Saturday 22 September - Travel Bern to Paris

The Lyria TGV crew stay at the same hotel so we made ourselves known before leaving on the short walk to the station.  It was pouring down.  The rain stopped by the French border and it was sunny and cool by the time we reached Paris.

These TGV trains are on their last legs and should shortly be replaced.  The route through the French Alps is slow but attractive.  There was some slow running getting a path on the the high speed line but we arrived in Paris on time.  We were in the front car and practically first off.  We quickly found Metro line 14, changed at Saint Lazaire and got to the apartment within half an hour. 

This afternoon was spent visiting the model shops and fighting the tourists on Montmartre.

Not having been here at this time of year before a new feature for me was the great variety of mushrooms available.

Friday 21 September - Yverdon les Bains, Ste- Croix

Change of plan today.  A visit to Appenzel would take up too much time so we decided to go around Lake Neuchatel instead.

We were early enough to catch the daily Paris TGV to Neuchatel then a tilting train to Yverdon les Bains. Much farming with vineyards on the south facing slopes overlooking the lake.  There was also some forestry.

This narrow gauge crocodile seems to haul the freight.

There was an easy transfer to the small train to Ste Croix. This is through farming country then forests. There is one village, Baulmes, on the way, all other stations are now request stops. After this there is a steep climb out of the valley with good views over Lake Neuchatel, past a deep canyon with steep sides and on to a high plateau with Ste Croix. This is spread out and has no real centre.  We walked around and went into the Buffet de la Gare for cafe au lait and cognac. There were a few locals in for a morning drink and the black buffet cat sat under the chairs trying to ignore everyone.

Rail-road integration at Ste-Croix

Standard gauge flatcar with containers of garbage on narrow gauge wheels.

 Unimpressed with Ste-Croix, we took the train back to Baulmes at the bottom of the escarpment. This is a pleasant village. We walked around to admire the Town Hall with its spire. Parents were waiting to take the children home for lunch and there were several school buses in evidence.  There was some activity outside the butcher whose van advertised their horse meat. A cat was hunting in a field, one of many we have seen in the last few days.

Baulmes Hotel de Ville

There were a large number of decorative horse troughs in the village.

The butcher also had a large selection of cow bells

There is a train every hour in each direction and they cross at Baulmes.  We returned to Yverdon and on to Fribourg for lunch.  A slow waitress and misleading menu saw us leave. She was astonished, "Mais, vous partez?"  We finally had a good Chinese meal.

Once you get away from the disgusting giant concrete buildings of the core, Fribourg is an interesting place. A disappointment was that the funicular was not running. We walked into the Basse Ville which has interesting buildings, Hotel de Ville, cathedral.  Our return to the station was along a pleasant pedestrian street.

Fribourg Basse Ville

A very ornate street light

 In Bern we had some final rides on the trams.  we took the 3 route to the end of the line at the tram museum (closed) and back to the centre of town.  We transferred to a 6 tram and went out a little way along the line towards Worb Dorf.  We then had a snack on the platform and then back to the hotel to get ready for the ride to Paris tomorrow.

Click here to see all pictures taken at Fribourg 
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Click here to see pictures of Bern trams

Thursday 20 September - Brienze, Innertkirchen and Luzern

It was fine and sunny this morning, but there was steam on our breath first thing, and the views of Lake Thun were superb.  In fact we had full sunahine all day although the air was cold.  At Interlaken the train disgorged hundreds of Asian tourists who were going to the Jungfrau leaving just a few to take the narrow gauge train to Brienz.  This was hauled by an electric locomotive originally built in 1941, although it was rebuilt in the 1980s.

1941 builder's plate

The views across Lake Brienz were superb.  We took some time in Brienze, looking at the steam engines on the mountain railway and enjoying the town. The steamer arrived from Interlaken, the Post Bus drew up and our train to Meiringen arrived.  Integration!

A relatively new locomotive.

