France, Switzerland and Spain

Europe » France
December 24th 2008

Published: December 24th 2008

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BBBOE

House in France

la Petite Bergerie - ignore the small shed below the house - it belongs to the neighbour. 3 levels, heaps of room and a fantastic place to stay.

We visited France and Switzerland at the end of August - the excuse was to attend Sheila and Julio’s wedding in Zurich but we made the most of the opportunity to visit a couple of other places as well. Rodney took us to Gatwick for our flight to Lyon where we caught the train to Chambery. Elke and Jean-Pierre, the grandparents of Lea our French daughter in 2006 were waiting to pick us up - they had visited us in NZ while Lea was there so it was like meeting family all over again.
It was just fabulous from the moment we arrived - their house is in a tiny village (5 houses) high in the Alps near the Italian border. The house faces south so has all-day sun and looks out on to the ski resorts of la Plagne and les Arcs on the other side of the valley. They often have their 3 daughters and families to stay and the house is huge - able to sleep 25 people they also run it as a B & B so there was no problem fitting us in. We were treated to 4 days of hospitality of the highest order and

Logging Truck

We kept well out of the way!

felt very much at home and part of their family - and they always insisted they were only repaying what we had shown them in New Zealand.
The scenery is fantastic - we drove up the valley on the “balcony” road (not an expression I had heard before but it fitted perfectly!) and as I was in the front passengers seat I could look straight down at the houses far below on the valley floor - we were that high up I could at times imagine I was looking straight down the chimneys. As the road got narrower and more twisty we were stopped by some workmen who indicated we should pull off to let a logging truck through. How on earth was that going to fit on this road we wondered - but it did and trundled past on its way down with the load of logs. At the next corner up we saw the evidence of how it got around with the grass well chewed out as it cut across to make the turn.
We walked through a herd of cows which were spending the summer on the flowery mountain pastures so they could produce the specialty cheese

Cows

All waiting patiently to be milked.

from this region - twice a day they came to the small shed to be milked and it happened to be the time when we were going up. We had to take a different track as the cows had already claimed the easy path - and they were a lot bigger than us! We found a small area of flat grass near a large rock and spread the picnic things for lunch - complete with cheese and chilled wine of course. The sky was deep blue (so different to the usual dull grey we were used to looking at in England) and the sun was bright and hot - Ian’s face was quite sun-burnt after 5 hours walking in the mountains.
One day we drove to a small restaurant for lunch - there was no power and all of the food was cooked on the fire inside. We sat outside admiring the view and watching the clouds getting closer and closer while we waited for our meals - seems the fire was a bit overloaded and it was taking longer than usual to cook the Beef Côtes (= ribs). We eventually ate lunch with several “sun” umbrellas grouped over the

Milo on the wall

At the C10 church/Art Gallery nearby. He hadn't really climbed up that wall - there are steps up the other side!

table to keep off the rain which had by then arrived - the accompanying drop in temperature had also forced a trip to the car to get jackets and jumpers. When I was later showing the photos to Jean-Piere I said “Here come the coats” and he asked “You mean the Beef Côtes?” - “No.The Rain Coats!” However, the food was just great - as of course was the wine. The blue-berry picking planned for after lunch being rained off we went home for a nap to prepare for the serious business of aperitifs before a simple supper of vegetable soup (fresh from the garden of course - see photo of Wendy supervising the vege gathering) with bread and salad followed by cheese - accompanied by excellent wine.
One day we were taken for a tour of a local weaving factory (the looms were not running because the 35hr working week finishes at 11.00 on Fridays) but didn’t buy any of the woollen goods because the prices are aimed very much at the rich tourists visiting the ski-fields - not a couple of Kiwis just visiting friends! The Baroque church on the mountain was closed when we called for a

Picnic - again.

