Golf have always been a favourite sport for us. We are all are seasoned golfers except Toh Boon Tick who had played on and off over the last few years. Our plan was to extend our stay after the learning trip at the Headquarter. The objective was to traverse the great Alps and play a few round of golf at some of the most popular golfing destination in the world. Our Alpine tour started on Sunday 7.7.13.
7.7.13 ( Sunday ) : The Matterhorn.
Because of our big bags and golf sets, we needed two cars. I drove the Mercedes Viano and Daniel drove the manual Alhambra. We checked out of Novotel, Lausanne and drove about 180 km to Zermatt via the highway Route 9. This road takes us along Lake Geneva passing by Montreux, Saint Maurice, Crans Montana Mountains before turning off at Visp district and up the the mountains. The drive was easy and we enjoyed the scenic view along the way and stopping when necessary for that pee stop.
Lausanne to Zermatt route.
Stopping just before Visp
Fruit stall by the roadside, just like Malaysia.
You can take the boy out of the country, but you can never take the country out of the boy.
Taking a leak in the bushes, like they do back home.
But this is Switzerland...
...a beautiful country
with fantastic landscape
you can not get enough of it.
The road ends at a small hamlet called Tasch. We parked our car at the multi carpark terminal and took the train to Zermatt, about 3 km away. Zermatt is a car free town famed for mountaineering and ski sport. Our objective is to view the majestic Matterhorn. To do that we had to take another train up to Gornergrat located 3000 meters above sea level for a commanding view. Even from midway onward, you could already view the Matterhorn all the way up to the peak. The excitement upon seeing this mountain is difficult to contain. This imposing structure made by god stood so grand against the vast expanse of the sky. We were clicking our cameras away like crazy all the way. I must have taken at least a dozen shots of that mountain just so that I could have that one perfect picture. You know what, it looked perfect from any angle.
Outside the Zermatt train station.
Daniel buying the train tickets.
Sia having a picture taken here for remembrance.
Boarding the train to Gornergrat.
Steven feeling elated in the train.
The first view of the Matterhorn. I could stay forever in one of those apartments below.
Another imposing view from the train.
It's perfect from any angle.
Daniel clicking away.
Sit and gaze..
It's been there for thousands of years.
Passing through Riffelalp on the way up.
Imagine, I first know this mountain from a cigarette brand during my childhood days.
Gornergrat train exit point.
"I was there" pose.
Going down after spending all afternoon at Gornegrat.
Satisfied look, even from a Swiss.
Spring water shooting out from the mountain.
Zermatt town
This town is made for tourist.
Popular ski resort.
It's a one street town without cars.
Shuttles for transfers within the town.
The train station.
Back at Tasch station.
Tasch to Crans Montana.
After getting back to Tasch, we drove our cars towards another mountain 80 km away. The destination we're headed for is Crans Montana. Because of the mountain road, it would take us approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes driving time.
Driving out of Tasch.
We are using the same road we came.
Driving away from Visp and heading to the next mountain.
Over yonder is our next destination, Crans Sur Sierre. That's where we will be staying for the night. It's situated between Crans and Montana mountain about 1,500 metre above sea level.
Here we are, at The Grand Hotel Plaza, Crans Montana.
Lovely view from the balcony.
View of another hotel adjacent to GHP.
This is the hotel where the golfing gods stay once a year for the European Omega Masters.
Luxurious...
...opulent
Steven enjoying the room.
8.7.13 ( Monday ) : Teeing Up at Crans Montana, venue of The Omega Masters.
The usual warm up.
The usual pose
Same standard pose.
Tourist pose
This course is the hallowed ground for European golf.
It's beautiful up here.
At the first hole.
First to tee off
Next is my turn.
Steve letting it go.
Second shot.
Fantastic scenery around the course.
At the tee box at Hole No: 7
Awesome view at Hole 7 tee box.
This is golfing paradise.
Views are simply stunning.
The weather is 15 degree, perfect day for golf.
At the 8th hole.
Teeing off at the 9th hole
Daniel and Liew at the 9th green.
