Geneva - Chambery
97.8 km, 7hrs 34mins, 1276m total climb
Luckily when we eventually woke up
(failed to set the alarm), the rain had eased off. It had been coming
down all night. We had the luxury now of being able to pack up the
sleeping mats and other stuff inside the tent now, and even had
breakfast in there. Luxury!
We sponged and shook most of the water
off the tent and packed up everything onto the bikes, leaving by
11am. We also would cycle through Geneva and wanted to take some pics
of the sights but were concerned about time. We did see the famous
'Jet d'eau' which is a 140m high squirt of water at the harbour,
which we could see from miles away.
We had been conditioning our legs
recently to steep uphill power sessions and downhills afterwards, but
today was a different challenge with endless ascents that would look
flat on camera. They are disheartening as you seem to go so slow for
not much altitude gain. Finally we reached the peak and coursed
downhill, as enjoyable as the uphill was contrary. The speed you
reach without pedalling is perfect for sightseeing whilst still
maintaining progress.
We passed a bridge called 'Pont de la
Caille' which spanned a huge gorge. I was amazed by the mix of old
and new (for when it was built) technologies employed. Seemingly
basic, it was quite a beautiful mix of metal and stone. What a spot for a bunjee jump! An old guy
who was in his van chatted and told us that he crossed this old
bridge 40 times on his way to Portugal each year, before they built
the new road bridge alongside.
We rolled towards and through Annecy
which is another lakeside town. It's all getting very French now, no
hint of the Swiss or German influences at all. We passed through the
centre, and wished we had more time to stop, plenty of Cafes and
places to sit and have a couple of Espressos, weather was good for
the moment and the town looked busy.
After Annecy we had a steeper climb
into smaller villages. We stopped to put our warm stuff on for the
descent and spoke to a group of older French people who were visiting
some kind of graveyard or monument. One guy immediately asked if we
were headed to Santiago! Seemingly it is popular to start from around
here. They were impressed that we had come from Prague!
We passed Aix-le-bains en route to
Chambery, to our pre-booked 40Euro hotel. We were not expecting much
and received exactly that! Bunk beds and a one-piece blow-moulded
bathroom in which you could possibly have a shower, shit and brush
your teeth at the same time.
We dropped the bags and headed to the
nearest Supermarche to see what we could get. They say not to go
shopping when you are hungry. On top of that don't do it if the prices
seem ridiculously cheap compared to what you have been paying for the
last week! It was very reasonable and we bought enough bread,
sausage, cheese, pickles, fruit and yoghurts to feed a standard
family for 3 days. We ate it all in three hours.
Due to the weather and that it was the
forth day on the bikes, we decided to change our route slightly and
have a shorter day tomorrow.
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