July 9, 2006
Day 11: La Sarraz - Coppet: Along Lake Geneva
Our hostess, who speaks excellent German with just a slight French accent, calls us over for breakfast at the family table. It's Sunday and her four children are still in bed but you can see that family life and the farm keep her busy. Pleasant, friendly and sober-minded, she tells us how difficult it is to survive using alternative farming methods. Renting out the chalet, which was their home before the four children came, should bring in a little more cash. We wish her luck and are on our way.
We abandon the Mittelland-Route 5 and choose a shorter version to Lake Geneva. The traffic here is no problem and we have a beautiful ride. After an initial steep ascent, we almost fly all of the 16 km down to Lake Geneva.
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We have now given up using the Swiss cycling routes that take us into the hills. We stick to the lake, the road has a shoulder and poses no problems.
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Many pretty towns along Lake Geneva and again many street festivals. In countries where the long winters have short days and little sun, summer is something to celebrate. We stop in the towns of Rolles, St-Prex, Nyon for coffe or ice-cream or barbecued sausages, take pictures, watch the festivities.
At this point in our trip, we still have no intentions to camp and are not equipped for it. Sometimes we stop at tourist offices on the way and check out where the next hotels are and their prices. Often the tourist office telephones ahead and makes reservations for us. This saves us stress at the end of the day. Sometimes we have a list of hotels in the region, supplied by the tourist offices, and use our cell phone to reserve ahead if we think it's necessary, for example in touristy areas or on week-ends or holidays. Quite often none of this is necessary. Today the tourist office has reserved a room for us in Coppet which we appreciated. There aren't many hotels on this part of Lake Geneva and they are relatively expensive.
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This is our last night in Switzerland, although in French speaking Switzerland we have the feeling that we are half in France, not just because of the language but also the atmosphere, the architecture, the way of life. In France we will have little or no bicycle infrastructure and I'm wondering if we'll be able to avoid the busiest roads without taking to the mountains.
Today's ride: 55 km (34 miles)
Total: 655 km (407 miles)
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