We completed a good round. However, the marshal told us after the first nine we were playing too slow. The back flights had all complained of being held back by us. Well, we were in no hurry, we wanted to play good golf and we stopped practically at every hole to take some photos. The view is simply too stunning for us to just walk through and not notice. It was a fantastic golfing experience we had here.
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Later that evening, we took a short walk to town from the hotel. Crans Montana is a popular holiday resort and is the choice destination for the rich and famous. Most of them have the holiday homes here, among them Roger Moore, Sophia Loren, Adam Scott, Sergio Garcia, Francisco and Eduardo Molinari just to name a few.
The Grand Hotel Plaza operates another restaurant in town called Le Chalet and that's where we were headed for. Obviously, we had to try the cheese fondue together with other local food, beef & pork slice, veal, raclette, steak. It was truly good food for me and we overate. We took our desert outside the back balcony to enjoy the nice weather. The restaurant took out an opened bottle of schnapps and pass it to us as compliments. We finished whatever was in the bottle. Nice stuff for cold weather.
The small town of Crans Montana.
Le Chalet Restaurant
Cheers to good food.
What's in their mind ?
Yearning for Char Koay Teow ?
Cheese fondue.
Tempting salad
Ham and beef slice
We overate.
Apricot dessert
The street outside Le Chalet
We took a stroll after dinner
It's a small town
Just a few streets
Nice holiday resort for the rich and famous.
The Viano I was driving.
Approaching the car park at Betten Cable car station.
The Betten Station
View of the valley from where we are.
Descending the steps to take the gondola.
We could see the cable car starts from the main road down there.
Vales and Hills.
In the gondola.
Our Swiss "tour guide"
View from the cable car.
Bernese Alps at the background.
Just outside the cable car station at Bettmeralp.
The village that we had to walk through.
Bettmeralp village is carless
The road splits here; left is the direct route and at the foreground is the longer one.
How can you not stop and take pictures here. That's why we were left behind.
Charming hotel.
View from our cable car on the way up to Bettmerhorn.
There, that's me, right on top of Bettmerhorn.
Sia and I on the way in to the viewing point.
Steven with his "I was here" photograph.
The glacier we came to see; Liew with his thumbs up.
Aletsch Glacier is the largest glacier in the Alps
The glacier is 23 km long
The glacier feeds into the Rhone Valley
Next to this mountain at the direction behind me are two more mountains, Jungfrau and Eiger, not seen from here.
Signage for the mountain trackers.
I was there.
Steven with another tourist; the long and short of things.
The map gives you a good overview of the mountain and various places around it.
On the way down, we took a more leisurely stroll through the village at Bettmeralp
Sia in front of the solitary church high up on the mountain.
Having lunch at Restaurant Panorama.
The food that we ordered. Very filling.
But we finished everything.
A lot of time to soak in the beautiful scenery of this quaint village.
Driving down from Betten on the narrow road.
Picturesque village scene taken from the car.
The narrow road wound to the right...
...and to the left, zig zagging all the way down
It is wide enough only for one car to pass.
After 20 miuntes, we were on the main road again and headed back to the direction of Lake Geneva. Our next destination is Evian, a French town about 150 km away and takes about 2 1/2 hours to reach. The greater part of the journey is on the Swiss side as Evian is located about 15 km from the border. Some of the towns we pass through had narrow streets and we stopped at Vouvry a town just before the border. Liew was having some issues with his gout. The effect of eating and drinking in wantonness is taking it's toll. We stopped by a pharmacy to see if there is any tablets for relief.
Soon after that, we drove across the border without any checks and in half an hour arrive at Evian-les-Bains.
One of the town we passed.
The street at Vouvry.
We stopped by this pharmacy.
Approaching the border town
The border post is right ahead. You just drive past the border post as there is no checking.
At the French side, the roads are narrow.
We arrived at Hotel Ermitage in the evening.
This luxury hotel is host to many professional ladies golfers from around the world during the annual LPGA Masters.
Our room.
Nice balcony
Just admiring the luxuries.
Piano lounge
The distinct feature are the abundance of flowers both within and without.
Main entrance.
