Day 20 Annecy to Saint Francois Longchamp (31 Dec 2022)

31ste December 2022

Now, to follow the gps on your car- display is not alway so straight forward as you might wish to believe. Firstly, with this model of car, you can not zoom out far enough to get the bigger picture…So once you've keyed in the destination, I do not really know if the "voice" will actually take you on the road that you WANT to go….

On the last day of 2022 magical Annecy in the dark, needed to be explored in day-light too… so after breakfast in the junior suite, we duely packed our bags and struggled them downstairs to our car. Arno has al last figured out how to puzzle the bags into the limited space - His mission: nothing fall on the brave child, who volunteered to sit in the little 'post box' beside all the luggage. 

              

We made our way down to the old town centre and lake-front - hoping to park in the same spiral underground parking garage than the previous evening….BUT it was Saturday morning beside the lake and the place was heaving!! Joggers, families, cyclist, electric scooters, bicycles…dogs… you name it.

 Eventually we found a parking place up the hill, close to the Annecy Castle.The small cobbled streets of the old town were now filled with Saturday second-hand vendors. The girls were in their element, exploring the glass ornaments, old frames and cute little jewelry boxes. And it was busy with people…very busy!! We found a little patiserie and stock up on the nesaccery pan de chocolates. I tried a 'flan' - this is a tart-like treat, almost like the South African milk tart, but more dense in texture and a less sweet. Very yummie. Our first experience of the 'machine-coffees'...this one was really bad….

                

We were looking forward to our shorter(less than 3h's) drive to Saint Francois Longchamp(SFL for short), in the French Alps, south of Geneva. Well, in the attempt to drive through the coutryside, in stead of on the Toll roads, our gps took us back to Geneva, and not south as intended…so we were drivin in the wrong direction and we were stuck….on a motorway. Well, what can one do?? Breath and enjoy the scenery….

It was nearly dark when we eventually arrived in SFL 1650 (There is a SFL 1450 too - indicates the hight above sealevel) We made a stop down in the valley, to fuel up and to purchase some food and neseccities for the week (with the limited space in the car, the groceries for a week for 6 people were piled on the laps of people for the last 30km up the hill!)SFL was like a ant-nest….cars, people walking and on ski's EVERYWHERE!! Eventually we found the tourism office, where we were supposed to pick up our keys and linen. We lined up and waited patiently.While I got myself comfortable in the slow-moving que, Arno popped over to the ticket office, where he picked up our pre-booked ski-lift passes. I waited very patiently in line….. It was change-over day. EVERYBODY who were checking into the resort, could pick up their keys from 5pm…so this line was not short… Outside it was turning dusk and then dark….I was at the front of the line.

Yay!!

No???

Ok, there is another Tourism Office??

We found 'our' tourism office right next to where we've parked the car…in the relatively quiet area…… oh my goodness…we could have saved ourselves so much time, but let us not cry about spilled milk…

Apartment Blanc de Soleil A03 Navigating a new area in he dark is never a joke, but I am happy to report, with the help of Alana on google maps, we just did one or two wrong turns!! Our apartment block even had a lift from the level zero drop off car park. Thank you!!

A well fitted 'tiny house' for the next 7 days, welcomed us. Just a quick bag drop, then we had to rush over to the Sport2000shop to pick up the pre-booked ski's boots, snowboards and helmets. As with cycling, skiing and snowboarding has now also made the safety transition…nearly everyone is wearing helmetson the slopes, by own choice .

 Ski's and boots fitted So for those of you who do not know the details - just a short description: Ski's get allocated according to the athlete's length and weight and also ability level. The very hard plastic ski-boots needs to fit very tight, with the heel of your foot pressed hard against the back of the boot. Luckily, the inside of the shoe is well padded, but still…one's feet do suffer, more so if the boot is not tightened enough or if the boot is of the wrong design. As you hopefully can understand now, the whole process of picking up your ski's boots, poles and helmets can take considerable time. Once you've picked your boots, and your ski's have been chosen for you by the expert assistant….. It's not the end yet!! Now the boots needs to be fitted to the ski's. The tightness of the bindings also depends on your ability…normally quite accurately guessed by the assistant, according to the skier answering the questions posed in nearly understandable French-English: ' When was the last time you've skied? Expert? Intermediate?' 

Once the springs on the bindings have been set to the 'hopeful' right tension, you are good to go. 

Before you leave the shop a set of ski-poles get shuffed into your already full arms… now we were really ready for the next week of exhillirated fun, pain, laughter and memories that will last a lifetime.

