5th Leg, Montreux to Verscio.

Early rise this morning.

Todayโ€™s Route takes on a journey up the Rhone Valley to Brig and through the Simplon Pass (via car train) to Iselle, briefly into Italy ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡น, Melezzo to Verscio and a site called Camping Melezza.

What should have been a shortish but nonetheless enjoyable scenic trip turned into quite a long enjoyable scenic trip. The chosen route should have seen us arrive in Verscio around lunchtime, roughly a three and a half hour drive. Thatโ€™s without factoring in all the mulligans thrown at us today. ๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿคท๐Ÿปโ€โ™‚๏ธ

We scranned out breakfast in Eddy as per normal and set off at around 9am. We had a very quick splash n go for fuel, just because we were heading over the Alps and we thought, better to be topped up incase of any issues or mulligans if you like!! ๐Ÿคท๐Ÿปโ€โ™‚๏ธ

Special K. Not exciting but tasty.

So mulligan #1,

Eddy is merrily making his way along the Swiss highway E62 with the wind behind him most of the time, ๐Ÿ‘Œ๐Ÿป, weโ€™d just had a splash n dash for fuel again (just a 20ltr top up again) and were joining the E62 at a round about when I noticed the Swiss equivalent of a Police Traffic car ๐Ÿš”. Noting to worry about as far as I was concerned. Right?? WRONG!!!!! Picture the scene, I am minding my own business sitting at about 50 mph so no dramas really and I notice the same police car from the roundabout is sitting behind me. I think to myself, heโ€™s probably checking Eddy out and maybe running some kind of check on his particulars (if that is even possible for non UK police). So after a couple of minutes he pulls out and passes Eddy, I look to my left and smile at the passenger, he nods as if in approval of Eddy and they pull in in front of us. After about 200 metres it happens, ๐Ÿ™ˆ ๐Ÿš” the lights go on and the message in the rear window with the arrow pointing to the hard shoulder come on. ๐Ÿคท๐Ÿผโ€โ™‚๏ธ So, I think quickly and wonder what if I keep going, what if I pled ignorant and thought, theyโ€™d no reason to stop me? I quickly though came to my senses and duly pulled over behind the police car. ๐Ÿš” Both officers get out the car and head our way, I already have my window down and the driver greets me in fluent German. Obviously, heโ€™d be as well speaking swa-heally! ๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿคท๐Ÿผโ€โ™‚๏ธ. Eventually, we establish English is the preferred method of communication. I have to say at this point, their English was pretty good.

Boss Hogg and Roscoe P Cotrain

Now to the nitty gritty. The passenger (more senior officer in my opinion) asks for my papers. I said (genuinely wondering what he meant ie insurance, licence or what). โ€œPapers, do you mean my licence officer?โ€ He replies, โ€œyes sir for you and the vehicleโ€. So, obviously this wasnโ€™t an issue, I handed over the licence and insurance certificate. He then asks, โ€œplease can I have proof of ownershipโ€? This was a slight issue because I hadnโ€™t brought the V5. I told him this and he continued, โ€œThis is a problem sir. How can I prove you are the legal owner of this vehicleโ€? So I replied saying โ€œI can show you some photos over the years of my ownership showing the full restorationโ€. By this time though Mrs had contacted Daughter at home who was able to send us a picture of the V5. Whilst this was all unfolding though, the officer said, โ€œwe have another big problemโ€. I couldnโ€™t even begin to imagine what . Anyone who knows me will no doubt understand that I would be beginning to lose patience by now, I was indeed. ๐Ÿ™ˆ I said to the officer. โ€œWhat exactly is the big problemโ€? He replied, โ€œthis vehicle does not have a Vignetteโ€œ. A Vignette is a yellow sticker which applies only to motorways, you do not need them for normal roads. He was obviously correct, because I had no idea I they existed never mind I needed one. The officer continued, โ€œI am going to have to fine you sir and this fine is payable here and nowโ€. At this point I thought, waaaiiiit a minnnnnute, your trying to scam me into handing over cash. So I said, โ€œsorry officer, I do not have cash on meโ€. When he replied saying โ€œthatโ€™s ok, we have card payment facilitiesโ€. I knew at this point he wasnโ€™t likely to be scamming me. So you get the drift, I ushered them on and said โ€œok lets get this doneโ€. I went to the car and paid the 200 Swiss Francโ€™s fine and purchased a 40 Swiss Franc Vignette from the officers there and then. So before we set off the cheeky beggars had the audacity to shake my hand. ๐Ÿค Off we went and onwards to Brig and the car train to Iselle in Italy ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡น.

