Each was covered in snow and had dark, foreboding cliff faces and ridges too steep to hold even ice, let alone snow. I wondered if there were bodies of climbers still lying in places unable to be reached by rescuers the same as the Himalayas have. Maybe, who knows. It is not something many people wish to talk about.

The air was clear and one experienced the “see for miles” which many people talk about. But it is true. Once can as there is little, if any pollution. Ski lifts took people higher to slopes beyond us and gentler, beginner slopes were marked off in areas immediately below us. But held no snow at this time of the year. The wind was bitter as one would expect, but out of it and in the sunshine it was a glorious day and made one glad to be alive! I just wished I had bought my long camera lense with me!

Back down at the hotel, we walked through the town. We ignored the free pass the Hotel had given us to the Casino and carried on until we found what appeared to be a local’s pub and sat outside on the footpath with half a dozen other locals and enjoyed a beer while watching all those tourists walking and pointing and looking and checking maps and more pointing and looking and so on. We were happy as all we had to do was walk along one road to the other side of town. Couldn’t get lost if we tried!

We ended up having dinner at a Swiss/Mexican place which was a nice feed and then back to the hotel. Tomorrow, drive to Basel, return the car and fly to London!