Near Macon, Ain - FRANCE
|
This morning was a repetition of yesterday complete with all the trimmings, except for the fact that we got up earlier. Janet's breakfast was delicious and was framed by the snowy landscape outside. The old well, bird stand and looming forest behind were dusted in white. It seemed so unusual seeing powder snow fall on the plains and lead our thoughts towards what the Jura and Switzerland had in stall for us. We decided to spend some more time skiing around central or eastern Switzerland and came up with leaving the van in Switzerland for a month, then making our way to Egypt and through Jordan, Syria, Turkey and Greece to hide from the negative temperatures of the north. Thus making the English-language travel bookshop in Bern our next destination. By lunchtime we were sadly saying our goodbyes and after a quick photo in the snow Dave and I jumped in the front of a frozen vehicle ready for our next adventure. We spent a good 6 hours driving today taking us through the rolling hills of country France draped in autumn browns and a thin blanket of snow. We followed undulating rural roads to Louhans, Lons le Saunier and to Poligny where the snowy white mountains of the Jura began to rise. Towns were bursting to the banks with snow and more was pouring heavily out of the sky with no end in sight. It took us nearly two hours to cross the Jura and every moment was spectacular through villages, pine forests dripping with snow, with plough and salt vehicles crossing our path and mountain vistas galore. In the never-ending snow in the distance shone the French town of Pontarlier near the Swiss border, like a beacon or sign from a higher entity. by sheer luck we saw a sign for the Formula 1 Hotel at FF129 for a room, making the hotel cheaper than the campsite in Switzerland. We drove round and round through small lanes, over banks of snow and through white covered industrial areas to find the entrance. Dave went in to find out the score and the deal was genuine. You get a room with double bed basin, desk and TV, but have to share the toilets and showers in the hall. Its rooms seemed to be small plastic portable boxes with heating, all joined together like a Lego building, and with the atmosphere of a youth hostel but with the class of a roadside diner. We thought it was the best thing since sliced bread and after cooking bangers and mash out in the car we retired to the palace. I wrote a diary entry whilst my secretary typed in the Morocco section of this diary onto the web page. before midnight we checked the mailbox and I was amazed to receive a mail from an old friend, whom I haven't seen for 4 years. We are all hooked up to the net and in no time at all the boundaries of distance are overcome by the press of a button - It's truly amazing stuff!! I fell asleep later warmed by the heater and of thoughts of the Middle East. |