The last day I didn’t spend the day cycling was the mad rush back and forth from Romania almost two weeks ago. After many days of saying it, I took the day off cycling. Boring.
In the range of different ways to cycle tour, I think the family camped next to me last night falls fairly solidly on one end of the spectrum. Both parents are towing trailers solidly packed. One daughter rides on top of one trailer, the other daughter rides packed in with the rest of the gear in the other trailer. Each trailer also includes each daughter’s bicycle to ride when the urge arises, and in the evenings. They follow the downstream path.
Following Marnie’s suggestion, I checked a nearby hotel who, after some haggling as a non-guest, sold me a Swiss to US power converter at a reasonable price of 10 Swiss Francs. Power restored. Switzerland costs considerably more than elsewhere. The two-star hotel costs 120 Swiss Francs in a non-tourist area. A hamburger and fries costs 16.
I walked up to the castle, only to find that it’s only open on Saturdays at 2 pm. After that I walked through town, and up to the next town. Neither being tourist towns, not much to see, especially on a Sunday. Tired of the rate of movement, and with nothing to do, I cycled to the next town back with street fair that appeared in my way yesterday, and spent the afternoon at the combination street fair/carnival/fair. Cycling back to the campground at the end of the day I passed a Swiss motorcycle gang.
Weather threatened to storm all day, but did little but the occasional sprinkle until dinner. While eating dinner I met Max as he arrived at the campground, a cyclist from England on his first tour working his way down from the Netherlands to Monaco. Why the Netherlands? Because that’s where the nearby ferry went. why Monaco? Because he’s always wanted to go there.
We eventually moved under cover, as the rain just reached that “slowly getting wet” stage to continue talking. He also confirmed that the cycle path right outside my door goes all the way to Lausanne, just outside Geneva. Ever skeptical, if the cycle path quality holds, that should be a pleasant trip.
While we both cycle roughly the same distances, Max being a morning person (he started yesterday at 3 am to avoid the heat), I’m unlikely to see him again, but I always enjoy an evening of shared cycling experience.