The Way of St. James 5th stage

05.09.2015

Geneva

In 5 stages, the section of the Way of St. James we chose led us from Kufstein to Geneva. This is now the end. We saw a lot, experienced a lot and enjoyed beautiful landscapes on our way across Austria and Switzerland. Even if our feet and shoulders were burning at times, our mood was always at its best. The last meters of our pilgrimage lead us to the main train station, opposite our hotel. This is where we part ways. Gitti, Heimo and Albert drive back to Thun, where their car is parked. Günther drives back to Frankfurt.

04.09.2015

Tanney – Geneva [17 km]

The once again beautiful weather makes us quickly forget the bad breakfast. Unfortunately, the routing is still negative, a lot of asphalt and again and again along railroad tracks, but no lake. Again and again we marvel at noble houses in spacious parks. Everything is very well maintained. You can feel the proximity of the rich city of Geneva. Only at the very end we are allowed to go down to the lakeshore again. On the outdoor terrace of the  restaurants “Perle au Lac” we extensively enjoy the view of the city and its world famous fountain. Here it can be endured. Slowly we walk the last stretch of our Way of St. James. Along the lakeshore we will go to the beautiful, sophisticated city on the banks of the Rhone until we reach the Hotel Beau Rivage. Opposite the main train station we chose the ****Hotel “Warwick” as our accommodation. Showered, changed and a little refreshed, we meet at 5 pm for a short tour of the city. Passing the basilica, we cross a bridge to the old town side. There we treat ourselves to a beer on the banks of the Rhone. Afterwards we decided to go to the Thai restaurant “Chiang Mai”. After many delicious roasties, we need something different. The cuisine is excellent, but also very expensive.

03.09.2015

Prangins – Coppete – Tanney [20 km]

The weather is optimal again. Unfortunately, we are not allowed back to the lake. Often it goes parallel to the railroad line. Via Nyon we walk to Crans. In the Cafe de l’Union there we are compensated with excellent food for lunch. The exotic tartare with hash browns is really sensational.  Instead, we are once again plagued by the issue of overnight stays. Heimos documents offer a hotel Orange in Coppete near the lake. Unfortunately, no one answers the phone. Since we have no alternative, we start walking anyway. About Celigny and  Chateau de Bossey we come to Founex. There, unfortunately, the signage stops. Where is Coppete? There is also no one there we could ask. After some back and forth we choose a road down to the lake. And that’s where Coppete shows up, a pretty old town on the lake. The Hotel Orange probably exists, but unfortunately it turns out to be not very recommendable. Simple and poorly managed. Our salvation is called Jean-Pierre. He works in the tourism office there. In Coppete there is no other possibility to stay overnight! The nearest hotel is in Tanney, 5 km away, and fortunately still has 2 free rooms. So we pick up our backpacks again, back to Founex, away from the lake again. Tired and thirsty we reach the Hotel Lion d’Or and have to reward ourselves first with some Panaches.

02.09.2015

Lausanne – Prangins [25 km]

The most important news – the rain has stopped. Slowly blue sky announces itself again. The hotel breakfast is too expensive for us and we think we will find something. But first we have to get out of the industrial area and find our signs again. This is not so easy, because some highways cross our way. After some effort and many a wrong approach, we find a sign that leads us into a wooded area. For a long time we follow a river course through a beautiful floodplain forest, which after some time actually brings us near the village of St. Sulpice to the lake. There the sun is already waiting for us and a small beach cafe where we finally get breakfast.

Now we are also allowed to walk along the lake. It is beautiful. We especially like Morges with its beautiful, flower-filled waterfront. At St. Prex we treat ourselves to a delicious ice cream in a beach bar. Here also appear the first vineyards. The vines still hang full of red and white grapes waiting to be harvested. Soon we turn away from the lake again and come to Alaman.

To reach our accommodation for the night we take a short train ride to Glan. From there, a cab will take us to the Relais de l’Aerodrome near Prangins. It is a simple accommodation with very good Italian restaurant in extravagant location. But we had no aircraft noise.

01.09.2015

Romont – Syens – Lausanne [21 km]

During the night the weather has changed. It is overcast, no longer so hot, but dry. For the first time we have problems to find a suitable accommodation on the planned route. We start walking anyway, along a stream for a long time, a total of 15 km to Moudon. There we will have our lunch break in the restaurant “Douanne”. Near the village of Syens, unfortunately, it starts to rain heavily. We can just about save ourselves in a covered bus stop.

Suddenly a young Upper Austrian appears, on his way to Santiago. He tells that he manages up to 40 km a day despite pain and wants to be at the finish line in November! We can only marvel at that. While waiting, we find out that at our stop the bus to Lausanne is leaving. We will not miss this chance and hope to solve our accommodation problem. After a 40-minute bus ride, we reach the outskirts of Lausanne, where we change to the well-filled metro to the main train station.

