Away in decent time this morning with a short stage planned. We had decided to walk to what I had read was the beautiful little village of Romainmotier to see a Baroque period church which I had read is suppose to be a bit special. After a nice breakfast we headed out of town and back down into the gorge and along the opposite bank.
We didn’t stay in the gorge for long, and headed out through some beautiful forest areas and across some open farmland.
Almost with every step the Alps seem to get closer. The day after tomorrow we will begin to enter them as we walk up a long glacial valley which will ultimately take me to the Grand Saint Bernard Pass. However, before that there will be a little detour for a few days. More on that later!
We’ve seen many beehives along the way, but this was the first one that had multiple coloured hats.
As you approach the Alps they, just like the Pyrenees, seem to just sort of leap out at you quite suddenly. Such was the case today
As we approached the small village of Britonnaires I noticed a very unusual steeple in the distance. We decided to check it out and found a beautiful little church that has been walking in Pilgrims for over 1000 years. The village is a small cross roads from for traffic moving north south and east west. You must’ve been welcoming people into this area as a stop over for much longer than 1000 years.
Inside was a small little church, but to my eye something quite special.
We’ve been finding small little water sources ever since we arrived in France. This one’s been here for several hundred years. They’re typically always decorated with some beautiful flowers and occupy a showcase position at the centre of every town and village. The catch my eye every time we pass one.
We again climbed on the approach to Romainmotier, the site of a quite beautiful Baroque church.
We arrived to find a very picturesque village with the church the main focal point. No surprise there!
Tough town! There was once a dungeon here as well.
The main doors.
We again climbed on the approach to Romainmotier, the site of a quite beautiful Baroque church.
We arrived to find a very picturesque village with the church the main focal point. No surprise there!
Tough town! There was once a dungeon here as well.
The main doors.
Back outside I enjoyed a $7 tiny cup of tea. Sheesh!
We found Paul enjoying a coffee outside a small bar and shared the news that the Dutch are not on the route, instead heading straight for just north of Lausanne today. After further greets were exchanged we headed for Croy where we hoped to catch a train for Lausanne.
A bit shorter day to allow us to visit a few sites in the big city. We found the train station, but just missed the train. After sitting for an hour we finally got on a train and enjoyed the short run down to Lake Geneva or as the locals call it, Lac Leman.
We arrived at our hotel to find that we’d been upgraded to a suite. Sounded great, but the only problem was that we are in the attic…5 long steep flights up! Some upgrade, but there is a full kitchen which will allow us to make a simple dinner and breakfast tomorrow at a much lower price than we’d have to pay in the restaurants. This is the view from one of our dormer windows. The one in the other direction is equally nice.
We walked up to the cathedral to have a look and to get our all important stamps in our credentials. The cathedral is being restored, and where they’ve completed this work the results are quite beautiful.
These huge churches sort of all look the same in a general way, but they are all different from each other.
We walked up to the cathedral to have a look and to get our all important stamps in our credentials. The cathedral is being restored, and where they’ve completed this work the results are quite beautiful.
These huge churches sort of all look the same in a general way, but they are all different from each other.
Because we are seniors and the senior fee to climb the Steeple is half the price of regular admission we decided to go for it. The views as expected were pretty nice. This is looking down the lake towards Geneva.
This on the other hand, is looking Southeast down the lake towards where the climb begins.
We actually enter the glacial valley to the left of this mountain.
I have to say, the climb to the top of the steeple was almost as difficult as the climb to our digs tonight!
Time for a little relaxation, and to finish this blog. Then a quick shower and dinner in our little suite.
Tomorrow we head off down the lake, a couple of days I’ve been looking forward to for a while. We found Lausanne to be a really interesting city with lots going on. Certainly a city we wouldn’t mind returning to at some point in the future as there’s clearly lots to explore and see here. Seems to also have a very active university going on with lots of young people in the streets. It adds a nice vibe to the city!
Though we are generally having fun here, it’s good to hear that our neighbour Don is having a solid recovery from a very difficult situation. Pleased to hear that things are improving! Great news!
Oh, I also found something fun!
I just found out that there’s a town crier that goes all night, and had done do since around the 1600’s! Given we are located in the oldest square I’m thinking that that person will be in our neighbourhood tonight. If I hear it? I’ll try to record. We have bells, bells and more bells until 24:00😑
So many churches and cathedrals today! I particularly liked the photo of the bird on the water spout. I think his cousins are singing on the bird feeders outside.
ReplyDeleteHi! That was a neat moment as I figured he’d be gone by the time I got a chance to take a photo!
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