Aug 08, 2007 11:21 AM
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Inspired by Frommer's "France's Best Loved Driving Tours", we flew to Paris; arriving
one morning in Sep 2004. Pleasantly bumped up from from a small compact to an SUV, we
commenced an exciting and educational 7 day self-guided road trip thru' France and Switzerland.
Research for this trip was done on various forums on the Internet, the before-mentioned Frommer's. Guide, and mapquest for driving directions. Hotel bookings, Car Rental, and airline tickets were all
done online.
Since we had already visited Paris earlier, we drove straight out towards our first destination - a suburb of the city of Orleans in the Loire valley. Driving on French auto routes is fairly similar to driving on US interstates, they just have a higher speed limit of 130 km/h (80 mph).
I mostly kept to the right lane and let faster drivers whiz by me. The one major difference is the fairly high tolls, most US interstates are toll-free; all French auto routes are toll roads. Another is the price of gasoline/diesel, anywhere from 2 - 3 times the US price.
It was late afternoon when we reached our first destination, jet-lag reasons for ensuring that it was no more than 2 hrs away from CDG. We got lost after we left the auto route, but managed to find our way to the hotel after being helped by some locals.
Neither of us speak French, but we found that if we attempted to speak French (with the help of a dictionary); one in three French locals would invariably end up speaking English and providing correct directions. Our French pronunciation also got corrected umpteen times.
That night we shopped for groceries at Carrefours, the French equivalent of BJ's/Costco/Wal-Mart. We set a pattern of buying bottled water, milk, cheese, bread, fruits, tomatoes and using them for breakfast and snacks. Lunch and sometimes a light dinner was usually eaten in a restaurant.
A brief mention about French dairy products, in US grocery stores there usually are 1-2 aisles for all dairy; in France milk, butter, cheese, yogurt have their own separate aisles.
Next morning we began on a long drive (appx. 6-7 hrs, the longest of the trip) to the outskirts of Geneva. Most of the drive was on autoroutes, but some patches were on internal roads (N or D); and here is where we first witnessed the incredible beauty of the French countryside.
On an earlier visit to Claude Monet's home in Giverny, we had seen his famous water-lilies and marveled at their beauty and magnificence and remarked that given such surroundings; many people would have become great artists. Well we saw several small ponds and lakes beside the road filled with water-lilies similar to Monet-Giverny, and that is when the penny dropped. Most of the French countryside is exquisite, a source of inspiration to countless artists from Monet to Van Gogh to Renoir to Cezanne to Matisse.
The terrain became more mountainous as we approached Geneva, with flyovers delicately spanning small valleys and ravines, and sometimes simultaneously hugging the side of a mountain. We checked into our hotel and decided to go visit Chamonix; the famous French mountainside retreat and ski resort.
This was our first taste of the French Alps, the hairpin bends driving up, the green spread out valleys, the typical chalet style houses, the vertigo inducing Aiguille Du Midi, and last but not least the towering Mont Blanc. I made a resolution, the next time I visit this place; I must attempt to climb Mont. Blanc (I have not yet done so.).
Two days were spent in Switzerland, hotel in Gunten, Interlaken area, on the banks of Lake Thun. Unique vistas combining lakes with green mountains and partially green snow-capped mountains were to be seen almost everywhere. After lunch on the first day, We went for nice alpine hike from Lauterbrunnen in a valley between what appeared to be two mountain ranges.
Waterfalls abounded everywhere, as did cattle with tinkling bells; and deep lush greenery provided the proverbial icing on the cake.
To experience some of the majesty and fear of the Alps; one must attempt to drive thru' Swiss mountain passes. My research suggested beginning at Meiringen and doing a loop consisting of Grimsel, Furka and Susten passes, a trip lasting from morning into mid-afternoon.
We promptly reached Meiringen next morning, and proceeded towards Grimsel Pass. Initially the drive was in a valley, and therefore pretty easy. However, as we started climbing towards Grimsel Pass; fear began to build. For extended stretches, hairpin bends everywhere, ours was the only vehicle on the road.
As we climbed above the tree-line, the surrounding mountain changed to what is described as a pretty good approximation of the lunar landscape. At the Grimsel Hospiz Hotel (Bollywood 1970 Dev Anand's Prem Pujari Phoolon Ke Rang Se); we decide to turn back and head towards Lauterbrunnen.
Here we hopped on the train towards Jungfrau, got off at Kleine Scheidegg; and hiked up until the next train station. A slightly more relaxing way to end the day, although with
sudden weather changes involving patchy fog; I must emphasize slightly.
Our journey back into France the next day took us through the Jura region on internal roads. Pear trees laden with ripe fruit were to be seen everywhere, and since the mountains were much tamer; they could be enjoyed as well.
Our final destination was to be the outskirts of Beaune --- the wine capital of Burgundy. At a bicycle rental store in the quaint and upscale Beaune, we reserved two bikes and a wine-tasting lunch for the next day. Before getting to our hotel, we drove along the main vineyard road in the Cote D'Or; passing by venerable names such as Nuits St. George, Gevrey Chambertin and Vosne Romanee.
Bicycling through Burgundy vineyards (Pommard, Volnay, Mersault), lazily sauntering in to watch grape harvesting, and ending at a wine-tasting lunch (Olivier LeFlaive in Puligny-Montrachet) this was definitely the piece de resistance.
We were served 16 different wines with a lunch consisting of bread, pate, terrine, bresse chicken in wine sauce and rice, and cheese for dessert. The sommelier Pascal Wagner presented a tutorial on French wines in fluent and passionate English, describing in great detail the concept of "terroir", the different categories of Burgundy wines with examples, and the myriad differences between old-world (French) and new-world (American) wines. We were there for three hours, and left with huge smiles on our faces; thanking our fate that we had to bicycle and not drive back.
A word must be said of the gentle sunlight that bathes Burgundy, and indeed most parts of France. This feature is one of the reasons for France being so visually attractive, and also for its excellent wines. Terroir encompasses many elements such as sunlight, water, land orientation, drainage of land etc. (Pascal would explain this much better than I can).
The next day's outing was to the Champagne region around Reims, with more vineyards, more pretty countryside, and more joie de vivre. After a Champagne dinner in a brasserie, and a good nights sleep; we headed over to CDG to catch the return flight back home.
