Le Grand Bornand

Market day in Le Grand Bornand

This is both a beautiful and intriguing place. Set in the mountains of the Haute Savoie, Le Grand Bornand is really a station de ski with a summer season for walkers and cyclists. The market was full of colour, noise, and smells; really atmospheric. I went in early before breakfast intending to buy baguettes, but instead bought a huge pain de compagne from a guy on a stall. It lasted more than two days!
The village is also known for the Tour de France. The famous Col de la Colombiere climbs up above the village. It has started or ended stages many times with that well known druggie Lance Armstrong winning a stage in the village in 2004.
There is a memorial plaque in the village centre to the local Resistance and to those locals killed or deported for helping the resistance.

Memorial.

A few years ago I bought Matthew Cobb's excellent book on the French Resistance and I remembered that Les Maquis were active in this area and that a famous incident had happened here but I couldn't remember the details. So I went into the Maison du Tourisme and asked if they had any information on the local history of resistance in the area. They hadn't, but when I asked about bookshops they directed me across the road to the Maison de la Presse. So I returned to where I had just bought my morning paper and euromillions ticket (I didn't win) and bought a slim volume," La Resistance en Haute Savoie." It seems that LGB has two events that happened in 1944; one very honourable and one less so, but understandable. This was an area of strong resistance both to the occupying forces and to the Vichy government. The Maquis controlled much of this mountaineous region for great parts of the war. The first occupying force was the Italian army, but when they withdrew from the war in September 1943 they were replaced by the more professional and ruthless German army.
Just above LGB is the Plateau de Glieres. At the time, it was a desolate and isolated place and there the Maquis received allied parachute drops of arms and equipment. In 1944 more than 150 young resistants came to the area from other parts of France. They were fleeing forced labour in Germany which the Vichy government has just introduced. These young men were welcomed and hidden by the villagers. The Vichy government was determined to track them down and sent their own militia - the Milice. They surrounded and laid seige to LGB. Two young men of the village were captured by them as they tried to leave the village for the Plateau. They were shot. Other villagers were arrested, their chalets burned and deported. The Milice then turned their attention to the Plateau above. The snow was deep and their attacks repelled. The Germans wouldn't wait and sent 10,000 troops. The Luftwaffe also bombed the plateau and the Maquis were defeated. Although more than 300 escaped, 120 were killed and more captured. The cruel treatment, torture and murder of the prisoners as they were readied for deportation to camps was carried out by the Milice and this fact explains what happened in the second incident.

Le cimetiere de Miliciens

The surviving Maquis were rearmed by allied drops and in August 1944 they liberated Haute Savoie before the arrival of Allied troops. Then they rounded up a hundred Milice from in and around Annecy. They were brought to LGB and a court martial was held. It was something of a parody of a trial. Coffins had been ordered before the trial was complete. 79 Milices were condemned to death and taken about 3km out of LGB and shot. As often in war, they were buried at the spot were they died. Amoung those shot, three young brothers aged 16, 17 and 18. Not so honourable, but understandable.

I decided to find the place and set off walking to the hamlet of Bouchet, but could not find it. I asked for directions in the small village and was told I had to walk into the forest and turn left on a forest path. I found it. It is the lost cemetery; it has no legal status or sign. The upkeep is carried out by the families of those shot seventy years ago. It was a very moving occasion, but I was not there alone!

My walk to Bouchet to find the lost cemetery.

When I arrived near the spot, there were two french campervans parked across the path and I had to squeeze past them and excuse myself to about half a dozen french people of my age who were having a picnic! They didn't know the cemetery was there, it is so well hidden. Then I had to give them a little lesson in french history. They were amazed and came round the cemetery with me. Back at their picnic site, I was offered food and wine, but only accepted the wine. It would have been churlish not to! It turned out that they were from Toulouse and, of course, we then talked about rugby. They had heard of Sale but didn't seem impressed. I took my leave and walked through beautiful mountain scenery back to LGB thinking all the time of all those events seventy years ago.