Back in our cozy apartment, beds had to be made, dinner had to be prepared (no luxuy of dining out for BIG South African families on the ski-slopes of France!!), we had to find a place to store luggage and get a system going for dirty clothes and what to do with the wet boots and jackets. Eventhough the space was limted, we felt so blessed to be on the slopes as a family together. 

There was only two things missing.....cold weather, causing snowfall... and our German friends. Family Krause was supposed to have joined us in SFL. Unfortunately one of the girls was unwell, plus because it was a long drive for them and the snow conditions were really awefull, they decided to postpone their ski-week. Rightly so. We just missed them very much though!

Just as we were about to sit down to our meal, we were called outside on the little balcony for an unexpected firework show. That was a great red cherrie on the cake of 2022.

After dinner and special Hogmony pudding, the ski-week had to be kicked off in traditional fashion with a round of UNO and todd of schnaps!! And do  not forget the Hogmonay RAVE party for 6!!!

Bring on the snow 2023!!

Day 19 Swizz Mountain exchange for French Lake (30 Dec 2022)

 30 December 2023

Meyerskappel to Annecy

High up on our rooftop suite in Mary's wooden house, dawn broke over the rolling hills, dotted with little gingerbread houses. While Arno was still getting ready, I went for a little Alpine rural village stroll with the host's 'Berner Sennenhund' (Mountain dog).

The Bernese Mountain Dog is an original farm dog from the foothills of the Alps around the Swiss capital of Bern. He was kept by the farmers there as a guard, draft and driving dog. Since the long-haired, three-colored farm dog was particularly common in the village of Dürrbach, the Swiss initially called it "Dürrbächler".

Walti and Mary outside their woodchip claded house

Elsabe and Hugo in their garden on the hill

Our host Mary went to the bakery again. This time she brought a gift for the children in the from of a traditional round sweet Three Kings Cake. (Read more on the link about this Swiss tradition which revived in the 1950's.) After picking the kids up at their host families, saying our last farewells to Elsabe and Hugo, we just had to drive back to Mary and Walti. We knew the kids will fall in love with their dog!!!

Snacking away on the King's Crown

I found the lucky charm...so I was Queen for the rest of the day!!!

Our route took us over the hill, direction Bern. The natural beauty of the lush green farmlands, sprinkled with wooden houses...a feast for a travelers eyes.

We only had 3.5h to go, so when we stumbled upon the Krambly Cookie Expereince we pulled off the road. Elsabe has mentioned something about a cookie factory, but nothing could prepare us for the selection of treats we found inside. Any sweet or savoiry treat you could ever have imagined stretched out infront of us. The best part..... you could help yourself to as many taster cookies as you'd like!!! Needless to say, we induldged ourselves in this extravaganza!! (Unfortunately I totally forgot to snap any pictures here...) After this roadside-snack-stop, we were setttled for the rest of the journey and arrived fairly early in Annecy, France. (Country number 8!!)

All of us were very curious about Lake Annecy and the city on it's northern shore. Over the years living in Scotland, may of our friends visited this holiday area in France, albeit for skiing or summer fun. We entered the city from the north and headed straight to the well-priced Zenitude Hôtel-Residences Les Hauts. Now we were very confused, because the hotel was marked as 'close' to the lake front AND mountain, but from our bedroom windows, we could barely see the lake... Good thing was, the rooms were very clean an comfortable and Arno and I had our own suite!!

Suspense was stretched as far as it could go, we had to go and investigate this so called European tourist hotspot!! We listened to lady gps and she took us down-town. The underground "spirilling" carpark was a first!!

 It was still light outside, so we decided to explore the lakeside first. Such a beautiful setting, but I guess the hype will be even higher in summer. As dusk was setting, we were drawn to the music coming from the cristmast market in the old town.

 We started to understand the lurr of the small cobbled lanes, little steps leading to another little street, with small-hidden-door-houses. Hide-and-seek paradise!! I managed to find a glüwein shack and the rest got some pancakes and hot chocolates. Taking in the Sunday eve street performers, clinging to a distant hope that the little drizzle will turn to snow...

Day 18 - Guten morgen Heidi, Guten nachten Peter (29 Dec 2022)

29 December 2023 -  Exploring the coutryside around Lucerne 

We woke up in the alcove of an Alpine farm chalet. This is the closest to authentic Heidi, I've ever felt. I pushed the weather -beaten shutters out, struggled a bit to slide the window up, aaaaaaa...fresh Swiss mountain air. Aromas of fresh bröchen (our hosts had already been to the backery to pick up the rolls) coffee and bacon(yes - they are pork farmers!!) called us down the three flights of stairs. Eventhough their english is a bitty bit, Mary and Walti, went out of their way to make Arno and myself feel welcomed. 

