Friday 16 September 2011

Last day in Switzerland

Schwarzhorn
Final day in Switzerland. Had a great meal out last night of weidstubli rosti, and well fed for walk today to Schwarzhorn. Avoided another night of expensive camp site fees by parking for a fraction in Grindelwald. Then took the gondola up to First, the best cable car journey in the area. You don't have to share with other people, and it's lovely and quiet for the whole of the 30min journey. Fantastic. The steep climb up to Schwarzhorn, and scramble near the top was a bit difficult, but rewarded by the stunning views all the way down, of the sharp outline of the Eiger, the Wetterhorn, Geschpaltenhorn and a whole other chain of snowy mountains and glaciers. A very hot day, about 24deg.
It seems the weather is going to change dramatically, dropping from an average of 20deg to an unbelievable 9deg and rain on Sunday. Unbelievable. I'd kept saying to Ian that the weather was much warmer than I remembered. Anyway we're off north later today.
Back to the van and off to Kaysersberg, in the Alsace region. A slow journey down the road was dictated by herds of cows being processed through the streets, with their horns and heads beautifully decorated with flowers and ribbons! Only in Switzerland!
Pretty cows in Wilderswil
We overnighted on an extremely busy Aire at Kaysersberg, complete with a dozen vans on a "stork rally" , setting up camp in numbers! An extremely gentilhomme moved his van so that we could squeeze in behind him, and a lovely young German family came over to say we could squeeze in in front of him! I don't think that would have happened if we'd have been a bigger van!
After a busy night and morning of comings and goings, during which it seemed we left our second doormat behind, I had a lovely stroll around this breath-takingly beautiful medieval town, with its painted, timber-framed houses decorated with red geraniums, with its storks perched high on the church steeple. I love this place.
A long journey north to a little village on the famous Somme, and we camped for the night at Seraucourt Le Grand, near to a cemetery for the war dead.

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