Mountains and Motorbikes

[Stewie]

Thats more of the good stuff!

[Zipperhead]

Friday 30th August

In case there are any bored humans left reading this....

A lazy Friday.

After another outdoor breakfast we walked through the old town to the lake



The bridge at the end is called the Lover’s Bridge, with a nice big park running along the edge of the lake. We had decided that we wanted to see the mountains from the lake, and the man at the boat hire place had said that morning was the best time.

It was a pretty fabulous morning to be out on a lake with very few other boats.



Here we see Cap’n Ahab keeping a watchful eye out for marauding sharks. Of which there were none.



A Versys is a lot of fun, but that was pretty good as well, there was so little else on the lake that when not posing I could just sit back and enjoy the view, steering input not being necessary for minutes at a time.



Put the harpoon down, they’re sailing dinghies not sharks!

Back on dry land we did some exciting things such as lunch, sightseeing  and then back to the flat for a nap.

About 6pm we rode the 20 miles to La Roche-sur-Foron, a small town with a medieval centre, but there was a festival of sorts going on so it was pretty crowded. A nice view from the car park though



When we got back we left the bike at the flat and walked into town to eat. Sorry if that wasn’t a very exciting day, tomorrow has lots of nice pictures, and Sunday has nice pictures and excitement.

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Saturday 31st August

Because it was quite busy during the day, I thought that I would get up early and walk into town to take some pictures while the light was good and there weren’t too many people about. There was an antique market being set up as well which added to the atmosphere.













The building in the middle was the prison, and the town hall. It’s worth visiting there and the castle.



Definitely worth getting up a little earlier for.

I called my wife and we arranged to meet for breakfast and then spent the morning wandering around looking at the stalls.

This door was tiny - perhaps 4 foot 6 high



I wonder how many times it’s been off to have the bottom planed?





After lunch we visited the prison and the castle on the hill above. The castle had a very interesting exhibition on the local boat builder with some of his boats and the small boat (almost a model) that he had to build to be accepted as a master boat builder. Stunning workmanship, but unfortunately too dark for any pictures. You’ll just have to go and see it yourselves.

In the evening we rode the 20 miles up to the Glières Plateau. There were a couple of reasons that we wanted to go. The road…



The plateau is round the back where the red pin is. Going up that road, before we got to the hairpin section I couldn’t even work out how a road could get up there, it looked impossible. When I have a chance, I’ll try and edit the footage of the journey up.



The national monument of the resistance is there, also in the middle of that picture a cross



One of the resistance fighters, Edouard Credoz.

Another, happier reason for going there was that my wife wanted to be filmed appearing running up an alpine meadow singing “the hills are alive”, as a joke for a friend in Patagonia. So we filmed that, passing walkers gave us very strange looks!

Just after the car park the road becomes a gravel track



But this is in fact the road down the other side (there is only one road on each side). I had been curious to see it because the 2020 Tour de France was due to come over here, so either they would be climbing the gravel road and going down the switchback, or climbing up the steep road and then racing down a gravel road. Either way would be exciting and normally it would be showing on the screens in the office so I would have watched that part, except I wasn’t in the office.

The sun was setting so we rode back down the mountain, no heroics, and parked the bike back at the flat so that we could walk into town for food.

That’s enough for tonight. You’ll have to wait until later for the next episode which will have scenery and excitement.

[Stewie]

One question regarding lovers bridge.

Did you and the wife............? I hope you at least made the suggestion to her, no pictures required if you did.

You have to think more positively as well.
It is not that there were no sharks, it is more that you did such a superb job of scaring them off.

Fun fact
When the wife and I went on Holiday to Vienna we did a sound of music tour (wife's requirement) and I got vilified for not understanding anything they were talking about having never seen the film.
If I had seen someone running through a field singing the hills are alive I would have probably got it as the only frame of reference I have for the film.

[uralrob]

 Spectacular photography. I particularly enjoyed Capt'n Ahab. Tres 1920s.

 Rob.

[Zipperhead]

Originally Posted by Stewie

One question regarding lovers bridge.

Did you and the wife............? I hope you at least made the suggestion to her, no pictures required if you did.

I tried giving her "the look", but she gave me "the other look". The one that says "If you even think of trying any of that on me you'll be heading for the dentist to get your fillings put back, and the teeth they go with"

Proper fierce she is.

You have to think more positively as well.
It is not that there were no sharks, it is more that you did such a superb job of scaring them off.

True, even if I'd said that famous line she wouldn't have known what I was talking about

Fun fact
When the wife and I went on Holiday to Vienna we did a sound of music tour (wife's requirement) and I got vilified for not understanding anything they were talking about having never seen the film.
If I had seen someone running through a field singing the hills are alive I would have probably got it as the only frame of reference I have for the film.

I've never seen more than the cinema poster for it - when she and my daughter put it on I find something interesting to do.

I do still have the video I shot though, complete with her atrocious singing. I'm not sure if I would have the courage to use it as blackmail material though, not without having the air ambulance nearby.

[Stewie]

Originally Posted by Zipperhead

"the other look".

I know this look very well, I am frequently the recipient of my wife's version.

Originally Posted by Zipperhead

I do still have the video I shot though, complete with her atrocious singing.

Post it, post it now!

[Clunkyboy]

Annacy looks very nice indeed

[Zipperhead]

Originally Posted by Stewie

Post it, post it now!

What?? I'm already scared because I posted a picture of her, that doesn't show her face. If were to post the video she would be able to smell the fear on me and would know what I had done. I'd wake up in a pool of blood with my mouth full of parts of me that belonged somewhere else.

I know that I don't have much need for them anymore, but I'm quite attached to them being attached where they started out.

I had better go and finish another chunk and hope that she doesn't suspect anything.

[Stewie]

You can still see her profile.

Originally Posted by Zipperhead

[Gustavo]

Good choice, I always liked Annecy.  I never thought of it in the context of how close it is to a major airport, as we always rode there starting in Paris, but was actually very smart.  I may have to use that one day, I think we are due for another French Alps tour.

Good pictures and maps.  Thanks for taking us along for the ride.   

Gustavo