Wandering along in Austria

Just a note for those who might be interested in a walk in Austria.

Randall has been in Austria for a little over a week now to walk with some male friends. He has done this sort of activity for four of the last five years and finds it a very useful an often exhilarating way to learn more about himself and the retiring life whilst exchanging aging men's views on world activities.

For 2015 the aim is to walk a circuit from Bad Ischl to Bad Ischl over about 200 kms and 8 walking days over mountainous areas and along beautiful glacial age lakes.

This brief report is written after walk day four when the group is resided just outside Strobl on Wolfgangsee.

Using only general comments and observations. 

At least here, Austrians are very conservative whilst being very proud of their heritage.  There are heaps of people wearing traditional clothes and holiday life here feels very much in the 1970s.

We have felt that people can be a bit over conservative to the point of inflexibility in the way visitors are dealt with.  Often here there is the right way and the wrong way.  No questions are asked and no quarters are given.

But the ambiance of the place and the scenery are to die for.  The walking can be quite challenging at times and the walking days long.  So far we have walked from Bad Ischl to Unterach thence to Abersee.  Today we walked from Abersee to Strobl including a wonderful few hours travelling one of the oldest cog railway systems in the world-the Schafbergbahn, the oldest cog railway in Austria.  This took us high to about 1780 metres and we enjoyed several hours, ice creams and lunch up on the mountain.  The views are simply breathtaking..

From there we had just seven kilometres left to walk along the lake to out home for the night.

Tomorrow we must deal with about 30 kms of tough walk with plenty of altitude changes over the ranges to Bad Goisern.

Do not miss this part of the world is my message for the day, even though Austrians are trying very hard to keep the whole place in the secret past.

 

 

Seasonal transitions underway

 

On the last night of June and in the early evening darkness of the Dordogne around 11pm, I was sitting sipping the last of my rosĕ and watching the transition/alignment of Venus and Jupiter, easily visible in the clear skies around here. 

And now like those planets we too are facing our own transition/re-alignment in the next few days. Maybe the mighty Magpies are also facing their own transition after a couple of disappointing slip ups in the past weeks. Maybe Nadal and Ivanovic are also facing their own sporting transitions as their stars fade, behind that of Leyton who is only a flickering resemblance of once greatness too.  Or maybe, like us, they are all moving through their own third gear and into next phases.  

Enough of that now and back to this last post. 

We celebrated Anabelle's first birthday this morning with a special lunch at home. Enjoyed by all. We also had a small pizza dinner in Domme for her this evening as well. She did well to hang in there and loved all the attention we gave her.

And over this last week we have managed to establish a better routine for all with a blend of short trips, rests and especially swimming in the high heat now being experienced here. We have all learned to appreciate the cool of the Dordogne River in the afternoons. Throw in castle visits to Beynac and Castelnaud another grotte and gardens, more trips to markets and we will call this week another touring success.

But this is the end of this particular road for us. Tomorrow the transition/re-alignment towards winter in Australia commences. We will drive over to Clermont Ferrand where we leave the car and take the train back to Paris. In a couple of days time, Anabelle, Ben and Sarah will fly out from Paris to Brisbane and then on Wednesday the duo will drag themselves aboard the plane at CDG and, after a short Singapore stop over, will fling themselves into the winter of Canberra next weekend. Going from near 40 degrees to minus x degrees is likely to be something of a challenge. But then, that is our choice after all.

Our walk across the northern Dordogne seems like aeons ago and memories of our visits to Corsica and then Italy are being tucked away in the aging brain cells. For us this as been a great mix of personal extension, partial family get togther and a re-visit to a great part of our world.

This area of France, as with France itself, remains perplexing and always interesting for us. There are plenty of tourists in this particular area and you need that for businesses to grow. But it is a double edged sword especially with lots of 'les anglaises' around. Old customs and ways are kept. People can seem to be unresponsive at times. But we love it all and will come back for more, probably in the Lot which was just that bit too far away this trip but which is less over done with outsiders.

