The last few weeks have been filled with high passes, epic downhills and stunning Alps riding. We have met and stayed with many wonderful people, and enjoyed lots of French wine and Swiss cheese and chocolate!
After Costa Brava we cycled into France and continued along the Mediterranean coast for a while. Near Sete we left the coast and headed north toward Switzerland up the Rhone valley. To begin with the riding was quite dull with flat barren land and scorching hot temperatures. It was sooooo hot one afternoon that we had a tub of ice-cream and a litre of coke for lunch! Mmm very healthy!
After Costa Brava we cycled into France and continued along the Mediterranean coast for a while. Near Sete we left the coast and headed north toward Switzerland up the Rhone valley. To begin with the riding was quite dull with flat barren land and scorching hot temperatures. It was sooooo hot one afternoon that we had a tub of ice-cream and a litre of coke for lunch! Mmm very healthy!We had been quite shocked by the overpriced camping in Europe and expected to find cheaper rates in inland France. One evening, in search of a reasonable rate we ended up cycling an extra 60km and riding until well after dark eventually finding an abandoned campground and paying nothing! 
We were awoken by a friendly Frenchman cleaning up ther area with a tractor. He waved cheerfully, gave us bottles of water and spent ages searching through a pile of leaves after accidentally scooping up one of my cycle gloves with some rubbish. We have not found all of the French people to be quite as welcoming and have a few run-ins with locals... often overcharging us for things and one fiery elderly woman even tried to cut down our washing line we had innocently tied to her fence! 
We were awoken by a friendly Frenchman cleaning up ther area with a tractor. He waved cheerfully, gave us bottles of water and spent ages searching through a pile of leaves after accidentally scooping up one of my cycle gloves with some rubbish. We have not found all of the French people to be quite as welcoming and have a few run-ins with locals... often overcharging us for things and one fiery elderly woman even tried to cut down our washing line we had innocently tied to her fence! The French countryside got more beautiful as we headed inland, with lots of flowers, vineyards and gorgeous wee villages. We rode north through the gorgeous wee theatre town of Avignon, through the aptly named Orange and spent a night in a lovely campground in Mondragon.
When we told the campground owner that we planned to reach Grenoble from Mondragon in two days he laughed, said it was 'impossible', and suggested 4-5 days! - that sounded like a challenge to us! We rode hard for two days over several passes, among breathtaking cliffs, through the stunning Gorges de la Bourge, cycled through quaint French villages and enjoyed a lot of tasty bakery food.Pont en Royans - houses perched on a cliff
After 220km and 13 hours of riding we were rewarded with a 20km downhill into Grenoble. Grenoble is a small French city nestled in a valley surrounded by high peaks on either side. We stayed with a lovely couple called Sebastian and Anne. We had a very relaxing time and enjoyed their delicious organic french food and hearing about there cycle journey through Mongolia and Central Asia....we are already planning our next trip!
In Grenoble we were stoked to catch up with Amy and Dave from Ohope. They are currently driving around Europe with their mountain bikes and had been following the Tour de France. We spent a chilled out day beside a lake eating more great French food and catching up on the last 18 months since we last saw them.
From Grenoble we biked north-east toward Chamonix and the Swiss border. The terrain was very mountainous with 2000m passes in all directions. It is a road cyclist's paradise and there were roadies everywhere! We try (with some success) to keep up with them on the hills- much to their annoyance, given our bikes and panniers weigh ten times as much as their carbon bikes!
Kate had done some research on a website called via-michelin and thought it was realistic for us to ride from Albertville across the Swiss border and make it to a small village called Chippis.....a slight error in the figures resulted in us doing one our hardest days ever. We had a stunning days riding with incredible views of Mont Blanc, glaciers, waterfalls and rivers.....unfortunately after three 1500m passes and 178km our appreciation was waning!
After 220km and 13 hours of riding we were rewarded with a 20km downhill into Grenoble. Grenoble is a small French city nestled in a valley surrounded by high peaks on either side. We stayed with a lovely couple called Sebastian and Anne. We had a very relaxing time and enjoyed their delicious organic french food and hearing about there cycle journey through Mongolia and Central Asia....we are already planning our next trip! Seb's homemade bread was delicious although he hasn't quite mastered the yeast recipe...a little hard!!
