Paris to Milan by bike

We had booked accommodation in Hospental to resume our cycle touring route, and Karen and Erik very kindly drove us in to the Grenoble railway station. Finding somewhere to park campervan is always a challenge in a city, but Erik courageously pulled into the huge and almost empty bus area. We had just started unloading the bikes when a uniformed lady came over and told us (in French) that parking there is forbidden, and if we don't move immediately the police will come. Once it became clear to her that we were just stupid foreigners who didn't know any better, and that the van would go as soon as we could get the bikes and panniers out, she relaxed and indicated that we could have five minutes.
We had worked out that we could catch a train from Grenoble at midday, change at Geneva and Visp, and arrive at Hospental at 7:13pm. It was a very scenic journey, particularly of course the Visp to Hospental section on the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn, which we had done before in 2011 to start our trip down the Rhine. We arrived in Hospental at 7:13pm as scheduled. It was a cold breezy evening in the very picturesque little town, and we warmed up by riding up the 10% grade from the station to our accommodation. After settling in to Pension Zum Turm, we went down to the restaurant and spent a large portion of the kids' inheritance on a few drinks and a very nice Hausgemachter Apfelstrudel mit Vanillesauce. We had to celebrate Matthew and Mary's success at an auction that morning. Tracey can't stop trying to speak French to all the German speaking locals who seem to speak quite good English.Lue lisää