We might post a pic or two of Anabelle at Eiffel tower or checking out Avenue George V, but essentially this is the last blog for this trip. We have had fun and will try to get ready for more, as, and if we can manage it.

Over and out.

ZZZZzzzz in Dordogne

 

One week later. A Saturday afternoon in a very comfortable gite near slumbering Domme. The rest of the family has gone on the short 15 minute walk into Domme following our after lunch snooze, We have to do this ((snooze) so grand-daughter Anabelle gets a good day sleep you see.

 

This morning was fairly typical for the week. An objective set (do Sarlat market), a partial success , (travel aspects were fine and we did see a fair bit of the market before retreating) and an enjoyable family lunch with market proceeds back home.

 

Although it was a couple of very long days for Ben, Sarah and Anabelle, by last Sunday afternoon they were finished with planes, trains and cars and flopped into their gite beds. We have very good hosts here with plenty of grandparent experience so we are not short of ideas or things to keep Missy occupied. Anabelle has struggled with injection after effects and travel impacts and at almost one year old, there is a power struggle going on within the family to see whose will, if any, will dominate. Call it a draw so far.

 

  

We are yet to work out the best travel/home experience combination for the five of us but I believe that we are doing quite well so far by now curbing our daily expectations. Less time out and about and more time at home seems to be the best answer thus far. We have access to a pool, which we have all enjoyed and little Missy has her own blow up boat which she plays in often with or without water. 

 

 

We have visited nearby La Roque Gageac for a river boat ride. We have enjoyed several good lunches out in Domme and Bergerac. And we have visited markets in Cenac, Domme and now Sarlat. Ben and Randall took a day off from parenting to tour the Gouffre de Padirac and a boys lunch out. The idea from here is to visit nearby villages (eg Beynac, Vitrac and Sarlat) and taking the daily changing needs of Missy into account. 

The look and feel of the Dordogne is as good as ever. The villages and houses are just so good and well cared for. The weather has been great thus far although we are expecting high 30s heat next week. As usual, there are plenty of tourists about (esp Dutch and English) but things are still quite comfortble on that front.

 

End of report for week one in the Dordogne. Just one week left before the retreat to Australia begins. Rats!

PS.  With internet we can keep up with the world although we have not seen TV for a week.  Around here, and looking at life as an outsider, things go on much as they ever did it seems.  From power struggles with the political classes to a reducing and aging folk in the country growing their veggies and tending their gardens.  We have seen the sites around here including the chateaux through to local WWII memorial sites to remind us, as if we needed it, of former failures of the politicians to do their jobs properly.  And they fail us still.

Enjoy your end of financial year from us here in zzzzzzzz Domme.

Out of Italy

Luck can run with you sometimes. It is by putting yourself in the frame and going for the desired outcome that you can win. 

 

And so it was with the duo when we awoke with bright sunshine throughout the Aosta Valley on the day we were leaving for France and after three indifferent weather days. By the civilised hour of 10am we had driven past Courmayeur to the end of the valley and were standing in the 80 person, 360 degree rotating, gondola heading up into the blue.

 

 Nothing short of fabulous.



There were relatively few people taking advantage of the day which was good for us as we wandered around the new system and the amazing views. The Matterhorn was clearly visible as was the French Auiguille de Midi viewing platform that we had visited a few years ago with friends Yvonne and George. Mont Blanc was glistening in the sunshine. A number of people were out walking through the snow on the mountainside. We could have stayed there for days - in those weather conditions of course.

 

 

 

So after that success we took the Mont Blanc tunnel before stopping for lunch in Chamonix. From there it was a gradual descent into France and the areas around Lyon where we spent the night before moving further west to Clermont Ferrand and our last stop before reaching the Dordogne.

 

End of Italy and start of our French summer.