We asked Alana and Philippa to walk up to Esabe's house, from where they were staying for the night. Gabrielle and hubby were still not up after all the cheese and kirsch of the previous night(Arno also had a bit of a slow start, he-heee.) They did not know how to operate te coffee machine (no one does 'instant' here) and only found two pieces of bread....they were not sure if they could eat it for breakfast or not... 

Once the parentals could tear ourselves away from our breakfast spread, we were way behind schedule. The younger members of the family were not impressed!!! 

Elsabe and Hugo advised us to go for a walk at Bürgenstock. It was about 40 minutes from Meierskapel. We drove around Lake Lucern or as the locals call it: Vierwaltstättersee The name of the lake has its origins in the four historical "forest sites", the three original cantons of Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden and the canton of Lucerne, which together surround Lake Lucerne. Switzerland is a federal republic.'Cantons' are areas we would call 'independant provinces'. The 26 cantons are united in the Swiss Federal Constitution.

The rolling, NOT covered by snow, hills were so calming to the soul. Arno had to navigate an intricate, highly sophisticated parking payment system, but after that, we were free to roam the hills. The altitude was affecting a few ladies in the party more than others. The vistas over Lake Lucerne were worth every effort!!!

Our day in Switzerland just had to include a visit to a chocolatrie!! Unfortunately we could not get a booking for the Lindt factory, but Aeschbach Chocolatier was a very unique experience. This family run factory has been designing delicious treats for 51 years. We learned how chocolate is manufactured, while watching the chocolatiers at work through the glass windows. Fascinating. While I was admiring the craftsmen and women at their trade, the rest of the family were induding into the free samples of all flavours and shapes of chocolate. The chocolate-coin-spitting-donkey was a hit, even with the semi-adults in our crew!!

Expensive choclate does not do justice to rumbling tummies though. The cheapest option was to buy a few baguettes, some cheese nad ham and do car-lap-footlongs. We only got to the eating part once Arno conquered his second carpark-payment challenge of the day!! This time we were stuck in an underground parking garage.....

 Traveltip: always have a sharp knife and a plastic plate(alternative- plastic lid of ice-cream container) handy in the car. I also travel with four small plastic cups in a set. One always needs a cup!!

Last on our to-do list for the day was to take the kids to see the beautifully decorated bridge over the river in Lucerne and the Löwenstatze, chissled out of the rock-wall behind the church with the two towers.

 (On our first white Christmas adventure, Dec 2001, Arno and I spend a day in Lucerne. we had an interesting experience, where Arno got off the bus and myself not.....in the days before roaming cell-phones.... Life is beautifull!!! Now it was our time to be the tour guides to our children! Feeling extremely blessed) 

We found the Europeans very aware of their carbon footprint. This was noticable in the reduction of christmas lights everywhere. In 200, the snowcovered knobbly trees, dressed with thousands of fairylights leading up to the iconic church, provided a very dramatic prelude. I did miss that 'drama' in 2023. Luckily the Davidic star suspended between the two towers was still lit up. Just magical!!

Back in Meierskappel we were treated to a wonderful Mexican dinner. What a blessing to have somebody prepareing a meal for you!! Thank you Elsabe and Hugo!!

Day 17 - From Sneeballen to Raclette and Kirsch, BIG Mountain Feast (28 Dec 2022)

28 December 2023

 Rotenburg ab der Tauber(Germany) via Vaduz(Lichtenstein) to Meierskappel(Switzerland)

The northern morning drew with not even a spot of snow...rather too hot for the end of 2022.  We were still clutching our palms together in prayer for a change in the weather, but things were not looking too great.

Arno went for a invigorating run on top of the old city wall. Well, the weather actually prooved to be excellent for sighseeing...so after a most generous German breakfast, served by the 'biker's wife', we checked out of Hotel Gasthoff tur Linde. We still had a few photo's to take and a few souvenirs to be collected!! 

So Rotenburg is famous for a very spesific (nowhere else in the world to be found) delicatessen, called  "Schneeballen", snowball in English. It is is a deep-fried shortcrust pastry.The name give justice to this round snowball-like shape, about 8-10cm in diameter. Traditionally it was covered in white cofectioner's sugar. It is also known as a Storchennest (stork's nest). Today Schneeballen comes in al sorts of flavours, with dark chocolate, nuts or whatever the baker's hand fell on, as centers to the dough-ball. Onced baked, it gets covered in icing sugar, chocolate of caramel. The displays in the baker's windows are a crowd-stopper. It defo stopped us!! We purchased a coffee flavoured one and of course a chocolate one. The taste, I presume depends on the quality of bakershop you purchase it from...ours were quite dry, but such a unique taste experience.