The offending party.

Because of the 30 minute delay with the Swiss versions of Rosco P Cotrain, we had about 50 minutes to wait on the next car train. So we grabbed a quick snack at the station, panini for Mrs and a roll and coffee for me. ๐Ÿฅ– โ˜•๏ธ Pretty decent actually. Mmmmmmm.

Waiting in the queue for the train.

So we boarded the train, we set off. It took about 20 minutes through a tunnel. The amazing thing was though, in this day and age when you canโ€™t get a mobile data signal in some areas of Scotland, we were several hundred feet under the ground but managed to get a mobile data signal the whole way. Work that one out!!! ๐Ÿคท๐Ÿผโ€โ™‚๏ธ We arrived in Iselle ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡น and set off again. Well this was real Alpine country ๐Ÿ” ๐Ÿ˜ ๐Ÿž My photos wonโ€™t likely do the roads and scenery justice but hopefully they give you some idea. What I will emphasise is, the place is beautiful just like home but on steroids. Eddy was coping very well but one thing I did notice was, the engine temperature differs dramatically going up hills at slow speeds 10 degrees Celsius to be exact. Eddyโ€™s Subaru engine normally sits around 78-82 degrees but was as high as 92 degrees (according to the scan gauge I have fitted) when the engine was at its most stressed. We stopped a few times to give Eddy a bit of a breather though and all was well.

On the train.
Eddy stopped for a breather.

As we trundled along towards Verscio and a Camping Melezza we climbed some more and descended even more (brakes held up fine) ๐Ÿ˜. The crazy thing was, as we headed up the mountain pass, the weather was quite weird, 100 metres difference between rain and soaking roads and sun and dry roads. ๐Ÿคท๐Ÿผโ€โ™‚๏ธ We were making decent progress and had started to descend the mountain pass, down the switch back roads etc, only to round the corner to find mulligan #2 in front of us, the one and only road to our destination closed! ๐Ÿšง ๐Ÿšง ๐Ÿคท๐Ÿผโ€โ™‚๏ธ As I said, the roads were very narrow and twisty, they were doing road repairs which meant the road had to be closed during working hours, 08:30 till 17:00. We about turned and tried to find another road to our destination but no, there wasnโ€™t one! So we had no option but to wait up and wait on the road opening. We went back to the most recent area of civilisation (about 3miles). We had about 2 hrs to waste, so found a local supermarket and bought some supplies for tea etc.

Climb
Descending
Mulligan #2
Only this to close the road all day.

Finally the road opened about 17:10 and we were on our way again. A short but exciting/precarious 12 mile journey down the pass. We arrived at Camping Melezza at about 17:45, got check in and camp set up. Boring as it may seem, we even managed to do a washing of our laundry so far. ๐Ÿ˜‚

Home for tonight

Mrs prepped and cooked the tea again, roast chicken and salad ๐Ÿ—๐Ÿฅ— again (we really enjoyed the same earlier in the week), it was just as good this time too. Mmmmm.

Tomorrow sees us into Italy again ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡น and Lake Garda. Looking forward to that too. Au revoir. ๐Ÿ‘‹ ๐Ÿ‘‹๐Ÿ‘‹

Tbc. ๐Ÿ˜‰

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