This is one of the few non-electrified lines in Switzerland

The steamer from Interlaken arriving at Brienz in time to connect with the railway and the Post Bus.

 We had a quick transfer to the little train to Innertkirchen, a run of only ten minutes. It goes up a valley and into the next one through a long tunnel. The train stopped in the tunnel and the driver opened the door and a door in the tunnel wall also opened to allow passengers to get off. The train continued on through pleasant country to the end of the line which is at a hydro station. We had just 8 minutes before our return - time to look at the locomotive just purchased from the CF du Jura.  On the way back we didn't stop in the tunnel so I presume this was a request stop and prospective passengers had a way of signalling to the driver.  There was a Post Bus in the parking lot of a cafe.  The Destination sign said "Pause" and there was a picture of a cup of coffee. 

Meiringen Innertkirchen tram at Innertkirchen.  We were given 8 minutes to see what we wanted and get back on the train.  It was enough time.

MIB locomotive 12 recently purchased from the CF du Jura.

Back at Meiringen there was about half an hour to wait for the next train to Lucern.

The new trains will be unveiled to the public this weekend.

It won't be very long before these old locomotives will be replaced

This section has some steep grades and beautiful views over several lakes as we descended into the valleys.

Lucern was beautiful in the sunshine. We had lunch at a restaurant by the water.  I had to try the spam and chips which was also described as home made meat loaf.

Spam and chips The gravy quickly congealed to maintain its authenticity.

The decoration on some of the buildings is very intricate.

The second wooden bridge has a small chapel under the turret.

Afterwards we walked across the bridge and then along by the water.  There were a lot of swans and they made good use of the tourists.  We crossed back across another wooden bridge into the historic old town.  The tourists were all on one street but we went one street back where the locals were.  The kids were just coming out of school.  Back close to the water there were more great views of Lake Lucern with the snow peaked mountains in the background.

We caught a direct train back to Bern travelling upstairs in the double decker.

Back at Bern we walked into the old part and right through to the bridge over the river Aare.  There were three bears in their fairly new location and they seemed happy enough.  We walked back into the centre on a street which paralleled the main one where the tourists are.  This was a bit funky in places but again it was where the locals were.  In the station area there are hundreds and hundreds of bikes, even though the SBB has a safe storage area in the station itself.

We haven't been able to figure out what this is.  A set of steps up to a broken off column.

 We had a sandwich watching the trains from the platform.
Click here to see all pictures of the Zentralbahn
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Wednesday 19 September - Mulhouse and Basel

It rained heavily in the night and was still raining when we walked over to catch the 0804 to Basel.  Mulhouse seemed like a better bet today. The clouds lifted a bit by the time we has reached Basel there was sun by Mulhouse and the weather was pretty good all day. Even in the centre of Bern we saw sheep grazing down by the river.

We walked into France at the Basel station and found our train to Mulhouse.  It was made up of old Corail stock painted in Alsace regional colours but it rode well. At Mulhouse the tram stop is right in front of the main station entrance which has recently been renovated.  Everywhere we go we find he buses and trams right outside the main railway station.  Why is this such a foreign concept in North America? I struggled with the ticket machine and finally made it print out a couple of tickets. A bit of a queue had formed and I apologized profusely but everybody was very kind and polite.

The ride out to the museum was delightful as much of the route is on grass or old style cobbles. France has a very different feel to Switzerland.  The land is not so intensively used and it is slightly less well cared for but the people are very polite and it is a pleasure to be able to converse with them.

The grass right of way is very attractive.

The railway museum is excellent. The SNCF is proud of its speed record and there was a video taken from the cab.  It is an extensive collection and there is so much that it is easy to miss a great deal. I was happy to see one of the locomotives that hauled the "Mistral" as I rode the head end of this train from Paris Gare de Lyon to Dijon before the TGVs took over.  It was also great to see a turbo train with a blazon "Caen" as I rode the head end of this train from Paris St. Lazare to Caen and back when I was returning from the Soviet Union.

Turbotrain power car.