After hitting a few famous instagram-photo spots, we waited for the clock tower on the square to struck the hour. A display of music and dancing figures entertained us from above. Since this was our last stop in Germany, I just had to aquire a few samples of Penninger Echt Bayerischer Obstler, short for 'appel adn pear schnaps'

Die traditionellen Obstsorten für einen bayerischen Obstler sind Äpfel und Birnen. Durch die natürliche Reifung auf bäuerlichen Obstwiesen erhält das verwendete Kernobst ein intensives Aroma. Nach dem Brennen wird das Destillat noch etwa ein halbes Jahr im Eichenholzfass gereift und entwickelt dadurch einen reifen, harmonischen Geschmack.

Just before midday, we joined the other travelers on their way to the slopes of Austria and France on Highway 7, headding south. We added Östenreich to our list of countries visited for this trip, by stopping for fuel and buying some gifts for our host families of the night.

Next on the to-do or places-to-visit list was a stop in Vaduz, which is the headquaters of The Principality of Lichtenstein (albeit small, another country we crossed the boarder of). Now for all the 'Princes Diary' watchers, we agreed upon one thing - Lichtenstein must ave been the inspo for the movies.

This pipsqueak country is located in the heart of Europe’s alpine region, between Switzerland and Austria. It is home to around 38,500 peeps. Covering an area of 160km², it is the fourth-smallest state in Europe and the sixth-smallest in the world. Inspite of its compact size, the Principality of Liechtenstein offers everything you could wish for: mighty big mountains , a vibrant cultural scene, cute alpine villages and plenty of opportunities for entrepreneurs.

We really had a hard time finding the access road into the coutry...we keep on missing it on the motorway!! Not much was happening in Vaduz at the time of our visit. Either the peeps were siesta'ing or it was a public holiday. BUT...we found the tourism office and we purchased our mandatory little fridge magnet. After a few cartwheels and handstands done in the deserted parking garage, we were on our way for the last streach....into BIG BIG mountain coutry.

We navigated around Europe's beloved sumer holiday destination, the Bodensee, direction Zurich.  Philippa had a wish to visit the Lindt chocolate factory, but unfortunately mama left it too late.... Luckily, there are OTHER chocolate factories in Switzerland, so we consoled her, with a: 'We will go to a chocolatrie'... she was not totally bemused with this...but nou ja...

Switzerland-big mountain coutry for sure. Those Alps are just breathtaking; the motorways through the mountains - enginering crafts, and the turquoise lakes.... Concerning though, was the lack for snow. Unbeknow to us, Europe was experiencing a unpresedented winter 'heat-wave'. Temperatures rose with more than 20 degrees and even the snow on the high mountains started leeking into the rivers. There was absolutely nothing we could do about that.

 

Our drive along the Walensee and the Obersee, took us around the Zugersee to our final destination for the day: Meierskappel. We arrive around  6pm at Elsabe and Hugo Stalder. Elsabe is one of my dad's cousin's. Although we have been staying with them in the past (last time was about 13 years ago) she had to give us directions again… Surprisingly, it all came back to me, as we negotiated the little streets of the farm village of Meierskappel. Their cosy wooden house has been build by themselves 20 years ago. They have now separated the house into two living units, since their sons has started their own families. Everything in Switzerland is just so well set-out, planned and structured. It's a mind-set of order!! 

They have invited two other couples to join us for dinner who were also our hosts for the night. Gabriella and Vusi(a farmer) would host Alana and Philippa. Nina and Thomas stayed with Elsabe and Mary and Walti ('bacon' farmers) were hosting Arno and myself. We had a very traditional meal of raclette(melted cheese, scraped off the BIG CHEESE, dripped over some steamed potatoes.) 

Something sour needs to be eaten with this rich dish, so gurgens, pickled mini-mealies, onions and salad provided the balance to this meal!! Not to mention the most delisious dessert. Well, and of course the white/red wine and kirsch (very strong cherry 'whiskey'). 

It was a super welcome to Switzerland. An evening of meeting new friends (they have all accompanied Elsabe to South Africa for a trip or two), trying to understand each other (only Gabriella speaks English….the others…..not that much!!) and just enjoying the warmth of a Swiss style hospitatlity.