The Definitive (sort of) Guide to getting to Basel from the UK

I say definitive, but I 've really only researched the options from the SE and so there could be a few more options from regional airports as more and more airlines try and make some money from the strangest (& cheapest) of airfields (I'll resist the use of the word airport). Anyway you don't have to fly!

• Train - The simplest route is (from London): Eurostar to Paris Gare du Nord (2hrs 15 from Nov), walk 5 mins to Paris Gare de L'est and catch TGV to Bale (3hrs 20).
• Car - obviously a long old trip but if you fancy an adventure! Cheapest ferry I found was Norfolkline and the Eurotunnel may have special deals. Journey time from Calais/Dunkerque is roughly 8 hours (depending on stops of if you have someone called Clive driving).
• Flying - there are a lot of options with two main options; A direct flight to Basel or Flying to a close (ish) airport and getting a train to Basel (this opens up a lot more options but is, of course, more complicated). Here are the routes I've discovered:

1. Basel Direct - Easyjet fly from Luton (2 x daily), Stansted (1 x daily) & Liverpool (1 x daily). BA fly from Heathrow (3 x daily). Swiss fly from London City (2 x daily) & Manchester (1 x daily).
2. Use any of the above airlines (or others) to fly to Zurich (Train journey to Basel - 1hr) or Geneva (Train - 2hrs 30)
3. Go to remoter outposts in Germany with Ryanair - who fly to Karlsuhe (DE - 1hr 20 to Basel) or Friedrichshafen (2 hrs to Basel by train).
4. Or finally the closest French airport is Strasbourg (train to Basel - 1Hr) and Air France fly from Gatwick (2 x daily).

Hope this all helps!

IT Support !!!!

Finally sorted out my wireless router today despite all the so-called "help" from both the ISP and manufacturer's support team. The latter group actually surmised that it was "broken" and had a "hardware failure" - which was, of course, out of warranty - blah, blah, blah..

Well blow me sideways but a "factory reset" and the original settings seemed to get it going again with a few tweaks. The question is do you actually have to have a knowledge of IT to work in it?

Typical Swiss Weekend - Sunday

So you've shopped on Saturday what does the average Swiss family do on a Sunday. Well it seems that it will involve a) all the family, b) some exercise and c) some partying to varying degrees. Claire and I got on our bikes, took the train to Stein and, from here, we set off on a cycling Sunday. We also managed the odd beer in Germany, a sausage for lunch and still found time to take in a Medieval celebration of Laufenberg (800 year celebrations) as well as the Bruckenfest in Rheinfelden. I don't think it is actually possible for there NOT to be some event or other in a local village or town. You are never short of something to do at a weekend.

Typical Swiss Weekend - a Saturday

The very sensible swiss do not open their shops, DIY stores or "malls" on Sundays - they let the swiss enjoy one day a week. So this means that Saturday is often "shopping" day, certainly Basel is always busier than during the week. What they shop for I'm not entirely sure but there is plenty of variety and not to contribute too far to a sexual stereotype; our weekend shopping consisted of me buying a 42" TV (see here)whilst Claire bought plants!

Telephone connections

If you ever do come to live in this country be aware of the wonderful business that electricians make by connecting your phone. Yep, Swisscom (the equivalent of the UK's BT) only connect to your building and as many people live in apartments (not sure if it's the same in houses) someone has to connect from the Swisscom entry point to your home. Different and confusing but at least we now have a phone line - I'm now wondering how long before the ADSL line takes!

Storms & Hailstones!

This evening we got another thunderstorm (seem to be quite prevalent at this time of year) and they're proper storms that lash down with rain and the sky is full of lightning! However, the one we endured this evening also produced hailstones the size of golf balls. Here's the lawn from our top floor flat.

Flat Packs & Swisscom!

The apartment is much bigger (in overall terms) than home in the Uk so we've been able to visit the local Ikea and purchase a few (!!!) items to fill the place out. The local bus line to the store makes it a 10 minute journey but, of course, limits the size of the goodies one can buy. So the offer of a pick up from our neighbour, Jim, and his Volvo 4x4 meant that all the big stuff could be purchased in one fell swoop. Now, it's all been built we have a flat full of cardboard packaging and a relatively low number of "excess" screws, dowl plugs and plastic bits!

Connecting a phone line seemed an easy thing but having ordered one, getting it activated okay and then it working doesn't seem quite so straight forward. I can ring our number and get a ringing tone but not in our flat - it seems an electrician is needed to "connect" at our end. Oh well sometime later perhaps....

Basel even easier to get to (in a green fashion)

Today saw the arrival of the first TGV service from Paris to Basel, knocking 2 hours off the journey time as the fast link between Paris & Strasbourg comes into operation. Surprisingly there was one man and a dog to see it arrive, though the swiss cameras were at Zurich, here's the youtube version. With the Eurostar going fully TGV from November the train journey from centre of London to centre of Basel will be around 6 hours (as the Gare du Nord and Gare de L'est are right next to each other, so no cross Paris rush). Give it a try - far more relaxing than the easyjet scramble.

The Chicken Has Landed !

Nope it doesn't make any sense at all to describe our arrival by means of a chicken but it's as good as any. As I sit in the delightful surroundings of the Unternehmen Mitte , where there's great coffee from Bar Fumare, Non Fumare and free WiFi access, I thought I would share the delights of the move and a picture of Claire's chicken (which has no name so please let me know of any suggestions). As you can see our new apartment is beginning to take shape and because of the luxury of a week overlap between our current Roche apartment and the new one (upstairs) we can spend some time sorting it out. The kitchen is tiny compared to home so very crowded but every other room is much bigger. The mezzanine floor is currently being converted to the "cinema" with speakers, wires and DVD players etc...

En route to Basel PERMANENTLY

I’m actually writing this entry on the train from Paris Gare de L’est, en route to Basel. I can’t upload as the SNCF corail service doesn’t seem to have any wireless capability but maybe this will change when the new TGVest service commences in 8 days time. Anyway, forget all the facts & figures regarding cost & time, this really is a most relaxing way to travel. So far today I’ve got rid of all my English money (with a little help from an Aussie traveller on the Eurostar as I needed an extra 10p!) and enjoyed the last (for a while) of the English sunshine and green scenery as we whistled through Kent.

I watched the world go by at the Gare de L’est – including being filmed whilst eating my sandwich under the constant threat of 100s of sparrows! Have just left Troyes and, as is the norm on this service, witnessed the spectacle of the smokers getting their fix during the 2 minute stop at each station.

Le Grand Départ !!

So finally the end has arrived. The house is clear and cleaned. The electrician has checked the wiring (& promised to fix the faults). The keys are with the letting agents (and the tenants arrive on 22nd June). It was incredibly hard to actually leave the house - I finished doing stuff at around 1pm but didn't leave till 2.30. There was no real reason other than the inner desire to "not leave" - it's always a strange feeling (moving) and with the move being to another country this has been acentuated I suppose. So from a WiFi zone in the Sun Hotel in Hitchin I write the last UK entry of the blog and Switzerland awaits!

Planes, Trains & Automobiles – (4) The Green Approach

Apparently, according to research carried out by First Group, the carbon foot print per passenger kilometre (ppkm) for each mode of travel increases in the following order; train (49kg ppkm), car (109kg ppkm), aeroplane (180kg ppkm). So is very clear which is the right option – though I don’t know whether this changes if you have, for example, 4 people travelling by car (does the increased weight offset the reduced emissions per person?).