Blog Ani i Radka
On day two we went to Château de Versailles. Five years ago we saw only the gardens around the castle, we didn’t dare to queue to see le Château. So this time we did the other part – only the castle – without the gardens. After visiting the royal chambers I have a feeling of relief I’m not a queen. But the ornaments were stunning – no doubt about that.
In the evening (after taking some rest) we went to see Paris at night. L’arc de Triomph makes a perfect view point for that. So romantic…
An exciting week in Paris ahead of us. We decided to revisit the city of love, which was our destination 5 years ago for our honeymoon. This time we went with a pair of friends who have never visited the city, so we did a couple of must-sees as well as some not obvious choices for tourists. But of course, the first day was devoted only to grasping the spirit of the city by walking to and fro. Because of my condition, I sometimes had to pass on certain attractions and stay in countless cafes or parks while the rest went sightseeing, but that was fine too – I had a possibility to have a look at the details.
Our first spot to see was l’Arc de Triomph, from where we took Avenue des Champs-Élysées to reach the centre of Paris with Louvre and numerous palaces (there were so many of them I somehow lost track – anyway – we didn’t pass by all of them).
When we reached Roue de Paris we didn’t think long. Five minutes later we could marvel at the roofs of Paris from a comfy Paris eye.
After the ride we found ourselves just in front of the Louvre square from where we moved to the Pont des Arts which is also known as a Love Bridge full of emblems of infinite bond and happiness – padlocks with names of the lovers.
It was already a bit late so we headed to a restaurant to try some cuisses de grenouilles (frog legs). After that I was a bit too tired to continue, so I let Radek and friends see the Eiffel Tower and watched photos later. Lovely as usual.
Twelfth of September I went to Berlin for a rock concert of a band called TenaciousD. This is my favorite still living band so I had waited for this moment for ages. Unfortunately I could’t share this music experience with Ania because of her health issue 😉 but one of my best friends with whom I discovered TenaciusD joined me in Berlin and we went to concert together.
To summarize it was the greatest concert in the world.
Also because of flight schedule we had two days to enjoy and see Berlin. I have never liked Berlin because it is not enough „exotic” to me. Except small part of the city center it is like my home city – just bigger.
Two days is just perfect to see all important points of Berlin. Fortunately we had just perfect weather for sightseeing so we could walk all the time.
Today we went to see Fort l’Ecluse that was built somewhere in the 17th century. Now it sits by the Swiss border (but still on the French side) and is open to tourists and climbers. In fact, it seemed like yesterday there were more of the second kind, people with ropes climbed the via ferrata that goes up the rock to the top. Well, although it looks pretty awesome, we chose the stairs 🙂 And there were 820 of them! But before reaching the terrace, we made a tour round the low-level chambers filled with art exhibitions.
From the terrace we had a nice view on the surrounding Swiss and French valleys. There was also a nice breeze, so we stayed for a longer while to cool down after a long stairs climb.
We decided not to wait for the perfect air clarity in order to go to a téléphérique du Salève, which is a cable car that goes on the top of Salève mountain, known as the balcony of Geneva. Indeed, one can see the whole city from the station, as well as a good deal of Lac Leman shore.
A cable car ride is fun of its own, it goes very quickly and steeply. When we reached the top we headed staright to a view point on Mont Blanc, which was situated 15 minutes away walking from the main station. The mountain was a bit covered by the clouds, we tried to wait for the wind to blow them away, but it didn’t look like that, so we came back to the station site to watch para-gliders and Geneva.
There was a nice event organised by our group leader – Le Reculet challenge. One could take part in a race to the top, but there were only a few daredevils. The rest hiked in their own pace and waited for the contstants at the top. After everyone reached the cross, we took a photo and went on to a mountain hut for some yummy raclette and jolly singing. Some stayed for a night, others went down in the darkness. Fun evening indeed.
