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During my sister's visit, we only spent a few days in the Lugano area. Besides our weekend trip to Paris,
we also took the train to Sion, Switzerland, in the Valais valley. From there, we took a fantastic side trip to Chamonix,
France.
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| View of Monte Rosa, largest mountain on Swiss/Italian border, taken from Malcantone in Lugano area. |
March 8, 2005
With our next two days in Ticino,
we took advantage of clear weather to catch some great views of the Alps. We drove up to the Malcantone
area – a high valley just a short drive to the west of Lugano. With the recent snow it was exceptionally beautiful sight.
There is one spot where you can look from Switzerland, over
Italy, and back into Switzerland
to see Monte Rosa, the tallest mountain in Switzerland. It
was a great view! We then did the tour of Morcote and had a super pizza lunch along the lakefront, sitting outside in the
sunshine.
On Wednesday I took Karen to Luino
for a taste of an Italian market. It was another beautiful day on Lake Maggiore, and we managed some great finds at the market. From there we drove to Valley Verzasca
to see the town of Lavertezzo and the old Roman bridge spanning the river there.
We also explored the mountain town of Corippo, even catching a glimpse of a local
man carrying things on his back with a traditional funnel-shaped basket.
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| House in Corippo |
March 10, 2005
Karen and I took a train this morning
from Lugano to Sion, changing trains in Bellinzona, Locarno, Domodossola –Italy,
and Brig. In Sion we hiked to their focal point – the 13th century Château de Valère. My sister loves
castles!
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| View from train coming down mountain to Domodossola, Italy on our way to Sion. |
| Château de Valère |
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| 13th century Château de Valère in Sion with world`s oldest playable organ. |
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| Karen, view from castle in Sion overlooking Valais Valley |
But the highlight of our 3 days in
the Valais Valley of Switzerland was taking the Mont Blanc Express from Martigny, Switzerland to Chamonix,
France. The part of the ride through Switzerland
found the train winding its way up the side of a mountain and then following a very steep and deep gorge to the French border.
What is so amazing to me is that there are towns along the way – perched so high up on the edge of the gorge! Who would
have thought anyone would be living here! I hope you can get the perspective from this picture I took. I seem to keep saying
“When you think it can’t get any better….” I would say that so far this was the most spectacular train
trip during our stay in Switzerland.
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| View from the Mt. Blanc express looking north in the Valais canton towards the canton of Vaud. |
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| Swiss town perched on ledge - from train between Martigny and Chamonix. |
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| French town as we approached Chamonix on the Mt. Blanc express. |
At the French border we crossed into a valley,
which led to Chamonix.
Chamonix is really not at that high of an altitude (3377 feet). It was a beautiful, clear sunny day,
and fortunately pleasantly warm in Chamonix – along with all the snow on the ground. We even ate lunch outside
in the sunshine, enjoying some great French food!
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| "Dr. Zhivago" with his horse and carriage on the square where we ate lunch in Chamonix. |
As we walked around the town, I noticed
the cable lift for the Aiguille du Midi. That is a needle shaped mountain next to Mont Blanc, with observations decks on top. It’s amazing that anything
could have been built on this needle in the sky. There was a cable car leaving in 10 minutes, and before Karen could say “oh
la la” I had bought us two tickets to the top of the world.
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| The Aiguille du Midi - center peak in picture. Mt. Blanc on the right. |
The picture looks deceiving. Mt. Blanc is actually 3,163 feet higher than the Aiguille du Midi.
The cable car first stopped at the
Plan de l’Aiguille where we had a change of cable cars. The second ascent to the top is actually the longest, single
span cable car in the world, taking us up the additional 4,822 feet in 5 minutes. The total distance covered in our ride up,
from Chamonix to the
Aiguille du Midi was 9,218 feet.
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| View from Aiguille du Midi looking towards Switzerland. Les Dents du Midi are in upper left. |
Well, what could I say but WOW! We
immediately felt the effects of the change in altitude – being out of breath and dizzy! It was a spectacular sight to
see the Alps laid
out before us, and Mt. Blanc right next
to us, with glaciers oozing down the mountainside. Crossing over the little bridge to the other section of the Aiguille du
Midi, we walked through an ice cave to where very experienced skiers were setting out to hike to a spot to ski down
(unbelievable!) They had crampons on their ski boots and they were roped together. This was definitely not for the faint of
heart. Of course we didn’t dare step off of this platform and on to the snow, as it was just a narrow ridge –
just a slip and you’d be off the mountain to one side or another. We went back across the bridge to where the cable
car had arrived and we walked up the steps to the higher observation deck, stopped to catch our breath after every few steps.
Although it was bitterly cold up there, only my hands were cold, as I had them out of my gloves as I constantly snapped pictures
and took some short videos. Also from up here, some people were catching another cable car which would take them over the
large glacier next to Mt. Blanc on over
to Italy.
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| From Aiguille du Midi looking down on Chamonix. |
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| HIkers coming up to Aiguille du Midi. |
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| Karen and Gail in front of Mont Blanc! |
After 25 minutes we were in line
to take the last cable car down. Karen said “Arnie (her husband) would not believe where we are!” So I handed
her my cell phone and told her to call him. She had a perfect connection and was excited to tell him she was on the top of
the world. It was just a short stay at the top, but worth every moment, and we were so glad we were able to catch this last
trip up the mountain for the day. It was SO worth it – especially since it was such a perfectly clear
day. This has definitely become THE highlight of my year here so far.
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| Sunset on Mont Blanc from Chamonix. |
March 12
We took the train to Montreux in the morning,
meeting Terry, the other American teacher on a Fulbright exchange, for a short walk along Lake Geneva. Then, I had a car waiting at the train
station, so Karen and I drove to the Chateau de Chillon (see outside photo here: http://yearinlugano.tripod.com/id15.html) and took a tour of this fantastic castle on the lake. I highly recommend it if you are looking for a wonderful castle to
tour, with many of the furnishings inside. Although it was a beautiful day outside, the stone castle walls kept it very chilly
inside and we needed to bundle up fully – it was cold! After the castle we drove up to the ski resort of Champéry and
enjoyed another lunch outside in the sun. Then we went to the bottom of one of the slopes to watch the skiers come down. It
was so exciting! (especially since we’re not skiers.) There were even children about 5 years old racing down the mountain.
Wow.
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| Terry, Gail and Karen on Lake Geneva in Montreux. |
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| Inside courtyard in the Chateau de Chillon. |
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| Returning from Champéry. |
March 13
For our ride back to Lugano, we bought tickets
that would take us on the Glacier Express between Brig and Andermatt. I had already ridden this part of the Glacier Express,
but the first time it was cloudy and snowing. This time it was clear and sunny. Although it was a beautiful ride, it still
did not compare to the Mont Blanc Express! We had 30 minutes to change trains in Andermatt, so I took Karen on the quick tour
of the town. Needless to say, we were exhausted after all we had done since she had arrived. We really made the most of our
time on this trip. My sister and I had so much fun! Monday in Lugano was a day to regroup before Karen had to return home,
and we took a walk to downtown Lugano. What an adventure – I recommend it to anyone!
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| View from the Glacier Express between Brig and Andermatt. |
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