[CR Switzerland] Day 05-1

September 21, 2006
Villars - Martigny - Sion - Tasch - Zermatt

Morning Call: 6.30 * Bags and Breakfast: 7.00
Departure for Zermatt: 8.00

The hour may have been early, but the cold air between the hotel door and the bus certainly woke me up! With an early departure from Villars, the traffic was non-existent. It was easy going through to our first stop at Martigny to look at authentic Roman ruins (as opposed to the not-quite-authentic ones in Nyon) of an ampitheatre. The structure was surrounded by woods, and Elmar told us that what we were looking at was about half the size of the original; the stones from the upper levels had been pilfered over the years. Surrounded by trees, all you needed was a little imagination to visualize how it must have been when Martingy was an outpost of the Roman Empire, the local governors hosting games for the amusement of the populace, or visiting dignitaries.

Beside the ampitheatre was a brand-new museum dedicated to the St. Bernard dog. When we passed it on the way to the ampitheatre, I was squeeing over the cute stuffed toy dogs placed in the windows. Pity the place wasn't open when we arrived, it might have been fun to sneak a peek at the exhibits. Pity, as well, that I waffled too long about dashing to the front of the building to snap at least one shot of those stuffed dogs in the windows! Indeed, "He who hesitates is lost," as the saying goes. In this case, I lost that photo op. On the other hand, I do have a flimsy excuse to go on this tour once again. ;)

Sion was next, but no more than a drive-by so that we could twist our necks at difficult angles to catch a look at the Cathedral and the Town Hall. Needless to say, the angle of elevation frustrated all the photographers, since we couldn't stop for a proper shot - and the view was really magnificent. If not for the fact that Ma would have been totally mortified, I'd have sat on the floor of the bus and aimed my camera through the windows from that angle! Though Ueli did his best to get us as close as possible for a better vantage point, in the end, the best views of Sion were from the highway.

We stopped at the Relais St. Bernard, where Mom bought a folding tote for her stuff. It was good to stretch one's legs in the fresh air - and I mean, FRESH. AIR. It's what I call "champagne weather", enough sun to chase the clouds away, enough chill to get the blood dancing in your veins. Once everyone had paid their respects to the washrooms and gotten souvenirs or snacks, back on the bus we went.

We had such a lead on the schedule that we were able to make an unscheduled stop at a place called St. Michael's Church, a modern church cut into the heart of a mountain crowned by an older church-fortress. It was the first church I'd been inside of since we'd arrived in Switzerland, and with a quick genuflection, I lifted up fervent prayers of thanks for the trip, and that all would go well with us as we continued on our way. There was a certain comfort in knowing that the Archangel Michael, the patron of the church, was also a patron of sorts for our family, and I took it as a good omen for the future.

The church itself was lovely. The stone of the mountainside was roughly dressed, a solemn backdrop to the warm wood of the pews and the altar. The Stations of the Cross hanging on the walls were works of art in themselves, the only really ornate thing in the simplicity of the place. We were told that there was a special waiting list for couples wishing to celebrate their weddings or anniversary Masses in that church, and I'm not surprised.

As we were pulling out, the first bus for the tour arrived, and there was much waving through windows. I managed a quick cat nap until we arrived at Tasch, our bottom station on the way to Zermatt. There was a bit of bustle as we were sorted out into the little electric transports that would bring us to the second station on the way to the town proper; people, naturally, wanted to be sure their bags would be travelling along with them up to the town!

At the second station, we were re-sorted once again, from 15-seater mini-bus type transports into 7-seater electric taxis. They're efficient, if a little bumpy. In my opinion, I'll take the slight bumps in favor of preserving the mountain air, which was becoming more champagne-like with every minute. The trip up the mountain road was quite interesting; at some points the two-lane road narrowed into one lane, and to see how traffic gives way was an eye-opener. Literally.

We settled into the hotel in time for lunch. Small elevators, as usual, so I took it upon myself to climb the stairs to the fourth floor so that I could get the door open when the parents came up via the lift. Imagine my delight when I discovered the hotel had been so nice as to assign us triple-sharers what amounted to a mini-suite! Two twin-sharing rooms, never mind that mine was a tight fit - it was still space to myself, whee! Next to the bathroom, too. Sweet!

There was a living room area, and even a small kitchenette. Then of course there was the balcony, overlooking the front drive of the hotel and with a gorgeous view of the Matterhorn. Real sweet...but I had to hit the ground running, so to speak, to look for the sausage grill that Elmar had mentioned on the bus. Mountain air, lunchtime, and the promise of bratwurst and schublig fresh off the grill...ah, heaven!

So while the parents changed out of their travel clothes, off I went in search of this marvelous sausage stand. The hotel sits right beside the train station, and as with all the other towns we visited, all you had to do was walk down the main street and take in all the sights along the way. In time I found the stand, just a few meters away from the main station square; and I was in luck - the sausages were grilling away, as I drew near, with a group of American tourists just leaving.

The man in charge was nice enough to wrap up the freshly-cooked schublig and bratwurst, served on paper plates with a dollop of mustard (though you could have catsup and mayo if you wanted) and a piece of brown bread. On my way back down the main street, I bumped into nearly everyone else, also looking for the sausage grill. I'm pretty sure I had a smug expression on my face when they asked if I'd found it, because I could feel the mischief bubbling inside me.

Returning triumphant to the hotel, I fixed up soup from the rapidly-dwindling stash and set the table against the time my sleeping parents would wake up. In order to ignore the pangs of hunger gnawing at me, I drank a cold glass of water and proceeded to update my journal.

.../to be continued