The GENEVA WAY - Part Two ST. GENIX-SUR-GUIERS to CHAVANAY

This middle segment of the Camino was my favorite of the three six-day legs of the Geneva Way.

Every day was its own wonderful adventure, and at the end of the day we stayed in lovely accommodations, (mostly B & Bs) with gracious hosts who often joined us for dinner. Although there was a bit of a language barrier we were able to communicate and enjoy two-hour dinners with our hosts, who were friendly, charming and excellent cooks.

This is our fifth annual Camino, and the first Camino that hosts actually joined us for dinner. It added to the charm. We felt special, with a warm welcome. They opened their homes to us, and also provided their companionship and conversation.

DAY SEVEN:  17.2 miles  St. GENIX-sur-GUIERS to VALENCOGNE

Today's walk wasn't supposed to be this long, but we did get lost a few times. Such is life on a Camino. Thankfully, Gerry is an excellent navigator, and we become "found" shortly after being "lost". His sense of direction is amazing, far better than mine.


We walked to Valencogne and then had to back track about 5 km to get to our accommodation in Saint Ondras, where our beautiful B and B was located.

We began our walk under sunny skies and walked along the banks of the Guiers River for a few miles.

Walking across the bridge to the other side of the Guiers River

A peaceful and pleasant morning

We come across pilgrim rest stops along the Camino from time to time and we try to take advantage of them.

This was a lovely one and the perfect opportunity to take a rest

We approached the quiet town of Les Abrets midday and found a bench in the shade near a church where we stopped for a snack of cheese and crackers.

Not much action here, but it was pleasant

The "bench" is not the typical one you would expect to see in front of a church.

We enjoy this whimsical colorful bench!

The official end of today's hike was in Valencogne. The city's old church was nice to see, but not much else in Valencogne -it is void of restaurants, cafes and shops and people.

The church in Valencogne

Our accommodation, "Le Pas de l'Ane" is a stunning bed and breakfast.

Happy to arrive here after a 17.2 mile walk

Our hostess Josiane took good care of us. Our one-dish meal was an enormous elaborate entree salad with plenty of crostini and goat cheese (not to mention the hard boiled eggs, juicy tomatoes, olives and sizzling bacon).

We had worked up a healthy appetite, and this was so delicious

When you are on a camino there is always room for dessert, especially when it is a generous slice of multi-layer raspberry creme cake.

A sweet ending to the day

DAY EIGHT:  14.4 miles  VALENCOGNE to LE GRAND LEMPS

It was another warm day on the camino, but I would rather it be a little on the warm side than rainy. Steep ascents and descents were a constant today, as was gorgeous scenery.

We don't see many hikers, but we do see occasional mountain bikers. The trail offered views of Lake Paladru. We never reached the lake, but viewed it from above.

Lake Paladru in the distance

The typical vistas we see each day never become boring. The countryside is sprinkled with little hamlets.

Typical French countryside

The trail is a bit rocky at times, but we're used to it. I take my time, especially on the steep descents.

Loose gravel and rocks below, but gorgeous views in the distance

We paused for a snack in the quaint town of Le Pin.

Le Pin, under sunny skies

We eat blackberries daily, and we're also seeing elderberries along the trail. They don't taste so good, but they are colorful.

Elderberries galore!

We're in cow country for sure. Gerry researched it and informed me there are at least a dozen different breeds of cows that originated in France.

They seem to be in a state of Zen

We arrived in Le Grand Lemps late afternoon where we stopped at a bar and called our accommodation, the Villa Jeanette, (Cote-Saint-Andre) to arrange for a pickup. Fifteen minutes later our host Daniel drove up and whisked us away to to the Villa Jeanette, where we stayed for two nights.

Happy to be at Villa Jeannette

Daniel and Martine fed us well. They prepared a lovely dinner for us, and also dined with us, which made the evening even more memorable. We started with an apertif - a glass of homemade walnut liqueur.

Fresh lettuce with a special pasta of the region

Our entree was guinea fowl with green beans, carrots and potatoes.

Dinner is served

I didn't photograph it, but after we finished our entrees, Daniel and Martine brought out a cheese platter (varieties of both cow and goat cheese) and some crusty bread and more wine. This was the interlude before our dessert of homemade rhubarb pie. Gerry informed Martine that rhubarb pie is one of his favorites. She promised to serve him a slice with breakfast the following morning and she kept her promise.

DAY NINE:  11.4 miles  LE GRAND LEMPS to COTE SAINT-ANDRE

Daniel gave us a ride back to Le Grand Lemps in the morning. It was a relatively short walk to Cote Saint-Andre under sunny skies once again.

We always see such pretty flowers along the trail

And we take advantage of the rest stops, once again.

Glad this bench is in the shade

We passed by several ancient castles today.

This one was quite elaborate

I like this old church tower we see about half-way through today's relatively short hike.

We see a view of the Notre Dame cathedral from the church tower. We decide to to go the additional 2 km to visit it.

Notre Dame cathedral beckons us

The Notre Dame cathedral is actually quite small. However, there is a panoramic view from the hilltop.

Inside the cathedral

We see many directional signs, and on occasion beautiful  tiles to help us navigate the camino day in and day out.

All signs lead to Santiago

By sheer coincidence we are here during the Festival Berlioz. It is a two-week festival of classical music (Aug 17 - Sep 1) in celebration of Hector Berlioz, Cote Saint-Andre's famous son. He was a French Romantic composer (1803 - 1869).

