Sion - an ancient town

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The internet connection at the campsite has been pretty bad the last couple of days and we couldn’t get on at all. We finally sorted it out this morning as we have no accommodation booked for tomorrow night yet! While mum searched out the next few days’ lodgings, Em had the whole morning to play in the playground. We even got to watch them fill up the kids’ swimming pool but it was still too cold for swimming in our book!

After lunch we took a trip to the nearby town of Sion. We are on the border of the French and German speaking areas here and as you go through one of the mountain tunnels, the signs change from German to French which is quite a shift when looking for the motorway exit – Ausfarht in German, Sortie in French!



Sion is actually the site of the oldest permanent human settlement in Switzerland, with archaeological records dating back over 7000 years. It is also quite a nice town with a self-guided walk around the main sights. The Notre Dame cathedral is beautiful with an enormous organ at the rear above the doorway and lovely stained glass windows. Standing above the town are two castles, Valere built between the 9^th and 13^th centuries and Tourbillon built around the 13^th century. Valere is home to the oldest working organ in the world. The walk up through the town is pretty strenuous and the path up to the castles starts at the edge of town and goes straight up – with legs already burning, we decided not to make the climb!

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