From Italy Lake Orta to Geneva and starting down the River Rhone

Our train journey across the Alps and out of the Italian lakes from Omena on Lake Orta to Geneva in Switzerland began at 5.30pm after an already tiring day cycling; during the 25 mile ride, not long in itself, we had pushed our bikes up a very long and very steep rutted mule track.

The ride round the lake anticlockwise from Orta started off in quite heavy traffic with lorries thundering past us.   We then had a stretch on the Southern side that was beautifully quiet and picturesque. Lakeside leafy paths followed after Peotra by a long stretch on a quite and smooth tarmac road that unfortunately ended in a small village with just the steep mule track out of it.   At this point we should have accepted that we had to go back, but retracing ones steps is always harder than exploring further.  We have learned that dead end signs invariably mean dead end for a car and that a footpath follows and besides out map showed a road or at least a cyclable path up to the village higher up.  Living in England, it is difficult to conceive just how vertiginous the pre Alps are and how villages perch on what might seem an impossible place for a house to be sited, let alone an entire village.

Once on the train we travelled through a wide river valley from Omenga to Domodossola (which advertised skiing) and from then bought a ticket to Geneva.  Snow capped mountains behind tree covered slopes of fir then Chesnut and Oak have made a wonderfully scenic backdrop during our entire journey through the Italian lakes. The rivers have been torents of water, waterfalls visible high up through the trees, and frighteningly deep gulys all flowing with the Spring snow melt. Frightening when viewed over small bridges that seem supported on thin air when standing on them - from that angle the supporting structure is not visible just the deep drop - so deep it seems bottomless!

The man at the ticket office in Domodossola told us that we could not use our 24 hour (3.5 euro each) bike ticket on this train and would need to buy new bike tickets on the next train to Switzerland. So we purchased our own tickets, 130 euros for 2 tickets to Geneva (quite expensive we thought) and watched the fast train leave as it would not take bikes (after asking a very grumpy Italian railway employee), and got on the next one at 8pm.  The train off course departed and arrived dead on time and at 11pm we found our hotel, the Hotel Central.  It was one of those dreary and depressing city hotels with reception 6 floors up and no where to store bikes (and no word of this when we requested bike storage when booking on booking.com) all made more depressing by the constant rain and our tiring day pushing the heavy bikes laden with our luggage up the mule track.

We were told that an exception could be made and they could be stored on the balcony in our room. Well, the lift was too small to fit the bikes and even if we had lugged them up 5 flights of stairs, they would certainly not have fitted on the balcony!  So they stayed in the lobby downstairs, well away from the receptionist 6 floors up, and I, who would normally worry about this, was just to tired to be bothered and went to sleep in the bland little room costing £139 euros.  Breakfast was on a tray in the bland little room - great!

Heading out of Geneva. Surprized but pleased they allow swimming on the river.  Maybe not in the rain and and with water in spate. 

68 euros including breakfast served by the owners.  Lords serving labourers. Surely the wrong way round.

After a few false starts due to signs starting us off then disappeared (cycle path signs can be very ambiguous. If only they gave the destination we could be confident we were continuing in the right direction rather than simply following another route back from where we came). More rain, and we finally found out way out of Geneva and along the Vale de la Rhone cycle path.  This started out as a roadside cycle lane through long suburbs, climbing gradually rather than staying on the waterfront.

Eventually the suburban sprawl disappeared and we were on a fairly busy main road but safe on the cycle lane and were beginning to see some good views of the upper Rhone valley.

There followed a beautiful stretch where we cycled along a fairly quiet road cut into the side of the valley, high up with spectacular views but quite frightening as there was often no barrier and the drop, although covered in trees,was near vertical and very deep.

Seyssel

Once I get a slight feeling of vertigo, it won't leave me, and I feel like I might topple over the edge, even when the edge becomes not so frightening.  This makes me want to cycle in the middle of the right hand lane rather than near the outer edge.  So when a car comes fast approaching from behind, all I can do is slow to a walking pace and creep a little nearer to the edge to let it pass.  If the road is straight this is fine as it can easily overtake.  But if on a bend with either a sheer drop or a cliff face for me to hug, it is quite terrifying!

Unfortunately I don't have many photos of these drops as I'm too busy trying not to fall over them.

The afternoon brightened and we had lunch in the delightful tourist 'honeypot' of Chanaz. Canal, lock, boats, bikes, motorbikes, restaurants and brilliant sunshine!

Chazan