Ready, Set, Go.....Switzerland

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After leaving France it was time to head to Switzerland. We entered via Geneva, and drove along Lake Geneva to Lausanne. We were camped close to Lake Geneva. The weather was perfect to relax and swim in the Lake. Lausanne is the home of the IOC (International Olympic Committee). There are also lots of other sporting bodies that have their international headquarters in Lausanne, and the foreshore of Lake Geneva is an amazing array of sporting grounds.
Whilst there it was the final of the Euro cup soccer, Germany versus Spain. Carl went to the public viewing with another camping neighbour from Germany called Karl. Unfortunately Germany lost.

We then headed to Col Du Pillon and up to the Swiss Alps. It was our first look at real snow, at an altitude of 3000 M. We had a great day which included an alpine coaster (like a toboggan roller coaster), dog sled rides, building a snowman, throwing snowballs and admiring the lovely view.

We camped in Sion that night and then headed to Tasch, in the Southern Swiss Alps near the Matterhorn. The campground was next to the train line and a raging river. The view of the mountains from the camp was beautiful. We had a walk around town and marvelled at all the lovely wooden swiss houses.

From Tasch we ventured to Zermatt by train. Zermatt is a car-free town, and has a special feel about it. From Zermatt we went up into the Alps, and after a couple of gondolas and a chairlift ended up at Klein (small) Matterhorn which is a 3500 meters above sea level. It took us all a couple of minutes to adjust to the altitude. The air was very brisk and the view spectacular.

The next day Carl ran a marathon, but that’s another blog….( “Hop, hop, hop…)

When we left Tasch the destination was Grindelwald, which is central Switzerland in the Jungfrau region (Eiger Mountain). It rained !
After the 2 previous glorious days it was hard to be disappointed. Enroute to Grindelwald we zig-zagged up a steep mountain to the Rhone glacier. The glaciers that we have seen are incredible as they ‘flow’ down the mountains.
The Rhone glacier also had an ice cave dug into it. Without the aid of blue lighting, it had an incredible blue hue from inside the cave. The photos on the blog are using both ‘available light’ and one using a flash.
Unfortunately glaciers are living proof of the greenhouse effect. You could see the level that the glacier has dropped since 1996 - which is the year Maddy was born.
Our stay in Grindelwald was short lived due to the weather, and we moved on to Lucerne. We camped next to Lake Lucerne for a couple of days and really enjoyed our walks along the lake and our venture into town.

This basically brings our Swiss adventure to a close. It was an amazing combination of sun, snow, running and chocolate.

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Photos

Riding In Tasch
Alongside Glacier Express

Klein Matterhorn
View Of The Matterhorn