Over the mountains and along the lakes to Vitznau at the foot of Mount Rigi and on the banks of Lake Lucerne.

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Not quite sure which way we went today. Certainly in several places not the way the Tomtom was directing us.



We got away from the Chur campsite promptly and were glad to leave it behind. Rather wished we had not bothered going a little out of our way to stay there. The railway trip we had planned from there for today was better replaced with a more attractive campsite for the night, somewhere else.



Had to use the motorway to get us well out of Chur as it is just one big industrial valley, not what we travel around to see. The clouds were well down over the mountain tops as it rained for a while in the night but in places the cloud was so mixed with the emissions from the factories we passed we couldn’t tell one from the other.



Once well clear of Chur we reached a lake, Wallensee. No access to the water’s edge just lovely views down from above. We decided to leave the motorway and follow a scenic route but being careful not to take some of the mountain roads which look on the map to be just tracks.

Having a little trouble navigating our way round Switzerland so far. For one thing, road signs just don’t seem to bother with the road numbers, which do exist. Then there is the language as have discovered that Swiss German is a very different thing from the German I am just about becoming acquainted with.

We did manage to find the road we wanted but had to turn round once which is never particularly easy in a 7metre motorhome.



The scenic route was much nicer. The fields here in Switzerland seem greener than those we’ve been driving through and I love to hear the jingle jangle of the cow bells as we pass by.

We were heading eventually for Vitznau on the banks of Lake Lucerne but with a stop on the way at the Einsiedein monastery which is on a road to nowhere.

Found our way there but it had taken us quite a bit longer than we had expected. Took us even longer to park. Car parking not a problem. Height barrier for us was and we couldn’t find a car park for bigger vehicles.

There was one by the church graveyard but no other motorhomes or van or coaches parked there so I refused to believe it was the right place. Parked there anyway and had to pay (the car parks were free and much nearer which was a bit cheeky) and walked along to the monastery.

This is the largest baroque monastery in Europe so had expected lots of other visitors (hence my wondering where all the other motorhomes were in the carpark). There were in fact only a dozen other people there.



The church is absolutely magnificent and has a very significant religious symbol of a black Madonna.. No photos but I’d already taken one before I realised that so I’ve included it.. This is a place of worship and just that so there are no informative notices and those there were are in German .. apart from the please be silent and don’t take photos which we found once we were right inside.

There was some wonderful organ music playing most of the time we were there which is always lovely to hear in a place like that.

Outside we found our way into the courtyard which runs through the buildings. There are stables and some exceedingly well bred horses just waiting to pose for my camera. There is also a main hall but think that was closed until after lunch.



We walked back to Tandy and had our lunch. Also had a bit of a nasty shock. For the last 2 days, since negotiating the steep mountain roads of Austria, noticed a smell of burning. Thought we had over taxed the brakes or maybe the clutch. Hadn’t realised I could smell it much more than Bob could and he hadn’t appreciated how strong the smell was. He did when he switched the engine off to park and the fridge made all sorts of nasty noises which he recognized from last year when something burned out in the 12volt convertor panel, which he had had replaced.. This panel allows the fridge to run on the 12 volt battery when the engine is running but when we are stationary we run on normal electric hookup supply or on gas.

Thought for a while we were going to have to abandon our holiday but Bob decided he would switch the fridge off when the engine is running so it won’t try to use the 12 volt supply. Just need to be careful to keep the door shut once we have unhooked from the mains supply.

Seemed to work ok and nasty burning smell has not returned so hopefully we can make it home with an alternatively working fridge.



From the monastery it was only another hour’s drive though a little tricky following the way we had intended to go. The road signs really are very confusing and motorways pop out of nowhere every now and then too. Realised we were on totally the wrong road but my phone map said we could get there if we carried on the way we were doing rather than turning round so that is what we did.

Drove along the banks of lake Lucerne for a way and arrived at our rather lovely Camping Vitznau. Found a pitch overlooking the lake though not on the water’s edge, the campsite being terraced and up the hillside above the lake a little way. We have quite a large pitch compared to lots of others and haven’t asked how much it is. No Acsi so could be expensive. I don’t care, we like it here and will probably stay 3 nights as we have a spare night now after leaving Chur early.



Campsite swimming pool is lovely and will undoubtedly be in there again tomorrow after we have taken the cog railway up Mount Rigi which rises up above the campsite, Vitznau being at its base.

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