The Lows and Highs of France

Here is the story of my 5-day weekend. Sorry... this is a long one. Hopefully the pictures make it enjoyable! :)

DAY ONE

I arrived in FRANCE!!! I was so excited to be in a country where I actually spoke the language!!! (though I was also reminded of how rusty my spoken french is) But I was also terrified, because I was on a journey by myself, yet I was excited for the adventure. I arrived in Colmar, which was a beautiful little town, with typical French cobblestone streets that barely seemed wide enough for one car, and beautifully colourful houses. There was also a little section of the town called "Petite Venise" that was basically a Venice-like waterway running through Colmar, with boats and all. It was very pretty.

I took a bus from Colmar to Xonrupt where my camping site was. My bus driver was absolutely CRAZY honking at people, yelling, and going the wrong-way around round-a-bouts. Typical crazy French driver I guess. All along the highway there were caravans and campers already set up ready to watch the Tour go by the next day. Upon arrival in Xonrupt, I had about an hour walk to my campsite, so I walked and walked with my heavy bag. Finally, I arrived and it was such a beautiful location, right at the end of a the lake, with really nice and helpful people running the place. After setting up tent, I decided to enjoy the beautiful weather and go for a swim, and then dry off while walking around the lake. Going to bed that night I was very proud of myself for having successfully completed the first day of my solo journey. :)

Enjoying the sun by Lake Longemer on my first day.

DAY TWO

The second day started early. Way too early. I awoke around 4am to hear a storm billowing around me. Pelting rain, ferocious wind and an intense thunderstorm. As the thunder clashed and the lightening lit up my little tent, I wondered if my 28 CHF purchase would withstand this storm. After about 2 hours, the storm seemed to have passed, but the rain didn't give up. I wasn't discouraged though. I ate my breakfast and packed ready to hike up the mountain to watch the Tour. The walk up was very pleasant, as the rain had slowed and the Tour atmosphere was very encouraging. I spoke to many people along the side of the road, happy that I could communicate in French with them. Proudly wearing my Canadian flag on my back, most asked if I was from Quebec, which I took as a compliment that my French wasn't that terrible. :)

After 3 hours of walking I finally made it to the top of the 10km climb. There were tons of people, tons of cars and just a crazy atmosphere! I didn't want to stay at the top for the passing of the riders, so I headed back down the mountain. I found a nice spot to sit on the side of the road and stopped to have lunch. Upon stopping walking, I realized how absolutely freezing it was; with the rain, the altitude and the wind I could barely control my shivering. It would still be 2 hours before the riders past, and I knew I wouldn't make it that long, so although I wanted to be near the top, I had to keep walking. Thus I walked about another hour down before settling again. I realized that I enjoy traveling by myself. It is a peaceful and exhilarating experience. What I don't enjoy is being miserable by myself. Misery in company isn't too bad. Misery by yourself sucks. So I sat there on the side of the road, lonely, cold and miserable, wondering why the weather gods spited me so much.

And then came the CARAVAN!! About an hour or so before the riders, the caravan, basically a parade, comes through and they throw you free stuff. Hats, candy, chips, key chains, and random other miscellaneous things! I must have looked really pathetic, standing by myself at the side of the road, soaking wet because they threw me SO MUCH stuff!! Some of them would throw a handful of goodies to me! Plus I was waving my Canadian flag, so many of them commented on that. Definitely lifted my spirits.

One of the many Caravan vehicles.

Finally, the riders came. FWOOSH. And were gone. Honestly, seeing the bikers go by wasn't the most exciting part of the Tour for me on this day. It was more the atmosphere of being there amongst so many other fans that made it enjoyable for me. As I headed back down to my campsite, soaking wet in the rain, I wondered how my little tent was doing. Unfortunately I arrived to see that it had started leaking at the seams. So the inside was wet. I was so miserable and didn't want to sit in a cold, wet tent by myself, so instead I went to the camp bar and bought myself a beer. A very nice UK man sat with me and we chatted for over an hour. Again, a little bit happier and dryer, now I was ready for bed. As I was falling asleep, all I could hope for was no rain in the morning. I had to pack up at about 6:30 and walk the hour to Xonrupt to catch the bus. So as I laid there in my leaky tent (at this point the walls were oversaturated with water and had begun leaking as well), I just repeated over and over again that please please please let the rain be done in the morning. Pretty please with a cherry on top.





Me with a blurry passing peloton.

DAY THREE

Of course, it was still raining come morning. So I grudgingly got up and started packing. All my clothes were wet, which made them very cold. Even the inside of my rain jacket was damp and did nothing to keep me warm. But I trekked on. Packed up my bag, packed up my very wet tent and walked to Xonrupt, where I caught the bus back to Colmar. The tour wasn't as exciting this day because I was at the start town, but the atmosphere was even more crazy. Basically a huge party!! I walked to just outside the town to see the riders go by. I was standing on the shoulder of the road, taking pictures when I realized the peloton was heading right towards me and I had to jump out of the way!