At Evian town
That's our restaurant, La Bernolande Restaurant.
It's a nice little restaurant.
Waiting for out table to be set up.
There you go, table cloth laid out in a jiffy.
Entrance of restaurant.
Nice weather...
so we eat outside.
Liew continue eating without restrain, worry about gout later.
Salad and ham.
Enjoying good French food.
Dessert
After dinner, we took a stroll in town.
Straw statue along the main road.
It's a seaside town popular for it's spring water. The mineral water brand Evian comes from this town.
It's a small town...
...with nice French architecture
The building where La Bernolande is.
Liew and Daniel anjoying the walk.
We ended our evening walk inside that building.
Toh and Liew all ready to leave the hotel.
Me and my Viano.
All of us were feeling the green speed as we really wanted to play well.
As prestigious as this club is, the score card do not indicate the handicap index. We had to write it down manually from the marshall.
That's the distance for Hole 1 from the White tee.
Sia, was the first to tee off.
Liew had a long tee off.
Daniel, in his element here.
Toh did well with his irons.
Steven had a good shot as well.
My shot went left to the rough but playable.
Daniel playing at brisk pace.
Toh struggled with the mountain slopes.
The overall pace had to be smooth, otherwise, the back flight is on you in no time.
The fantastic view of Lake Geneva as seen from the golf course.
We must take a picture here.
The golfing tourist.
Another view overlooking Lake geneva.
There is no buggy in this course. All are hand carts.
Toh at the fairway and playing well.
Daniel trying to recover from a stray shot.
The flight in front of us.
At Hole 14.
Steven deciding which club to use for this Par 3.
Sia and Liew in front of us.
Daniel deliberating before taking his shot.
and decided how to play this hole.
Toh wasted no time and did a good shot.
Steven with his shot.
Approaching the green at Hole 18.
The only display is hung up near the ceiling almost 10 feet high !
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Food at golfers terrace is good.
Enjoying lunch before moving off to our next destination.
Evian-les-Bains to Chamonix.
After loading our golf bags into our cars, we drove off towards our next destination, Chamonix. This is the site of the first Winter Olympic's and is about 120 km km away. The drive is estimated to take about 2 hours as we have to go through the mountainous region. We had to drive carefully as it was drizzling most of the way and the mountainous road is narrow and winding, albeit not as hair raising as the mountain road to Betten. The drive through the mountains is certainly refreshing. This is France high country with a view you'll never forget.
The route we took from Evian les Bian to Chamonix.
We hit the highway after driving our way out of town.
It started to drizzle a short while later.
The highway wound round the mountain.
After driving for more than an hour, the scenery changed from lush vegetation to snow capped mountains..
We could see more of it as we drove on.
The first sign of a township.
We had arrived at our destination.
This is Chamonix.
The site of the first winter olympics.
The local population is a mere 10,000 people.
It's a nice winter resort.
During summer, it's less crowded.
We drove into a small narrow street.
Right in front of us is our hotel.
This is La Vallee Blanche Hotel, a charming 18th Century French building.
An Irish pub is located within this small hotel just next to the reception counter.
It is located right at the heart of the town.
Taking a walk around after checking in.
The town is surrounded on all sides by snow capped mountains.
The clock tower tells you exactly what time we were strolling around.
Liew wants the background of the mountain.
It's called the Arve River and the water is icy cold.
At the town centre.
There are chair lifts going up to all the mountains.
Window shopping.
This looks like a good place for a drink.
And so we settled in eagerly....
More nice buildings around town.
That's our hotel with Mont Blanc at the background.
Lovely small town.
Lovely mountain scenery.
Lovely Arve River.
WE had worked up our appetite for dinner.
This restaurant opposite our hotel looks good.
Le Monchu serves savoyard cuisine.
Interior is traditional village design.
We took our seats first....
..and decided to let Daniel do the order. The menu is in French.
Liew likes the fireplace.
Look at what Daniel ordered.
Salad
Ham and beef
some starters
Escargot
Veal
salmon
and of course, cheese fondue.
We certainly overeat.
Nice restaurant.
