European Tour

Date- 15th September

(Day 4)

Country- Switzerland

State/County-Bernese Oberland

City/Town/Areas Meiringen, Grindelwald, Klein Schiedeg, Jungfraujoch

Locations Jungfraujoch Railway, Jungfraujoch Summit

URL

Jungfraujoch Railway- http://www.jungfrau.ch/

Notes

Meringen to Grimdlewald then in the train up onto the Junfraujoch.

I had emailed the Jungfraujoch railway from the UK and been told that they were accessible. As with everything in Europe I set my expectations low and my cynicism high, but boy was I proved wrong on this occasion.

My Brother-in-law rod and I decided to catch the train from Gindlewald (we could have gone from Interlaken) on the basis that (a) we might not be able to get on board and so the view of the Eiger from there is good and (b) I have not been there since I was 16 (40 years ago) and had fond memories of the area.

At the station in the middle of Gindlewald there is disabled parking, there is a disabled toilet, the platforms are all level and ramped and when I went in to buy the ticket I was informed that not only were all the main stations accessible but that people in wheelchairs go free! Given that the standard return fair up the 11,333 feet of the Jungfraujoch is 145 CH that is one major discount and very generous.

We waited for the train from Gindlewald to Klein Schiedeg where one changed for the rest of the ascent. Bang on time the train arrived and the ramp to the side of the train was a mere 3 inches, the train has plenty of room.

Make sure you have good breaks and sit in the direction of travel and with the back of your wheel chair against a bulkhead as the train tips up the slop at an alarming degree. The scent to Klein Schiedeg is both breathtaking and beautiful.

One gets off the train there (again a small step) and on to the next train up onto the Jungfraujoch. This train is much higher (all the platforms are pretty level and there are no steps or stairs). The boarding arrangements are effective and interesting; they use a fork-lift truck and a special pallet to get wheelchairs onto the train, there is lots of room and a special area of the compartment, again remember to travel facing the direction of travel, the slope of the train get very steep now.

The second part of the ascent lasts 50 minutes and the train stops 3 times, after the first stop it enters the mountain and stops twice inside the Eiger for people to get off and take pictures from viewing windows, (you cannot get off at these stops in a wheelchair).

Finally after about 50 minutes inside the mountain the train pulls to a halt in the cavernous terminus inside the Jungfraujoch. At this point a helpful man with a forklift arrives and rather alarmingly weaves through the crown to pick me up. Then I wheel off through set of doors and WOW a coffee shop with windows looking directly out to the glacier!

The whole of the Jungfraujoch complex is fully accessible and has toilets on every level that are wheelchair accessible. There is a short push (about 100 meters) up an incline and this is very hard going at nearly 12,000 feet! At the top the lift whisks you up to the viewing platform (known as the sphinx) at 11,750 feet, out of this and through the doors and there you are; outside and looking across the glaciers and peaks.

The trip down is just as straightforward, though remember to sit with your back to the direction of travel this time as the train plunges downhill at the same steep angle.

Rod and I got off at Klein Schiedeg and had beer and wurst in the warm autumn sun and looked at the Eiger (Klein Schiedeg looked pretty accessible, the station has disabled toilets and most areas were well paved if a little hilly).

Then somewhat reluctantly off on the next train to Gindlewald and into the mini and back to das Sherlock Holmes hotel in Meiringen for dinner. Peter and John had arrived and we had a rather raucous dinner (excellent wild boar and good local beer and wine). Then an early night before our next stage and it’s demanding drive.

Accessibility

Excellent throughout

Parking

Easy and free

Toilets

Excellent

Accommodation

N/A

Other/General

Jungfraujoch and Klein Schiedeg both very worth the visit and the cost. Food and drink at the top is quite pricy but you can take food and drink with you. This is a real wow event though.

