Friday, April 5, 2013

Zermatt, Switzerland

Zermatt is a playground for the rich and famous. And we were the party crashers. We travelled by train from Paris to Geneva on the TGV, and from Geneva to Visp, Visp to Zermatt on the SBB. It was a fun journey and Brian loved ordering coffee and pouring a wee nip of Baileys into the cup from his flask (or just drinking the Baileys straight from the flask - and who are we kidding, there was never just a wee nip poured).

Zermatt is a car free city at the base of the Matterhorn Mountain. There are only two ways to get around Zermatt, either by horse drawn carriage or by one of the little electric taxis. The entire town is just a picturesque Swiss village. Too damn cute!!!

What can we say, the food was amazing and we highly recommend Elsies for an Irish Coffee or Escargots and Chez Vrony for a glass of Chardonnay and a plate of pasta. Chez Vrony is an old wooden lodge on the side of the mountain and faces the Matterhorn. The weather was warm and sunny and we were able to dine al fresco on the deck. To access the restaurant you need to ski down from the Sunnegga lift (or in Jessica's case, you can tumble down the side of the mountain to it - but that's another story). Back in town, we discovered Potter's Bar and had to go in for a drink in honor of our good friend back in KC, Jim Potter.

The skiing was unbelievable! We hired a personal ski instructor on the first day and this old, grizzly, Swiss guy (Brian inadvertently requested a hot blond female instructor - yet another story) gave Jessica a lesson for 10 minutes and then took Brian to the top of the mountain. At one point, Brian was grinning and laughing from the pure enjoyment of skiing in Switzerland that he nearly ran into the instructor and fell. What a bucket list experience to be able to ski in Switzerland. We skied for a total of 3 days, but the last day was by far the best day.

What can we say, our 10 day trip to Paris and Zermatt was one for the record books. And what a birthday celebration for Brian. It's going to be hard to top this one next year.



















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