Miserable start to Day three...

Just before I had to jump out of the way of the oncoming peloton!

Not wanting to stay in rainy Colmar, I headed to Bern (back in Switzerland) right away to get to my campsite there. I had picked my campsite in Bern just for the fact that it was close to the train station, and was a only stopover town for the evening. However, upon arrival I found out there was a festival happening in Bern that evening, meaning that the campsite was very crowded with drunken fesitval-ers. Oh whoopie. On the one night I was hoping to actually be able to get some good sleep, instead I would be disturbed all night long by loud music and loud drunken people. I was really worried about someone breaking into my tent and puking all over me or something so I tied the zippers shut to hopefully confuse any drunk person enough that they would walk away. Luckily, only a couple of my tent pegs got kicked throughout the evening, and I remained safe.

DAY FOUR
Again, while packing up in the morning it was raining. Really? Did the sky hate me that much? But today was going to be a good day. Because today I was meeting up with my friend Nadia, and we were heading to Verbier to watch the Tour go by and then go to see Evgeny Kissin in concert (a famous pianist).

Nadia and I, with Valais mountains and a Tour sign in the background.

After meeting up with Nadia on the train, we finally made it to Verbier (via a free cable car ride since we had concert tickets). The weather was just absolutely gorgeous and I couldn't be happier!! After 3 days of cold and miserable weather, the sun was shining brighter than ever!! We walked down from Verbier about 2 km to set up in position for the Tour, and we were in a great spot where it wasn't too crowded (thus we could collect more caravan goodies). And today, since we were 6 km up along a difficult climb, when the riders came by it wasn't a 2 second swoosh. In fact we got to watch riders go by for probably a full 10 minutes!!!! I even saw Lance Armstrong directly.... he passed right by me!! It was funny though because when the peloton went by, the leading rider was sipping on this can, which I realized after he had gone by was a beer!! A good way to finish the race I guess! One of the organisers of some sort was walking up and he had a water bottle that one of the riders had thrown aside, and he asked if we wanted it. Of course we did, so I got a Tour de France water bottle (from the Milram team)!! :):)

Lance Armstrong!! (the second guy standing up)

I had honestly never heard of Evgeny Kissin until Nadia asked me if I wanted to go along with her. So boy was I in for a shock. Firstly, our tickets were only 40 CHF, but the concert hall was not full so when the lights first dimmed, there was a migration and everyone moved forward to the empty seats. So we ended up sitting in row 25 for only 40 francs (which would have cost us 160 CHF originally)!! And then the concert itself, WOW. Just wow. This guy was spectacular, his fingers moved so fast I don't even know how it was possible. Even for the parts which were more soft and emotional, his fingers were still flying on the keys. He was just spectacular. And his HAIR!! While he played the piano his hair bounced around so much and it was quite amusing to watch!!

Evgeny Kissin, with his crazy hair!

After being blown away by Kissin (including 2 encore performances) Nadia and I went to find a camping spot. We hadn't planned this one out fully - while alone I paid for an actual spot on a camping ground just for safety purposes. However, Nadia and I decided to do the camping in a park thing. Luckily, since the Tour had just passed through, we weren't the only ones. So we found a nice little park where there were a bunch of other tents sent up, and we made ourselves comfortable, for what would be my best night sleep yet. :)

Nadia and I huddled up in our tent

DAY FIVE
The fifth and final day of my trip to France and the French part of Switzerland. Nadia and I woke up very lazy and not really wanting to exert ourselves too much. However, somehow we ended up climbing a mountain! We were in Verbier, in the Valais area of Switzerland which is one of the most beautiful places of the Alps. So on such a gorgeous day we couldn't just sit there. Thus with our heavy backpacks (I was carrying a tent with me), we hiked up 800m in elevation. But as usual, it was worth it. The 360 degree view was just absolutely spectacular!

We watched a couple more free music festival events (some young musicians, mostly piano and violin) and then headed back home. Completely EXHAUSTED from my 5 days of trekking and sleeping on the ground I was ready for bed. But after a few days of miserable weather, I was very happy that I was able to end the weekend on a high note. :)

Nadia and I at our highest point - 2354m

Congrats to everyone who was able to make it to the end of that very very long post!! Missing you all!! :):)

Epic Moutain Hut

So this last weekend, a group of 11 of us went on an epic hike in the mountains. The description of the hike in the book said it was "medium" ... however, all 11 of us found it quite difficult. Of course, being cheap students we opted out of the cable car ride you could take at the beginning, and instead did a steep 3 hour hike, which may have contributed to our exhaustion...

We began in the town of Altdorf, at an elevation of 447 m. We then started walking, and quickly we knew we were heading up a mountain. Taking breaks often and struggling, we hiked for 4 hours before stopping for lunch. And then we kept on trucking, along a few ridges, up steep inclines and even through some snow. Then finally we reached our maximum elevation of 2291 m. We climbed pure UP of just under 2 km!!! Something to definitely be proud of!!

