Update from the last few days..

Ok, as I haven't been on the net lately I am going to have to do a recap on what I've been up to the last few days.

Friday
Woke up early (body not quite in Swiss mode), chucked some runners on and went strolling around the lake. Boy, it was beautiful. There were clouds over the water and the sun was just beginning to spread over the town. So pretty. After not walking very far due to the blisters from the previous day's walk, headed through town to find somewhere to have coffee. Discovered that all along the lakeside there are markets on Friday. Found some cute knickknacks for my nieces and nephews, found a market with some water and headed back home. Everyone was very friendly, greeting with "bonjour". After everyone else woke up we had a beautiful breakfast followed by some solid accommodation hunting. Ended up finding some short-term and longer term accommodation at the end of the hunt which was fantastic for a few hours work!

View of Montreux from the hotel room (a bit cloudy so can't see the peaks behind)

Had a late lunch in a cafe on the river, then Luke and I headed off for some serious Swiss army knife shopping. There was many a knife to be found so we thought it would be best (ok, I thought it would be best..) to ask mum and dad's advice about which features were required to cut the list down a bit. A thunderstorm was brewing so we made a quick exit back to the hotel. Bummed around for the rest of the night, had a bit of an early one (I think so anyway, I'm kinda just making that bit up as I can't rememer what I did!).

Saturday
Woke up at 8:15.. very late for me! Strolled down and had a wonderful breakfast. You know, swiss bircher muesili is actually very tasty when in Switzerland. Who knew? After realising that our next accommodation was available from Tuesday it was decided that we were going to explore the regions around the lake for the next few days. Off we went! We left around midday, went around the lake for about 30 minutes until we got to France. That side of the lake doesn't get as much sunshine so it's not quite as shiny and happy. Still beautiful, but not so upmarket perhaps. Continued along the shore where we got to Evian.. home of the water factory! It was a really pretty town and we stopped under an Evian umbrella for a bite to eat before continuing on. I had to take the cheesey tourist shot.. just for you guys!

I am holding a bottle of Evian with a lake-view in the background - so french!

Along the coast there were some gorgeous French towns! Really quaint little houses.. the type with window-boxes and tulips growing in them. So pretty. Kept driving until we got to Geneva.. the hub of the south of Switzerland. Gorgeous city. It was a bit of a brief drive-through but they had a beautiful water fountain in the middle of the lake. Definitely a place I want to revisit for a thorough look through. The chocolate we picked up there was to die for. The Swiss certainly know how to do chocolate well!

Piled back in the car and drove on to Chamonix where we thought it would be nice to stay the night. Justin has told me about Chamonix before and I had big expectations. Fortunately they were all met as we arrived.. the place was gorgeous. I know I keep using the same descriptive words, but I am just not sure how I can cram so much goodness into such a short description and do it justice. I can't. Anyhoo, Chamonix is divine. Honeymoon material, for sure!

Sunday
Had the most delightful sleep with my new (yet expensive) eye mask. Interesting fact for those that have never slept near me: I wear an eyemask and ear plugs to bed every night - they are an important part of my life :) Slept in till 8:15!! woohoo! Got up, had a bit of coffee, packed up and headed towards the mornings adventure: going up the cable car to a mountain near Mont Blanc, at 3842m high. I was afraid of heights so was especially keen to do this to push myself a bit. Boy is was high but it was amazing.. let me tell you. Beautiful snowy mountains everywhere to be seen and Chamonix suddenly looked like a little toy-town from that high up. Spent a couple of hours up there, visiting the different viewing points. Rich took some snaps of Amy and I and said the best place would be for us to sit on the ledge. That may be true but my legs went to jelly at the thought of popping up and risk falling a long, long way (that's why Amy was holding me and I wasn't smiling too much..). It was jolly cold and it was amazing how out of breath you get up that high running up and down the stairs.

Amz and I in the clouds with Chamonix in view next to my elbow

Downed some red wine from the cafe on the peak to warm the heart and to make it to the top viewing point. Thought it was a good time to give mum her Mother's Day phone call.. she had a nice day and my brothers apparently cooked a nice lunch for mum and my sister-in-laws. Good job lads! Happy Mother's Day again Dora :)

Me, being a bit close-eyed with Mont Blanc behind!

After that we bid a tearful farewell to Chamonix and took off towards the Swiss border. We took a drive through the alps pass towards a town called Martingy. Because it is Spring time and the snow is all melting, there were lots of waterfalls spouting down the sides of the mountains. Nice!

Driving along we were discussing the different places we could stay overnight and it was decided a short drive was the best idea. Off we went to Zermatt, hometown of the Matterhorn (BIG mountain). It is a car-free zone so we parked out car at the nearest town, Tasche (spelling might be off) and caught a quick train to Zermatt. On departing the train there is a sign with all the accommodation sites available, a brief description, pricing and a 3-digit code. You punch in the number on one of the keypads and it shows an electronic map with the location in relation to the train station. I tell you: these Swiss people are pretty clever! They also had a phone there that you could punch in the same number and call for free to check a booking (or make one in our case). The only available accommodation that looked nice was on the outskirts of town, maybe a 5 minute walk, and for a minimum 2 nights. We thought there would be plenty to see so we took it. Off we went in an electric taxi (hey, we were tired after the days events!) and arrived at our destination.

The place is decked out in wood and so beautiful. Luke was lucky enough to get a loft room all to himself! The apartment is delightful! I would thoroughly recommend this place for anyone coming to Zermatt (Casa Vanessa). After just absorbing the view with many more "wow"s and "ahh"s we headed out to a local italian restaurant for dinner. The waiters were really funny and it was so yum. Wandered back through the town and have been writing this post since. Looked up snowboarding lessons but it's rather expensive for a once-off kinda thing. Rich said to wait till there's more snow near Montreux and they would show me how to ski. Yay. Then I can give snowboarding a go :)

Hope to do some outdoor adventuring tomorrow. Perhaps a hike or something. The problem is I packed for Spring. Yet it's still snowy here. I'm sure I'll cope! Want to get to the top of the Matterhorn (by cable car.. not quite up to hiking that in a day unprepared.. yet!) and take some more snaps.

Tired now, goodnight!

Love Kel

xxx