Life is what you make it, she said

"I'm bored", he said. "Life is what you make it" she said.

 

Our plan was to spend a few days in the valley of Aosta on our way back into France; maybe to get back for another day in Turin; maybe do some more walking and maybe see part of an area we do not know. But we do not understand mountainous areas and we have left spare time to cover weather limitations. So we can lift the pedal off the trip accelerator and just let the world go by. But then we need to also cover off any tendency towards boredom.

 

 

A few days ago and reluctantly, the duo left the now familiar home in Saluzzo to head for the Italian Alps above Aosta. After a very steep ascent, some very tight corners and a struggling GPS, we finally arrived at our accommodation high, high above Aosta. One reward after climbing here are the views. Simply magnificent and photographs cannot do them justice.

 

 

We were warmly welcomed by our new hosts who are the third generation running this facility. They have it down pat and several languages too. There are many walks around here but we have discovered that walks here are goat tracks (to her), next to the cliff face and rather steep. Many people (ie the duo) walk on the narrow roads. As it happens we had three, fit looking, men walkers with us for our first night here but they did seem to be not so driven as we were in the Dordogne; ie shorter walking days (finishing at 2.30pm) and later start times. And they looked to be using plenty of local roads too.

  

A visit to the Italian ski resort town of Courmeyer gave us an interesting introduction to the end of the valley. It felt like the mountains were closing in on us as we drove towards Courmeyer and we thought we would just hit Monte Bianco and that would be the end of Italy and the start of France, And by now the connecting tunnel was somewhere beneath us. We are not used to this terrain and we find it difficult to keep our footing as we stagger around looking up towards to the heavens, the glaciers, the rocks and the clouds.

 

We return home each evening to a home cooked meal at the family run hotel as this is easier for us than climbing the slopes from nearby Aosta into the late evening. By now any idea of retreating out of the valley and visiting Turin again is out of the question.

We are keen to try the new Skyway, only opened a week or so ago. But on days one and two we had to abandon the idea, as we were advised we would be in cloud. This is the cable car on the Italian side of Mont Blanc and which took 15 years to design and three years to build. Our hosts have already been up last week in perfect weather and said it was simply breathtaking. We are finding that just from the ground the mountain views around this way are outstanding.

 

On our second day in Courmeyer we just had to investigate a construction that was projecting out over the hill tops. We found it was part of a natural adventure park and team building facility which gave us some amazing views of the towns below. Abseiling across the ravines is not for this team though.

 

On our way home we stopped in at a small town, Cogne, to find it a fascinating place and the possibility of some good walking in the valley, so we returned there for our last full day. On our way we called in to see a restored Roman aquaduct-Pont D'Ael. At Cogne we finally had our mountain walk at almost three hours heading deeper into a deep valley of the Grand Paradisimo national park and hoping to get closer to the glacier, but it didn't seem to get any closer.  Wonderful.

  

That means leaving Skyway until Wednesday when we should be leaving the Alps for France. But that is the way the penny drops sometimes and we have not been bored at all.

So she was right after all. As she always is.

An Italian gem

 

If we thought we had left Napoleon behind, we were wrong and he was still making his presence felt. 

 

 

As we slid back into mainland France, as two of the relatively few travellers on the Mega Express 5, the weather was becoming a little cooler and light rain was about. And driving through the hills behind Nice and heading towards Italy was an early reminder of Corsican winding roads, as if we needed that. With time on our side, we avoided the autoroutes and headed into the old Savoy areas, past towns we have never heard of, tucked away in the hills. Eventually we arrived in Saluzzo, our residence for the next four days. 

 

 

Hotel Antiche Mura is a very comfortable boutique place in a small city some kilometres south of Turin. Located in the foothills of the Po Valley and not far from the wine and produce areas around Asti and Alba. This small city is really quite a gem and much to our liking. With a strong historical background as a small principality before being forced into Savoy and then swallowed up by Napoleon for his few years of fame, Saluzzo is now blessed with a relaxed and quite graceful old city centre that is good for tourists like us to explore.