Having a smoke outside the restaurant after dinner.
Liew enjoying the cool air..
so did I.
We walked back to our hotel, but we're not done yet.
View from my room.
That's the Mont Blanc mountain.
Steven at the balcony.
Best hotel window view I've ever had.
Toh ready to leave for the golf club.
At the Chamonix Golf Club, Le Praz village.
Inside the locker room.
It's constructed from real logs, cabin style.
This really is a country club.
Outside the clubhouse, the push carts are all lined up. There's no buggy here.
The golfers terrace opposite the clubhouse.
Daniel all ready for the day,
Liew likes it here
So did Sia.
Daniel at the first hole tee box.
The usual warm up while waiting for our turn to tee off.
And some pose photos
We came from four different regions
Sia tee'd off first. As usual, it's a good shot.
Daniel was next to go.
Liew always hit it long.
Steven's drive is not so long these days.
Toh is playing smart. He tee'd off with his iron.
I too had a good shot.
I must say that the golf course is surprisingly better than the world renowned Evian. That may be arguable, but being surrounded by some of the world's best Alpine mountains is simply breathtaking. It beats Evian hands down which only vista is the view of Lake Geneva from some holes. Almost every hole here has a view of the fantastic snow capped mountain. To me, this stunnning mountain scene is one of the best I've seen from a golf course. I've posted a lot of pictures taken of me and my flight mates from almost every hole. It may be the same mountain, but I never get tired looking at it.
This place makes you feel good.
Toh tee'd his shot over this cable car!!!
The icy cold stream running across the fairway.
Daniel was in the front flight.
Walking up the Par 3 which is about 10 storey high.
The above pictures need no description. But if you are there, you are playing golf at one of the most scenic gold course on earth. Every golfer must play in one of these Alps courses to know what we had experienced.
We finished our 18 holes in the afternoon. The two days of walking, especially up the mountain slopes had taken it's toll on Sia and Toh. The best golfer for the three days cumulative score was Daniel. I came in second as the rest lost out more on fitness. Without doubt, we all enjoyed the golf courses which is simply some of the best we've ever played.
We went back to our hotel after taking lunch at the golfers terrace. We spent the afternoon walking around town and bought some souvenirs for friends back home.
Venturing further to other streets that we've not been to.
Souvenir stalls.
MacDonald does not impose it's presence over the building like elsewhere.
The whole town is surrounded by mountains.
The Mont Blanc massif is seen from every corner of the town.
Some of the nice looking eating outlet.
We came to another nice restaurant.
The wisest thing is to let Daniel do the order. Like Le Monchu, the menu is in French.
Happy knowing that the food will be good and there'll be more than what we can eat.
Arve River at dusk.
Statue in the middle of the town. On the right is Horace-Benedict de Saussure who offered a reward to anyone that can climb Mont Blanc in 1760, at that time unscaled. On the left is Jacques Balmat who reached the summit in 1786 and promptly collected the reward. Horace himself successfully ascended the mountain a year later with Horace in his climbing party.
You can explore the entire mountains, just a matter of paying for your "adventure"
We came early to avoid the crowd. We could not get the tickets yesterday as it was full. That's how popular it is, even during off season.
Information of the billboard that excites anyone intending to go up the mountains.
At the cable car station.
The second part of the ascend is almost vertical at the face of the mountain.
The view on the way up.
God's creation.
The contrasting view on the way up.
Mountaineering is a favourite sport.
At the summit.
Fantastic to be at the top.
The entire mountain range is here.
Tunnel for the mountain climbers to exit.
view of the rugged mountain.
That's the Central peak at 3842 meters.
Daniel and Steven enjoying the sights.
Tunnel used by the mountain clmbers.
The mountain climbers readying themselves.
Out they go.
Some of the early tourist.
While up there, we also took the Mont Blanc Panoramic Cableway.
The cableway takes you across the entire Mont Blanc massif. Some of the pictures below are captured while on the Panoramic Cable car. It's a breathtaking sight.
The ride back and forth takes about an hour.
But the view is unforgettable.
At midpoint, the cable car stops for you to soak in the entire sight.
