For the end of September it was Terra Nova who organised a FAM trip. We invited our biggest client from France to make them get a glimpse of what they actually sell to their clients. What they got to see was a compact version of hotels, restaurants, services, cruises, geographical areas etc offered in their programme "Monde des Fjords", lovely called a "MDF tour" in Terra Nova jargon :-)
Here the itinerary:
Saturday, September 26:
Together with my colleagues Franck and Stéphanie I picked up the group at the airport on Saturday 26th at 1 p.m.
First points on the programme were two site inspections of hotels close to the airport that our client uses for its groups.
One of it is (or better will be) the Comfort Hotel RunWay, a hotel which is still under construction and to be opened in January 2010. Thus, well equipped with vests and helmets we have a guided tour with hotel manager Gry around the construction site.
This is followed by an inspection of the Rica Hotel Gardermoen before driving to Oslo downtown to the Clarion Hotel Royal Christiania (below), where the group checks in for its first overnight stay.
During the hotel inspection together with the sales manager we have a short insight into this suite, booked and decorated for a "just married" couple spending its wedding night at this place.
Not far from the Royal Christiania hotel we host them at our office for a short aperitif and a presentation by someone from Norwegian Airlines who sponsored the the group's flights.
At 7 p.m. we leave our office for yet another site inspection at the Scandic Hotel Edderkoppen, before passing at "Jerome's" restaurant and in front of the Royal Palace...
... and further on for a site inspection and dinner at the Scandic Hotel KNA.
Sunday, September 27:
My birthday starts with a nice breakfast buffet at the Royal Christiania hotel and a 3-hours guided city sightseeing tour including Vigeland's sculpture park, a visit of the Fram museum and an entry into the Vikingship museum at Bygdøy - which, honestly said, is definitely not my favourite. Anyway...
After the city sightseeing we head off in direction of Hønefoss to Jevnaker...
... where we enjoy a sponsored lunch and experience the difficulties of glass blowing during a guided tour through the glass factory of "Hadeland Glassverk" :-)
On the way through the green valley of Hallingdal...
...to the region of Valdres, also called the "heart of Norway". Right after Gol we take the route 51 which takes us up to the Storefjell mountain where we stay at the great Storefjell Resort Hotel.
Filled up by the hotel's typical huge huge dinner buffet, we finish off my birthday with a get together at the resort's piano bar...
...where some talented guy enchanted us (and especially those two) with voice and piano music.
Monday, September 28:
Leaving Storefjell in the morning...
... meeting the locals - kings of the roads:
Autumn colours in the morning hours at around 8 a.m. on our way through the Hemsedal valley, famous skiing area:
Only half an hour later we encounter a "slight" environmental change with temperatures of -2°C when driving through the mountain plateau...
... which leads us to Westland, the west of Norway, also called "region of the fjords".
We stop at the Borgund stave church (I spare you further pictures from the stave church as I posted abundantly of them in the post from my trip in August)...
... before continuing towards Lærdal where we take the world's longest road tunnel (24,5km), the Aurlandstunnelen in order to arrive in Flåm.
Norwegian Fjord Voyage sponsored the 2-hours cruise from Flåm on the Aurlandfjord via the Næroyfjord to Gudvangen. Both fjords, the Aurland- and the Næroyfjord are branches of Norway's biggest fjord, the Sognefjord. Since 2005, the 17 km long Næroyfjord from Gudvangen is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Along with the Geirangerfjord it has also been rated by the National Geographic Society as the world's number one natural heritage.
Unfortunately the weather didn't show itself at its best, but still impressive.
Not only Flåm is located along the 19 km long Aurlandfjord, but also the village of Undredal with its little stave church and famous for its cheese production.
Though usually not used in our client's MDF programme we visited the Flåmsbrygga Hotell when we arrived back in Flåm.
... and the own Flåmsbrygga Brewery...
... before getting on the famous and historic Flåmsbana train from Flåm up to Myrdal.
From 0 to 890m altitude the train passes in 50 minutes through beautiful landscapes.
... and stops along the way at yet another waterfall.
Up in the mountains in Myrdal we change to the NSB Railway which takes us with a train through snow-covered landscapes - reaching an altitude of 1,222m m.a.s.l. in Finse - from Myrdal to Gol.
Back to Gol our bus takes us to the close by Sanderstølen Høyfjellshotell for dinner and overnight, which (like the Storefjell Resort) should be known to you from my trip in August.
Tuesday, September 29:
Next morning we pass again the region of Valdres driving towards Fagernes and via Dokka...
... until we arrive in Lillehammer...
... where we observe kids during their ski jump training... as if it was the most natural thing to do, to jump and fly with high speed and skis through the air.
Very common in nearly all our tours is the entrance into Europe's largest open-air museum "Maihaugen" in Lillehammer. Maihaugen tells the history of how people have been living in the valley of Gudbrandsdalen from the Middle Ages until today. The open air museum is divided into three parts, the rural collection, the town (a typical inland town with a rail way station) and the residential area with homes from the 1900's.
Most of our groups have lunch at "Blåmann" restaurant in Lillehammer... and so do we :-)
After lunch we continue our way along Norway's largest lake, the Lake Mjøsa, back towards Oslo.
A great and interesting trip; I got to know even more things I regularly encounter at work and which I haven't seen/experienced yet.
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