Predicted to rain again, we awoke to sun with broken clouds. Consulting the radar showed a storm arrival around 11am. It wasn't a long day but we had to climb a pass then descend to town. The climb is a bit under a 1000 ft and we got going while the sun did shine and reached the pass in an hour and a quarter. There is an great looking refuge there but we pushed on as the clouds built. A short ways down the hill was a farm with hogs - the first I'd seen since northern Europe which struck me as odd considering the massive quantity of ham / bacon that populates the menus. The sprinkles became rain - it was 11:00. Not much to say except the descent mostly is on road and some trail which is poorly marked. We in heavy rain which escalated to a downpour when we reached Samoens.
After the refuge there was a sign in a tree suggesting food ahead but we never saw an obvious place for food before Samoens. In town there are plentiful restaurants, several bakeries and outdoor shops. It's a nice scenic town but we got out of the rain and settled in to watch some Olympics as the rain poured down. We had dinner at the Relais Septimontain which had regional dishes which we enjoyed!
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Hi there, Jim and Tam, here's a message from Nick.
ReplyDeleteIt's very nice to be able to follow you through your blog. Probably one has to be a GR5 walker (or: "Randonneur", as it is called in French) himself to be able to appreciate what you are doing. I tried to post something before, but all was lost because I didn't have the correct access.
To update you on my story: Being in Geneva with my friend was a bit of an anti-climax, since she has a history of depression and the house is a mess. But I knew this full well, because I have been at her place fefore. So, I spent the week getting up in time (as I always did, while on the GR5), cleaning and organizing things, getting her a strong coffee to wake her up. Soon, the balcony was accessible, the cats toilet trained (just press their nose in their shit and throw them into the cat-toilet) and the hallway and guestroom tidied up. The last of her three sons still living with her does not listen to her anymore, but was at my service after the first suggestion I made to clean house. We made two runs to the garbage-dump, so that cleared a lot of old stuff out of the way. What a contrast with our happy trailings, picking wild strawberries, raspberries and what other berries, sometimes walking barefoot and over coffee exchange beautiful stories, like Jim's adventures with a bear, Tammy's with a padlock and mine with two foxes.
Things were not all gloom, however, since my friend and I enjoyed many a wine around various parts of town, among which a type of alternative bar ("Bar jè") by the side of the Rhône, not far from the central bridge, was most notable. She took a double Chardonnay, I took a single beer and a double dive in the refreshing waters of the river, easily being able to keep up with the current of the cristal clear waters flowing out of lake Genava.
Hitch-hiking was easy, albeit a bit slow: 48 hours after starting out from the parking area beside the highway leading out of Geneva towards the north, I stepped on the doormat behind my front door in Holland. It was very nice to receive my first ride from a man that I had not even asked myself. I asked four people without any luck, then a man called Benoît came to ask me if I was going towards Basel. That was indeed the way I was going, and right at the edge of Switzerland! The next ride took me close to Karlsruhe, where I spent the night in the field 3 km. away from the highway. And so on.
I'll keep following your blog - I just read all the entries about the road that we shared. I plan to read from the beginning in Hoek van Holland and follow you untill Nice.
Happy wanderings,
Your Nick