Swiss Walks

Yesterday I walked with hiking sticks and whereas one watch told me that I had 13,000 steps, or so, the other said I had 9000. It is the second time that I notice such a difference in step count. 

Walking stick step count. The count is lower than without walking sticks

The first time I noticed this issue was a few days ago, after a similar walk. I knew that the walk was over 10,000 steps so when I saw the low count I thought something was wrong, but didn’t worry about it. It happened again yesterday. I went for an 11 kilometre walk that should be at least 12,000 or more steps but it was undercounted by at least three thousand steps. The Apple watch had over 13,000 and the Garmin Instinct Solar had 9000. 

I have been writing blog posts every single day for one hundred and fourty five days and rather than feel more inspired, and get a big audience, I am writing for an audience of one. Some days I am filled with inspiration and I write the blog post in twenty minutes or less. Other days it takes me an hour or two. It’s hard to write every day because some days are interesting, so there is something to talk about, and other days are dull. 

What job would you do for free?

Blogging, of course. ;-)

The Swiss travel an average of 30 kilometres per day in their cars, according to a new survey shared by the Radio Television Suisse.

I walk 14 to twenty kilometres per day, and if I go for a bike ride I travel 30 kilometres. I use the car twice a week, for food shopping and that’s mainly because of the 15 minute rule for refrigerated food, rather than laziness. During the pandemic I would do food shopping with the car but pick up the drinks by going for a walk. It’s a one hour trip to the shops and back for me. 

French speakers are familiar with the term “Nid-De-Poule”. It is a term used to describe potholes in French. This is a term I heard regularly but due to modern farm practices you don’t see these when they’re made by chickens. Chickens usually live in chicken coops and they don’t have the time to dig their little holes in the ground. 

As I walk by free range chicken on a regular basisI get to see chickens sitting on wheels, running towards people, or away from them, and I see them sheltering from the rain on a rainy day. What you don’t see so often is chickens that have built a nest. They dig a depression into the mud or soil and then they sit and watch the world go by. 

Trees are currently turning green on the Jura. Leaves are growing and so the colour of the Jura is shifting from brown to green at last. Trees suffer in Summer at the moment, due to the lack of rain. That lack of rain results in them changing colour sooner.

Yesterday I went for a run in between two lots of rain and I was lucky. As I arrived home rain started to fall on me. Within minutes I could hear lightning and the rain started to fall heavily. I was lucky. I timed my run to be right in between two lots of rain. It would have soaked me if I had been unlucky.

Yesterday I tried playing with Migros SubitoGo and the experience was good. You scan the QR code for the shop as you enter and then you scan the products that you want to buy. I kept them in my hands until I got to the checkout counters.

Passabene

With Passabene you shop, you scan your products, and then you go to the cash machine, scan the shopping list to the device, and it charges you. It’s quite conventional and sometimes it asks for a double check from a cashier.

The most striking thing about a winter with little to no snow is that there is no noise. Normally ski lifts clank, people talk and there is a lot of noise

When there has been very little snow the ski lifts are turned off and the mountains are quiet. This is when you realise the impact of winter sports.

In summer you hear cowbells.

It’s a lake that was dug out when they built the A1 motorway. The quarry that was left behind became a lake. For a long time cars could drive around the lake.

View of the Lac De Divonne

The loop around the lake is good for walking, cycling, rollerblading and more. It is around 3.6km long and there are plenty of parking spaces beside it. If you want there is another option.