Yet another picnic with the beautiful mountain scenery in the background.

look but we went back on Sunday for the normal service - it was very interesting even though we could understand little of what was being said - and the inside of the church was beautiful. The C10 church in the town below our village has been turned into an art gallery and it made a perfect setting for the works on display. Just as interesting was the history of the building itself - the guide pamphlet was only in French but Elke gave us the condensed English version as we made our way around looking at 2nd Century Roman inscriptions on large blocks of stone and the (much) later frescoes remaining on the ceiling.
Lea’s 13 year old brother Milo and his friend had arrived as well so we had a picnic lunch by the local river as it splashed its way over rocks then we walked back down to the house through meadows and the next door village. Wendy had French cooking lessons in the very French style kitchen, we enjoyed aperitifs with the friends who were staying in the apartment downstairs, more beef ribs cooked on the BBQ, sussed out the local supermarket and were very reluctant

Kathrin with specs.

We hadn't realised she used contacts. She says she can see much better now!

to leave our idyllic home in the hills.
On Monday they took us 2 hours drive to Annecy to catch the bus to Geneva where we transferred to the train to Solothurn and were met by Kathrin and her fiancé Martin. Last time we had visited them they were very stressed, very thin and living on black coffee and cigarettes - this time they are happy, more rounded and eating decent meals - including a little meat for the normally vegetarian Kathrin. We occupied ourselves while they were at work by walking around the village, visiting the supermarket and getting the laundry up-to-date. One night we played mini golf then enjoyed a lovely meal paid for by Kathrin’s parents who were unable to meet up with us this trip. We cooked dinner the next night after spending a very pleasant afternoon visiting Ikea and the medieval castle at Burgdorf. Their wedding is planned for July next year so we will be back.
Friday saw us catching the train to Zurich and, after a rest at the hotel, being collected by Sheila’s sister to go to a family meal before the wedding on Saturday. Sheila was Juliana’s best friend in 1997

Dinner

Al fresco - after Martin cooked on the BBQ we pushed the usual clutter on the table to one side so we could eat.

and we have kept in contact so were invited to the wedding. It was nice to also catch up with Wayne and Jean, Sheila’s host parents whom we know in NZ, as well as Juliana and her Welsh partner Steve. The wedding ceremony, all 15 minutes of it, was at the Zurich town hall for immediate family only at 10.15am - we then all met up at the reception at 6pm for a meal followed by a dance with extra invited friends. We found it a little odd as there were no speeches and no wedding cake that we know of. It will be interesting to see how Kathrin’s wedding compares noting that the Town Hall ceremony is a legal requirement then after that you can have a church service if you wish and not necessarily on the same day.
On Sunday we visited the zoo, mainly for shade and a look at the outer suburbs of Zurich as it was still very hot. We flew home with Easyjet and guess what? We were delayed by one hour so finally got into Luton at midnight where a very obliging Phil was waiting to collect us. It was nice to be

Looking over Reservoir

Jane and Robbie on the balcony of the friend's restaurant looking out over the reservoir.

a bit cooler again.

At the end of September we squeezed in a visit to Spain which was most interesting - Jane had visited us in NZ many years ago when she was doing her world odyssey and now lives in Albir, 8 miles north of Benidorm with her husband Ricardo and little Robbie. They are planning to return to UK to live and we had to take the opportunity while she was still there. We rented the apartment 2 floors above them so were able to do things with them but still have a little independence. We arrived on the Saturday and they had hired a car so Jane and Robbie could take us inland the next day to Guadalest, a lovely village built on a rock pinnacle. We visited a friend nearby who runs a restaurant in the valley overlooking the reservoir but, as she was busy preparing for a large lunch group, we returned to Guadalest and lunched on a terrace in the village where Robbie kept the locals entertained running around without his trousers! We managed a look around the town before the rain set in and we had to dive for cover - cobblestones

Spot the sandals

All of the wrinkly fossils enjoying the beach at Benedorm. Didn't see any knotted-handkerchief hats though!

