Chamonix Mont-Blanc

Gah - I seem to have given up on this blogging business again. I think I'm still tired after my last mammoth post, I'm only just recovering...

Took a few trips around Switzerland since Lauterbrunnen, firstly to Chamonix-Mont Blanc (which is actually in France) and also to Bern. I didn't really take any photos I am pleased with from either of these two trips (another reason for the lack of updates) Still, I'll throw up a few to show what the places were like.

Chamonix is a town at the base of Mont Blanc, and it's the main gateway for climbing it, or taking the cable car to close to the top. Me and a couple of others went early on Saturday morning, from a horrible run-down station on the outskirts of Geneva which is used by the French rail company. The journey wasn't too bad, it took just under three hours - it's recommended by the tourist office to take the bus, as it's faster and more direct, but it's also much more expensive.

Chamonix was probably once a small village, but now is little more than a service centre for the thousands (probably millions!) of tourists that pass through it each year. There's a fine selection of food, and enough ski/sport shops to clothe the entire population of Europe in overpriced skiing gear from head to toe. Seriously.

Chamonix, with Mont-blanc in the background.

It must be said, it is actually quite a nice town...

Unfortunately, the cable car to the top station (which goes to an impressive 3800 metres) was closed due to high winds that day, so we had to make do with the lower station, Plan D'Aguille. The views from there were impressive, but it was definitely a dissapointment not to get to the top after coming all that way. The sky was an eerily uniform white due to the large amount of clouds, so I didn't get many nice photos:

The cable car station at Plan D'Aguille. They really do love their cable cars here in the Alps!

Some more mountains - I think this was taken from Chamonix, not higher up.

Another one of those fancy HDR images.

A glacier running down from Mont Blanc

And that was it, pretty much. It was a nice day out, even counting the dissapointment of not getting to the top. I'll have to go back and try again!

Lauterbrunnen Valley

I'm on a train - again. It's seven in the morning, and the first shards of light are breaking through the clouds, as the train trundles along towards Bern, my first stop. I've been up since half five, and when I got the bus to the train station at about six o' clock the streets were still eerily quiet - something I'm not used to in this normally bustling city. The train station was a bit of refuge from the quiet streets - it never seems to close down - and also from the bitter cold outside that is surely below freezing.

I buy my ticket in a bit of a daze, and wait for the train. I didn't sleep so well the night before, and my grogginess and generally grumpy personality in the morning is niggling at me: "Is it really worth it? Wouldn't you be better off tucked up in bed" But the answer is "yes - it definitely will be" I'm full of uncertainties; it's a Sunday which makes things worse. I don't know what will be open (everything is closed in Geneva on a Sunday) or whether the trains will run late enough to come back home at a reasonable time. So much for proper planning.

I first read about Lauterbrunnen Valley in, of course, my Rough Guide to Switzerland, which has become something of a bible to me since my arrival. It absolutely lauds the place - calling it one of the most beautiful places in the country, if not in Europe. The fact that there are some reasonably easy hiking routes around the area sold it for me. Ever since I was in Sion, and saw in the distance the snow-capped mountains, I've wanted to be nearer to them; to see their awesome scale up close. Lauterbrunnen was the best place I could see, without having to shell out a fortune to get a cable car to the top of one of them - it can cost up to €170 just to go up and down, which is crazy to my mind. I have to start watching my money a lot closer.

Most of the journey as far as Bern is familiar territory for me now - I've gotten the train as far as, or further than, Lausanne three times. It's nice landscape, but nothing spectactular. The same could be said of the journey from Lausanne to Bern (which I hadn't been on before). It's Gruyere country - where they make the cheese. It's all pleasant green pastures and rolling hills. By the time we arrived in Bern, the transition to daylight was complete, but I didn't have time to stop. I got straight onto the train to Interlaken. One thing I did notice was that I was now in German speaking Switzerland. It's odd to go from one language to another in the space of an hour or two. I felt a bit relieved, actually. For the first time since I got here I could actually try and have a conversation in the local's own tongue - even simple things like buying something in a shop are difficult for me in French-speaking Geneva.

Things start to pick up once we leave Bern; lakes and mountains: we are in classic Swiss territory now. I can feel my adrenaline start to pick up immediately. All thoughts of my extremely early morning are forgotten. I stick some music onto my ipod, and sit back on the train (it's a big double-decker one), and watch the incredible scenery unfold before me.

I arrived at Interlaken at ten - I was actually suprised to have made such good time. Everything had gone basically to plan since I set off in the morning. It was incredibly quiet. There were a few tourists around, but not anything like I would have expected. I suppose it was the off-season, and a Sunday on top of that. I went for a short walk around Interlaken, but there didn't seem to be much going on:

These cows look like they're grazing in a field at the edge of town, but actually they're in a park near the centre! Very odd!


