Thursday 4 to Saturday 6 July 2024
It’s our road trip to Switzerland today and we depart LPR at
9.30 am and follow the “A” roads all the way to Moulins. This is a beautiful medieval
town, not far from our overnight stop and just over half way to Switzerland. An
easy, relaxing drive. The roads are excellent and traffic light.
Moulins has a Musee du Batiment (construction) which is housed
in a very old building and run entirely by volunteers. It has artifacts from
most trades, including carpentry, plumbing, electrical, brick/block laying,
painting and decorating, tiling and kitchen artifacts as well – all from the
period 1945 to 1975. A really interesting stop with lots of “Ah, remember those!”
Then a short drive to the village Neuilly le Real for our
overnight stay in Chateau Segot, a castellated chateau, recently renovated from
its 15c and 17c originals. A cold beer from Audrey, our host then unpack in our
giant bedroom. We are the only guests in a house that caters for 15.
A walk around the village has good vibes and some colourful
flowers in public places as well as a couple of (unopened) restaurants but a
Tabac that is open and sells beer. Yes, we did.
Dinner is cooked and served by Adrey, the wife owner on the terrace
in the garden. Hubby away in Paris ATM.
We had a nice Rose with some olives, nuts, little tuna pressed stars
and two mini sausage rolls. Yes, German like sausage and cheese wrapped in puff
pastry, the size of your thumb tip. Moving on to a Riesling from Alsace (Audrey
is from Colmar, a beautiful little village on the Route du Vin Burgundy, that
the Major and Flashy stayed in on the Battlefields and Burgundy Tour), we were
served a fromage blanc, fine herbs and smoked salmon entree. Then strangely, we
had chilli con carne in a brioche bun. Actually, very well cooked and in true
Alsace fashion, served with spaetzle. Flashy moved to a Bordeaux red, which was
excellent. Next came the cheese course. A hard, semi hard and a soft cheese
served with the ubiquitous breadbasket, generously refilled. Finally, the
dessert of a Mirabelle plumb tart and a tiramisu. Two desserts! The comment on
the meal, was that despite the many courses, the portion sizes were immaculate.
Audry could teach some Cairns establishments a thing or two about quality over
quantity.
Breakfast was included in our tariff and we could have had
anything we wanted, from a continental to a fully cooked, with juice, coffee,
tea, cookies, chocolate fudge type slice, bread, cheese, cured meats, yoghurt
and fruit. We were reasonably restrained, as you can imagine, before heading
off on stage 2 of la Tour.
The trip to Lausanne was also on “A” roads and through tunnels
and on aqueduct roads, as one would expect on entering Switzerland.
Our home-sit is on the hill in Lausanne, overlooking Lake Leman and
looking directly into Thonon les Bains in France, as the border runs through
the middle of the lake. Stunning view and a large double story house with
gardens and a pool.
We are minding Monk, the Boxer mix breed dog, who is a great big,
friendly dog. He has so far obeyed Lady P’s commands in French, although,
Flashy reckons he has this look on his face that says “Oh, my dear, what an accent!”
In our honour, we are cooked the traditional Swiss Raclette for
dinner. Melted cheese served with new potatoes, pickled onions and gherkins. Quite
delicious. Rose and white wine a plenty. The neighbours from next door also
came over to make it a sextet and they brought a banana dessert.
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