We've had an epic year
of snow in Switzerland. Of course,
that means lots of snow to shovel around our house as well, but it turns out that the landlord’s 80+ year old uncle lives next door and he's remarkable. The
morning after it snows he is out there shoveling the driveway at 6AM, and often
after dinner as well. I (Doug) try to go
out and help him when I hear him, but it is embarrassing to think how many
times this year I've woken up to a freshly shoveled driveway…
March riding conditions in Switzerland
Not
much to say about fondue except it is delicious, particularly the local variety
of “moitié/ moitié” meaning half Gruyere, half Vacherin. It goes particularly well with the local white wines made from Chassala grapes. If you are lucky, you may be served fondue when you are invited to someone's house. Here is my Swiss friend and colleague, Nicholas, who invited me to work with him in Switzerland during my sabbatical.
Our favorite fondue restaurant is Chalet des Enfants, located in a rustic old home in the woods about 5 miles from Lausanne. We took our friends Laura and John, who were visiting from Menlo Park, and they seemed to like the place. The plaque on the outside of the restaurant says that when Coco Channel lived nearby she liked to walk near the restaurant, and "one day stopped and had 'a bowl of milk and a part of a flan' under the shade of the large trees". Coincidentally, Laura and John have a tortoise named Coco Channel. Too funny...
As for skiing, since the wonderful week of skiing with the Bauer Boys and Audrey in Zermatt before Christmas, I’ve headed to the slopes three times. The first was to Crans-Montana in the Valais region, supposedly full of movie stars (we didn’t see any), 1.5 hours by train from Lausanne. It was sunny, cold and beautiful.
While I skied, Laurie went
to a spa and we met up for typical Swiss ski lunch outside.
Laurie post-spa. Very relaxed.
Finished the day with a beer and cookies at the spa and slept the whole way home. Perfect.
The next ski trip was to Porte du Soleil, a huge area with lifts in both Switzerland and France, with our friend Debbie
who has lived here for more than 20 years. She cut her downhill teeth at Grand Targhee in Wyoming and is a
seriously good skier. The day
started off cold and wet and then got worse, but Debbie and I had fun following
each other in the fog and taking two hours for lunch. Laurie had another "physiotherpie" spa session in
Val d’Illiez at the base of the mountain. Hmmmm I am worried she going to hurt her other knee just so she can visit more
spas…
The most recent and memorable trip was a solo trek to Les
Diablerets, also in the French-speaking Alps. I woke up to a beautiful day, checked my work schedule for important
conflicts and finding none was on the 7AM train out of Lausanne. I was on the slopes by 8:45 with blue
skies, no crowds and at least 6-12” of new snow. Was that a dream?
I skied in and out of the trees in deep powder all day until I could
barely walk. Literally. Somehow I managed to get back to the
train and was home by dinner.
I hope to make at least one more trip (Verbier? Chamonix in
France?) before the end of the season.
We’ll see.
A couple of observations about Swiss skiing:
- Getting to the slopes here is easy. On the Lausanne metro you frequently see skiers fully dressed heading to or returning from the mountains, and I mean wearing their ski boots!
- The Swiss start skiing young and don’t stop till they are very old. Even the kids and geriatric crowd are remarkably good.
- Ski racing is taken very seriously, much like we follow football and basketball in the US.
- There are lots of wide-open slopes above the tree line (which is only 8,000 ft or so) but fewer slopes with giant moguls, which makes it easier on the knees.
- It's customary to stop for a nice meal (with cheese and dessert, bien sûr) and a glass or two of wine. Santé!
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