France is behind me now, let’s go to “go down” in Switzerland! 15km of happiness until Monthey. The view is fantastic and the only thing I have to do it’s to enjoy it. For this first night in Switzerland, I chose luxury and go to a campsite near Aigle, not far from the Geneva Lake. And this is a very good way to start because I am going to ride on the Road of the lakes !

The lake’s road

I didn’t spend too much time around Geneva Lake because I had already been there. But it is still a beautiful place. A big climb is waiting for me to go to Bulle, near the lake of Gruyère. I would like to sleep there. After going up, sweaty but happy, I arrived in Bulle. I only saw a little part of the lake. I am in the South, ready to put up my tent for my first wild camping, hiding from people. Little wash in the river, a cold couscous for the diner and, little bonus, I have a mouse as a friend tonight. I am going to sleep with the sun, and wake up in the morning with some rain. 

A rainy and surprising day

I had never been so efficient at packing my stuff because I was afraid that everything would get wet. At 7am, I am on my bike. This day is going to be very difficult as surprising. First I have to find motivation to ride under the rain… I give myself some little goals to keep going : breakfast around Gruyere, 7km. A coffee in Gstaad, 40km. But this was before my day had been lights up by the meeting of Julie. I pass her, pass her again, and again before starting the discussion and understand that we are going in the same way : the road n°9, the lake’s road. 

We had lunch together in Gstaad (I imagine you have trouble pronouncing it like me!), the rain calmed down sometimes. Gstaad is also the border between the French part of Switzerland and the German part. Before I could understand, now I can’t hardly pronounce the names of the villages. But with Julie, German, it will be a big help ! We rode the afternoon together, starting to get to know each other and decided to spend the night together near the Thunersee Lake. The road has lots of small hills, I am slower than Julie, so it gives her the time to watch the landscapes. And it is so beautiful! The fields are green, the summits are white, the rivers have a beautiful blue. On our way, we passed a few times a Swiss couple on the bike too. We chat with them in German/English/French. And at the end, they offered us to put up our tent in their garden! Let’s go, we are following them. And after 100km and 1570 of positive elevation, we are in their home. A nice second house, to sell, which offers a wonderful view on the lake. Claudia and Martin received us like princesses, showers, risotto, tea and a night in their lounge, dry and warm.

We take the time in the morning, waiting for the rain to stop. Uge breakfast with a beautiful view and we are ready with Julie to take the road to discover more lakes. We passed Interlaken, a little touristic city which connects the Thun lake (where we came from) and Brienz lake (where we are going). We followed this lake before we arrived at the Giessbach waterfalls. Very big waterfalls and very refreshing! But now, we have to be serious. First, take a break along the lake in the perfect Swiss installation to have a picnic (tables, fountain, toilet, barbecue with woods). We are now ready to climb toa pass, 450m of elevation on 4km. It hurts. Julie is riding very fast, me, I am very slow like a snail who brings its home on its back bike. Julie is lighter and has better equipment. She has to wait for me at the top. But both of us made it until the top, happy to see the pass behind us. And, finally, just a few kilometers away, we found à perfect place for a wild camp with a view on Lungerersee lake. We asked the farmer if we can stay here in the field (Julie asked) “ya ya” ! It is a luxury: a fountain with very cold water (for little washing and clothes washing), wooden table, barbecue, toilet and even tools in case we need to fix our bike! I gave some hope to Julie about a hot tea but I am carrying a gas bottle… empty… so we try to keep ourselves warm as much as we can, because at 900m high, it is a bit cold tonight. We tried to make a fire but all the woods were wet. But all of that does not taint this beautiful moment of liberty we are living together. We should take different roads the next day because Julie is going north to Basel in Germany for a wedding. I should go East to Austria. But I have the time.

And the adventure with Julie is so amazing, and I am not in a hurry to leave Switzerland, I decided to follow her for a few days. We do a big loop around lakes : Lungernesee, Sarnersee… it is a very beautiful part of Switzerland. It is not always warm to go for a swim. Except when we are sleeping close to the lake, perfect for a little shower at the same time. And I learnt a lot from Julie, who is more brave. When I see a sign saying “camping forbidden”, I don’t go. Julie, yes ! And she is right, we enjoyed the beautiful spot!

For our 4th day together, we are riding along… a lake, to change. Today, we were going to Lucerne. Even though we didn’t spend lots of time in this city, I really like it. It has a beautiful historic center between lake and river. We were both tired, so we tried to find energy from specialties of Switzerland which only Julie can pronounce in the bakery : Fruchtwähe (cheesecake with onions and cheese : so good) and Mandelstange (dessert with almond). But this was not enough to keep us going. Every climb is hard. So Julie suggested asking a farm for a piece of grass. With my English it didn’t work, Julie came to help and with her German she negotiated a piece of the garden. And a shower, and toilets and even a terrasse with a mountain view. After 3 days without a shower, we are very happy. We got everything, what can we have more ?! We can cook polenta as well, we found gas on the way. And to finish in the best way, Evelyne, the mum, offered us some cakes and tea! We found a very lovely family. The grandfather showed us some family pictures in his home. 

The day after, we decided to take it easy! And for a start, they invited us for a coffee and breakfast! We met all the family, even the truck driver of the animals’ food. In this kitchen, we speak all the languages – French, German, English. It is a nice melting pot. A little repair on my bike (I lost a screw) and we are on the road again. 13km and we are along a new lake, Sempachersee. This time we went for a swim, the sun is back. After this break, let’s go to another lake for lunch. Now it is climbing a bit, we are sweating and I lost Julie. She was far before me and we didn’t take the same road. No phones, but, ouf, she came back and found the same road as me. A nice swim at the lake, a picnic and we go to… another lake. The last one of our journey together. For our last evening, we are doing a wild camping near a little river. Perfect to get a fresh shower, a “washing machine” and another diner with polenta (I never eat so much polenta, with 500g you can make lots of meals, believe me, it was an overdose of polenta!).

We are riding together one more day until the border of Germany. It is here we will take different roads after another iced coffee. The goodbyes are difficult, the adventure with Julie was so nice ! She is an inspiring woman with whom I have lots of common points. I can’t wait for the next biking tour with her ! But before that, I have an invitation for a wedding as well, but in Turkey. So I still have a few kilometers to go. I am going to Lake Constance now. It is not my favorite lake. Firstly because Julie was not with me anymore, and it missed some mountains in the background but also because, under rains, the lake is less charming! Yes, the adventure in Switzerland finished with rain clothes!! 

I hope I will find some sun, lots of beautiful landscape like I did in Switzerland, and such a beautiful meeting in Austria …