Mountains, Valleys, and Chalets, Oh My!

Jim woke me up and I packed up all my stuff and then ate breakfast. It was cereal and some fresh peaches. Very delicious. I love peaches and, as I have said earlier, I have not eaten cereal in ages because I can't really get milk. We got all packed and ready to go. Jim and Francoise warned me about their cat Cici (I don't know how to spell it, you say it like C-C). She is old and deathly afraid of riding in a car. We packed up the car and left the apartment. After only 2 minutes, Cici threw up in her cage thing. I was forewarned so was not surprised, however, it did stink a little. We stopped at what Jim said is "the usual cleaning spot" on the side of the road. Francoise cleaned the cage. She told me that once time she was sick so Jim and Ian had to do. They did not like it and I don't blame them. Overall, it wasn't that bad though. I just felt bad for the cat. In the past, they would leave the cat with their neighbors when they left but now Cici has to be force fed pills in the morning and evening. The neighbors can't do that so Cici has to endure the car ride. We headed out from Bern and drove into the French speaking part of Switzerland (we were previously in the German speaking part). We passed through Fribourg and Montreaux (Lake Geneva picture 1). Jim decided to take the longer, scenic route because he thought we might have a chance at seeing Mont Blanc. We passed into France and went through Chamonix. Chamonix is just barely over the border. On a non-low-cloud day, you can see the entire massif of Mont Blanc, the tallest mountain in Europe. Unfortunately, it was a low-cloud day so you could only make out some of the peaks (picture 2). Oh well. I got the idea and it was fun driving on the twisty roads and up and down the mountains (Cici did not agree).

We kept driving and finally arrived at their village, Le Petit Bornand. The village is located on one side of gorge. Le Petit Bornand has a population of 1,000 people but they are spread out in a bunch of different directions. We decided to stop off at the bakery in town to get some stuff. We got bread, some pastries, and a couple pizzas (for me and Jim). We brought it back to their house. On the way, we passed by their neighbor who they say is really dirty and based on his trailer, it definitely sounds that way. Their house is awesome (picture 3 and walkway picture 4). There are two garages, three bedrooms, two bathrooms, some space in the basement, a kitchen, and a dining room connected to a living room. I slept upstairs. We arrived and got settled. The clouds were still up around the tops of the mountains but they seemed to be clearing away and the sun made a few appearances and then a few more. That was a good sign. We ate our stuff from the bakery. It was super delicious. My pastry was a thing with creme and strawberries on top. Yummmmm. After eating, we started to get ready to go for a walk. First, Jim went to talk to the neighbors who are building a house a little farther up the hill. Francoise eventually joined him. I walked into the little field of flowers and grass behind their house. It was awesome standing in the field with the gorge spread out in either direction and the sun finally coming out. Some of the flowers were really pretty. They finished talking and we headed out.

We drove through the town of La Clusaz (picture 5). It is a ski resort and the place where Jim and Francoise used to have (part of) a chalet. They showed me the chalet. La Clusaz rests in a valley right by the Aravis Mountains. Seeing the ski lifts (obviously not in action) going up the mountains was mind boggling. I can't believe people ride those thing all the way up there. Jim explained that La Clusaz is a good example of why the Alps are so special and why they are soooo popular for skiing (other than the huge number of people who live close to them). The vertical distance between the town and the highest chair lift is something like 1,200 meters which is like 4,000 feet. The crazy thing is that that isn't even that much. The Alps are very steep I guess is the main thing (as you can see in picture 6). The Rockies come up on a plateau so the vertical distance is not as much. Anyway, we saw the chalet and then kept going to a parking area on the side of a beautiful valley. We hiked on a pretty level trail along one side of the valley (pictur 7 and 8). We passed by some cows and goats (picture 9). I loved the sound of their bells jingling. It was so green out. The trees and grass were just vibrant. The sun came out too which was fantastic. It felt good to hike for a little while. We talked while we hiked. I wish I could show you all the pictures but I can't right now. It was super fantastic and I am so glad that I was able to see the Alps if only for a day or two. I can't wait to come back again someday.

We finished our hike and started to drive back. We stopped in La Clusaz for some groceries. The grocery store was really fun to explore because it had tons of different, French things. There was pate and all sorts of cheeses and loads of wines. I liked looking at them. It was also FANTASTIC to not have to worry about what I was going to eat. As the faithful readers know, that is one of the few troubles I always seem to have when I travel. We left the grocery store and went back to the house. Jim mowed the lawn while Francoise and I drank tea and coffee and talked. I felt bad for not helping Jim but there wasn't really anything for me to do. I called my mom on the phone which was nice. Soon afterward, Jim finished and the three of us watched tv for a little bit. I think we watched mostly French stuff which was fun trying to figure out what they were saying. After a while, Jim brought out some salmon spread and we ate it with crackers. Then he got dinner ready. Francoise had a cheese pastry while Jim and I had raclette. Raclette is, I was told, a very Swiss thing to eat. There is a special cooker with a top and open sides. A heating element and you place a piece of cheese on a dish and stick it under the heating element. When the cheese is melted, you scrap it on top of some potatoes or some bread. IT TASTED GOOD. Haha, I loved it. There was some special raclette spice stuff that you can put on top as well that made it taste even better. Jim and I also had some deli meat (much nicer than that) like salami and smoked ham. All around great meal.

We finished the meal and then sat down by the tv again. I can't really remember what we watched but eventually we ended on a French soccer match. Jim and Francoise fell asleep in their chairs and I was getting tired myself. Jim woke up at one point and I told him he should go to bed. He said, "We make our appearances until 10". I thought that was funny. Well, right at 10 they went to bed. They apologized for being boring but I truly didn't mind. It is just as exciting back home I am sure. I stayed up for a little while waiting for the match to be done but ended up falling asleep on the couch as well. I went up to bed after that.

To Be Continued!