It's an awesome sight to be able to come so close to the top of the highest mountain in Europe.
When the sum passes over that "needle", it's about noon.
Mont Blanc, splendid and immaculate.
It symbolises man's desire to reach such heights
"I was there" pose.
The view of Chamonix valley on the way down.
The gondola can take up to 20 people.
Nice little outdoor restaurant at the lower section of the mountain for trackers.
Trackers enjoying the walk up.
Another view nearer the valley
That's the golf course that we played on yesterday.
And we are almost back to the base station.
It's awesome to be able to go up and explore the entire massif. The cable car system itself is an engineering feat which enable a casual tourist to have that opportunity to come up close and personal with some of god's greatest creation. It's hard to imagine that 300 years ago, Chamonix is nothing more than a few cottages huddled on the right bank of Arve River. You can then only look at awe from the bottom. Now that anyone can go right to the top and explore the entire massif, you are still in awe of the mountain. That's the draw of Mont Blanc massif. Man's thirst to scale great heights is innate.
Why did you climb the mountain ? Because it is there!
We had lunch at a Chinese restaurant not far from the cable car station. It's the first Asian food we had since we left home ten days ago.
Chamonix to Annecy.
The route we took from Chamonix to Annecy.
It's a nice little hotel near the lake.
Simple decor...
and unassuming interior.
It's a short walk to the lake.
That's where we were headed for after a short rest at the hotel.
It's a beautiful lake.
Statue of the Alps at Lake Annecy.
Pleasure crafts for tourists.
The tourist.
More water crafts for tourists.
We stopped for a drink at a cafe at the old city.
The menu is in French and Toh is "reading" it.
Annecy is dissected by canals and streams.
It's a medieval town built from the 14th century chateau.
Saint-Francois-de-Sales Church. It had been turned into a barrack during the French Revolution, then into a factory in 1794 and become apartments and shops in 1800. Only in 1923, was it used as a church again, for the Italian community.
Charming town.
View from further back.
Looking across the other side of the river.
The water is clean.
Restaurant O Savoyard looks like a good place for dinner.
Yes, we have to leave it to Daniel to do the order.
We start off with beer first.
A nice cigar after dinner by the bridge.
Tourist pose.
Above are some of the food we ordered. Again, we overeat.
Three carzy motor cyclist were vrooming their mopeds at the narrow street.
They then dismount at a corner backstreet...
..and gave an impromptu performance.
Then while trying to take photographs, two other tourist just sneak up on us to have some fun.
We took a stroll after dinner and pass by some souvenir shops.
This is across the canal at the newer section of town.
Then we could see more people coming into town. They appear more locals.
Then there were street parade with performances.
We did not know that tonight was the Lake Festival in Annecy.
We reached Geneva early and met up with Oliver who is a close friend of Daniel. He had arranged to personally show us around Geneva. We took the train from our hotel to the city.
This being a weekend, Geneva is pretty quiet.
The city as seen from the other side of the river.
We walked around a few blocks.
This is our first stop, to have a look at one of the popular Swiss watch maker museum.
Antique car outside the museum.
After that, Oliver wanted to show us the historical part of town.
The walk took us through a park...
...where there is a morning flea market.
Sia posing in front of the flea market.
Park for skateboarders..
and stunt cyclist.
That's where we're headed, the Old Town Square up the slope.
Looks familiar, just like The Beatles crossing Abbey Road.
But this is Geneva and those are tourists.
Just outside the square.
The Geneva Conservatory of Music where famous musician demonstrated their musical talent.
At the old town square.
St. Peters Cathedral.
A picture with this background is a must
The arsenal. This cannon was cast in 1683.
Walking out of the square.
Another section of the old town.
Walking to the newer part of the city.
Rail is the most efficient form of transportation here.
Shopping area.
At the background is the Grand Theatre.
Stall at the street corner....
...selling Swiss food stuff.
Restaurant G. Babel in rural Bardonnex.
The back courtyard of the restaurant.
Taking a peek inside this quaint restaurant.
Old portraits adorned the wall in the dining room.
Charming.