Today I went for a brief hike in Plateau de Solaison. I chose this destination because I was intrigued by a Saint Marry statue on the top. Also, it was said to be a very fast and easy hike -exactly what I need. I started from Plateau de Solaison, already pretty high up, and followed a narrow and pretty steep footway staright to the top. There were no spectacular views on the way up, maybe except a lot of wildlife.
From the top there was a nice view on the valley with Bonnevillle (Prettytown) and the surrounding mountains. I stayed for quite some time there before descending, having a bite of a sandwich and enjoying mild breeze. It’s a pity that the clarity of air was not perfect, because normally I could see the Alps far far away. Maybe the next time.
Today we celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. We set out to Geneva, to a ceremonial dinner in a restaurant and a walk downtown. We made a short recollection what has happened in the past five years and I have to say, quite a bit. We both hope that the next five years will be even more fruitful.
The day was exceptionally hot, even after the sunset, so our walk was rather lazy. We stopped by an embankment quite often to admire the view on the city and enjoyed the splash of the water under the fountain. Lovely evening.
Today I went to see Lac d’Arvouin and to climb Pointe d’Arvouin (2021 m) towering above the lake. I chose this route because it was a relatively fast one and lakes are always cool. Pointe d’Arvouin (2021 m) is a peak in Cornettes de Bise mountains which make up a natural border between Switzerland and France. The climbing path is on the French side though.
I started already from the hight of ~1600 m and it took 30 minutes on a mostly flat terrain to get to the lake. I admired already nice views and blossoming slopes of the surrounding mountains.
There were quite a few people picnicing by the lake. The mood around was party-like, people laughed and chatted quite loudly (especially by the chalets – mountain huts), dogs swam in the lake, children dipped their toes in a stream, etc. I sat by the lake for a while to gather strengths before climbing higher. It was really hot, so any piece of shadow was appreciated.
Since there was no official trail to Point d’Arvouin, frankly speaking I didn’t know exactly which way to chose. I could go right through col de Savalenaz or left through col de Serpentin. I chose the latter and proceeded up a moderately steep slope. When I reached the col I had some nice view both, on the lake valley and on the Cornettes de Bise mountains.
From col de Serpentin I followed a wild trail up the mountains (there were no signs whatsoever that that was a trail, but I could see people walking down that little path from the top, so I hoped it was a good sign). I thought it would be possible to go on the mountain tops to reach Pointe d’Arvouin. The higher up the wilder the footway became. In the end it really looked like a goat trail or something, but it was not really long, so I proceeded up. I was hoping to reach to a better path on the top. Well, vein hopes… Instead, what I found at the top was… a chasm! It was pretty scary, with no protection from falling whatsoever. There was also no trail to the actual Pointe d’Arvouin which was situated just ~100 m away and ~80 m up. So, yet again, although I was very close, I didn’t reach the actual top I was aiming for. But the view was nice anyway, so I spent some time in a safe distance from the chasm and looked over and back to French and Swiss side. At this height it was already nice and cool, so I took my time before following the same route to the car.
Chasm:
With the weather pampering us for the past weeks, we do trips every weekend. This time we went to Yvoire, small town at the south shore of Geneva Lake, well-known for its medieval town and Garden of Five Senses. Having entered inner area encircled by an old wall, we headed straight to the Jardin des Cinq Sens (the garden). We haven’t seen it yet so I was pretty curious what will await us inside.
In principle, the garden is design in a labyrinth-like manner with different „garden chambers”. There are: alpine garden, undergrowth, maze, meditation place, garden of taste, garden of smell, garden of touch, garden of sight, garden of hearing. The last ones are the most interesting. In garden of taste you can find edible plants, in garden of smell one should rub the leaves of the plants to sense different smells, in garden of touch one will find funny texture plants (like with spikes, silky smooth, sticky etc.), garden of sight is a treat for our eyes, since it’s all colored in blue, velvet and rose and the garden of hearing is basically a fountain. All in all, I enjoyed all of them.
After a visit in the garden we did a tour – by the medieval castle, to the lake side and through the quaint village. Surprisingly, there were no so awfully lots of tourists, so we enjoyed strolling down the little lanes covered with flowers.
