2023 European adventure with campervan

 

 

A few month before our departure, we had made a reservation for a campervan in Switzerland, close to Zuerich.  Our Swiss friend Peter had recommended a local company, and indeed, this company (Mietmobil Fuchs) worked out very well for us.

Leaving Kingston, we left our car at home as we were going to be away for 6 weeks! We took FlixBus  to the Toronto Airport: this was going to be the first of many trips with the German FlixBus company!

Since there were only 2 buses going straight to Toronto Pearson so we arrived very early at the airport, meaning: it was going to be a very long day!

We flew with Condor Airlines to Frankfurt (Saturday September 16) and opted to take FlixBus to Zuerich, via Freiburg, where we had planned to stay 2 nights to recover from our jetlag, and to meet some "old" friends.

Although  our hotel (Novotel) was located just in front of the Flixbus Haltestelle in Freiburg we walked by the hotel without noticing it.  I guess: Jetlag!!! Anyhow, after we noticed something does not jibe (a couple of 100 meters, or so!) we had to walk back to the hotel, pulling our heavy luggage!  Really!!!

 But not deterred, and after a hot shower, we headed towards downtown where we enjoyed a dish a large fries and local beers. We had arrived!  Travel time to beer: 30 hours!

Next day was dedicated to the acquisition of a SIM card. Getting a Sim card in Germany is a bit more difficult, let's say, compared to Spain, or Portugal. First, one has to get a card (pre-paid) starter kit/Sim card, then one has to set-up an account and register the card - via Wifi (Hotel or coffee shop). After that, one has to initiate a video call (Wifi again) to confirm your identity.  After that, the card will become active within a day or two, or earlier?  If you are not fluent in German, the process might become a bit of a challenge ... 

 

Based on our research, some discounters had promising offers (LIDL, ALDI, Norma).  We decided on LIDL ... It was a rainy morning and we walked to the LIDL closest to our hotel in search of the "LIDL Connect Starter Kit". No luck. All cards were sold out.  

 

Then we made our way to the next LIDL, this one a bit further away. The weather was mild, although still rainy, and we did not mind getting some exercise after the long periods of sitting in the plane and busses. Alas, no cards were to be found here as well. 

 

Heiner was getting ready to walk through town in search of the elusive card.  Fortunately, by now it was time for a coffee and some warm up/drying out, I suggested to call our friend Erik.  Ha!!!  This proved to be the right strategy. Erik is an technology whiz (among other things) and he helped us tremendously by organizing/lending us a Norma SIM card with a great package, which included Internet access in Switzerland (Switzerland is not an EU member, so EU wide roaming typically does not include Switzerland. The Norma card offered, however, had data access. We will remember for next time!!!).  We were so thankful!  Erik: be assured, we will contact you right away with any technical questions in the future.

We were relieved and, before our late afternoon get together with Erik and his family, we strolled around Freiburg, one of our favorite places in Germany. 

 

 

 

 Erik and Sabine live in Freiburg Altstadt. Sabine made us discover areas of Freiburg such as this vineyard in Colombi Park and other little know corners. We then had at dinner at their place with amazing Flammkuchen and wine. The kids were entertaining as always! Oh, I forgot: for dessert, Sabine bought Kaesekuchen from the St. Stefan Backery, just for us! It was amazing! Thank you Sabine and Erik for your warm welcome! It was so much fun that we promised to be back in Freiburg at the end of our camping trip.

On Tuesday, September 19, we left Freiburg and traveled to Switzerland with FlixBus, of course. We love their network all over Europe! Our friends Peter and Ruth were to pick us up at the Zuerich Busbanhof: with their Ducato Campervn. Not a small feat when you know how congested the centre of Zurich is nowadays! Construction sites everywhere! A zoo! The weather was nice and it was a great trip to their house.  They have been very helpful in gathering all our Amazon deliveries for us: Bedding, pillows, books, you name it. When we  saw our “stuff” in their guest room, we had a bit of a shock, especially when thinking that we had to bring all that back to Canada . 

