We’ve been avidly following the Tour de France of course, and today for us was a ‘transition stage’ as they would say, getting ourselves over to Chamonix.
We had a peaceful morning of some yoga and stretching, much needed after our 60 miles in the mountains so far, followed by extensive patisserie and coffee at our favourite Cervo cafe and said our goodbye to the Matterhorn.
It was time to move on, and we tore ourselves away from idyllic Zermatt on a 4 stage train journey via Visp, Martigny and Vallorcine. To our horror at Visp, there were numerous announcements of delays and cancellations, and we boarded the train to Martigny being told we’d only get as far as Sion because the power was down… if we were in France we’d know the idiom to say ‘c’était un bordel’ (shambles) but either we don’t know, or maybe there isn’t a Swiss equivalent, given myth would have it that the Swiss trains are always on time.
Fortunately the situation resolved itself in the nick of time and we got through to Martigny. Hoards of people got on at random stations, having been offloaded earlier, so we were very lucky to get away with minor delays.
It was a stunning journey, starting and ending with those impressive trains that clamber up and down the steep valleys, and nicely designed with windows in part of the roof too, so you can look up at the mountains.
[Pic by Trains Touristiques SNCF]
We found our apartment in Chamonix and settled in. It is up a very steep hill, but worth it for the incredible view from the balcony.
Running in the Alps, Summer 2019 