One of the big 'uns from Interlaken.



Japanese garden and a church in Interlaken

I didn't stay long. I wanted to get to Lauterbrunnen as soon as possible, so I got on the next possible train. It's amazing that the trains run at such a high frequency, even on Sunday, in the off-season, to a small village. It's even more amazing that they're nearly always full! The train started climbing almost immediately - Lauterbrunnen is at about 800 metres. It's in the middle of a valley, and we entered this after a few minutes. I could see sheer mountains and cliffs on either side, and there was a fast-flowing, white water river running alongside the track. The Swiss certainly know how to build railways that maximise the visual impact.

I got off the train at Lauterbrunnen, the last stop, and immediately set off back towards the river I had seen on my way up. There was a path running alongside it, and it looked like a wonderful place to get photos. I wasn't dissapointed:

It was cold in Lauterbrunnen, and it was only to get worse the higher I got. It was a nice dry cold though, very pleasant.

The river 'Weisse' in Lauterbrunnen valley. It's pretty impressive.

Another two of the river - I could've stayed here all day taking pictures, but it was to get even more spectacular.

Lauterbrunnen was pretty quiet too - Sunday syndrome again I presume. After I had finished taking pictures of the river, I set off to find Lauterbrunnen's next attraction: The Staubbach Falls - a 300 metre-high waterfall cascading off the side of one of the many cliffs/mountains. It wasn't far from the village - and it was pretty nice, I guess. I think the fact that it hadn't rained in a while meant that it's usual power had been reduced somewhat. In addition to this, the path up to it was closed for some reason. It was certainly worth a look though.

The 300-metre Staubbach Falls.

Next was the main business of the day - a 900 metre ascent to Murren, a small, car-free village perched at nearly 1700 metres in the mountains above Lauterbrunnen valley. It took me a while to find the path, but when I eventually did it was well paved and signposted. I couldn't resist the opportunity to take some more photos, of course!

The lower mountains, at one edge of the valley. Still pretty impressive.

The start of my ascent

This is why I came all this way...

The walk was tough, but really, really enjoyable. It was extremely quiet - I felt like I was the only one on the mountain for most of the time. It was a heavily wooded area, but that just made the occasional glimpses of the Alps more exciting and enchanting. The walk is littered with streams, the ones that eventually become the '72 Waterfalls'. At this time of year, there were icicles hanging off every stream. All extremely picturesque - I was in my element!

As I've mentioned, the hike was tough - not impossible, but definitely some of the hardest walking I've ever done. Taking photographs was a great excuse to myself to slow down or even take a break. There were also lots of huts and picnic areas on the way. It was wild, but at the same time somehow civilised. I suppose it's to be expected in what is one of the first tourist locations in the whole world. And it's not hard to see why. The scenery got progressively more breathtaking the higher I climbed:

It was also getting progressively colder; at Lauterbrunnen there had been a scattering of ice and snow: suddenly I was surrounded in it. It all added to the atmosphere, however.

I was really starting to struggle now: it was bitterly cold but my back was still drenched in sweat. I walked around another corner, and on front of me was a pretty spectacular waterfall. In front of it was a sign saying: "Please move as quickly as possible for the next 20 metres and do not stop due to landslides" That freaked me out a bit, but it only got worse, as I heard what sounded like a gunshot blast, and I saw chunks of rock falling about 100 metres above me! I was absolutely wrecked, but I don't think I've ran as fast in a long time! Everything was ok, though. I don't think that the rock was falling anywhere near where I was.

Eventually I reached the road leading to Murren, and to my relief it was level ground - I had been walking up quite steep paths for some time. So I strolled into Murren itself - about a 15 minute walk. The first thing I noticed was that it was completely deserted. For a while it seemed as if I had the entire village to myself! This notion was shattered when I saw some more tourists, cleverly having taken the easy way up from Lauterbrunnen; on the cable car. As I was now comfortable, after a quick bite to eat (chocolate and crisps, my stable diet when walking anywhere!) I settled down to take yet more photos. I had finally found what I was looking for. All memories of the discomfort of the walk melted away as I walked up to the edge of one of Murren's many viewpoints. The view from here is hard to describe without descending into hyperbole. Just look at the pictures, and imagine actually being there, and being able to survey the whole scene at once. The sense of scale was enourmous - I really felt like I was in the presence of something awesome:

The village itself was actually lovely. It's a series of mostly wooden huts huddled together on a plateau - seemingly for protection against the biting winter snow and frost. It's definitely a tourist village - it must be packed during the ski season, as it's one of the first ski resorts in Switzerland. But when I was there it was quiet. It seemed deserted at first, but there were signs of life - you forget that places like this actually have locals. I went into a small restaurant near the cable car station, which was a cozy relief from the cold outside. I've never enjoyed a hot chocolate so much in my life! After this, I went back outside, as the sun was setting. My last memories of Murren are watching the sun set over the Alps - absolutely magical.