That day, we enjoyed Swiss hospitality (A raclette with excellent Swiss cheese and red wine). and next morning, after a very restful night, we got up early in order to pick up our camper at Fuchsmobile before noon. We had a quick introduction to the Knaus Family Boxstar by the manager Karen Fuchs after which we drove to the very picturesque Unteraegeri campsite to spend the afternoon and the evening with Peter and Ruth. And Peter wanted to make sure we had all the needed information on our rental vehicle - he drives a similar Ducato campervan.

The weather was great and the lake beautiful. Although we had made a quick shopping trip to Lidl Schweiz, none of us felt like cooking a meal that night. So, we ate dinner at the campsite restaurant before retiring for a good night sleep.  

One day later, we said goodbye to Peter and Ruth and Heiner began his Swiss alps driving training with the camper!  Our first night was to be in Hospental at a restplatz overlooking idyllic green pastures. 

 

Rain began to fall and next day, we drove over the Furka pass in a misty and gray weather. At that time of the year, cattle are being led to lower altitudes and witnessing such a convoy was quite something. 

Another surprise was to drive the serpentines of the Furkapass. Indeed, Furka Pass at an elevation of 7,969 feet (2,429 meters) is Switzerland's fourth-highest mountain pass. Its breathtaking winding roads  connect Gletsch, Valais, with Realp, Uri.   Goldfinger, a James Bond movie made in 1964, iconized this very alpine road.

Video of Furka Pass: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzGvibSz5lE&t=77s

This video gives a pretty good idea of pass driving - ok, nervermind: the road section in this movie shows actually the wider and less steeper stretch of the pass, the road leading up to the Bond-stretch was much narrower, with tight switch backs. At times, there were no side borders. If one is not careful here, it goes a long way down!  

And the Hotel Belvédère is still standing. It closed down in 2016 mainly because the glacier (Rhonegletscher) that was adjacent to it melted a bit too fast! 

Another hotel along the way ...

 https://www.uniqhotels.com/hotel-belvedere-rhonegletscher#:~:text=Hotel%20Belv%C3%A9d%C3%A8re%20is%20located%20close,(cave)%20used%20to%20be.

 We spend a couple hours in beautiful Brig to stretch our legs (and arms from all the steering!).

That night we went to another aire on a large parking area on the Simplon pass. The air was cold and next morning, we saw our first fresh snow on the mountain peaks.

The landscapes was just breathtaking!

Our board computer informed us that over the last few days we drove at an average speed of 33km/h! Mhhmm!

 

 

We continued to drive along the beautiful road, E62. Our first destination in Italy is Lago d’Orta, a small and pittoresque lake adjacent to the large and well known Lago Maggiore. Italia!!! Fittingly, we arrived on a sunny and warm Saturday afternoon!!!

An Italian wedding was being celebrated at a hall besides the campsite! Music and joyful clamors were very entertaining! The campsite was huge and was built in a series of terrasses which thrilled Heiner! But, he managed to park the vehicle with elegance! We stayed 3 nights at the campsite and met a friendly German couple - Claudia and Gerd - whose camper was parked besides ours. We had great times together.

Orta San Giulio is a charming town, and has a nice atmospshere on Sunday especially at the waterfront where tourists and locals enjoy their meals at the terrasse or simply an ice cream, like we did. We walked around the lake, meandered through the town small streets.

A morning ferry ride to Pella on the other side of the lake gave us a nice perspective of the lake. But Pella was really very, very quiet.  We were delighted to meet Claudia and Gerd again and discussed some local hikes along the lake.  However, we discovered that the ferries were running on a reduced schedule, and we better head back to Orta before we get stranded in this "dead" village until the evening. 

 

In the evening, we could not resist the lake and went for a swim in this delightful environment.

The main attraction of Orta San Giulio is Sacro Monte di Orta, a devotional complex on the summit of a hill known as San Nicolao. It is one of the Sacred Mounts of Piemonte and Lombardy and it is included in UNESCO World Heritage list. Here is a list of all other sacred mountains...for future references! The Sacred Mountains (sacri-monti.com)

Back to the Sacred Mount of Orta San Giulio: its construction began in 1583 and was dedicated to St. Francis of Assisi. The complex involved 36 chapels, of which only 20 were built (we visited them all!). Until 1630 they were mostly in the Mannerist style: the life sized personages are special in that they really felt reel! The grounds of the Sacro Monti are beautifully manicured and we spent numerous hours walking from one chapel to the other. Another walk from our campsite brought us to Ameno, up a hill, 200m above our campsite) from which we had wonderful views of Lago d'Orta. Here was also a Sanctuary, namely Il Santuario della Madonna della Bocciola. The sanctuary was built where tradition attributes the setting for a miracle: in 1543 the Virgin Mary appeared to a young shepherdess, Giulia Manfredi, and told her that she would help the village the inhabitants prayed and, since then, did not work on Saturdays.