Country feel.
Looking at the menu.
Oliver helping us with the order.
Yes, you guess it. The menu is in French.
Wine before dinner.
Nice weather.
The dishes we ordered. They were all delicious and tasty.
More wine anyone ?
Taking a leak in the bushes, like they do back home.
The road ends at a small hamlet called Tasch. We parked our car at the multi carpark terminal and took the train to Zermatt, about 3 km away. Zermatt is a car free town famed for mountaineering and ski sport. Our objective is to view the majestic Matterhorn. To do that we had to take another train up to Gornergrat located 3000 meters above sea level for a commanding view. Even from midway onward, you could already view the Matterhorn all the way up to the peak. The excitement upon seeing this mountain is difficult to contain. This imposing structure made by god stood so grand against the vast expanse of the sky. We were clicking our cameras away like crazy all the way. I must have taken at least a dozen shots of that mountain just so that I could have that one perfect picture. You know what, it looked perfect from any angle.
Another like minded tourist
and another one.
Located at the end of the valley from Tasch.
Tasch to Crans Montana.
After getting back to Tasch, we drove our cars towards another mountain 80 km away. The destination we're headed for is Crans Montana. Because of the mountain road, it would take us approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes driving time.
Over yonder is our next destination, Crans Sur Sierre. That's where we will be staying for the night. It's situated between Crans and Montana mountain about 1,500 metre above sea level.
8.7.13 ( Monday ) : Teeing Up at Crans Montana, venue of The Omega Masters.
Golfing tourists.
Daniel's first game here as well.
Sia, Steven and I are in the same flight.
Good chip for a newbie.
We completed a good round. However, the marshal told us after the first nine we were playing too slow. The back flights had all complained of being held back by us. Well, we were in no hurry, we wanted to play good golf and we stopped practically at every hole to take some photos. The view is simply too stunning for us to just walk through and not notice. It was a fantastic golfing experience we had here.
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Later that evening, we took a short walk to town from the hotel. Crans Montana is a popular holiday resort and is the choice destination for the rich and famous. Most of them have the holiday homes here, among them Roger Moore, Sophia Loren, Adam Scott, Sergio Garcia, Francisco and Eduardo Molinari just to name a few.
The Grand Hotel Plaza operates another restaurant in town called Le Chalet and that's where we were headed for. Obviously, we had to try the cheese fondue together with other local food, beef & pork slice, veal, raclette, steak. It was truly good food for me and we overate. We took our desert outside the back balcony to enjoy the nice weather. The restaurant took out an opened bottle of schnapps and pass it to us as compliments. We finished whatever was in the bottle. Nice stuff for cold weather.
Preparing raclette..
Veal
After dinner
We finished the Schnapps.
Guess where we ended up for the night.
9.7.13 ( Tuesday ) Viewing Aletsch Glacier, the biggest glacier of the Alps.
Our plan today is to traverse the another mountain. To go there, we have to descend Crans Montana mountain, travel the main road towards Visp district and drive up the next mountain called Bettmeralp. The distance is about 80 and approximately an hour and half drive. The road down from Crans Montana is winding but once we hit the main road below, it was straight driving until we turn up the mountain road that heads towards Bettmeralps. It is a winding road that is ziz zagging and so narrow that the width of the road has enough space only for one car. If there is a car from the opposite direction, one have to pull to the side where there is extra space and allow the other to squeeze through. It really is a driving experience, especially driving that big Viano. After about 20 minutes of zig zagging , we arrived at Betten and parked our car at the cable car station. When we looked down, we could see that the cable car actually starts from the main road below and we need not drive up that narrow mountain road! It is probably about 3 km ahead of where we turn off. Anyway, we took the cable car up to Bettmeralp and from there had to walk through a village to reach another cable car station. This village have some of the most fantastic scenery you'll ever see. Steven and I were so caught up with the beautiful scenery and we started taking a lot of pictures and were left behind by the rest who had walked ahead. That's where we had a little confusion. At the Panaroma Restaurant, the road splits into two. We took the left following the signboard not knowing the rest took the right. We reached the cable car station first and the rest were not there yet. After some calls back and forth and some confusion, we met up with all the others who were waiting for us thinking we were still behind. Nevertheless, the cable car ride gives a panaromic view of the Bernese Alps. Bettmerhorn is located at a height of 2,800 metres and is one of the viewing point of Aletsch Glacier. This is the largest glacier in the Alps that covers 120 square kilometer and flows down the Rhone Valley before giving birth to Massa River below. This glacier is estimated to be more than 3,000 feet thick and is a protected Unesco site.