I got the cable car back down - of course (God bless those cable cars!) I was suprised to see that the people getting on and off had bags of what looked like normal shopping - somebody even had a shopping trolley! Obviously this part of the Alps is still a living, breathing, normal area to live in. I wonder if the spectacle of the valley and mountains is lost on people who actually live here? I count myself lucky that scenery like this is so alien to me - the impact is incredible on someone who is used to the flat, green land of Ireland.

I eventually got back to Interlaken and then onto Bern and eventually Geneva, even though I was unlucky with a few connections which resulted in some fairly long waits for trains. It was late by the time and I was tired - I didn't care though, I got into bed that night a happy man. This has been my longest ever post, and I can see why. I don't think anything will come close to beating this trip. We're going to Mont Blanc this weekend, which will be amazing, I'm sure. I just think that the best is now over - I mean this in the least negative way possible.


This has been my

Lausanne

So, I'm starting to realise that this blogging business can take up quite a bit of time! I'm finding it difficult to update in in time; especially since having something to write about generally means having gone somewhere, and having gone somewhere means that I'm too tired to write about it when I get home! Oh, the ironing!

I had two trips in the past few days, firstly, Lausanne:

This was somewhere we'd been meaning to go to for quite some time. My indispensable Rough Guide book waxes lyrical about it, and we had heard about it from other sources too. I think the fact that it was so close actually worked against us: we knew it was inevitable that we were going to go, the problem being that it was so assumed as inevitable that we never bothered to actually make a plan. Eventually, we got around to it, however.

The journey is just under an hour; a journey I'm getting very acquainted with these days! I don't think I mentioned, but the temperature took a dramatic turn downwards on the first of the month. It's almost as if whoever is controlling the thermostat suddenly realised that it's winter. It's bizarre to think that just a week ago we were walking around in T-Shirts in balmy 25 degrees weather, as now scarves and gloves are the norm. It does feel more like Switzerland now however. This is what we were expecting before we came over.

Lausanne is dubbed the 'San Francisco of Switzerland' by many, due to the steepness of its streets. They might be steep, but they definitely add to the character of the place. We walked from the train station into the old town, through buzzing streets with people relaxing and talking; something that is sorely missed in Geneva on a week-day - everyone is all about business until the weekend:

People taking it easy in the Old Town in Lausanne. Nice to know the Swiss aren't all work.

We made our way to the Cathedral (why is this always one of the first things you do when you go to a new city?) which was pretty impressive; I would imagine that the view from the top of the tower is one of the best in all of Lausanne - we didn't realise that we could go up it unfortunately!

The tower of the Cathedral in Lausanne - I think!

The main door arch is adorned with figures - about as fancy as Swiss cathedrals seem to get. 'Less is more' is definitely the motto.

The inside is also impressive - it's definitely a nice space to be in. In any cathedral I've been in, both in Ireland and in Europe, the... gravitas has always been ruined by the presence of a gift shop or a video of the cathedral's history, or something. Please, cathedrals are impressive enough on their own - you don't need to add pointless tourist attractions to them!

The inside of the cathedral in Lausanne.

Opposite the Cathedral was a museum documenting Lausanne's local history, from the stone age, through Roman occupation, and up to present day. The museum was actually rather good - museums featuring just local history can often be a bit uninteresting, as you would often not know anything, nor really care, to be honest about it, about the place the Museum featured. The museum in Lausanne, however, had plenty of exhibits, and plenty of information about not only Lausanne, but the whole of Switzerland (which has had a surprisingly turbulent past!) as well. It was well worth a visit for the most part, even though by the end we were a bit weary and impatient to leave.

From here we walked down to a 'Palace' - another large building housing a multitude of museums and I think a library:

From here, we walked about fifteen minutes to the 'Collection de l'Art Brut'. This is an art gallery displaying pieces by 'non-traditional' artists, usually people with psychological problems (or outright mental illness), or prisoners and homeless people etc. I've never really been in an art gallery that I actually enjoyed - up until now. The stories were often fascinating, and some of the pieces were pretty amazing, all the more because you know the story behind them. The human mind is krrrrrrazy.

Next on our city tour was Ouchy; Lausanne's own lake-shore resort. It's actually a separate area completely, but it's grown into the town. It's got some fantastic views of the mountains across the lake, and a beautiful red sunset made for some excellent photo opportunities:

At first glance, Lausanne seems just like Geneva or many other Swiss towns. The impressive train station, clean streets, the ubiquitous Migros supermarket chain, are all present. There is however a difference - a real atmosphere prevades the place. People are more relaxed, there seems to be a proper sense of community and pride in the city. Definitely somewhere to go back to.

Well, another short post - time has gone by to quickly as usual. I really wanted to write about my trip to the Lauterbrunnen valley, but it'll have to wait for another day.

