I arrived in Zurich mid day October 7th to coal gray skies. Sun would not appear until 2 days later as I arrived in the South of France.
My first night night was a stop over in Lausanne to connect up with a couple of friends from my 2020 Lausanne sojourn. The hotel was less than remarkable, except for a balconnette from which to watch the fingers of fading daylight push back at the gray skies over Lac Leman.
Next stop, Annecy, France in another less than remarkable hotel, this time with no view. Annecy is often reffered to as "the Venice of the Alps". Under a heavy shroud of grey and falling temperatures, after several hours of trekking the old and new city, I failed to find the charm.
The trip south the next morning was an adventure in nav system guidance. With a major tunnel closed, the nav system routed me via Turin Italy to re-enter France about 30 kms east of Nice and 100 + Euros in tolls. Alas, as the late afternoon sun brillantly blasted my senses, my outlook elevate. My hotel fronting the "Promenade des Anglais" was perfect with a stunning view of the entire sweep of shoreline. (More on Nice in a blog to follow).
Rejuvenate by sun, walking and fine dining for 4 days, I departed for Genoa via the coast road. After 3 hours of tediously slow progress (even with the top down), I exited for the Autostrassa just before San Remo for the remainder of the days journey. My hotel was on the old harbor waterfront...difficult to access, difficult to park and unpleasant to sight see on foot..but a nice view of the marina.
In retrospect, I should have skipped Genoa for an additional day in Lugano. Nice hotel, but no view. I walked down to the lakefront promenade and ambled 1.5 km to the town square for a delightful outdoors dinner (no mask required).
Early next morning, I headed back to Switzerland via the San Bernadino pass to Chur. Chur is the road and rail access point to the Arosa ski resort. My hotel (room with no view) was a classic Swiss-German inn -- warm, well appointed and comfortable. A perfect launching to for the drive to Interlaken via the Furka Pass (see separate blog to follow).
Tomorrow I am leaving Interlaken after 4 days of exploring the Bernese Oberland (again a separate blog to follow). In this trip I have been able to complete all the previously unfinished explorations from my 2020 'en Suisse' adventure. Tomorrow it is onward to Vienna for a week of cultural.
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