The side of this building in Cote Saint Andre pays homage to the late great Berlioz

This worked out quite well for us. After our hike we stopped at the ticket office in town and purchased two tickets for the concert being held that evening in the church at 5:00 pm.

The concert featured pianist Jean-Baptiste Fonlupt, who played R. Schumann's Fantaisie op. 17 followed by F. Liszt's Sonate.

The concert lasted approximately 90 minutes and included an encore. We were seated in the 8th row, and were thrilled to enjoy this unexpected pleasant surprise of culture on the camino.

A view of the French Alps from Villa Jeannette

 DAY TEN:  14.9 miles  COTE-SAINT-ANDRE to REVEL TOURDAN

The last three days the temperatures have soared to the mid 80s. We are successful in getting early starts in the morning. We tend to eat a bountiful breakfast and then begin our daily sojourn before 8:30 am.  This way we can get in at least the first five miles while temperatures are cool. We drink plenty of water (and did I mention the blackberries?) and take frequent rest breaks.

We welcome the cool respites when we walk through the woods.

Appreciating the shade and the beauty of this stream

We're seeing mushrooms now, several times a day. They are glorious.

A large shelf mushroom - 5 times the length of my hand!

We appreciate the excellent craftsmanship of the stone and brick churches we walk by daily.

Such precision and detail

We arrive at the church at Revel Tourdan, the official end of the hot hike. No accommodations here, but no worries. We follow our instructions and call for a ride. A friendly driver arrives and transports us to Domaine de la Columbiere. This is a luxurious 21-room hotel .

Aaah! Feeling relaxed post swim and poolside snooze

The lap-size pool was refreshing and a welcome perk

We ate dinner at the hotel's restaurant in a separate building adjacent to the hotel.

The gourmet restaurant where we dined

First course was an intriguing soup - chilled cantaloupe melon with bacon

Tasty, and quite unique

Our entrees were also stupendous. Fish with a sesame soy glaze, polenta and broccoli for Mary, and Pork with plum sauce, polenta and broccoli for Gerry.

MJB dinner entree

GLH dinner entree

Our scrumptious dessert was the grand finale - a peach custard with chocolate crumbles.

Wow!

In normal life we don't indulge in delicious desserts nightly. But on a camino we do!

DAY ELEVEN:  13.6 miles  REVEL TOURDAN to SAINT-ROMAIN-de-SURIEU

Our bodies (and feet) are holding up quite well. We've walked more than 150 miles and are in good spirits. Legs feel a bit weary, but no blisters!

Although I spent 30 days "studying" French on a Rosetta Stone program, my French basically sucks. However, I am able to communicate (somewhat) with our hosts.

This camino has been amazing and every day is an adventure. Sure, the body is fatigued, but the mind and spirit soars.

Interesting patch of thistles

There are rest stops, and then there are "over the top" rest stops with fine wood paneling, tables and chairs.

Very nice

We walk all day and love it, but we also glance at the farms and realize that a farmer's work is never done. Always much plowing to do.

The daily grind of plowing

The Chapel of  Our Lady of Salette, dates back to the 13th century. We're privileged to walk by it.

ancient history absorbed

We were always on the look for mushrooms

And we found some beauts!

We passed by another ancient stone tower, and I'm again grateful we can do these caminos and absorb it all.

We loved this footbridge enveloped by a variety of ferns!

Mother Nature never disappoints

We reach Romain-de-Surieu, near the end of today's walk.

Official end

Michel and Patricia were excellent hosts. We walked the additional 1.5 miles from the official end of today's stage to their lovely B & B, La Ferraz.

Michel was quite the gourmet chef. He prepared an entree of  roasted zucchini stuffed with tomatoes and spinach.

Wow! I could eat this for dinner every night

DAY TWELVE:  12.4 miles  SAINT-ROMAIN-de-SURIEU to CHAVANAY

Today was the most urban day by far. Although Gerry is an excellent navigator we did make a few wrong turns today. We had to walk on the shoulder of the road on some fairly busy streets, but we survived, and it made us appreciate the rural parts of the trail even more.

We did head into the woods early in the hike

We continue to look for (and find!) mushrooms when we are in the forested parts of the camino.

We walked for at least a half-mile where we passed hundreds of apple trees as far as we could see. Each tree has at least two dozen apples.

There are literally thousands of apples here

We like seeing the French Alps in the distance as we walk through the countryside.

It became quite industrial on the final stretch toward Chavanay, our destination. But finally we made it to the bridge over the Rhone.

Chavanay and its surroundings beckon

Our Hotel le Cottage was fine, but a bit of a disappointment after the previous five nights of absolutely wonderful accommodations in the B and Bs and the Columbiere. Le Cottage is located in the town of Pelussin, about five miles from Chavanay.

It was one of the rare "dinner on our own" nights. We found a local pizzeria and shared a vegetarian pizza and salad. Portions were generous, and we packed away some leftover pizza for the next day.

Glad we only ordered one pizza!

It rained while we were in the pizzeria which was a welcome relief and helped cool the temperatures. There is no air conditioning and it was only supposed to dip down to the mid 60s overnight - much warmer than usual we've been told.

The skies rapidly cleared after the brief shower and it was a pleasant walk back to our hotel after dinner.

Every town has its cathedral or church

This is the end of the second six-day leg of the camino.

The journey is as rewarding as the destination.