We drove up to Newcastle on the Friday evening and stayed at a hotel to be at the airport for 5am for our 7am flight to Grenoble the next day. The flight left on time and we arrived on time but faced a 3-hour queue to get through customs which although we were aware of the delays still didn't prepare us for the chaos at the airport. Once through we faced another 90-minute wait for a shuttle bus in to Grenoble, we met up with two guys one from Bristol on his way to Chamonix to play a gig and the other from the lake district going snowboarding he was also an instructor and had travelled the world quite a bit. We arrived at Grenoble bus station and after another 1 hour wait, we caught the bus to Lyon which took another 2 hours so we were feeling a little tired by then. We were staying at an ex-monastery up above Lyon with lovely views of the city below plus right next to us a Roman Amphitheatre. After unpacking we walked down in to the old town then back up which by then was grueling and we couldn't find somewhere to eat locally so had to go back down to the old town again, luckily by then we had found the Funicular which took us down through a tunnel and after eating we took it back up for an early night's sleep.
The next day was Jun's birthday and after breakfast we firstly visited the Basilica Notre Dame and I attended Mass with Jun, the priest spoke to Jun at the end in perfect Mandarin. We then set off to walk around Lyon firstly through all the markets stopping off for Jun to sample Oysters and Frogs legs. After walking a few miles following the River Rhone we started back visiting exhibitions, art galleries and museum, as we approached the main square there was a very large police presence and the start of a demonstration, we then went in to the Museum of Fine Arts and at the end we finished on the third floor at which point a group of men and women suddenly started shouting and singing producing banners opening the windows and waving. The security was caught completely unawares and at this time there was a large crowd in the square shouting, singing, playing musical instruments so we went to the ground floor and were let out of a side door by security as we couldn't exit the main doors, we then walked around to the front so I could video and photograph some of it.
The next day we packed and had a quick visit to the Cathedral again to take some photographs then made our way back to the bus station to take the coach to Chamonix a 4-hour journey which cost us the equivalent of five pounds each. It was a lovely drive down there surrounded by the Alps and Chamonix was beautiful as was the small hotel we stayed at all wood construction with views from the balcony of Mont Blanc. After unpacking we went for a walk stopping off to buy tickets for the next day to go up to Aiguille Du Midi the highest cable car in the world, I believe, also tickets to travel on the Glacier train.
The next morning after breakfast we walked over to the cable car as we had a 9:30 slot, it took two cable cars to reach the summit at a height of 12,602 feet and what magnificent views all around and Mont Blanc so close, we climbed up the last part on a staircase and I started to feel light headed, dizzy and a little sick so obviously the altitude got to me, but I soon settled down then me and Jun went in to the sky box completely made of glass, amazing! we went back down after 3 hours and made our way to the station for the Montenven train to the Mer De Glace a 7km long 200-metre-deep glacier beautiful scenery all the way up and there. After this we had a late meal packed and caught the 5pm bus to our next stop at Annecy arriving at 6:45 and after booking in to the hotel we had a walk around the old town and had something to eat.
The next day after breakfast we set off to walk around the Annecy lake which Annecy sits upon, it is Frances third largest lake and supposed to be the cleanest in Europe it was a lovely sunny day and we walked quite a way then decided to catch a local bus to travel further down the far side to Tallores after which we bused back up to the picturesque town of Menthon St-Bernard and had a lovely walk around the town and lake and after a meal we set off to visit the Chateau de Menthon famous for being the birthplace of Saint Bernard but it was closed so we just viewed it from outside. We then took another bus back to Annecy and spent the evening walking around the town and visiting the famous lovers bridge and old prison. The next day we spent the whole morning exploring Annecy further we visited the ex-prison set in the canal that runs through Annecy giving it a kind of Venice feel, the prison was last used to house French resistance fighters then later the German soldiers at the end of the war. we visited some nice churches and the Cathedral and Jun bought a really beautiful teapot as her birthday present to herself. We then boarded the bus at 12:45 back up to Grenoble arriving at 2:30 and while we were at the bus station, we checked for buses up to Le Grand Chartreus the Carthusian Monastery for the next day and booked the tickets.
There were more demonstrations going on in Grenoble but we managed to avoid them and booked a table for the evening at a French farm style restaurant. I couldn't see much on the menu for vegetarian so I choose a veggie burger and was really surprised when they brought it, it was huge and a plate full of salad and French fries I struggled to finish it, Jun had Calf's head.
The next morning we caught the local bus at 8:40 up to the mountains and had the driver drop us off at the road that led up to Chartreus then followed a long hard climb for one and a half hours to reach it, but was it worth it, it was beautiful and so very quiet and of course we could not go inside they are the strictest and most secluded Christian order in the West but we just loved being there. We then walked back down to get the bus back to Grenoble and after having a late afternoon walk around the city centre we went back to the French Farmhouse restaurant, this time I ordered cheese fries in salad and again struggled to eat it all Jun had a speciality chicken dish I also tried a drink of Chartreus liquor which took my breath away and made my eyes water it was so strong.
The next morning we were up at 5am to catch the 6am bus to the airport as we decided to get there early because of the long delays and there certainly was some as French air traffic controllers were causing disruptions our flights were being changed all the time as well as the boarding gates. There was one funny moment when Jun and I had gone outside for air when I heard over the loudspeaker Jun's name with a message saying urgent come to information desk, when we got there, they examined Jun's passport then held up a credit card and said to Jun I think this is yours. We both looked at it and said no it isn't as it was another Chinese name with the Li surname the man couldn't pronounce the name so I asked him if he would like Jun to speak over the loudspeaker, he said yes please so Jun spoke in Mandarin and the guy managed to get his credit card back.
Eventually we got on to the plane after 1pm followed by another hour sat there while it waited for clearence till eventually we set off on the return to Newcastle.