Carpeying the Diem

Well, it's time for another post after a brief break, which I attribute to tiredness due to quite a few late nights, and also a fair bit of exercise, but I think mostly due to my lack of routine. College hours are so few and sporadic that it's impossible to have a set time to go to sleep in the evenings. This makes for quite a lot of sleeping and free time, which is great; but also leads to the occasional late night with a reasonably early morning the next day. It's going to be difficult to get out of this habit.

I'm quite proud of myself; I actually managed to get up the next morning after my last post and go to Sion; a town about two hours from Geneva. It's the first time I've really gone anywhere on my own, and while it's great to have company most of the time, there's definitely something to be said for heading off on your own. The sense of adventure, and the ability to do exactly what you want to do is pretty liberating. I woke up on time the next morning, after a very short night's sleep. I'm suprised I woke up at all, to be honest. I'm more suprised that I managed to stay awake for the whole of what turned out to be a fairly energetic day! I was hoping to get the train at around half seven, this however turned out to be impossible. Even though I had prepared a little bit the night before, everything takes longer than I expect. I bought a 1/2 price card for a year at the train station, which does exactly what is says on the tin: all fares for trains within Switzerland are half price, and in addition to this it allows you to buy a 'day card', which in some cases makes your travel even cheaper again. I'm gambling on this giving me incentive to travel as much as possible throughout Switzerland, as well as saving me money in the long-term.

So I think I eventually got off at about half-nine or so; the journey was two hours long and pretty spectacular. The train follows Lake Geneva for most of the trip, and once we were past Lausanne the infamous (and annoying) fog that shrouds the lake further to the west started to dissapate, giving me the best views I've seen since arriving in Switzerland. The train journey was really relaxing - thankfully it wasn't too full. I read some of 'The Time Machine'; cumpulsory reading for one of my seminars at the beginning of the journey, but once we reached Vevey I had to put down the book, switch on my Ipod and turn my attention to the spectacular scenery unfolding before me, as we hurtled on towards the final destination. To the right were views stretching over the lake of the craggy, atmospheric peaks of the Vadois Alps; and on my left were acres of yellow and red vinyards tumbling down the lower hills lining the lake:

I arrived in Sion about 11 O' Clock. It's a pretty town, it's in a valley surrounded by the Alps; they're not too high around there but you can see some tantalising glimpses of the higher, snow-capped peaks in the distance. The highlight has to be the two hills upon which Medieval castles are perched:

I went to the tourist office and asked them about walking in the area. They gave me a leaflet of some walks alongside the many 'bisses' surrounding Sion. A bisse is like a trench filled with water coming from mountains; they're used to irrigate the Vinyards that surround the town on all sides. I picked one that led to St. Leonard, a village a couple of Kilometres away. It took me a long time to find the starting-point of the walk, mainly due to my impatience and poor map-reading skills. Eventually I set off, and had to walk up a steep hill to start off with, giving me amazing views of the surrounding vinyards and mountains:

I was expecting the rest of the walk to be as steep - I was pleasantly suprised however. The 'bisse' is designed so that the water flows through it at a slow and steady rate, which means that it is a very gentle incline the whole way up the hill. Most of the time I didn't even realise I was climbing higher. It was quite literally just a 'stroll' for most of the way. Because I was relaxed, I could spend more time taking photos - one of the main reasons I wanted to go in the first place.

The intensely beautiful scenery near Sion



The Bisse is the ditch on the left. There's an impressive network of the things cris-crossing the hills in every direction.

I must admit - I'm a sucker for the mountains!

About four easy hours later I ended up in St. Leonard, the end point of my walk. I was quite proud, I didn't even get lost once! My legs were pretty weary at this stage, and I was very grateful for the train ride home - luckily I arrived just in time for the hourly train back to Sion.

I had developed a craving to be up in the snowy mountains which I could see in the distance while on my walk, and in a moment of madness I bought a train ticket to Brig, which I knew had a cable car running up to a fairly respectable height. However, as soon as I had bought my ticket, reason came upon me and I realised that it would be getting dark in about an hour! I stood at the platform, and coincidentially the train home, and the train to Brig were right beside each other. I debated it for a while, and ended up taking the sensible option and hopping on the train back home. It may have been a waste of a ticket, but I'm glad I did it. Next time perhaps!

I think I'll end here, because, wait for it...I've got another trip planned for the morning! I'm going to get the value out of my 1/2 price card if it kills me - so at about seven tommorow morning I'm going to head off to Interlaken, for what I hope will be a memorable experience. Wish me luck again! Today we went to Lausanne, (which was fantastic, but my account of it will have to wait for another day) so I'm probably a bit mad to want to head off again so soon, but, y'know, sieze the day and all that. One last picture before that though (sorry, I couldn't resist):