Every year I celebrate the date that I had a massive heart attack, survived, and was given a 2nd chance to live. This day means more to me than my birthday… This year my plan was to travel through the French Alps and then return through the Swiss Alps, to celebrate the “heartaversary” wherever I would be on the 3rd July, it didn’t actually matter where…
By Kurt Beine
Hoping for good weather I left from my German hometown of Kempen and headed towards Engen, a small town near to Konstanz on the Bodensee, a huge lake on the Swiss border. The first 300 km was good, but the 2nd 300km was in rain varying from a drizzle to torrential downpours. While I have a good wet weather kit, my so-called waterproof boots essentially kept the water in very well. My helmet was soaked through and my gloves were like wet rags when I arrived. But what the hell, a bad day on a bike beats a good day at work.
Some of the sight and sounds from Bodensee. Europe is very different to South Africa. Come visit sometime…
In Engen I stayed with a Facebook friend, now a proper friend Michelle, who has recently emigrated from South Africa. Together we explored Lake Bodensee as it’s known in German. We travelled everywhere on the Deutsche Bahn, the fairly efficient German railway system. You can buy a 49 Euro monthly ticket giving you unlimited access to all regional trains and buses. At the Engen train station, they even had a complete bicycle workstation complete with tools needed to fix most things, all attached with little chains, and a bicycle tyre pump, very handy.
The first day we travelled across the lake to Konstanz and back on a catamaran. Another day we took the train to a small scenic town just into Switzerland, Schaffhausen on the Rhine River, the source of which is in Switzerland and goes through France, Liechtenstein, Austria, Netherlands and Germany before flowing into the North Sea. There is just so much to see, loads of little villages everywhere, tourist spots, just too much to see in a week.
I will go back there sometime to catch up on what I missed.
The 2nd part of my trip had me up early on Friday to get to Geneva Airport in Switzerland to fetch my friend Anne Brawley who flew in from Spain to ride with me for a week which is the maximum time that her dog would be comfortable with her being away, while he was swanking it in a doggie hotel. Dog Sitting in Europe is not as easy as it is in SA.
On arrival at a blisteringly hot Geneva Airport, it wasn’t long until Anne was packed and kitted up for the trip around the top of Lake Geneva where we followed the shoreline as much as possible, stopping for cool down refreshments as often as possible. Temperatures were hovering around the 35℃ mark.
There is even a Ghandi Square on Lake Geneva. It was crazy hot, but well worth the visit.
We crossed the border into France, which is no more than seeing two EU signs, showing which country you’re leaving and which country you’re entering. We went down the first of many awesome mountain passes which was the main reason for being there. We went through Chamonix where the cable car is to go up Mont Blanc. Accommodation there was the price of a left kidney so we chose to stay in Cluses at the Hotel National where we were greeted by a very helpful hotel receptionist with the best French accent. Although it is a 2 star hotel, it had everything we needed, safe parking for my bike, which is paramount, and a nearby town centre bustling with a market in the town square.
We had dinner which we sourced at a nearby Spar, yes, they have Spars in France too, on the grass verge nearby. It had been a long hot day and it was time to chill, and to not give a damn about what people thought.. The following day, we travelled back to Chamonix and Mont Blanc. After finding parking which is a lot easier on a motorbike, we found the cable car entry point at which point Anne opted to see the market and other sights around town. Cold environments are not her cup of tea, so off I went in the cable car. I could only go to the first stage which is 3 842 m above sea level. The 2nd stage was closed due to excessive wind. The ride up is amazing!
The scenery is something to behold, still a lot of snow and glaciers although it was high summer. The higher you go the cooler it gets. There is a coffee shop there that supplies the correct refreshments needed while you sit and take in the view. The descent was just as amazing! As you pass through the last support tower you start a steep descent, you can see down for over a kilometre to where the cable car base is, not for those with a fear of heights….
After meeting Anne who had thoroughly enjoyed her tour of the town we headed off for our next two night’s accommodation at A lÁbri du Leschaux, a guest house in a tiny village with a name longer than the amount of shops, Le Petit-Bornand-Les-Glières.
Our hosts gave me free parking in the garage alongside the owner’s Honda 1800 Goldwing. Fellow bikers are always so accommodating. I had to travel back down a small mountain pass to the nearest town with a supermarket to get provisions for the next two nights. There was nothing available around our accommodation.