Two Walks, and Lovely Lake Geneva.

On our last couple of days at Lauterbrunnen, we went for two walks, both of which were lovely but the second one was more spectacular. On Sunday, we took a cable car and train up to Murren, a car - free village in a dramatic and beautiful setting high up in the peaks. On the way, we spotted a lovely walk, and decided that we might try it the next day.

Murren.

After we had explored the village, we went down to some waterfalls inside the mountain, which were not really up to much. Then we decided to walk back to the campsite. It was gorgeous. The sun was shining, and we passed farmers working in the fields. The farms are a bit like they used to be at home years ago, quite small affairs. You often see people in the fields raking up the hay.  To us, it seemed quaint. As I have said, the wild flowers were beautiful. We really enjoyed that walk.
 

Views from the walk.

The next day, we went back up towards Murren, but we didn't get the train; we walked to the village instead. All the way, we had the spectacular mountains on one side, and beautiful flowers on the other. Quite a few of the flowers were local to the region, and unknown to us, but really lovely. It was stunning. We were very sorry to leave such a wonderful place.

The stunning view on our Alpine walk.

Now, as you will know from Facebook, we are staying at Morges by Lake Geneva. Life is more sedate, although the campsite is absolutely packed with young families. The town is quite pretty, with not much to see, but we have been to two markets, and bought our fruit and veg, which has been very enjoyable. The Grande Marche on Saturday was full of atmosphere, and I have included a photo of one of the clowns.

Clown festival and market.

Most days we have our lunch by the lake, where we watch the Black Kites swooping down for fish. We've had some great views of them. It's quite good for birdwatching here.
In the evenings we can walk to a picturesque spot and have a drink at an ice cream stall. It's much nicer than it sounds! It has small tables right next to the lake. It feels like a little bit of heaven.

Lake Geneva.

A view of the Lake.

Old town, Geneva.

We have taken two train trips while we have been here. The other day we went to Geneva. The old town was small, but quite nice, but like everywhere else here, it was very expensive. I hope you like the bike pic, Kathy!

Lausanne Cathedral.

Today we went to Lausanne, again to the old town, which was very small and disappointing. However, the cathedral was impressive, with its soaring, Gothic ceiling. Now that I've read "Pillars of the Earth" and watched lots of old episodes of Time Team, I'm more impressed by the staggering achievement of cathedrals, and a lot more interested than I used to be.

We are heading for France on Tuesday, where we will relax at a nice campsite (we hope), and then head for home. Our adventures are over for this time, so this will be the last blog post for this trip. Looking forward to chatting and Skyping when we get home.

The Top of Europe

Being at the top of the Jungfrau felt like being at the top of the world, never mind Europe! We were at the station at 6.30 a.m. trying to beat the crowds. We took the first train, which was full, and we met a lovely American couple, who were very well travelled.

When we got to the connecting train, it was a scramble to get on board for a seat, in spite of it being the earliest train of the day.

On the way up, we stopped twice at windows cut into the Eiger wall to provide view points. It was quite an experience. At the second stop we were at the bottom of the Aletsch glacier, so I took a photo, of course!

We were so lucky to get a good day! Everywhere you went, the views were spectacular. We started at a viewpoint looking over the glacier. Because it was our first stop, we were overwhelmed by the beauty. It was nice that the snow was still there. The sun was out, the sky was blue,  and the snow was blinding!

The next stop was "snow fun". The toboggan run wasn't ready but there were people flying about on a zip wire, and lots more getting ready to go ski-ing, walking or climbing. Our bit of fun was sitting in some nice seats and having a cup of tea outside in the snow!

 There was also an ice palace with some great ice sculptures. Below is a pic. of Tony walking in the ice tunnel.

