Day 5: Paris to Lauterbrunnen

Cemetary in Lauterbrunnen
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We’re up at 6, and all 4 of us shower and get downstairs with our bags by 7. Breakfast is the same, although Jeff says it’s much more appetizing today now that his stomach isn’t punishing him. With some careful packing, we get all the bags on the bus (we have 8 more people than we did before). Tori sees my small suitcase and says I get a prize for light packing. Yeah, she doesn’t see me wrestling to get it closed every time we repack.

Traffic is bad getting out of Paris, and pretty much everyone falls asleep. I wake up once and am surprised to still see the Eiffel Tower – aren’t we out of the city yet? We do our usual midmorning stop for bathroom and refreshments then carry on to a roadside rest area where we stop for lunch, which is a picnic of various salads, cheese, crackers, fruit, veggies, cookies etc. Here I encounter the most malevolent sink I’ve ever seen. It has a little motion sensor to start the water, but it’s located above the actual tap. Waving your hand in front of it gets the water started, but as soon as you put your hands under the tap, it stops. Utterly retarded - using a buddy system seems to be the best way to do it.

Apparently this place was the inspiration for Tolkien’s Rivendell, which I can certainly see.

What are you looking at?
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Back on the bus, Tori says its time for formal introductions, so everyone takes a turn with the mic at the front, saying their name, place of origin, occupation, travel plans and their “red light\green light” status.  Jeff announces his intention to find a wife on the trip, which elicits some laughter – way to ruin your chances with everyone on the bus, man. Following him, Jimmy gets up and says “I’m also single, but let’s get one thing clear – I don’t want a wife.” Lots of the people seem to be on extended travels – we are taking a comparatively short trip by not doing any other traveling before or after the tour (the problems of being employed). Kenny makes the statement “Glad there’s no Seppos on this trip, cuz man are they annoying”. Seppo being a slang word for American. The origin is something like this : American – Yank – Tank – Septic Tank – Seppo. Ouch. Some more new slang for us.

Waterfall!
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The crew introduces the “Donkey of the Day”: on each driving day, they will take nominations for a donkey – someone who was done something exceptionally stupid, scandalous or otherwise amusing. From the nominations, they will decide the winner and the lucky person gets to wear a bright orange safety vest for the day.

We also get a little DJ game going where anyone can bring up their music player and put on a 3 song playlist. We’re told we have to pick a “trip song” in the next few days that will get played every time we’re traveling somewhere, so start thinking of nominees. I pick out a good selection of Canadian music, but shortly after it gets put on, the volume gets turned down on the sound system ☹ Ting says it’s because my songs are “too angry” – is Billy Talent angry?

Lauterbrunnen
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We don’t have any problems at the Swiss border and are soon driving through some beautiful mountain scenery. The area around Interlaaken is awesome, although it has started to get a bit overcast. Bruce actually captures some lightning in a photo he was taking of the lake – pretty lucky! We arrive at Lauterbrunnen around 6:45 and check into our cabins – Lamar rooms with us again. We are a little taken aback that we don’t get keys for the cabins, but apparently its super safe and we just don’t need them! I like the place already. The cabins are basic but adequate. The campground itself has a store, souvenir shop, bar, laundry, internet, and good bathrooms (although showers cost half a Franc, and there’s no towels or air dryers).

One of many waterfalls near Lauterbrunnen
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Dinner is not until 9, so a bunch of us go for a walk into the town, which is incredibly peaceful and quiet, not to mention beautiful. It’s in the middle of a narrow valley surrounded by mountains, and a multitude of waterfalls flow down the valley walls. Apparently this place was the inspiration for Tolkien’s Rivendell (Lord of the Rings), which I can certainly see. We take a look at some knives and watches, and then go for a quick hike up closer to one of the waterfalls. Coming back, we also pass a very nice little cemetery – I found my final resting place ☺

Peaceful Lauterbrunnen
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Back at camp, we have some Rugenbrau, the local beer, on the patio before heading over to the cook tent for dinner. I’m amused by the fact it says “Lager Hell” on the bottle. Ah, German. For dinner, Ben has served up a great meal of pumpkin soup, chicken cordon bleu, potatoes and veggies. There’s tons of food and everyone is quite satisfied. After dinner, Ben gets out the dreaded duty roster and reads off who’s on the first “pot wash”. Hooray, it’s me! I get to work with Kylie, Suzie and Lamar – it’s getting dark out so we can’t really tell how clean the dishes actually are – oh well! Everyone washes their own individual dishes, but they don’t keep enough towels around for everybody, so to dry them, you do the “TopDeck shake” and basically flap your plate and cup around until it’s dry. We get pretty good at this by the end of the trip.

Lauterbrunnen
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We resume drinking on the patio, but we soon get kicked into the bar because we’re loud and its past 10. The bar is pretty cool, cozy with a rustic “mountain” look. Hanging from the roof is a sea of coasters and tags signed by people who have visited.  Some drinking games ensue, but the three of us dodge them and sit in the back area chatting with Jess, Lana, Allie and a couple more from the other bus (they followed us here too). Later on, we try our luck at the hollow hammer game, where you attempt to drive a nail into a big stump with a square mallet that’s well, hollow (there’s only edges). It’s pretty hard, but more fun than it sounds. PJ reigns as the undisputed champ for several rounds before he is forced into retirement by the other players.

Church in Lauterbrunnen
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Jeff, meanwhile, shows off his mad foosball skills and he and Renato go toe-to-toe a few times. The place is still crowded and going strong at 1 or so, but we head off to bed (we’re leaving to catch our train up to Jungrau at 8:15). We apparently miss out on a quite deadly dice game in which many shots are consumed, and the party goes long into the night. Lamar stays out (he’s not going up the mountain), and I am oblivious to him returning to the cabin later on, as I’m out cold.