It’s a well-known fact that Switzerland has some of the best driving roads in the world. In fact, the only reason we chose to visit the sleepy town of Chur (pronounced “Cur”) is because of it’s prime location. Nestled in the mountains, with the Oberalp Pass on it’s Western end and the Stelvio at it’s East, it made a perfect pit stop for the evening.
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There’s romance in the sense of big city Paris, with it’s Eiffel tower and glittering lights, world-class cuisine and glamorous fashions, then there’s romance in the sense of alpine Switzerland; pockets of snow freckle the mountains, each peak scattered with an abundance of fresh, trickling streams; the backdrop to the dongle of cowbells. Hideaway ski resorts tucked around each corner. Hairpin bends through the fir trees… And we haven’t even got to the Stelvio yet.
We arrive at the Hotel Arcotel Camino in Stuttgart, weary after an action-packed day; a morning getting pierced in Paris’ 4th, a cross-country train ride, and an afternoon amongst the great Porsche’s of the last 80 years.
Credit: Arcotel Hotels
It is long after dark, and we have have just enough energy to trudge into the hotel, our heavy suitcases following closely behind us, clicking quite audibly against the polished floors of the very silent foyer.
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What’s a girl like me doing at a car museum, you ask? Well, given that I planned and organised the whole six-week holiday, I thought it would be fair to let my husband have a say in some of it. So he got the Nurburgring, and the Porsche Museum. 🙂
The futuristic building that houses the Porsche Museum is a work of art in itself, let alone the treasure that lies within it’s belly. Sleek lines and a modern, shiny exterior mimic the automobile brand’s distinctive style. We begin our visit, funnily enough, at the very beginning. A beautiful, silver beast with a brushed-metal finish welcomes us at the entrance of the showroom; a prototype created in 1939, the body type 64 was the forefather for all Porsches, a primitive model but still breathtaking in its early form.
Before we arrived in Europe, I spent hours reading up on the best shopping in Paris. I scoured the internet and my favourite reference books, and wrote down the addresses of a dozen bookshops, stationary shops, and of course, shoe shops. Inevitably, we didn’t get to them all. But here are my top 4 in the 4th; a few of my favourites that were mere minutes (via scooter) from our apartment in the Marais.
Boutique shops selling everything from designer olive oil to designer ballet shoes are hidden in the maze of 4th Arrondisement backstreets.
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