The hotel search is not that easy here either, but after some time Heimo is successful on the Internet. A cab takes us all in 20 minutes to the modern “Discovery Hotel” in the Crisier district. There we are in the middle of a growing industrial area. Unfortunately, Lake Geneva is not visible from here. The hotel restaurant offers good food, albeit at higher prices. Unfortunately, the rain has not yet subsided.

31.08.2015

Fribourg – Posieux – Romont [21 km]

Heimo had found out that there was a bus line from Fribourg station that would take us out of the city and its less attractive suburbs. So already at 08.00  we take the bus to Posieux, about 8 km from Fribourg. It was really worth it, because now we are back in the beautiful nature of the Swiss mountains.

In this region, inns and guesthouses are thin on the ground and you need to plan well in advance. Simply walking away can lead to problems. With no restaurant in the immediate area, we find a quiet spot in front of a small church with a fountain for our midday picnic. With Kaminwurzen and chocolate, as well as plenty of well water we strengthen ourselves for the further way.

Already from a distance we see the old stained glass town of Romont lying on a ridge. Once again we go uphill through old alleys with beautiful houses to the main square. There is our hotel “Lion d’Or”, where we first have to quench our enormous thirst.

The place has a lot to offer: a large castle with a glass museum and a beautiful old church. There we meet 2 German pilgrims who are desperately looking for affordable accommodation. A monastery had supposedly turned them away because the time was too late and our hotel is probably too expensive for them. In the end, they have no choice but to ask locals on the street for an opportunity.

We end the evening in the hotel restaurant.

30.08.2015

Heitenried – Fribourg [16 km]

At the start around 09:00 the sun accompanies us almost as usual, glorious but also merciless.

Through wide meadows and along gurgling streams, the route leads to St. Antoni, where the local village church invites you to a Sunday stop.

Then we continue to Schönberg for lunch on the terrace of the restaurant “La Choppa”. Actually, it is now not far to Fribourg, but the routing of the Way of St. James wants the tired pilgrims to suffer a little more. Instead of crossing the modern bridge directly into the city, it leads us in a large arc down into the valley to the river and across a centuries-old wooden bridge in a medieval way into the city.

But since the hotel we reserved is located in the new town high above the old town, we now have to climb up the hill via many stairs, through narrow alleys. But this also has the advantage that we get to know a little of the beautiful old town with the cathedral.

The rest is then given to us by a long, steep, shadeless ramp up to the main station. Nearby we find our modern hotel Alpha. After a rest, hunger and thirst must be satisfied. At “Da Marco”, 10 minutes away, this succeeds perfectly.

A nightcap at the hotel bar then provides the necessary bedtime energy.

29.08.2015

Wattenwil – Heitenried [24 km]

A leisurely, well-stocked breakfast prepares us for the second day. Again, the sun provides high temperatures. In a moment the road will be steep and long uphill to Siggisburg.

Lunch time is approaching, but far and wide there is no restaurant to be seen. Fortunately, the restaurant “Bären” is open in the next village Rueggisberg. Then it goes down again and through fields and meadows towards Schwarzenburg. On the outskirts of the village we unfortunately overlook the decisive turnoff. The path we chose leads along a road steeply uphill in blazing sun to a pilgrimage church on the top of a hill. At the top we realize that we are wrong. No signpost to be seen. So the same route back down and into the town. But this detour really took it out of me. At the Schwarzenburg train station we split up at short notice.

Gitti and Günther are waiting for the bus to Heitenried, our destination today. Heimo and Albert dare to do the remaining 5 km and walk. Almost at the same time we arrive at the Hotel Sternen in Heitenried. A real surprise awaits us there.

Today is paella day at the hotel restaurant. They hired a specialist and he conjures up a really good paella, either with fish or with meat, on the table. The portions are enormous and hardly manageable by us. It tastes really good.

Full and tired, we climb up to the top floor to our rooms.

28.08.2015

Thun – Wattenwil [21,7 km]

We will meet, after different journeys,  around noon in Thun at Lake Thun. Heimo’s half-brother Gerhard lives there with his wife Mirelle. After a short lunch Gerhard accompanies us to the lakeshore. There we come across the signposted Way of St. James.

The weather is summery hot with bright sunshine. Many are looking for the bath in the beautiful lake, for us it soon goes briskly uphill, over a larger ridge on the outskirts of Thun with great views of the beautiful landscape. We are about to start sweating profusely.

Passing the villages of Amsoltern, Ubeschi and Blumenstein we reach Wattenwil. There Heimo has already reserved our overnight stay in the vacation apartments of Mrs. Liechti. She runs a large flower store on site.

We end the evening in the nearby restaurant Bären. Our need for panache and surer must is huge.