 After 4 days in Orta we left for Alba, the truffle capital of Italy. We drove the SP229, and again, enjoyed great weather. Being the capital of truffles, Alba had very many gourmet food shops. We visited the cathedral San Lorenzo and strolled the numerous arcades, looking at the very distinguished white truffle shops. We sat down late afternoon for a cappuccino and enjoyed looking at the elegant Italians for la passeggiata.  The aires, located close to downtown and the train station, was a great place to spend the night.  We did not realize that the train leaves about every 30min for Turin from here.  If we would have known that, we would have liked to spend more time here to explore Turin.  Turin was on our list of places to visit.  Unfortunately, reports of numerous vandalisms to campers at parking lots/aires made us change our mind. We felt safe in Alba, though.

 

 

On our way to Saluzzo, we enjoyed visiting unexpected places along the way, especially because in some of them it was market day. Like in Bra for example.  

Saluzzo is truly in the heart of Piemonte and we enjoyed the green mountains with a hint of yellow at higher altitudes; it was the season of chestnuts, hazelnuts, truffles, all good stuff.  The municipality proved a great place to park our campervan for the night, for free, and a in park like setting!  In Saluzzo, we discovered a chick pea flour pie Farinata that the lady at the pasticceria gave me free of charge for a tasting (I told her that I was Canadian and did not know what farinata meant...). I loved it..Heiner not so much. However, we both  very much enjoyed a large piece of cake made with fresh hazelnuts and prunes: Torta d Nocciole. Delicious and very filling...it gave us enough energy to climb up the hills surrounding Saluzzo for a beautiful views of the surrounding country sides.

Before we meet Heiner's cousin and his wife in Garessio, we decided to spent another night in the Piemonte mountains. The drive there was a bit of a challenge: the GPS send us over the mountains on roads which were barely as wide as our van.  But the views were phantastic!!! The aire itself was  spectacular, but we almost missed it because it was not well marked. Our GPS coordinates seem to want us to follow a local lane up a steep mountain, but soon realized that this could not be the way. Indeed, after asking a local for some information, we were told to turn around (!!!) and head down the hill in the opposite direction. It was worth all the stress, however. Frassino "aera di sosta" offered very spacious parking sites, under trees, with washrooms for a mere 2 Euros/night. The village is located on the river Melle, and we enjoyed a long walk along the river and up into the mountains.  Ok, our trusted hiking app, Komoot, send us astray and onto so-called trails which did not seem to exist.  Scratched, bruised and burned by nettles, we made it back... 

 

Later that evening, a charming French couple, Olivier and Marie, arrived with whom we had lively discussions.

The aire in Garessio was, unfortunately, not as pretty as Frassino . But that is where Rudi (Heiner's cousin) and Sabine were able to join us! They were also holidaying in Italy and we agreed to attempt a meeting before they go back home north, and we drive further south, We both arrived in Garessio within 5 minutes of each other (German planning?).  We spent the afternoon/evening together, what fun we had!

After a long breakfast and more chatting, we continued to drive on the SS582 to the province of Liguria, direction Albenga.  While driving through this beautiful Piemont landscape, we noticed a medieval village with walls and towers and decided to stop for a visit. The village of Zuccarello is situated within the province of Savona and has a population of around 300 residents. It is listed as one of the most beautiful villages in Italy. 

After a nice walk through this medieval village, we make our way south towards the Mediterranean and decide to stop for 2 nights in Ceriale, a small seaside community with a pretty campsite. The owners and staff were very friendly. Mauro walked us around to show us the available sites and to assist with parking: this campsite has many trees that made parking RV's indeed a challenge! . He spoke numerous  languages and was very entertaining. 

