Day 14: Perfect Cycle

A cycle tour through the vineyards of Lavaux is a must (sic). What a special day we had among Swiss Premier Cru vines being harvested in Portuguese. The weather was simply beautiful.

Absolutely awesome. You know, I could end this blog right here but I really want you to understand how much I enjoyed it. By absolutely I mean ‘unreservedly’ and by awesome I mean ‘inspiring awe’.

Do some digital searches to read the history and look at online photos. Then you’ll begin to understand just how special it was. You won’t get the ambience of the Portuguese pickers nor will you feel the warmth of the direct sunlight, the heat radiating from the soil nor the energy reflected from the lake all off which help make this UNESCO heritage area one of the best for viniculture in Switzerland.

Aspire cycling it yourself and ditch the panniers. I’m fit enough that they didn’t bother me until the brakes faded. Yes, that’s an issue in hilly terrain carrying so much extra weight. But we had the tools and knowledge and fixed it.

We stumbled into market day in Vevey where an Iranian vegetarian food stall caught my attention. It’ll take me several days to finish the potato based sibzamini and savoury galettes.

We stopped off in Montreux. I’ve always wanted to go there to see Keith Jarrett because some of my favourite music of his was recorded there live (though his 1975 Köln Concert is one of my favourite albums). Sculptures of BB King, Ella Fitzgerald, Carlos Santana and many more jazz of the legends that made Montreux famous bejewel the park in front of the Montreux Palace Hotel.

And in summary, we went from central Lausanne to Martigny, 79 km, where we caught a bike friendly train or two to Orsières, 19 km, where we slept at 880 m. Tomorrow, we need to reach 2473 m. If water can go uphill, so can we!