We ate lunch inside, overlooking glorious views, then went to the final outside viewpoint, where we had the best views ever of the the three peaks, the Eiger, the Monch and the Jungfrau.

I could have stayed there all day, but we had forgotton our sunglasses, and we were a bit dizzy because of the height. Also, the crowds were becoming unmanageable at this point. We manged to get down without facing a crush, relecting on what a great day it had been. We have been wanting to do this for some time, and we are both glad that we decided on this for our last trip of this kind in our trusty van.

Wild Flowers and Cow Bells.

On our first morning in Switzerland, we were woken at 7p.m. by cow-herders leading the cows along the lane, and all the cow bells were ringing. It was great! I know you always think of Heidi in Switzerland, but I didn't think we would see so much that still seems the same as in the story.

We arrived at the pretty village of Lauterbrunnen on Tuesday. It was cold and wet, but we still loved it. The wild flowers are just beautiful, and the little mountain trains are very sweet. We found a nice cafe in the village with internet. It serves nice teas and home-made cakes. It also has sheepskin rugs to sit on, so you can pretend you're in the Himalayas on a wet day. There are lots of very thin waterfalls and a picturesque church. It couldn't be nicer. We saw the mountain today when the sun came out, and I took this photo. The cloud has been very low.

The campsite is very busy. There are a lot of young people who mainly seem to do base jumping, and every now and then we see one of them hurtling insanely through the sky. It's a relief when they open their parachutes

On Wednesday, we decided to try out the mountain train, and we did a round trip, going half way up the Jungfrau to a plateau, which was very bleak and cold. We couldn't see anything, but we got lovely tea, and apple pie with custard in a lovely warm cafe. I only ate a bit of Tony's, honestly! We went to Grindelwald on the way down, and then to Interlaken, both of which were very touristy. We are definitely in the prettiest place. The train ride up the mountain is really lovely on a sunny day.


We thought the Alpine gardens sounded nice, so we headed up there on Thursday. It was just like winter in the Lakes! We got caught in a hail storm, and it was really too early for the flowers, because the snow is only just receding. We did the British thing and ate our picnic in the rain. But then we got a few breaks in the cloud. It was breathtaking! Below is one of the photos I took.
Getting back to Heidi, it was interesting up there because it's the summer pasture. We saw the houses where the cow herders live and make cheese throughout the season.

Yesterday, the weather was much the same, and as our ticket allowed us a boat trip, we went on a boat on Brienzersee. The town of Brienz was really pretty, and the sun was out, too. There was a very old street, and a very pleasant walk by the lake. So it was a lovely day.

As you will know from Facebook, we went up the Jungfrau today. It was fab. So watch out for the next post. I'm going to write it on Monday, before we leave here. I am so glad we did this!

In the Land of Fairytale Castles.

When we arrived here in St. Goar, on the banks of the Rhine, I was delighted to see that our campsite was overlooked by a lovely fairytale castle. St. Goar itself is a prettylittle town, which is typical of the region. There are half-timbered houses, and lovely small streets lined with coloured buildings, vines, paintings on the hotel walls.......I think you get the idea.

One day, we went to Boppard by train. It was very similar to St. Goar, but bigger. The town square was lovely, dominated by a beautiful church. As ever, you could walk down to the Rhine for a stroll along the river. We had our usual coffee and tea in a gorgeous cafe, which was run by a family, and was very old fashioned. I wandered about, taking photos, while Tony sat by the river. We were both tired that day, as it is very noisy here at night.

I think that our favourite day here was the day we went down the river by boat to Bacharach. It was a short, but lovely journey. You can see why this is such a famous area. Every small town seems to have attractive spires, and its own castle, or two! The valley is quite deep here, and wooded, so altogether it's a very picturesque place. Bacharach was extremely quiet and lovely. We found a hidden, very old part of town which was very peaceful. It was quite fascinating. It was another day of quiet strolling, drinking tea and thinking how lucky we are.