 

From the campsite, a 20 minutes walk along rows and rows of greenhouses led to a busy and small beach. We really enjoyed swimming in the warm waters of the Med, floating in salt water, feeling "weightless"!  Marleyne was craving pizza!  WE foundd all kind of foods along the way - but no pizza! It is hard to believe, here, on our last days in Italy, it was the first time that we were able to enjoy a pizza. I guess northern Italy is a place for polenta and risotto. But pizza? NO! This pizza was quite delicious! 

Then, on to France, following the coastline. This stretch has has a lot of traffic, and we are familiar with this area. This time, however, and with our Knaus campervan, the stretch was really an ordeal, mostly due to the construction, congestions, numerous detours which led us onto very narrow and busy roads.  In addition, several construction sites in Nice where we missing exits…the whole thing was kind of nightmarish. Inded, the 101 kms from Ceriale to our aire in Roquebrune Cap Martin felt like 1000! But we were in for a wonderful treat: The  parking aire in Roquebrune was stunning. Set in a small village, high in the mountains, pastel coloured houses, a wide view on the bay of Monaco... delightful.

At night, we walked to the top of the hill about our parking space. The restaurant La Grotte et l'Olivier was on a plazza where a huge olive tree was illuminated. Above the plazza, the castle, also illuminated.  In fact, Roquebrune village is best known for, and dominated by, its castle. The was castle built in the 10th century to keep the saracens out and the castle donjon is thought to be the oldest in France.

 

The view over the bay of Monaco was splendid!

A new segment of our trip was in der Haute-Provence, a region that we were not familiar with and wanted to get to know a bit better. Now we know that this region has so much to offer that one could spend an entire month exploring its villages and its gorges.  

We first settled in Castellane, at the Camping Notre-Dame.  Such a pittoresque small camping of 48 sites from which we could walk to Castellane and with a small river adjacent to it that emtied itself into the famous Verdon river. The campsite was owned by a French family. Eric was very welcoming and informed us upon arrival that next day was market day in Castellane, an event not to be missed. 

 

Ah, the market of Castellane! We indulged: bought a tome de saucisson aux herbes de provence, olive tapenade, and sundried tomatoes tapenade. Of course, we needed bread to match these delicacies. Castellane artisan bakery had an amazing choice of bread loaves. We bought a bread made with local flour (farine artisanale only available in Castellane area) as well as a sourdough bread. Both absolutely delicious.


After a copious lunch, we hiked to a chapel located on top of a high hill. Marleyne was not so sure she would manage this climb...Notre-Dame du Roc seemed unaccesible!

Surprisingly, the hike was not difficult at all. Castellane is located at 724 meters above sea level...and the Chapel 184 meters higher. A long winding path led to the chapel - which was closed unfortunately at the time of our visit.  This chapel was rather modest in appearance (it was destroyed during the wars of religion, built and rebuilt on several occasions.   

Castellane, seen from the chapel, is very pittoresque. The name Castellane appeared in texts for the first time circa 965–977 as Petra Castellana. The name in Occitan means fortified rock and village, and could be translated as "Castellane rock".  The area, so peaceful today, was the site of many battles and its inhabitants have witnessed incessant military conflicts from 6000 years B.C. up to the  Second World War. 

Castellane is located upstream of the Gorges du Verdon. The Verdon Gorge is a river canyon of about 25 km long and up to 700 metres (0.4 mi) deep. It was formed by the Verdon River, which is named for its turquoise-green colour, one of the location's distinguishing characteristics. In between the towns of Castellane and Moustiers-Sainte-Marie, the river has cut a ravine to a depth of 700 meters through the limestone mass. At the end of the canyon, the Verdon flows into the artificial Lake of Sainte-Croix. No words can describe the beauty of these Gorges where we hiked for several hours, sometimes in totally dark and unlit tunnels, at other times on the pebble beach lining the Verdon. 

Our hike stopped where the Sentier Blanc-Martel began. This path was
was laid out in 1928 by the Touring Club de France. It was named in 1930 to honor the explorer Édouard-Alfred Martel (1859–1938)who, together with 7 other men successfully completed the first expedition of the Verdon Canyon. Still today, this path is to be accessed with caution...13 km road with no possibilities to exit or escape! Heiner did go for about 50 meters up  and would have loved to hike it! 