My Overall Accessibility Rating

9 out of a possible 10

European Tour

Date- 14th September 2010

(Day 3)

Countries- France and Switzerland

State/County- N/A

City/Town/Area- Mulhouse France and Meiringen Switzerland

Locations- Schlumpf Musem Mulhouse and Das Sherlock Holmes Hotel Meiringen Switzerland

URLS

Notes

Metz to Mulhouse France then on to Meiringen Switzerland

An early start, despite our fears the cars are still there and unmolested. A good breakfast and off onto more motorway for the flog across to Mulhouse. On the way we stopped at Epinal for coffee- a charming little town. The trip onwards to Mulhouse is a more interesting drive and we decided upon the route over the col - for the first time giving the Mini a proper outing on the hairpin bends.

At Mulhouse we go to the Schlumpf Museum – a major car museum that my Brother-in-law Peter knows well. It is huge and Peter and John are going to stay on there all afternoon and visit the railway museum on Wednesday morning. The Schlumpf really is worth a day’s visit (petrol-heads plese note), though Rod and I can manage only lunch in the museum and a couple of hours as we want to get onto Meiringen in Switzerland. The whole of the Schlumpf museum is accessible, and very good value, wheelchair users are free, parking is not.

If Bugatti are your thing the Schumpf has more fo them than you can sake a stick at!

Then on to Meiringen. We get to Switzerland in just over an hour, at the customs we buy our ‘vignette’ – the pass you need for driving in Switzerland (40 Swiss Franks- about £32), these last a year but the year runs January through December so ours will run out in 2 months!

Driving in Switzerland is complex as speed limits change in rapid succession, 2 or 3 in the space of 500 meters some times. The Sat Nav is vital for knowing what the limits are. However Swiss drivers are pretty law-abiding and courteous so things are not too stressful.

We arrive at Meringen (site of the fictional last encounter between Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty) and stay at [Das sherlock holmes Meiringen Alpbachallee 3 CH-3860]. Access is via the lift (proper sized lift) in the lower level and parking is on the street next to the hotel (3 franks per night).

Accessibility

Schlumpf Museum- first rate

Das Sherlock Holmes Hotel - Good

Parking

Good at both places

Toilets

None in Epinal that were accessible, Good facilities at Schlumpf, OK at Das Sherlock Holmes Hotel

Accommodation

The das Sherlock Holes hotel is fully accessible except for the swimming pool and my room, though not specially adapted (I don’t think they have any specifically adapted rooms) is very roomy and my bathroom is large enough to manage. Meals are served in the accessible restaurant or the bar and the bar (also accessible as is the terrace) the staff could not have been more helpful and pleasant.

Other/General

My Overall Accessibility Rating

9 out of a possible 10 for Schlumpf Musem Mulhouse and 7 out of 10 for Das Sherlock Holmes Hotel Switzerland

European Tour

Date- 13th September

(Day 2)

Country- France


State/County- N/A


City/Town/Area- Reims and Metz


Location- Reims Centre, Reims Car Museum, Best Hotel Metz


URLS


Car museum Reims- http://www.musee-automobile-reims-champagne.com/


Hotel in Metz- http://www.activehotels.com/wl/servlet/xmlbrochure/index.do?hotelid=51745&language=en


Notes


From Folkestone to Reims and then to Metz France

Up at 05:00, dress, light breakfast and off. The Holliday Inn Express does not officially server breakfast until 06:30, though we manage to hijack the arrangements a little early at 05:45.This is a mistake by the hotel as many people want to get the very early trains and having breakfast out from 04:00 would be sensible.

A 15 minute drive to the Eurotunnel terminal with an automated check in (note have the credit card you booked with to hand, we did not need it but the signs say you may do). Not a human in sight until we drive around the one-way system to the shops and cafe (disabled toilets here).

We sit in the mini listening to the last of the BBC before we depart for foreign climes and watch for our ticket number (P in our case) to be called on the electronic message board. Then we are off, the train is an interesting experience, I have never done this with the car (though I have travelled on Eurostar a good deal). You drive on and sit tight until the train arrives in Calais France.

Then off and on our way to Reims for lunch. This is a long and rather boring flog along the French toll motorway (Peage), you pick up your ticket at the start of a section and then you pay at the end, note this is a left hand drive country so with a UK car the ticket machines and pay booths are on the wrong side- ok with a passenger but very difficult if travelling alone.