Blazon carried on the turbotrain

I don't know how many times I have seen this emblem carried on the front of the locomotive of the Golden Arrow as it hurried through Orpington.  This was loaned by the York Museum.

Cheminots. Probably my favorite picture from the Museum - this is what it is all about.

We caught a tram back into the centre of the city.  There is a four platform tram interchange here and many people.  It seems the high end shops are lined along the tram routes.  The tram is an integral part of the streetscape and the same sort of social interaction will not be possible in Ottawa when we bury our stations deep underground.

I managed to haul Paul away from an orgy of tram picture-taking into a restaurant located right by the tram stop. We had half a litre of an excellent red wine, Paul had pizza while I had the menu du jour which was a tomato gaspacho and a plate of sausages with small pasta and ham and sauerkraut(!) This was a speciality of this part of Alsace and so I thought I would try it.  It was pretty good and the sauerkraut was yum-my!

In for a penny - in for a pound

I ate most of it

 An old couple came in and sat at the table next to us.  The staff knew them well and greeted them warmly.  They had the daily special and a quarter litre of rose wine.  It was good to see the staff treat them like old friends.

The blue tram trains are similar to the regular trams but operate over the SNCF beyond Luterbach

We then walked back to the station noting that the streets contained sidewalk cafes, grass, flower beds, trees, trams and just a few cars.  The yellow trams show off the trees and shrubs to good effect.  The areas where the tram tracks have been grassed are particularly attractive,  like going through an urban park.

We had to wait half an hour for a train to return to Basel because of an accident further to the north.  Basel was very busy and we caught a tram into the Marktgasse which has a number of interesting stalls, including one selling hot dogs where the bun is impaled on a stainless steel spike to make a hole for the dog.  Free wi-fi is available in some of the trams.

The seven section trams seem to go on for ever. Large LCD screens show the next stop and the following three or four.  One wonders why OC Transpo didn't buy this technology rather then the out of date announcing equipment it has.

Basel Marktgasse.

We took another tram over the river into Germany then returned to the market area and its pedestrian streets.  Again, the high end shops are along the tram routes.
The return to Bern was in a first class quiet car.  It was certainly quiet but nowhere near as much fun as the noisy one yesterday.
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Tuesday 18 September - Pilatus Not But Rigi Yes

We caught the 0800 train to Luzerne where one of the train staff fell on his sword and admitted that we were three minutes late.  (actually timekeeping was bad all day - one train was 7 minutes late the worst I have ever experienced in Switzerland. ) We found the connection to Alpnachstadt but were sitting in the wrong part of the train so we were left behind.

Plan B was to take a ride up to Goschenen at the top of the Gothard Pass. There was  a train just leaving so we went right through to Goschenen. The weather was excellent and the views of the lakes and of Wassen church, which we passed three times, were superb.  Goschenen was pretty busy and we quickly lost count of the number of trains we saw. We had a coffee at the cafe on the platform which was a great way to watch trains.

Its a tough job but ---.  Even though we were conversing in French the lady behind the counter insisted on writing the price down for us on a piece of paper.

A passenger train about to enter the tunnel

The MGB trains over the rack to Andermat provided a pleasant change of pace.

MGB train from Andermat arriving at Goschenen

MGB train in the station, outside the SBB station.  Post bus in attendance.

A train back to Arth Goldau gave us plenty of time to catch the 1410 cog railway train to Rigi Kulm. After buying our tickets we had a quick walk around the area.  The conkers, horse chestnuts, are out now.  everything is well maintained.

Cats are important in Arth Goldau.  They roam freely stalking things in the grass.

The ride up was in an old restored car that was being provided for a party coming down later on.  The railway is a bit fussy, particularly in checking tickets, and nowhere near as well organized as the Gornergratbahn.  It seems like a tourist attraction stuck in a time warp in the early 1920s.  The track is not so well laid or maintained as the Gornergrat.  At several of the intermediate stops the only sounds to break the silence were cow bells that could be heard from a long way off on the other side of the valley.