After these memorable days in Castellane, we decide to stretch our legs a bit and head west towards the Pyrenées (Lourdes).  Driving, over a couple of days 700+km was to enable us to explore different regions of southern France.  

Leaving Castellane, we headed for Cucuron and traveled along the gorges du Verdon . Lac Sainte-Croix at the end of the Gorges, is artificial: it has been built in the 1970's in order to fulfill the always growing requirements in water and electricity of the population in the area. 

We traveled the D952 to Moustiers Sainte Marie, Riez, etc…up to Cucuron. Cucuron is a picturesque, walled medieval village located on the southern edge of the Luberon mountains in the Vaucluse. 

Its gentle slopes, vineyards and olive trees plantations as well as a large bassin, lined with platane trees and cafés make of Cucuron a typical southern France village!

We made a halt near Sète and spent the night at a small campsite in Loupian. The menu of the camping restaurant listed mussels! Oh! we love mussels! That night, we exceptionally "dined out" and enjoyed the fresh local mussels and a glass of local white wine.

Before continuing our road trip towards Minerve and Lagrasse, Marleyne walked to the village of Loupian next morning in order to buy a fresh baguette. It was a beautiful walk in the sunshine, along vineyards from the camping municipal to the village of Loupian. The massive église Sainte-Cécile de Loupian erected in the 14th century  was built outside the village because 3 centuries earlier, there had been a benedictine abbey on that specific site. 

In the village, much has been preserved. These are beautiful arches reinforcing stone walls erected in the 14th century. 

Following the suggestions of our WoMo guides, we headed for Minerve. We went to their suggested Aires, paid our 9 Euros for 24h parking (!!!);  although we were not so found of the place because  the terrain was rough, uneven, and very exposed. A bit of a shame to charge so much money to park there. Anyhow, we decided to use that parking facility and walk from there to Minerve.

Located 25 km northwest of Narbonne on a steep and rocky hill Minerve was a powerful Cathar city during the Middle Ages. In the early 13th century, a group of Cathars escaped from persecution and found refuge in this heavily fortified village. It took the brutal Simon de Montfort six weeks of siege, and eventually the villagers gave in after a catapult (or trébuchet) bombardment destroyed the only well in the village. Following the surrender of the town, 140 Cathars were burned at the stake.

About the replicate of a trébuchet erected on the site opposite to the city walls: A trebuchet is a type of catapult that uses a long arm to throw a projectile. It was commonly used until the advent of gunpowder. The design of a trebuchet allowed it to launch projectiles of greater weights and further distances than that of a traditional catapult.

We enjoyed walking all around the town battlements although the pathways were made of very shiny and slippery round stones...

We decided to leave the Minerve aires and opted to overnight in Lagrasse.  Landscapes changed between Minerve and Lagrasse. The first impressions of the Corbieres mountain range became visible. This magnificent region of France is well know for its wines, its herbs and olives, its honeys. The region is really magical. We hiked through the hilly surroundings of Lagrasse.

Here we see the river l'Orbieu and the profile of the large and imposing Abbaye de Sainte-Marie de Lagrasse, a Benedictine abbaye founded in the 8th century, but who now presents great diversity in architectural styles (modification and additions up until the 18th century). The abbey is now experiencing a renaissance thanks to a community of canons (Chanoines) who took residence in the church in 2004. They are financed by several organisations to restore different part of the abbaye. 

Lagrasse has been classified as one of the most beautiful villages in France and as an artisan city. Only 900 inhabitants constitute Lagrasse's population nowaday.

When we visited, the town was very, very quiet, especially in the afternoon. From 12h30 to 16h30 nothing is going on. Luckily, we had made sandwiches that morning and we ate them in absolute silence in the covered market square. 

The Office de Tourisme was opened, however, and we went in to visit an exhibition on the decoration of Lagrasse's homes (ceilings and walls) with medieval illustrations. 

Lourdes was our next destination.  Finally we were going to be soon in sight of the Pyrenées. 