A major improvement since my last trip to France is that now all the motorway services seem to be disabled accessible and have accessible toilets.

We park up in Reims city centre for lunch in the main square. The sun is shinning and the food is good though the restaurant does not have an accessible toilet – well this is France! My Brother-in-law Peter knows of a car museum in Reims and after a little searching we find it [84 avenue Georges Clémenceau 51100 REIMS 03.26.82.83.84].

 

This is a charming place to go, it looks like a run down bus garage and is definitely not high tech but the staff are very proud of this quirky collection and are very helpful. The whole museum is accessible with it’s own parking and is on one level.

Now it’s off to Metz, another long flog along motorway and eventually we find our way into the ‘business district of Metz to stay at [Best Hotel Metz (51745), Metz, 3, Rue Pierre Boileau, Metz, 57050].

I must admit my heart sank when I saw the hotel, it was in a dreadful district and surrounded by a security fence and looked like a war zone. Parking a Porsche and my Mini Cooper there seemed rather risky. However we were tired and hot and too lazy to find another place to stay.

My room was on the ground floor and adequate, though only for a small wheelchair (I use a 15 inch wide Kuschel for travel) and a very mobile user, as far as I could see there were no other options available-certainly not any specialist disabled rooms.

As it happened the cold beer revived our spirits and Peter spotted that the menu for dinner looked quite good. In the end we had one of the best quality (and most certainly best value) meals on the trip down at the hotel. Dinning room and parking all accessible and in the end the rooms were clean and quite cheap. A reasonable overnight stop.

Accessibility- Reims centre café’s like most of France is variable in accessibility and years behind even the UK. The museum in Reims was very accessible with an accessible toilet and all of the motorway services in France seemed to be accessible.

Parking- easy with the blue badge

Toilets- few in French café’s in Reims that were accessible, all motorway services had accessible toilets, interestingly the hotel in Metz had an accessible toilet in the public area but did not appear to have any specifically adapted rooms.

Accommodation- Metz hotel was OK but in France as with most of Europe you are going back years in accessibility and the general level of access, though much better now than even 5 years ago is still disgracefully poor and on this trip France and Italy should both be ashamed of such uncivilised arrangements.

Other/General- Flogging across that part of France is a bore but Reims centre is buzzy and nice and the car museum a real find.

My Overall Accessibility Rating

5 out of a possible 10

European Tour

Date -12th & 13th September 2010



Country - England


County - Kent


City/Town/Area - Folkestone and Eurotunnel


Location - Holiday Inn Express and Eurotunnel


URLS - www.hiexpress.com www.eurotunnel.com

Notes-
From Salisbury to Folkestone – 145 Miles

On a sunny and perfect late summer afternoon my brother-in-law Rod and I load my Mini Cooper S Clubman and set off from my home in Salisbury Wiltshire on the first leg of our long journey around Europe. As our booing on the Eurotunnel is for 06:50 on Monday we decided to stop over at the Holiday Inn Express in Folkestone Kent. Despite being a Sunday afternoon the M25 is very slow but we arrive in time for tea. At Folkestone we meet up with my other Brother-in law Peter and his chum John who are driving down in Peter’s white 1988 Porsche 924S. Early to bed because we need to be at the Eurotunnel terminal for 06:00 (disabled drivers please note the requirement for an early check-in).

Accessibility


The Holliday Inn Express is completely accessible. On Eurotunnel you stay in the car as it is only 30 minutes to France.


Parking


Holiday Inn has disabled aprking outside the front door and the Eurotunnel waiting area also has accessible parking and a shop and toilets before the embarkation gates.


Toilets
Accessible at the hotel and at Eurotunnel terminal

 Accommodation
The Holliday Inn Express is completely accessible, clean, quiet and good value.

Other/General
UK Blue badges are valid in the EC and seem to be OK in Switzerland too so dot forget to bring it.



My Overall Accessibility Rating
10 out of a possible 10