Les Diablerets

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Les Diablerets (The Devil!)...sounds so scary, but is anything but! Les Diablerets is a lovely Alpine village nestled in a Valley beneath the 3209m high glacier, Diablerets.The glacier has snow all year around for skiing, dog sledding and has an alpine coaster which drops you 1000m at the top. This ski community is about a 1.5 hour journey by train from our home in Lausanne, but it is actually quite close as the crow flies. Nate had a neuroscience conference, and the girls and I decided to tag along and play while he worked (poor daddy). The train ride itself was great. We took a traditional train about 20 minutes out of Lausanne and transferred to one of the little regional trains, which are precious! These little chug-chugs remind me of the "Little Engine That Could"...They are tiny little 2-4 car trains that service the mountain/ski communities and wind their way up the mountianside precariously perched on the edge of the cliff...chug, chug, chug.....really cute! When the train needs to make a turn, the little Engineer hops out, runs to the other end of the train, changes the rail by hand, and hops back on to drive...it stops in the middle of the track just to wave at the little local papas sitting in their gardens sipping wine. loved it! We were thoroughly mesmerized during our overnight stay in this community...everytime I think we can't see anything anymore amazing, Switzerland offers us up some more. We really didn't do anything but follow around the Swiss alpine cows and their tinkling bells, play in the incredible park and stare in awe at the surroundings...which, in my book, equals a great day!....Bella did have her first run-in with a French bidet...she was found in the hotel bathroom washing her face in it... "oh, look, my own little Bella sink!"...oh, Bella. anybody have some bleach????

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Photos

Bella's bidet
Bella was very impressed with the "little Bella sink" in our room...oh, yuck!

"Grinch" mountain
not really...Abigail thought the dark green mountain top on the right looked just like "Who Mountain" in the "Grinch that Stole Christmas"...remember the mountain the Grinch tried to dump Christmas over??

Swiss Chalet
All of the Chalets that dotted the mountain edge lit their eaves at night with a single string of white lights...very charming

swiss chalet
the gardens and flowers in these homes are incredible..really beautiful

zip line "back splash"
The end of the parks zip line stops with a ricochet by a tire and a net to catch any flying children that may accidentally be flung off (got to love European safety standards)..that blurry little blur is fearless Bella.

Swiss cows
The cows being herded right down the main street to their afternoon lunch cafe (field) for a snack. They made a tremendous racket, as they all have these huge ornate bells around their necks.

Bella park
Bella asked,"Momma, is this park in Heaven?"