It was Heiner's wish to see this (infamous - M writing ...) pilgrimage site. The camping site (Camping du Loup) was beautiful. In the evening, we heard the hymn Ave Maria resonating through the mountains, how fitting, and moving. We used the hiking path from our campsite to reach Lourdes.  Some pilgrims were on site, but the town  itself was pretty quiet. Many restaurants were closed for the season, but most souvenirs shops were open. Among other things:  one could buy empty plastic bottles/containers to collect holy water from the wells around the grotto. We had our own bottles for drinking with us.  And refilling those, I think, there is nothing wrong with drinking holy water for refreshment! Right! As a matter of fact, we think that it helped Heiner's with his persistent cough!  It was gone the next day. Unfortunately, so was the water, in case we had further ailments. We spent the day visiting the sites, including the cathedral, the grotto, but also a museum displaying the photos and stories of individuals who were reportedly "cured" after bathing in holy (and ice cold) water. Heiner  was tempted to take a bath ...

Next we were driving on towards Spain.  Before we land at the Canfranc Estacion , we discovered the Béarn Pyrenées region. We stopped at the Plateau du Benou where cattles and horses roamed freely in a beautiful and limitless pasture.  We also dicovered a little fromagerie that sold a very special sheep cheese called Ossau Iraty made from unpasteurized pressed sheep milk. I bought 2 kinds, as the sheep grazed on 2 different kind of grasses and flowers; one was aged one year more than the other. They both were so delicious that I could not choose which one I liked best! These 2 large pieces cost only 7 euros! I should have bought all available! This is a region that we would like to visit again.!

 

Sheep herds are being brought to lower altitudes! 

We only had a short stay in Spain where we spend one night at the famous Canfranc train station.  We had seen pictures of this colossal, high-altitude, dead end, train station in various travel magazines, and were curious about this place.  The aire is part of the train station/park/hotel complex.  It is Sunday, it is October 12, a national holiday in Spain! Muchos gente! The aire was busy with families, it felt like staying in a small village, albeit on a parking lot .... 

Restaurants were busy, too. Nevertheless we managed to find a spot towards the end of town where we had our first calamaris! It was a bit chilly in the shade of the terrasse (1040 meters /3300 feet altitude) but we enjoyed our Spanish lunch.

 

Back to France in the Pyrenees in St Jean Pied de Port. This village is well known, as it constitutes the starting point for the Pilgrims of the Camino de Compostela. A very beautiful town and a very nice municipal campsite, where we spent 2 nights.

We had a taste of the gateau basque and chose the version with cherries! Amazing! Patisseries sell it everywhere but the recipe is secret! 

Starting slowly our return trip towards Switzerland, and on road to Labastide d'Armagnac, we visited small villages such as Salies de Bearn, Sauveterre de Béarn. 

And visited the tiny medieval village and fortress of Larressingle!

Before, we had a lovely overnight at "The Musée du Pruneau" in Agen, on the river Garonne .  If we had bikes with us, that would have been a area to explore.

Next destination is Dordogne. La Roque Gageac, and finally Sarlat. On the road to these destinations, we make a stop in Fraysinette in search of a bakery. This village has no bakery, no patisserie, only a depot de pain and it feelt a bit desolate. An imposing monument to WWII Nazi crimes committed here in the village reminded us of the past not so long ago....

La Roque Gageac was stunning! Given the number of huge parking areas around town (space for 1000s of cars), it seems to be appreciated by huge number of tourists during high season. We are off-season now, arrived early afternoon and had not problem finding a  spot at this very well situated parking aire overlooking the Garonne river. 

These boats named gabares traveling up and down the Garonne river were originally used to transport materials from one town to another. Today, they delight tourists ! The Quebec flag harboured by one of the gabare was a bit of a surprise: it was to highlight the fact that a very large number of the region inhabitants were sent to populate Nouvelle-France.

 

Before heading to Rocamadour, we decided to visit Sarlat-la-Canéda, the emblem city of the in Dordogne. Unfortunately, the rain made that day less enjoyable. But it was market day in Sarlat! The abundance and richness of the food was unbelievable! We can only imagine how it would have been without pouring rain! Foodies paradise!

We bought saucisson made with cèpes from this man. The taste was amazing. He actually showed us the size of cèpes gathered in that area: almost the size of a football!

And: Dordogne is the capital of foie gras! 

Sarlat is also famous for being a jewel of the middle-ages. The town developed around a large Benedictine abbey and with its 77 preserved historic monument, it is one of France most representative examples of 14th-century architecture. 