Today we went to Koblenz. We were underwhelmed at first, but when we got to the old town, things cheered up a bit. To begin with, the sun came out.There were the usual beautiful squares, full of cafes. There was a particularly nice church there, too, with some lovely quiet spaces for prayer. We spent ages in there.

Then, down by the river, we found a beer garden and a park, with a buzzing, fascinating car boot sale. I went straight into "Bargain Hunt" mode, and had to stop myself buying all sorts of very attractive rubbish that I don't need, much as all the small children were doing.
When we got back, we had "van concoction" for tea, which consists of throwing everything into the wok. We have been out for a couple of nice meals, though, and I'm afraid to admit that bratwurst and chips has been on the menu, too. It's some consolation for missing out on ice creams and cake!
Tomorrow is washing day, and maybe a trip to the castle in the little train, with all the Japanese tourists and old folk. The train was broken the other day, so we couldn't go.
Time is flying, and we are heading for Switzerland next, which is to be the highlight of the holiday, weather permitting. Hopefully we will get wi-fi so that we can write another post from there.

Getting all Arty.

Lynn and John will recognise the name of this blog! It's something Tony always says on holiday when something goes right, or something lucky happens: "It's all in the planning!" It seems to fit here.

We are now camping in St. Goar, a small town on the Rhine. We are among the many caravans lining the river, all owned, it seems, by people of a certain age, sitting watching the boats go by. But I will write more about this place in the second blog. I want to start at the beginning with Brussels and Cologne.

We arrived in Brussels in the rain, had a terrible time trying to find the campsite, and then had to wait for two hours until it opened. What a funny place! It was small and a bit dilapidated and run by a committtee of volunteers. The lady in charge appeared to be very garrulous and enthusiastic, but Tony thought she had enjoyed the wine at lunchtime! However, the site was fairly well-placed for getting into Brussels.

In spite of the weather, we liked Brussels. It turned out to be a nice surprise. We had morning coffee in a lovely place in the main square, and then wandered about in the old town, doing touristy things. There was a gorgeous old bookshop in a small arcade. But the best bit was the art gallery. It was just wonderful. It was worth going in just to see the architecture, which was old and classical. I don't know the correct architectural terms, as you can see, but it was all arranged around a wonderful balcony overlooking the spacious entrance hall. We saw lots of great paintings, including some I have wanted to see for a long time. All in all, we enjoyed our day very much.

Next, we visited Cologne. We had an easy time finding the campsite, and it was so convenient for travelling into the city that we spent four nights there. As you will know, Cologne was completely destroyed during the war, so there is very little old left, except for the Cathedral, which is very impressive.

However, down towards the river you do get an idea of what the old streets would have been like. The buildings have been restored in a pretty way. There were lots of nice squares full of cafes. It's a very vibrant city, full of young people, music and street performers. I think that's what we liked about it; the atmosphere.




Again, we found wonderful art galleries, with lots of interesting paintings, and loads of information, so you knew what you were looking at. I did a course on German Art in the winter, and I kept getting excited when I recognised paintings or artists. I was in seventh heaven! Luckily, Tony seemed to enjoy the galleries, too. They all had lovely cafes as well. One was so nice that some people had their wedding reception there!

One of the joys of travel is when something unexpected and lovely happens. By far the nicest thing that happened in Cologne was when we walked into a lovely Romanesque church, to be greeted by some of the most beautiful and moving singing I have ever heard. It was a group of monks and nuns singing plain chant. I could hardly tear myself away. In fact, we went back and listened again another day. The church was beautiful, too. Because it had been completely renovated, it had a modern feel, even though the old structure and pillars remained. And then, dotted here and there against the white walls, were some of the colourful medieval carvings, all perfectly placed. It was a wonderful experience.

Well, as I say, we are now by the Rhine, where it is very noisy, with lots of huge barges, and two railway lines! Beautiful, though. We will be writing another post in a few days' time.