22 May Metz

We leave our farm stay at ‘Les Grands Vents’ buying some of their homemade fromage along with fresh veggies from Thionville farmers’ market. A hot roasted pork hock was also purchased for lunch, the aroma of which fills the camper till we make short work of it with fresh baked bread and salad.
Metz, the capital of Lorraine on the Moselle River is a garden city with magnificent ochre sandstone buildings and cathedral, the nave of which is the tallest in France. Every inch adorned with sculptures and gargoyles and many wonderful stained glass windows some designed by the French artist Chagall. The smaller Protestant church looks very picturesque mid-stream of the river Moselle.

23 May Alsace on the Rhine

Alsace in the Rhine Valley with its medieval hamlets, ruined fortresses and castles is also home to the stork. Due to the decline in their numbers there’s a designated breeding area set aside at Soultz, where the birds nest on top of 6 metre poles. You can see the babies, 2 or 3 chicks to a nest with the parent keeping watch. The population is back to the numbers they once were in the 1960’s.

The beautiful town of Colmar was the pick for me, with its little crooked lanes and half-timbered, pastel coloured houses, looking like patchwork quilts, the plaster of which bulges from between dark planks of wood. All very picturesque, especially the area known as Little Venice on the River Lauch: old fishing cottages with shuttered windows, flower boxes and the high dark tiled roof tops linking them all together in a mismatch of angles. We have a waffle and coffee and paint the view along the riverbank savouring the moment. Tourists pass up and down in gondolas under the arched bridge, the dollhouse like, 4 story houses forming the backdrop: too good to be true. Colmar is also the home of Frederic Auguste Batholdi who sculptured the statue of Liberty in 1886 gifted by the French to the United States to commemorate the signing of the declaration of independence, and as a mark of friendship between the two countries.

That night we stop on a huge vineyard estate catering for the tourists with restaurant, hotel and its own distillery. I go exploring ending sitting on the hill opposite painting the view down across the farm buildings where the cows are being milked, out to the ridges of hills fading of into the distance in the glow of evening light. We have dinner at the restaurant, sitting on the terrace overlooking the valley, 5-courses of traditional Alsace food and in true French style taking over three hours to complete. It was after 11pm before we finished and paid the waiter who was a character that could have come straight from ‘Faulty Towers’ or ‘Allo Allo’.

25.May Switzerland

After croissants for breakfast we leave our nest at 556 metres up in the wooded hillside and cross the boarder into Switzerland at Basel with the temp already 27C. Staying off the motorways, so as not to incur the 30 franks for the vignette for the few days here. It’s slower travelling through the little towns as we wind our way down through the glacial valleys but the scenery is beautiful. Dark wooded houses with the long roof lines almost down to the ground, castles perched on the top of cliffs, domed church steeples and the cattle with the bells ringing; a happy sound. On the way to Bern we see a sign to Emmentale, home of the cheese with the famous mouse holes. The holes are created when the carbon dioxide produced during fermentation is unable to escape through the rind. Beside the factory a 1741 herdsman’s cottage built of the dark timber planks with wooden pegs holding the beams together and a roof constructed of tiny wooden shingles the size of fingers, even the spouting is a hollowed out log! Inside they demonstrate the making of a traditional cheese on the open fire.

At Bern we realise we don’t have any Swiss francs for the parking metres. The warden gives us a free parking ticket while we explore the old centre! The capital of Switzerland, Bern is considered one of the most impressive medieval cities with its sandstone buildings. Following the tourist map we walk around the places of interest, from the 16th century mechanical clock towers, to the old sandstone bridges, houses of parliament, cathedral and the bear pit, where they used to pit bears against each other. From the advantage point of the bridge high above the deep gorge where the waters from the snowy rivers gush, we take in the overall vista looking back across the city.

26 May - Swiss Alps

Despite the rain overnight we awake to a sunny day and head for Interlaken in the Swiss Alps. Passing turquoise lakes with yachts moored around the edge, castle towers and the sheer snow capped mountains a great spot to stop and paint. Then on up the narrow, tunnelled road pulling over to allow the faster vehicles to pass as we make our way up to Interlaken, surrounded by mountains.
Para-gliders soar gracefully over the mountains with screams of delight as they descend landing in the park with Mt Eiger, 3970mtrs and Mt Monch at 4197mtrs rising up behind. Down at the lake edge we have our lunch where once again Dana and Jill brave the icy water for a swim.
In the evening we drive higher up the valley between sheer cliffs rising up 800 metres on either side over which vales of waterfalls cascaded in mists to the valley floor. We complete a wonderful day painting the view with the sun setting on the snowy mountains.



27 May – Switzerland to Italy

Our plans to take the cable car up the mountain go astray. We were to ascend to Merren, a carless town on the cliff tops above where wild alpine flowers grow, then on to the top of Schitthorn at 3000metres with views out across to Mt Eiger and many other peaks as far as Germanys Black Forest.
This spectacular event wasn’t to be. Cloud had descended over night and we could see on the camera monitor that it was snowing at the top. Mists were rising up of the valley floor as we drive back down to Interlaken. With a lot of the mountain passes closed due to snow, cut down on our options and we decided to take the train through the mountain from Kandersteg to Goppenstein, a new experience for us all.
The train carriages appeare narrow and we wonder if we would fit but seeing the trucks roll off from the other end reassured us. Entering the tunnel into the pitch black is a little eerie and I was surprised with the jerky movement the camper didn’t roll forward. 20 minutes later we were out into the mists on the other side rolling down off the very steep mountainside through tunnels and tight S bends to Gampel on the valley floor below.
Victory has a steady steep climb over the mountain pass of Simpleton at 2005 metres a great challenge. We drive through the snow-clad mountains and at the top give Victory her well deserved rest while we go exploring. Playing in the snow, rolling down the hillside and marvelling at the little crocuses and gentians and other mountain flowers growing in such harsh conditions. We sketch the lone monastery sitting on a plateau near the top loving the fresh mountain air.
Following down the deep valley alongside the bolder river where we come to a little stone footbridge where we stop and cross with the smell of fresh herbs beneath our feet and know were back in Italy!