Weather: 0C-6C

The quest to secure our holy grail (carnet de passage) that was mailed from Australia to Munich, has lead us north through the East of France since leaving Spain. Speaking of Holy Grail reminds me of our very own Mary MacKillops rather premature rise to saintliness. This event along with our other claim to fame over here at the moment, that as individuals we are the world's greatest polluters, has Australia in the spotlight. I say premature sainthood as my wheel nut still hasn't rematerialized.
France morphed into Switzerland and no more toll roads. A typical day's drive through France has seen us fork out about 40 Euros in road tolls. That's a lot of Aussie dollars believe me. Not to use the motorways can mean being bottled up in small towns making little headway.

We were therefore eagerly anticipating the variation that arriving in Switzerland would bring. But this is where visibility, or rather the lack of it comes into play. As Switzerland is mountainous all the heavy transport, and there is a **** load of it, inevitably uses the valleys between said mountains. This results is pollution that by Australian standards is horrific. Visibility is down to about one kilometer, so any view becomes washed out over any distance greater than half a kilometer. Combine that with a low cloud ceiling and hey presto no views. On one of the high mountain passes we did catch a glimpse of the peeks as the clouds parted but it was all to brief!

I guess I shouldn't compare Switzerland with New Zealand, but there is really no contest. A view through the smog into a Swiss valley choked with all manner of industry seals Switzerland's fate as a distant second place. They are on a fairly equal footing when it comes to lack of wildlife, as the New Zealanders ate most of theirs decades ago.

One highlight of Switzerland was the town of Lucern where the city centre contained some lovely examples of covered bridges. I should also give Granada in Spain a plug. This is another city with some beautiful buildings in its old quarter around the palace. But before you go all gushy and think I'm getting soft in the head, you do need to wade through a lot of **** to find some small gems in these and other European cities. It can all become too hard, and how many refurbished ruins does one need to see?

We met a talkative and friendly Irishman named Ernie in the campground at Chamonix Mont Blanc. Ernie had cycled all the way from Ireland and had many views on the different nationalities. He was fascinated, as were we, by the fact that the French don't supply toilet paper in campgrounds. And why don't the Spanish, Portuguese, and the French have toilet seats, or soap? I mean haven't they heard of dysentery for Christ sake.

Camping grounds are becoming even harder to find if that is possible. Every morning is spent phoning prospective campgrounds on our intended route to see if they are open. By the end of October, Europe would be virtually impossible to travel through without staying most nights in hotels. I can understand why the camping grounds are closing, as the weather has deteriorated in a big way in the month we have been here. It does not get above 6C during the day at present and every day since leaving Spain it has been raining and overcast. I cannot begin to imagine what a depressing existence Europeans must lead during their interminable winters.
Sorry no photos this time problem uploading, internet speed too slow. What a b*****!