What is it about us and cameras? Three gone in 2 years. Number 1 in a glass of beer, number 2 in a lake in Lithuania, number 3 just died. So a smartphone only now.
Finally got the wheel bearings fixed. It meant a few days in Sassenage but the plus side of it was we were able to explore the area with walks in the hills and cycle rides along the Isere River. Bearings all done, funny noise gone - David can relax. However during this time the temperatures soared, day and night – a heatwave – up to 40 during the day and well over 20 at night. An inversion cloud formed over Grenoble. Time to move onwards and upwards to cooler climes.
We headed up into the Vercors plateau. Much cooler and clearer. Walked up to the start of the rock climb on the strikingly shaped Mont Aiguille. (David climbed the whole thing years ago, but couldn’t even remember how to get to it.) Was a great walk with plenty of shade en route, however the next walk to the Cirque d’Archiane was a big mistake. headed off in the heat of the day, no shade – stunning scenery but hard to appreciate when you are are slowly expiring from heat exhaustion.
This inspired us to head head even higher into the Vercors for a couple of days past cross country ski training grounds and stunningly located villages. Some hair-raising drives along precipitous roads overhanging cliff edges, and scary tunnels. Descended to lower levels past a distillery to buy more walnut aperatif which friends in Grenoble had given us – great stuff. Thence Lake Paladrau for an overnight lakeside stop and a quick swim. On to some more walks in the mountains east from Annecy, both up to a refuge for a food/drink reward and both excellent with fantastic views of the Mont Blanc range from the Col des Aravis and a charming lunch with the host family at the Refuge Lindion.
And so on North passing close to the Swiss border and the Jura mountains, heading to the Rhine to meet up with Auckland friends and neighbours, Alison and Malcolm Glenny in Offenburg, over the river into Germany. They were having a week there reliving their past times on a teaching exchange, 30 years ago. One of our highlights there was a trip into Strasbourg to enjoy the Bastille Day celebrations. A city walk, the cathedral, dinner out, fireworks and all finished off with a spectacular Son et lumiere on the walls of the cathedral. All this got rather late and we were next seen flying through the streets of Strasbourg, at 1 in the morning on our bicycles. Several kilometres involved out to where we had parked the van. Home for the next few days was on the street outside their apartment, about 10 metres from the railway, with most frequent, most noisy goods trains we have ever heard, but drugged with a good dose of the local vino, soundly we slept.
With Malcolm’s excellent research and travel planning, plus fluency in German, we headed off into the Alsace wine region and a brief foray up into the hill roads of the Vosges Mountains. A night in Munster, of the smelly cheese fame, and lots of storks. The Glennys were travelling in a flash Mercedes, while we trundled along in in Stan. However once at the campground, we had the van while they had a tent! On into Germany – Saverne, Speyer, Worms. All pretty stuff, with magnificent cathedrals and old towns. Finally on up to meet the Rhine again and into the Gorge – full of vineyards, castles, pretty villages with half-timbered houses, LOTS of trains and enormous barges on the river. A great campsite right on the river’s edge. Farewell to the Glennys as they head off towards Berlin and we head about 50Kms north to meet Max and Lucy Thompson.