The view from Rigi Kulm was great although it was becoming misty over towards Lucern.

Special car added for a private party.  It rode well but was a bit lively at times.

Rigibahn train on arrival back at Arth Goldau

There was ample time at Arth Goldau to walk back to the SBB station past the work to build a new station closer to the SBB.  We caught a tilting train from Italy into Zurich and then transferred to a double deck train non-stop to Bern.  This was very full indeed but there was some entertainment.  

The ticket collector gave a guy close to us a hard time.  He spent about 15 minutes talking in German with the passenger responding in Italian.  He tried to scan a qr code then consulted his portable computer.  In the end he took the passenger's identity card and crossed it through with an ink marker.

There was a young lady (!) talking in Italian on her cell phone so loudly that half the car could hear.  She was either saying good night to a very large extended family or working giving phone sex.  When she finally stopped talking after about 45 minutes, I said quietly to Paul, "Thank you for sharing that with us."  A German speaking passenger next to Paul grinned widely.  It became quite hot in the crowded car and she started to undress.  She had got down to bra and slip, I couldn't see if see if she was wearing panties or not.  When we reached Bern she was up and first out.

An entertaining end to a good day.
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Monday 17 September - Gornergrat

The Bern suburban station is a neat four-track on narrow gauge underneath the main station.  The security guard was interested my locomotive book and told us this station handled 22 million people annually.

The 0807 to Visp was 4 minutes late leaving.  At least we were able to ride in the top deck.  We made up the time by Visp and there was a quick transfer to the MGB train to Zermatt. It seems the SBB people in Bern didn't issue the right supplement tickets for Visp to Zermatt and Gornergrat.  This resulted in a long conversation with the very friendly conductor who made a phone call to Zermatt then took us to the ticket office where a correct ticket was issued and I got a refund. The two ticket agents and the conductor apologized profusely even though it wasn't their fault.  We then had to go to the Gornergrat ticket office and get a reduced fare ticket there.  There is a lot of French used around here.  The Gornergratbahn uses a smart card which opens the turnstiles.  Pity OC Transpo can't make their cards work.  Mind you the ticket prices are significantly higher so there is probably more incentive.

The trip to Gornergrat was in bright sun and it was hot at the top. We looked around, took pictures and caught the train back 30 mins. later. I bought a new Swiss Army knife which only cost CH17 (about $17).  It will replace the one I couldn't bring in my carry on.  I will leave it in Paris and bring it back in January in my checked baggage.  I feel mean at getting a new one with more blades and the other one is only 40 years old.  Zermatt is only accessible by public transport and the railway runs a shuttle service.  It has a great number of construction cranes so business is evidently good.

The train down was pretty empty and we sat right up front beside the driver with excellent views ahead.  There were many hikers - it took 3 1/2 hours to climb down according to the signs.

View of an up train from the front of a down train. The double wres indicate the system is using three phase power.

The Riffelalp Tram connects with Gornergrat trains at Riffelalp station and takes people to the Riffelalp Hotel

At Zermatt we had about 4 minutes to get the train to Visp. We managed this with time to spare.  The streams and rivers are all milky white.  The sun shining in and the comfortable seats were conducive to dozing.  The MGB trains are very comfortable and quiet.  Although the line is narrow gauge the rails are all welded.

The train to Montreux was actually two minutes late leaving and the computer was still upset that we were a minute late into Montreux.  Montreux felt like a fun fair and was not as pleasant as I had remembered.  After a beer on the promenade we took a train to Lausanne.  An easy stroll to platform 1 and the train to Bern was just rolling in.  We found two seats in the top deck.  The double deck inter city trains are Paul's favorites.


Dinner this evening was al fresco Italian.  It was very pleasant.  The sounds of the trams in the distance added to the pleasant buzz of people eating.  No private vehicles are allowed here so all we could see were trams and trolley buses.

Choosing a meal after a hard day.

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