Untangling ourselves from the tent, Andrew and I packed up (with Andrew carrying the extra peanut butter) and headed out. Finding the local supermarket proved more challenging and one-directional than planned, but eventually we headed up, ominous weather notwithstanding, but still well-supplied with peanut butter and nut bars.
With the revised revised plan to cycle entirely around Lac du Leman, we expected to follow the shore of the lake (as it should be flat), and if that proved too monotonous, head a bit up into the mountains. The cycle paths appeared to stop at the border between France and Switzerland, which I attributed to the difference in mapping between countries. Instead, the lack of indicated cycle paths mostly derived from: a) a lack of cycle paths, and b) steep hills. The two slowed our progress, and working to stay off major roads on many mountain minor roads meant frequent navigational checks, and roads got worse before they finally started to improve when we crossed back into Switzerland and crossed back onto real cycle path.
Coming around the end of the lake, Chateux de Chillon sits on a small island, guarding a critical pass into Italy. After the excessive tourists in Yvoire, I wondered how touristic the chateaux would be. While near the end Swiss scouts and Chinese tourists swarmed us, trapping us at the top of the single-wide stairs, the day was inside tolerable norms. I had not expected much, but the chateaux mostly retained the original form (mangled by the course of history), and while they had defined a path through the castle, we could mostly wander as we wished. Two thumbs up.
The question remained whether we could finish the day’s ride to Lausanne. Coming full circle we returned to the campground in Lausanne I left only a few days ago. Availing ourselves of the free public transport, after a lot of searching we found a restaurant in town that satisified all the requirements for dinner. I had some dish that made of lamb and plums which surprised me – I truly enjoyed it.
Still hoping to find my fork and spoon. Found a fork along the way today. 