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Switzerland 2015


Previous
Saturday August 1, 2015
and Sunday August 2, 2015
USA to Luzern

Monday August 3, 2015
Luzern, Pilatus, and Grenoble

Next
Tuesday August 4, 2015
Grenoble, Alpe d'Huez, and Lyon


07:06

Spreuerbrücke / Mill Bridge
My hotel was nearly a kilometer from the train station, so I needed to find a locker at the train station for my backpack while I explored Pilatus to avoid another round trip to the hotel
I had mixed feelings about spending the morning on Pilatus since I'd seen plenty of alps before and would be spending most of my trip on higher mountains, but I figured I was here so I'd see the sites as planned.
The Danse Macabre / Dance of Death paintings on Spreuerbrücke are excellent, even better than the endless series of beheadings on Kapellbrücke


07:07


07:07


07:07


07:08


07:09

Looking up the Reuss River toward Lake Luzern


07:12
The city walls above Spreuerbrücke.
My hotel is on the opposite bank behind the bridge


07:14


07:17
Kapellbrücke


07:20

Kapellbrücke
The international ticket desk didn't open until 8am, so I couldn't buy my ticket to Grenoble yet.
I put my backpack in a locker and boarded the train to Pilatus.
The local train was full of commuters.


07:58
I was shocked at the angle of the train tracks.
Very cool engineering!
Three train cars travel up the mountain one at a time.
A train load with a tour group went up first, then the locals and myself who had been waiting went on the next train.


08:06


08:19



08:21
The train stopped at Aemsigen and the engineer showed the other front row passanger and I the rack and pinion cogwheels under the train.


08:22


08:37


08:31




08:36


08:38


08:43
The heavily fortified mountain top with artillery and radar installations




08:46


08:51


08:51


08:49


08:52
Never walk when you can ride...


08:53


08:56
Looking north


08:56


09:09
Looking south to the Bernese Alps
The Eiger, Monch, and Jungfrau are in the background - it was nice to see them again after 10 years.


09:10


09:22
The Eiger and Monch are now hidden in the clouds on the right


09:14
iPhone panorama
Click here for a full size image




09:21



Eventually I'd seen everything there was to see on top of Pilatus and took the gondola down the other side toward Luzern.
Pilatus from Fräkmüntegg



Switzerland's longest luge at Fräkmüntegg.  I waited behind a family of four and then rode the luge.  Riding behind children is always a mistake since they go way too slowly.





The gondola back to Kriens takes quite a while.
It is scenic but nothing terribly pictureworthy after Pilatus.
I was stunned at the hordes of tourists and tour buses at the Kriens station.
Clearly I'd made the right call to go up early - I had no idea there would be such a mass of humanity on Pilatus later in the day.
I took the bus back to the train station
Once there, I retrieved my backpack, got a ticket number for a place in the long line at the international train ticket office, bought a beer and a smoked salmon sandwich for the long train ride, bought a proper Swiss to American AC adapter, bought my train ticket, and got on my train, all within about 30 minutes.


11:55
Quadruple score!
The trainride was kinda long.
Once I left Switzerland the French train was much slower, louder, and hotter.
Grenoble was sweltering when I arrived.
After quickly dumping my backpack in the hotel I wandered the town for perhaps an hour to see the sites.
I determined that there are no sites in Grenoble.
It was a gritty town.


18:05
Grenoble.


19:34
In tonight's edition of Food Porn from France, we bring you the 28 euro menu from L'inattendu, highly rated by both tripadvisor and my receptionist, and in my building as well.
The waitress also spoke very good English and explained the whole menu to me, which made all the difference in the world.
We start with a recommended local beer with some citrus overtones - good, but did not match the meal at all, but no beer would match this meal.
Next we have a cucumber gaspatcho with lemon and mint, served in a small glass with a straw.
I don't like cucumber and it was good.


19:43

I selected the chicken liver as my entree and it did not disappoint.
Served with salad and bread.
I caught wiffs that were reminiscent of nine lives, and it kind of looked like nine lives, but it was nice and warm and very tasty


20:06

For our main course I selected the white fish. The sauce was extrodinarily light and slightly buttery, a liitle creamy, and perhaps the best sauce I've ever had.
It was also served with two tiny crepes (? Tasted like light pancakes) and an olive based (tapanade like) filling for a suspected squash of some sort.


20:27

For desert I selected the chocolate mousse.
Without a doubt one of the three best meals I've ever had.
Number one is still from our hotel in the Dordogne in france 2005, and the only other competitor is the meal from Grimentz in 2012.
It will be tough to top this tomorrow night in Lyon but i shall try.
I really need to learn to cook.
Shoving food down my piehole day-in day-out is not eating

Previous
Saturday August 1, 2015
and Sunday August 2, 2015
USA to Luzern

Monday August 3, 2015
Luzern, Pilatus, and Grenoble

Next
Tuesday August 4, 2015
Grenoble, Alpe d'Huez, and Lyon