Saturday, 18 June 2016
Great excitement as we left Innsbruck for the 45 minute drive to Pertisau, the real location of the fictional early-series Chalet School titles. The 14 book tenure of the Chalet School in fictional 'Briesau' ends with The Chalet School in Exile where the school roll falls sharply after the Anschluss in 1938 before various pivotal members of the stories have to flee Austria and the school is (unwisely, in hindsight) relocated to Guernsey. The 14 titles based in 'Briesau' are:- The School at the Chalet (1925)
- Jo of the Chalet School (1926)
- The Princess of the Chalet School (1927)
- The Head Girl of the Chalet School (1928)
- The Rivals of the Chalet School (1929)
- Eustacia Goes to the Chalet School (1930)
- The Chalet School and Jo (1931)
- The Chalet Girls in Camp (1932)
- The Exploits of the Chalet Girls (1933)
- The Chalet School and the Lintons (1934)
- The New House at the Chalet School (1935)
- Jo Returns to the Chalet School (1936)
- The New Chalet School (1938)
- The Chalet School in Exile (1940)
Well before lunch we had completed the short drive from Innsbruck, steadily rising until we went through the town of Jenbach ('Spartz' in the books) then turned off the main roads onto the small road that winds up until it reaches Achensee (fictional 'Tiernsee'). What immediately struck me was what a small lake it was compared to my mental picture and to our recently visited Brienz in Switzerland. Suddenly it seemed more possible for those girls to be walking from village to village around the lake and even rowing themselves across it.
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| Pertisau up ahead |
With about a kilometre to go to Pertisau we could recognise it along the lake shore ahead of us and Gary kindly pulled over so we could all take photos. Being inspired by Chalet-ness we decided to walk along the often-mentioned lake path to Pertisau while Gary continued on by car. It wasn't exactly sunny when we set out and though we didn't dawdle the pace certainly picked up once the rain started splatting us, first with the odd large drop, then with more of them, and finally, just as we reached the Hotel Post (where we will be staying for the next four nights), it absolutely poured down.
Marianne and Beth escaped into the cafe and had tea and coffee respectively, while Gary and I were marooned in the car waiting for the rain to ease, and taking the opportunity to eat our packed lunch. We were in Pertisau; now all we needed to do was get the group together again and check in.
Hotel Post (and it was also called this in the books) certainly lived up to expectations and the spacious apartment we have on the 3rd floor exceeded them with so many cupboards we are completely unpacked for the first time since we left home and with a view up the valley towards the mountains that makes sitting in the living area or at the desk in the bedroom a pleasure.
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| So excited to be here |
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| The view from our bedroom window (with Gary standing on our balcony) |
As the rain had practically stopped Beth, Marianne, and I decided to get our Achensee cards (free travel on almost everything around the lake) and head out to try to catch the boat which visits all the little villages around the lake. (It was a steamer in the books, but has here been replaced with a modern vessel. Never mind, we were able to get a feel for 'the steamer' on our cruise around Brienz.)
All aboard! First we went down to the southern end of the lake, calling at Bachau and Seespitz before returning to Pertisau.
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| Dripping Rock |
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| Saturday afternoon sailing on the lake |
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| Marianne sails again! |
After Scholastika we re-traced our route and finally disembarked at Pertisau - not without incident. Gary was waiting to take a photo of us coming ashore and, since we could see this, we arranged that we would walk out in a row (not interspersed with other passengers) for the sake of the photo. Out I dashed, only to glance behind me at the bottom of the gangway to find Beth and Marianne still on the boat.
I went over to see Gary but Beth and Marianne were still on the boat. I told him about the trip but the two of them were still on the boat. I was beginning to wonder if they were planning another circuit when they finally scurried down the gangway just as the oncoming passengers were boarding. It turned out that the dog-eared bit of paper we had been given when we boarded was only on loan. I had handed mine back when requested and then disembarked, but Marianne's ticket had vanished into her handbag which resulted in a desperate (and prolonged) search as they weren't going to allow her off the boat until they had their 'ticket' back!
Good night from 'Briesau'!
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