The route from Crans Montana to Betten.
Another view of the village.
Behind Toh is Aletsch Glacier
Tip of Bettmerhorn.
Soon after that, we drove across the border without any checks and in half an hour arrive at Evian-les-Bains.
Buildings right up to the roadside and cars parked at the side along the narrow road.
View from the balcony
After dinner, we took a stroll in town.
This is Lac Leman ( Lake Geneva ) and the land visible on the other side directly behind me is Lausanne, the Swiss side. We had dinner there a few days earlier.
There are ferry services plying between Evian and Lausanne daily.
Steven, Sia and Toh posing at the favourite landmark.
10.7.13 ( Wednesday ) : Teeing up at the Evian Resort Golf Club.
Since 1994, this has been the venue for the LPGA Masters and keeps growing in popularity. The golf course had been upgraded two months before we came as they had included this venue for the LPGA Major and had renamed it as The Evian Championship. Coming all the way here, we do not want to miss the opportunity to play at this prestigious golf course. So the next morning, we were all eager and ready to tee tee off. We arrived at the club early so as to feel our way around first.
We checked out of Hotel Ermitage.
Only the golfers will understand why you must take a picture with that background.
Our final putt at Hole 18.
We finished our game with an average score. The course is challenging on some holes and some quite friendly. However, it is constructed over mountain slope and having to walk the "commando" course is not what many are used to. If you struggle on a walking mountain course, your game suffer. And so a few of them did not play up to their expectation here. One have to be fit to play this course.
Despite it's international fame and being the venue for the Ladies Major, the clubhouse is disappointing. There are only two shower rooms and it's located upstairs the golfers terrace. The entire upstairs look like an attic and is totally devoid of any decoration. The soap and shampoo in the shower room looks like it has not been used for ages and emits a foul smell. Fortunately, some of us brought our own body lotion and shampoo from the hotel.
Wash basin upstairs that looked like an attic.
Evian-les-Bains to Chamonix.
After loading our golf bags into our cars, we drove off towards our next destination, Chamonix. This is the site of the first Winter Olympic's and is about 120 km km away. The drive is estimated to take about 2 hours as we have to go through the mountainous region. We had to drive carefully as it was drizzling most of the way and the mountainous road is narrow and winding, albeit not as hair raising as the mountain road to Betten. The drive through the mountains is certainly refreshing. This is France high country with a view you'll never forget.
I like this river, the water comes directly from the mountains.
...for a drink.
Cheers.
Town square.
WE had worked up our appetite for dinner.
...and watch the masterchef at work.
We all looked at the menu...
Look at what Daniel ordered.
That's how you eat it, no crumbs must drop back into the bowl.
Cheers. Having a drink at O'Byrne's pub before we call it a night.
11.7.13 ( Thursday ) : Tee up at Chamonix Golf Club.
The next morning, we were all ready for another round of golf amidst some of the most stunning scenery on earth. From my room, the window open up to the Mont Blanc mountain, amidst some 18th century old building. I sat at the small balcony outside the room and soak it in for a while. This modest hotel had provided us the best mountain view I have ever had in my life. I would not change it for the world.
I must say that the golf course is surprisingly better than the world renowned Evian. That may be arguable, but being surrounded by some of the world's best Alpine mountains is simply breathtaking. It beats Evian hands down which only vista is the view of Lake Geneva from some holes. Almost every hole here has a view of the fantastic snow capped mountain. To me, this stunnning mountain scene is one of the best I've seen from a golf course. I've posted a lot of pictures taken of me and my flight mates from almost every hole. It may be the same mountain, but I never get tired looking at it.