Some of the sights in Annecy. Europe has a beauty that is so different to what we enjoy in SA.
The weather was not looking good, so after a quick weather forecast check we decided to go back to Lake Geneva around the opposite side to see the Jet d’Eau, a year round jet of water that goes about 140 metres up, and depending on the wind it forms a type of curtain or sail. Anne knew about Cern in Geneva where they have a Hadron Collider so we went in search of it, but sadly it was closed for the day.
We then travelled to Lake Annecy. The original plan was to spend the day on the Lake but the changing weather cancelled that idea. We went to the town of Annecy and did the touristy thing for the afternoon. It is a beautiful town to visit. That night we opted to change plans due to the weather and head towards Monaco. Our halfway point for the next night was the B&B Hotel in Gap.
B&B hotels (They have an app) are everywhere in France and well worth staying at. We followed Route N85 which took us through amazing mountain passes including La Bonette, ascending to around 2800m above sea level at its highest point. Tiny rivers of melted snow are everywhere. We stopped so that Anne could get her feet wet in one of them. During our climb we saw a few crazies on skateboards zooming down the twisty roads, no brakes besides body friction. And they say bikers are mad! At one point I was running a bit low on fuel, I was glad to have a 30 litre tank. Thankfully we found a tiny village with an amazing restaurant, and a filling station…..phew! We arrived in Monaco after lunch. It was incredibly hot. Navigating those tight twisty roads towards the harbour on a fully loaded KTM 1290 Super Adventure is quite interesting.
After the mandatory McDonalds refreshments as one does, we rode through the tunnel that the F1 drivers use at the Monaco GP which has been on my bucket list for some time. Thereafter it was a tight twisty uphill climb out of Monaco which I feared I’d burn my clutch out. Traffic and heat added to the frustration. We decided to head up the coast just into Italy to a little town called Bordighera where we booked into a well priced, very nice hotel, Regina Margherita, or Pizza Hotel as Anne called it. They had secure motorbike parking and are just 2 blocks from the beach. We could not ask for more. After a very tasty dinner on the beachfront we headed back to the hotel for a well earned rest…
We celebrated my heartaversary in Andora.
Today was the 3rd of July, my heartaversary. We celebrated this at midday up the coast at Andora, the town not the country, on the beach with good ice cream and cool drinks as one does. Sadly we now headed inland towards Turin, opting for the highway. There were just too many detours and roadworks on the off-highway route. We checked into the Hotel Albergo Guido Reni after taking a slight detour due to a navigational error. At least we saw a bit more of Turin.
Sights and sounds on a trip like this are best experienced on a bike, with a friend to share the joy.
The following night Anne sadly had to fly back to Spain so we spent the day trying to find things to see in Turin. All the historic stuff didn’t appeal to us and cost a fortune to see. It was also sweltering hot, the roads are difficult to navigate and the drivers remind me of Johannesburg taxi drivers. I’ve seen Turin, I’d not rush back. After saying farewell to Anne at Turin Airport, where she was questioned by airport police who wanted to know if she was attempting to smuggle over 9 999 Euro of cash, haha, if only…I returned to the hotel, packed my belongings for an early departure to Lake Garda the following morning.
I opted for the freeway past Milan all the way to Desenzano del Garda on Lake Garda where I would stay with Ambro, a biking friend from SA. He also left SA a few years ago with his family and could not have found a better place to live. While dodging the weather for the weekend we travelled to various little towns near to Desenzano Del Garda for the next two days. This was the third time I’ve been to Lake Garda and will be back to see more – Maybe next time with a rental campervan. Ambro was going to ride part of the way through Switzerland with me but due to unforeseen commitments had to cancel. Next time for sure!
Lake Como blew me away. It is a stunningly beautiful part of the world.
The third part of my trip saw me leaving Desenzano del Garda fairly early and heading towards Milan for a while until I turned right towards Lake Como, telling my GPS to avoid tolls and freeways. My route took me up one side of Lake Como through the most amazing scenery with lots of viewpoints over the lake. Again, being on a bike makes it so much easier to find safe spots to stop and take pictures. I saw my GPS route steering me straight across the water so there was obviously a ferry to board somewhere. I found the ferry crossing, paid my fee of around 8 Euro which I thought was very reasonable for me and my bike.