This Lanterne des Morts was erected in the middle of the Benedictine cemetery in the 12th century. Its silo like architecture is unique in France.

Other buildings were private hotels or residence of reputable families of the region. 

So, despite the rain, we saw and experienced a lot.

We left Dordogne and entered the "Lot" to visit the site of Rocamadour.  Within walking distance, we found a nice campsites.  Perfect for exploring this town. 

Rocamadour is an impressive pilgrimage site built into the walls of cliffs. In 1105, there was already a small chapel built on the premises. In the remainder of the 12th century, the fame of Rocamadour continued growing and pilgrims came from all over Europe to pay tribute to the Virgin Mary.  The statue of the Black Virgin dates from the 12th century.

It was a steep climb to go to this chapel (216 stairs) and this is where pilgrims began their act of repentance before praying to the Black Virgin.  We did too (?). There were escalators for the less able body minded ... but we needed the workout.

 

Of course, there are culinary delights in this region. The fromage Rocamadour is an Appellation d'Origine  Controlee product, which means that it has to be made with raw milk of goats feeding on the grass of the Causses du Quercy. In the 15th century, this Cabécou (in Occitan language) de Rocamadour was used as a currency to pay ones taxes! We certainly appreciated its taste with our saucisson de Sarlat and a good baguette. Each small cheese cost 75 cents ! A bargain!

From Rocamadour to Issoire, 258 km. This felt like entering the end of our trip, as we were driving north to  Auvergne and on to Switzerland We arrived early afternoon and had no difficulty finding a space in the aire. But around 17, the place was packed!  Many people were driving back to their homes in northern European. It was raining but we were cozy in our camper. Although Issoire seemed to offer pretty sights (canals throughout the city and a large cathedral) we only went for a short walk and enjoyed a quiet evening. 

Next stop was on another aire in Saint Quentin Fallavier. We were only 2 RVs spending the night on this large aire, in the sight of a castle ruins Chateau de Fallavier overlooking the very nice landscape of the Isère, an area unknown to us. Saint Quentin Fallavier is located ca.35 kms south east of Lyons. 

 

And just miles from Switzerland, we spent a night in Sciez on the Lac Léman at the camping de Sciez on the Lake Genéva or Lac Léman in French or Genfer See in German !  Very pleasant area where we walk around in the crisp air. 

We walked from the campsite and discovered a chateau! 

Before heading back to our Unteraegeri campsite, we made a last stop on a country road adjacent to the Swiss Autobahn with a magnificient view of the Lake Geneva. As the sun was shining and the next day was supposed to be rainy, we used the opportunity to test whether our newly bought bedding and other goodies fitted our luggage.  With some effort, everything seem to fit!

 

And next day, we were back at our initial campsite in Unterageri and. as forecasted, we had lots of wind and rain!!! This campsite is open all year long and we were surprised to find quite a number of families with kids living on site in their campers. For how long? This was end of October. Between rain showers, we walked to the village and had "Kaffee and Kuchen" in a local Café! Swiss prices are quite something, but it was worth it, and it felt nice to be outside the camper. The rain eventually stopped and we had a nice walk back to our campsite!

Next morning was quite cool and the sunlight on the lake was quite a sight! We had a fabulous drive to our "Kampervermieterin Karen Fuchs". Hard to believe that our trip had come to an end!

Frau Fuchs and her husband welcomed us, helped us to unload our belongings, and invited us to have a cup of coffee with them while we were waiting for our friend Peter's daughter, Tania.  She was to drive us back to Zuerich (all organized by Peter and Ruth, Swiss precision!) so that we could head back to Freiburg via FlixBus. Many heartfelt thanks to Tania for giving us this lift! 

Before heading back to Canada, we spent, once more, very nice days in Freiburg in the company of Eric, Sabine and kids.

It was already very christmassy in town: it was so nice to enjoy their company again, going to Strausswirthschaften together! It was also rainy in Freiburg but we nevertheless enjoyed our visit.

 

 

Then, surprise: our friend Uwe (we had studied together in Wuerzburg back in 1970s) came to Freiburg from Stuttgart to spend an evening with us and graciously offered to drive us to the Frankfurt Airport next morning!  Our friend looks, like us, a bit worn since then, but we all are still kicking! Let's keep going!

 

Danke Uwe!!!!