(at Surenenpass, the highest point we reached)

Unfortunately it was cloudy so we weren't able to see the vast mountains around us, but it still made for some really neat pictures :)

One of the neatest things about this hike was the sound of cow bells never ceased. We had been hiking for over 6 hours, were on the top of a mountain, in the middle of nowhere, yet still there were cows and sheep all around us. It's incredible how the Swiss use EVERY piece of land they can!! Though even in high altitudes, there are still lucious green fields everywhere, which is deifnitely the major difference between the Alps and the Rockies.

(a cow outside the Alpine hut we stayed at)

After reaching the peak, we had a 1 hour decent down to the Alpehutte Blackenalp, where we would be staying that night. Upon arrival, we found out that the very nice lady that ran the hut didn't speak a word of English. And between the 11 of us, none of us spoke German. So it made for interesting communication, which we don't often have to deal with in Switzerland since most people here speak English.

But we managed, and got across that we wanted dinner and breakfast and what time they would be served. Both of which were ABSOLUTELY delicious!! For breakfast though, it was funny because she served us "Cafe Milch," which was hot milk and instant looking coffee. But no glasses or mugs of any sort. Yet we had these bowls sitting in front of us. Eventually she took the hot milk and started pooring it into people's bowls. Aparently they drink their breakfast coffee from a bowl here!! :)

(drinking delicious warm Milch from a bowl)

That was my adventure last weekend. And now I head off on another this weekend. I am going to be going to Southern France and Western Switzerland to watch the tour de France!!! Always having loved watching it on TV, I am very excited to get to see it in person (though, I know it will only be about 2 minutes of excitement as the bikers rush past me in a blurry). I have not yet got a paycheck though, so I am beyond poor, thus I will be camping in evenings! So everyone wish for good weather in Southern France! And if you follow the tour, you can keep an eye out for me and my Canadian flag at:

Stage 13: Xonrupt
Stage 14: Colmar (start town)
Stage 15: Verbier (end town)

Things are still a little quiet and "lonely" here in Winterthur, but I am starting to meet some people, and hopefully I will start feeling comfortable here soon. Missing you all in Canada.

Settling In

So finally I really feel like I am living in Switzerland. And it's quite the shock to be settling down. My last 2 months have included the craziness of wedding planning in Vancouver, an exciting and friend-filled 2 weeks in Calgary, and then an adventure-filled 2 weeks in Baden, touring around Switzerland. And then 5 days ago I moved into my place in Winterthur. A University residence which is basically empty since most students are currently on summer vacation. So my first night here, was incredible lonely. Not lonely in the sad way, but more lonely just for the fact that it was empty of people, empty of opportunities for socialization. It was just different.

(me and some friends celebrating Canada Day by the campfire)

My residence room is really nice though. I have a private bedroom and sink, and then I have a shared bathroom, shower, living room and kitchen. Everything is decently large enough such that I don't think it will get crowded, even once the building is full again. I am living on the 3rd floor (which in Canadian terms is the 4th floor because they have "Level Zero" here) so I get some exercise taking the stairs everyday. Otherwise, I have a gym right within my building that I can also use. There is even a common porch off the 2nd floor with a propane barbecue and all. On top of that, my place is about a 5 minute walk to work, a 5 minute walk to the grocery store and about 10 minutes to the train station. So overall, I am very pleased with my accommodations.

(my room in Winterthur - not quite done unpacking yet!)

I have also started work. I have only been working for 3 days, so I'm still not sure exactly what I am going to be doing, but I think I am really going to enjoy my job. I am working on engines that go in very large ships, mostly doing cost analysis stuff. So, when the engineers in the research and development area have designed a part of the engine, they will bring me the engineering drawing and ask me to figure out how much it will cost relative to the old design or to the competitors' designs. Beyond that, I think a lot of my work will be "intern work," where I get to do the menial tasks that don't involve a lot of thought. But I am perfectly fine with that. And it's been really neat learning about how engines work, since prior to this job I had very minimal knowledge. I also found out that the cruise I took with my family over Christmas 2007, our ship actually had a Wärtsilä engine in it!! Very neat. My boss is nice, and the hours are flexible. I am even allowed to work longer days, bank up time, and then take more days off to go and explore Europe. :)

That is about all in my life right now. This past weekend, me and 7 other Canadians took a trip down to Zug (about an hour south of Zürich). We hiked about 4 hours from Zug to the lake Ägerisee and went for a nice swim. It was an adventureful trip where we got lost about 5 times, but we still had lots of fun! Plus while lost we stumbled upon a beautiful waterfall, some ruins in the forest and a quaint little town in the beautiful rolling hills of Switzerland. So although we took the long way due to poor sense of direction, in my opinion it's more about the trip there than it is about the final desitnation! :)

(me with the waterfall in the background)

(a group shot at the ruins we found along the hiking trail)

ps. Happy Birthday to me! What a better way to spend my 21st birthday than in Europe!! :)