New Years in the Alps

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The whole Larkin gang continued on for New Years' week in La Jorette, just outside of Torgon, a ski resort off of Lake Geneva. We stayed in a tiny chalet on the side of the mountain with views of the Alps and the Torgon Valley from our balcony. It took a long day of travel from France that started at 5AM and didn't conclude until after 7PM, 6 trains and 1 looong winding bus ride up the mountain (19 hairpins!) but we made it with minimal sanity, and zero toes, lost. We spent a quiet week skiing and exploring the nearby towns of Aigle and Lausanne. It snowed all the day and night of New Year's Eve, leaving a fresh blanket of snow to ski all sunny New Year's Day. NYE itself was a quiet one in the chalet, where we toasted the New Year in with "champagne", more chocolate, and a German countdown.

Overall I found Switzerland expensive (at least on par with Norway and Sweden), and more challenging for non-French speakers than Burgundy and relative to other European countries in general. The people were less friendly and while diverse, not particularly attractive. Nothing about the towns we visited stood out against the other places we've seen and paled in comparison to the Burgundy countryside. For an idea of what things cost, a pizza at a self-serve Italian cafe starts in the 20CHF range and we saw raw chickens at the supermarket for 80CHF. Let's just say we didn't endulge in gourmet dining that week. Oh, and the slopes had nothing on Tahoe's except maybe cheaper lift tickets. In fairness though, the views were spectacular. Still don't think I'll be rushing back anytime soon.

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