We finished our 18 holes in the afternoon. The two days of walking, especially up the mountain slopes had taken it's toll on Sia and Toh. The best golfer for the three days cumulative score was Daniel. I came in second as the rest lost out more on fitness. Without doubt, we all enjoyed the golf courses which is simply some of the best we've ever played.
We went back to our hotel after taking lunch at the golfers terrace. We spent the afternoon walking around town and bought some souvenirs for friends back home.
This town receives 60,000,000 tourist each year.
Guess where our evening ended up.
12.7.13 ( Friday ) : Exploring the Alps; The Mont Blanc massif from Aiguille du Midi.
Our plan the next day is to ascend the mountains, but we do not need a team of mountaineers for support like Horace and Jacques did. We just need some money to pay for the chair lift ride up the Aiguille Du Midi which is 3,842 meter. When it was first constructed in 1955, it was then the highest cable car in the world. Literal translation, Aigulle du Midi means "needle in the middle". The word
"midi" loosely refers to midday, noon. It get's it's name from it's position; when viewed from Chamonix, it approximately indicates noon when the sun passes over the summit.
The gondola ride.
That's Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in Europe at 4465 meters.
The rugged side of the mountain.
It's awesome to be able to go up and explore the entire massif. The cable car system itself is an engineering feat which enable a casual tourist to have that opportunity to come up close and personal with some of god's greatest creation. It's hard to imagine that 300 years ago, Chamonix is nothing more than a few cottages huddled on the right bank of Arve River. You can then only look at awe from the bottom. Now that anyone can go right to the top and explore the entire massif, you are still in awe of the mountain. That's the draw of Mont Blanc massif. Man's thirst to scale great heights is innate.
Why did you climb the mountain ? Because it is there!
We had lunch at a Chinese restaurant not far from the cable car station. It's the first Asian food we had since we left home ten days ago.
Chamonix to Annecy.
Our next destination is Annecy, a French lakeside town about 100 km away. We took the highway through the mountains and the easy drive to Annecy took about 1 1/2 hours.
Hotel Boonlieu where we stayed.
It's nice weather to drink al fresco.
The Palais de I'lle. This was the residence of the lords of Annecy in the 12th century. During the middle ages, it was turn into a prison. Today, it houses the Centre of Architecture and Heritage.
At first, there were just normal tourist.
We had a drink before deciding to call it a night.
13.7.13 ( Saturday ) : The last leg, Geneva, Switzerland.
We are coming to the end of our tour. Today we are supposed to have one last round of golf before going to Geneva, but the walking had taken it's toll on some of us. We decide to skip the last round and head straight to Geneva, our final destination 40 km away. Driving in France is like driving in Malaysia. The drivers are less discipline and tend to zoom passed you just like back home. But once you crossed to Switzerland, the driving is more orderly and rules are adhered to, more compliant.
We reached Geneva early and met up with Oliver who is a close friend of Daniel. He had arranged to personally show us around Geneva. We took the train from our hotel to the city.
The popular flower clock in Geneva.
Later in the evening, Oliver had arranged to take us out for dinner at a village about 5 miles from the city. It's a nice family owned restaurant tucked away in a rural area at Bardonnex near the border of France. Oliver knows the proprietor very well. The service is very personal and food is excellent. This is our last dinner and this is the best dinner that we had all week long. We simply love this village restaurant for it's charm, delicious food and fantastic cool weather for al fresco dining.
Cigar chomping after dinner.
It was a nice end to our trip. They say, save the best for last, and this is so true in our case. We had the good fortune of having Daniel arranging the tour and eating in places that serve some of the most authentic local food. This would not be possible if arranged on a normal tour package by a travel agent. All in, the trip proves to be the best to date in that we get to see three iconic mountains in the Alps, played three round of golf at some of the dream golf courses in the world, eat at some of the best eatery you'll ever have, tasted some of the best European food, enjoyed the festivals and seen some of the most beautiful sights on earth. This rank as my No.1 trip thus far.
We flew off the next day from Geneva via Amsterdam and brought home full of good memories.