In Grenoble we were stoked to catch up with Amy and Dave from Ohope. They are currently driving around Europe with their mountain bikes and had been following the Tour de France. We spent a chilled out day beside a lake eating more great French food and catching up on the last 18 months since we last saw them. From Grenoble we biked north-east toward Chamonix and the Swiss border. The terrain was very mountainous with 2000m passes in all directions. It is a road cyclist's paradise and there were roadies everywhere! We try (with some success) to keep up with them on the hills- much to their annoyance, given our bikes and panniers weigh ten times as much as their carbon bikes! Kate had done some research on a website called via-michelin and thought it was realistic for us to ride from Albertville across the Swiss border and make it to a small village called Chippis.....a slight error in the figures resulted in us doing one our hardest days ever. We had a stunning days riding with incredible views of Mont Blanc, glaciers, waterfalls and rivers.....unfortunately after three 1500m passes and 178km our appreciation was waning! Mont Blanc
Finally at 9:30pm and with very tired legs we rolled into Chippis and were greeted by the charismatic and motherly Tilly. Tilly is a Dutch-woman who has been living in Switzerland for many years. She and her husband Marc treated us to delicious food straight from her vege garden and fussed over us doing our washing and taking great care of our exhausted selves! After a day of recovery Tilly sent us on our way complete with freshly baked bread, a box of tomatoes and cherry pie!!
Our riding from Chippis took us up a valley following the river Rhone, climbing steadily toward the Grimsel Pass. Switzerland is a beautiful, mountainous country, but we are pretty shocked by how much infrastructure and man-made things there are EVERYWHERE- bridges, tunnels, viaducts, roads and rail-way. We compare Europe to woman who has had too much plastic surgery- her natural beauty forever scarred by the power of technology.
We had a perfect clear day riding over the Grimsel Pass (2165m)with fantastic views and a wicked descent to the town of Meiringen (500m). From there we climbed over the Grosse Seneidegg Pass in hope of getting views of the famous Eiger. Unforunately all we got was very wet and cold- but we enjoyed the challenge of another 2000m pass and had a cool ride on offroad trails down to Interlaken.
We are currently in Seelisburg, a typical small Swiss village nestled on a cliff overlooking a lake and mountains staying with Kathrin and Phillipe. They are a great couple who we actually met in Argentina. We didn't realise that when we wrote to them on warmshowers, but they recognised us after looking at our blog. It is a small cycle touring world! They made the epic two year journey from Alaska to Ushuaia on their tandem. It is great to relax at their house and enjoy the peaceful mountain setting. 
Castle ruins on top of a cliff in France
A typical Swiss wooden house...
After several hours climbing...not the best view!!!
Gorges de La Bourge
Finally at 9:30pm and with very tired legs we rolled into Chippis and were greeted by the charismatic and motherly Tilly. Tilly is a Dutch-woman who has been living in Switzerland for many years. She and her husband Marc treated us to delicious food straight from her vege garden and fussed over us doing our washing and taking great care of our exhausted selves! After a day of recovery Tilly sent us on our way complete with freshly baked bread, a box of tomatoes and cherry pie!!Our riding from Chippis took us up a valley following the river Rhone, climbing steadily toward the Grimsel Pass. Switzerland is a beautiful, mountainous country, but we are pretty shocked by how much infrastructure and man-made things there are EVERYWHERE- bridges, tunnels, viaducts, roads and rail-way. We compare Europe to woman who has had too much plastic surgery- her natural beauty forever scarred by the power of technology.The steep road and many switchbacks loom ahead...
We had a perfect clear day riding over the Grimsel Pass (2165m)with fantastic views and a wicked descent to the town of Meiringen (500m). From there we climbed over the Grosse Seneidegg Pass in hope of getting views of the famous Eiger. Unforunately all we got was very wet and cold- but we enjoyed the challenge of another 2000m pass and had a cool ride on offroad trails down to Interlaken.With very poor visibility, this warning sign was our only view from the top....
We are currently in Seelisburg, a typical small Swiss village nestled on a cliff overlooking a lake and mountains staying with Kathrin and Phillipe. They are a great couple who we actually met in Argentina. We didn't realise that when we wrote to them on warmshowers, but they recognised us after looking at our blog. It is a small cycle touring world! They made the epic two year journey from Alaska to Ushuaia on their tandem. It is great to relax at their house and enjoy the peaceful mountain setting. Kathrin and Philippe - we had such a great time at their place!
A few more photos....
Sarnersee, Switzerland
Castle ruins on top of a cliff in France
A typical Swiss wooden house...After several hours climbing...not the best view!!!Gorges de La Bourge
Relaxing in Seelisberg
3 comments:
Great work on giong up the Grimsel pass guys! Even the tranny struggled to get up there! We had fog from about 1/4 of the way up- so good that you had a clear day and nice views. :)
Hey kate and Matilda, Nick here. Sorry its taken me so long to get on here.
Looks like you have had an awesome time.
William is really big now and is starting his PHD thesis on quazars and the phenomenon of black holes next semester at Waikato not bad for 4 aye!! ( the preceding may be a slight exaggeration) He is going good with his numeracy and we are working on literacy at the mo, he is as happy and bright as always. Work is good, not smoking now , partner good. Hope you guys are having a great time and cant wait to see you. Love you guys. Nick
Hello !
Sorry for these bad experiences with french people :/
It's always a great pleasure to read about your triP. Good luck for the rest of it !
Simon
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