 

 

The high areas of the old town, once the domain of the church and military, are now the home of a couple of museums, a small art galley dedicated to artist Matteo Olivera and a very well presented old gaol covering the history of punishment. We enjoyed visiting these places and with great use of technology and video, we picked up a lot of interesting history. Although it was a little depressing to observe again and again, the realisation that humans tend to repeat experiences generation after generation without advancing very far. Exploitation of the masses, persecution of those who follow different ways, suppression of the underclasses, political hamfistedness and eventually a little progress for all.

So far, we have spent just one day in Turin, due to a train strike. We spent a few hours tracing history from pre Napoleon times through to just after WWI in the Risorgimento Italiano museum. An overwhelming collection of material with thankfully plenty of videos to explain events and artifacts. Giuseppe Garibaldi and others eventually appearing to claim victory for Italy and democracy.

From there we made our way to the Mole Antonelliana, a very striking building with a panoramic lift and a terrific museum on the history of cinema which we enjoyed for several hours also. For us, it was a fascinating comparison with the similarly themed museum in Melbourne which is much more gimmicky and game oriented in our opinion. More Hollywood in Melbourne, more drama and human experience in Italy, both reflecting the very different cultural experiences of each country

  

So having happily explored the gem of Saluzzo.... ..... Oh, I almost forgot to mention, Saluzzo is where the story of Giselda (or wife testing) emerged. A very interesting story in the history of the development of women as individuals in their own right. And as that story continues, we are preparing to move to Aosta and further into the Italian Alps. The weather is likely to be marginal at best, at least for the next few days. We are hoping to do some summer walking around Aosta but we will see what happens about that.

Exit from Corsica

 

 

We are big users of booking.com and it has worked well for us. But we were not too sure that we had overstepped the mark when heading for our Bastia hotel which we thought was just outside the city. In Corsica, this means mostly in the hills, as hills are the dominant feature here, going almost to the waterline

 



 

We eventually reached our Hotel de la Corniche (clue here in the name) perched high above the surrounding area with views almost to Italy. From the hotel balcony we could easily see the island of Elba where friend Nap had rested up for a few days before making his short lived comeback and, like Mick Malthouse, met his Waterloo. (Pity Carlton did not keep young Mick as he was doing so well!).

  

We had enjoyed our brief stay in Ajaccio and found it to be a pretty relaxed and friendly city. A brief walk around the old genoese town taking in the good city beaches with plenty of Corsicans enjoying the water. A walk along the port area to our waterfront lunch. A spot of shopping in the late afternoon including a visit to an art gallery. A quiet dinner with a few locals as Barcelona was winning the European club championship and then our time was up.

 

In the morning it was an easy escape from Ajaccio (Sunday morning-no trafffic) and then we were headed cross country on the one national standard road. We stopped mid way for a break and a short walk to take in the national park and then it was time to head for Bastia (150 kms from Ajaccio to Bastia, so not far).

At Hotel de la Corniche we enjoyed our balcony view and dinner high above Bastia. Then early next day we ventured into central Bastia for our city tour. It was a little hot and uncomfortable by the early afternoon and at that stage we think we had Bastia covered. Breakfast in the central square area facing the port. A walk through the old town and down to the old port area. Then a quiet lunch in the market area. And that was enough for us. Bastia looks to be the 'working area and port' for Corsica to us, with our limited time and knowledge.

 

Time to retire into the hills and the swimming pool for some relief from the heat.. It was Monday and of course our family hotel was essentially closed which is a much antiquated and out of step cultural French habit that can be annoying. This semi closure also meant bringing something light to eat from Bastia for our evening meal. To compliment that we walked down to the local hameau hotel/restaurant for a farewell drink and a few final moments in the early evening before our self imposed exile.