and steep steps do not help when you are wheeling a pushchair. However, we saw lots of different countryside with almond, olive and citrus groves.
We had a very exciting 20 minutes one day - well, it was exciting to look back on. We left our apartment (3rd floor) and were going down in the lift when the lights flickered and the lift came to a halt - luckily with the lights still on. There was only us and we thought, just leave it for a few minutes and the power will come back on and it’ll get going again soon. We spied the Emergency button and thought, we have zero Spanish and most of the locals have zero English so what chance will we have of getting someone to understand us? After a little while there was still no movement but we could hear a Mum talking to a child in Spanish. Just great we decided - no English again. Maybe someone else will come along soon. Hmmm. We sat down on the floor and waited. We then banged on the door and called out in English - just in case someone understood. After a couple of words in

Church with Blue dome

High up on the top of the hill in Altea - quite a climb to get there but well worth it - see below for more photos.

Spanish Jane’s voice then said “Wendy, is that you. I can’t believe it’s you in the lift!” So . . she called the emergency number and explained that Wendy was suffering from claustrophobia and was having a panic-attack - so hurry! While we waited I managed to pull the door back to find we were between floors and facing a brick wall - couldn’t budge the outer door at all. Anyway, the Techo eventually arrived and opened the door for us to step the half metre or so to the next floor - Wendy then did a very good impression of a panicking lady being rescued from a stuck lift - must remember that when the Hollywood awards are coming up next year!! After a few minutes to recover we went on down to carry on our shopping trip - using the stairs this time!
The next day we caught the bus into Benidorm and what a hoot. We wandered around by the beach and surveyed the populace of Tourists (mostly elderly and probably mostly Brits), who all seemed to be trying to recapture something which had either long gone or had sagged beyond the bounds of decency - like

Alhambra Gardens

A lot of the features have been restored to their former glory - including this amazing garden.

wrinkly fossils trying to catch the sun. As I looked at photos afterwards I was amused to find, among the topless sunbathers, a pair of feet clad in sandals and sox! The beach was packed with loungers, umbrellas etc so we ate pizza in a nearby restaurant and surveyed the scenery - at least now when we watch “Airport” we will know where they are all going. Away from the beach there were still the tourists but also a lovely historic part of town with narrow cobbled streets and little shops - and lots of “genuine” English Pubs. There were also lots of high rise hotels and apartments to house all of the afore-mentioned tourists.
We went by bus to Altea which is a lovely seaside village north of Albir full of white houses, narrow cobbled streets and a beautiful church on the hill with an incredible blue mosaic dome. It was the end of a festival week and we caught the end of a street parade which was very colourful and noisy - we would have walked the 3 miles home along the beach but it was too hot. That night we had Paella at Jane’s cooked by husband

France - Long and Winding Road

This is the road up to the cow meadow where we walked and picnicked way up the mountain.

Ricardo who is a chef in a big hotel.
The next day we had a 7 hour bus trip to Granada. Very tiring but we saw such a diversity of countryside on the way - including the original Sierra Nevada. We didn’t have any energy to do much after the bus trip so had an early night. Next morning it was la Alhambra and what a place. The tour was more than 3 hours and it is such a fascinating place - hard to believe it was all built more than 700 years ago and has somehow escaped total destruction by the various conquering forces - including Napoleon who had tried to blow up the whole complex. The next morning we went back to the cathedral area in the old part of town to have a scout around the silk bazaars, just following whichever way we wanted - and were very pleasantly surprised to find what looked like a Police Cadet passing-out parade in front of the Cathedral, complete with local dignitaries in all of their finery and a band playing - what else but “Granada”. We looked in lots of little shops and stayed out of the way of

Mountain Transport

J-P keeps this little Suzuki Jeep just for the steep mountain roads (also for where there are no roads - like coming back from taking the rubbish to the collection point below the house).

tour parties. That afternoon we caught the bus to Malaga - thankfully not a 7 hour trip this time but we did have a 6 hour wait at the airport before flying back. It was a lot cooler at Luton at 2.30am and we didn’t enjoy scraping the frost off the car windows before driving back to Burton Latimer and our own beds - to dream of our next adventure.

Additional photos below

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