From the other side I continued for a short distance along the side of the lake. I then turned away from the lake and soon after that crossed into Switzerland through a series of tunnels. I had purchased a freeway toll pass the previous year in July and mistakenly thought it was 12 months from the date of purchase. No such luck, it’s annual, meaning it expires at the end of each calendar year.
Luckily I had not been stopped on my trip from Engen Germany to Geneva Switzerland a week earlier. On entering Switzerland I could not find a Customs office to check on the validity of my toll pass, otherwise I would have bought a new one. At the Swiss borders you buy a Toll decal for 45 Euro which permits you to travel on any tolled freeway in Switzerland for the year of purchase. Lesson learnt and on to Gotthard Pass.
Gotthard Pass is mind blowingly beautiful and built just for motorcycles…
Last year, I travelled through the 16 km long Gotthard tunnel just because it’s the longest tunnel in Switzerland. This year I took the scenic route over Gotthard Pass… It was just mind-blowingly beautiful! The road structures and bridges and corners it follows are amazing! I wound up in Wassen at the end of the Pass and checked into Hotel Krone on the main road. It was the cheapest hotel I could find.
Switzerland is an expensive country to travel in, but I guess you pay for the views which are well worth it. I dropped my luggage off at my hotel and headed back towards Furka Pass. I’d seen the turnoff on my way into Wassen. Again I was blown away by the scenery, the twisties have such tight corners you kinda expect to see your taillight in front of you at times. There were motorbikes and bicycles everywhere!
See what I mean? Furka Pass must have been built by a motorcyclist…
The following morning, I started my journey home, but not before doing at least two more passes. I’d not had breakfast so I hoped I’d find something along the way. On my way up Susten Pass I found biker’s heaven! A tiny restaurant in the middle of nowhere that featured a biker menu, everything had some affiliation to something bike related. There was a table kitted out with all sorts of helmet cleaning equipment, the parking was filled with bikes, and the riders were sitting around enjoying breakfast. Because of my poor German I could not communicate with anyone there besides the owner, but that was fine. To have breakfast overlooking a huge Swiss valley with snow on the mountain tops, bikes buzzing past all the time, life is GOOD!
I continued up Susten Pass which fed into Furka Pass which I’d done the day before. But I’d missed the famous deserted landmark, Hotel Belvedere the day before because I turned around a kilometre too early. But here it was, on a hairpin bend, complete with coffee bar and huge parking lot for people to photograph the hotel.
I went back through Wassen and then found Grimsel Pass, this was the fourth of the listed top four passes to do in Switzerland! And it was spectacular, very tight hairpin bends, awesome scenery everywhere. You just can’t take a bad picture in Switzerland!
Sadly I started heading towards home. I found some reasonable accommodation for the night in the Black Forest. I experienced down to 13℃ at some points in the Swiss Alps, but as I descended out of the mountains the temperature rose considerably. By the time I crossed into Germany, I had 35℃ showing on the dash and this didn’t change much until later that evening. At every stop I drenched my buff in water, chilled for a while in whatever shade I could find and nursed an ice cream and a bottle of still water. After booking in I was shown where the honesty bar is. The first beer went down in steam! I misunderstood the dinner option and the price. I sat down to a 5-course meal which, although an unmentionable sum, was really good.
So ended my last night of a 19-day trip through some incredible scenery, curvy mountain passes, deep valleys and snow covered mountains. About 90% of my route was new, roads that I’d never travelled before. My last day’s ride was basically a 470 km length of German Autobahn, I was limited to 160 km/h on the open stretches because of my panniers. I arrived home midafternoon, unpacked and chilled out.
Then I started giving some thought to next year’s trip. I’ve heard Slovakia and Croatia are worth seeing, and I have an invitation to the Czech Republic.
Let’s see where I go!
Some Travel Tips:
There are so many rental agencies, in France, Italy, everwhere. I would recommend a smaller cheaper bike. Big bikes are overkill, you cannot speed. Prices range from about €110/day to €200/day. Cheaper bikes like a Suzuki 650 Vstrom or a Honda NC 750, will be fine. There are various luggage options, but if you ride solo, I recommend bringing a dry bag and straps to save on luggage costs.
Bring a disc lock at least, bike theft is a thing here. And a GPS with your own handlebar bracket, just buy the Europe map card. The best time to do a trip like this is anywhere from June to early October. Weather is weather, bring a lightweight rain suit…