 

Up with the birds for our ferry back to Nice and then Corsica was all over. We had thoroughly enjoyed all of our short visit and we were very impressed by local pride, friendly people, low visibility of tourist traps and the great weather.

 

We might not make it back here, at least for quite a while, and now for a break in culture we are headed for Italy and our week or so there. Apparently some storms are gathering over France, a country struggling with economic, political and social changes but which nevertheless we still enjoy.

 

Corsica rocks

At almost six hours by car ferry on a glassy Mediterranean Sea, we felt we were leaving France. But we were immediately charmed by Calvi when we landed around 8 pm. From the wonderful smile on arrival at hotel reception, a captivating port area with the look and feel very similar to Hania in Crete and, unlike Greece and Turkey especially, an absence of commercial exploitation,      We were immediately impressed by the place.

 

 

So after settling in (one of us unpacks and stores everything at each hotel), we drifted down into town and our evening meal at one of the portside restaurants. Calvi is so relaxed and very natural even with tourists. Once again many millions wrapped up in yachts, which never ceases to amaze one of us.

 

The autoroute run from Uzes to Nice, at a little over 300 kms, was timed to perfection with about 20 minutes of travel time budget left on arrival at the port in Nice. A slow drive along the Promenade des Anglais and then a short wait to board the ferry. Perfect timing, if not really allowing much time for slippages. Happy duo. On board we read and dozed for quite a while before watching a bit of Djokovic seeing off Nadal in awesome fashion.

 

 

In the morning and after a portside breakfast, we observed the tourists, mostly French with a few northern Europeans thrown in, heading off for boating day trips along the coast. From breakfast we steadily climbed up through Calvi fort area for magnificent views over the area. Along the way we found a restaurant in a great setting with panoramic views and, despite being believers that there is an inverse relationship between restaurant views and quality of food and service, we made a booking for dinner that evening.



 

 

Day tour over we completed the mandatory wander through the shopping area - reminded us quite a bit of some parts of Greece - lots of small shops hiding in shady streets.

 

In the afternoon we drove over to L'Ile de Rousse where we had a swim in the to die for water and lazed around. We thought about but did not take the quite unique train which runs along this part of the coast.

 

  

And we did have an enjoyable dinner that evening at the best table on the balcony and the fare was pretty good.

 

 



But this is travel, not summer holidays in France, so it was time to move on. We were up for the 3-4 hour drive from Calvi to Ajaccio through the corsica rocks and our next city visit.

There were many big, coloured and quite strong looking mountains of rock on the road. And more than enough brave and courageous cyclists looking, and getting, quite a challenge. A road too small for large vehicles and engineered by people who like creating narrow curves made for lots of concentration. Not enhanced by the navigator almost hanging out of the car taking rock photos of course.

We also encountered a stream of at least 15 or more Porsches (mainly red) out for their training drive. Now we find out they were heading for an event in Bastia Friday evening.

From time to time one of us had entertained the idea to walk the GR20 which runs most of the length of Corsica. Not any more. The mountains are too tough, the terrain very dry and very few people about. We did see a few walkers but we also saw hitch hikers looking for a way out of the place. Ah well, perhaps the GR20 in the next life.

 By lunch we had earned our break in Porto, a slice of heaven. And from there it was not too long and we were in Hotel Napoloeon, just off Cours Bonaparte, museum Napoleon, house Napoleon, restaurant Bonaparte in Ajaccio. And another good day was had by all.

On first glance, Ajaccio is like other French cities. Feels a little like Sete and a little like Bordeaux. Quite grimy in places with an old city centre and surrounded by lots of high rise. But we always try and give new places a day or so before firming up views so we will have more to say about Ajaccio in our next blog.

But for now we are happy enough with a Brumbies win, a Toulon loss and an open mind for the french tennis titles in what seems to have been a great tournament.

And France is now covered in sunshine. What more could you want?