Day Nine

The Mountain That Wasn't There

I don't know if these pictures are out of order, but here are a few more pictures of Champéry.

The front of the Hôtel des Alpes, with wet flags. The center two windows and the left balcony on the first floor were our room.

Alex drove us to the train station in Täsch after breakfast. From there we took a train to Zermatt. The train was a little crowded and we all had to stand up, but the ride was less than ten minutes. Once we got to Zermatt we were free for a few hours.

Zermatt is in Valais, the same canton that Champéry is in, but it's in the German-speaking part. Although it wasn't all that far from Champéry, the German feel was much stronger there. There are no cars in Zermatt; the only vehicles are small and electric-powered, like golf carts, and animal-drawn vehicles. As a result, it's a lot quieter on the streets. Of course, it's easier for golf carts to sneak up on you, too, since you can't hear them as easily, but it's nice being able to walk down the middle of the road.

We looked for souvenirs for a bit and bought some pastry from a bakery. I had apple strudel, because it seemed like the only logical choice. Around noon many of the shops closed, so we took that opportunity to get on the little train up to see the Matterhorn. The train was underground, on a very steep track, and it was cold. After a few minutes we were at the top, ready to see the glory of the Matterhorn.

Here's the thing about summer in the Alps: sometimes it rains. And when it rains in Zermatt, there is no Matterhorn. All we saw was clouds, fog, and sheep. It was a little disappointing; you expect to see one of the most famous mountains in Europe, all pointy and majestic, and instead there's nothing.

It should be right behind the sheep.

We waited at the top for a while to see if it would clear up, but alas, we were not so lucky. So we headed back down and I had to buy a bunch of postcards of the Matterhorn since I didn't get to take any pictures myself. I also bought my brother a Swiss army knife and had it engraved with his name. There are really a wide variety of sizes of knife; there are the tiny pink ones for girls who like pink things, and then there are the three-inch-thick, five-inch-long ones with the corkscrew and the tire pressure gauge and the satellite antenna and whatnot. I really should have gotten a knife for myself, and my parents. That's one of the things that I regret about the trip: I didn't get enough cool stuff. I thought it was more important to spend my money judiciously, and I ended up having a lot left over when we came home. But it wouldn't have hurt to have gotten more Swiss army knives in Switzerland. And I should have taken more pictures. Guess I'll just have to go back with a better camera. So anyway, here's a scan of a postcard I bought of what the Matterhorn apparently looks like when the sun's out and you can actually see it.

The thing in the middle of this picture is actually a river. In person it was more of a silvery-grey than white. We saw a few rivers like this in Switzerland and Austria; they're that color because they're glacial water. I've never seen anything that looked colder than that river.

On the train on the way from Zermatt to Täsch we got to sit down, and then it was back into the bus with Alex. Back at the hotel we had dinner, and got in a little trouble because some people decided not to come to dinner and then others left early, which, although they didn't intend it to be, was rude; but we were allowed to go to the party that the town was giving us.

There was a little band at the Centre Sportif, with a trumpet, clarinet, accordion, and drums. They also had traditional Swiss instruments, like an alphorn; and they let some of the kids try it. Of course, some fool kid blew on the alphorn and said, "Ricolaaaaaaaa." Totally cliché and unoriginal. Then they taught us to polka, which was fun. We all did the polka and the chicken dance. Later, when we went back to the hotel, my dearest darling roommate took our one room key, locking me out for a while. I ended up joining some friends in their room, which wouldn't have been a problem, but people of the opposite sex were not supposed to be in the same hotel room at once, and we were. And, once again, it wouldn't have been a problem, except for room check. Luckily for us, it was our director who checked that night; so when four of us were in the bathroom, three hiding and the other running the water to muffle our snickering and, on my part, shushing, our director fairly obviously knew we were in there, but let it slide. I think he was secretly amused. After he'd gone, the three of us checked the hallway, and seeing it clear, booked it down the stairs to our rooms. Although it was slightly terrifying at the time, I have since come to view it as a growth experience: how to make the best of a situation, without getting caught.

Tomorrow: Liechtenstein and Austria

Day Eight

Switzerland

On Sunday morning we had some free time. They opened the bank specially for us so that we could change money. Some friends and I went for a walk out of town and into the residential area--sort of like a hike, except we were pretty much stuck on the roads. There was no place to walk through fields that wasn't part of somebody's property. Once we were out of the big cities, they let us wander around in groups by ourselves, because the worst thing that could happen would be getting lost, and we couldn't even get that lost.

Just after lunch we got on the buses and drove down to Montreux. We took a tour of the Château de Chillon, a castle set right on the edge of Lake Geneva. The château was begun in the 11th or 12th century, and was never besieged. The dungeon has a place where Lord Byron carved his name in the stone; he was inspired to write the poem "The Prisoner of Chillon" after a visit there. The great hall is decorated with the coats of arms of all the families who controlled the castle.


We had some free time in Montreux after our tour, and most of us went souvenir shopping. Montreux is the home of the world-famous jazz festival, which was going on while we were there. Just walking around town we heard some of the bands playing. People bought cuckoo clocks, Swiss army knives, watches, and music boxes. I bought a little cowbell painted with flowers and "Montreux." For some reason I did not take a picture of the statue of Freddie Mercury of Queen in Montreux. I must've either been out of film or really dumb.

Back in Champéry we had our concert at the Centre Sportif. There was another band and choir performing, and our band was on last. The concert must have been long for the people listening, but they seemed to be in really good spirits, and they were appreciative of our efforts. When we played the "Radetzky March," which is like the "Stars and Stripes Forever" of Europe, the crowd were on their feet clapping. Some of the brass players from the other band joined us on our last song, making it even louder and more fantastic. It was exciting; that was the only concert where I've really felt that vibrant connection between performer and audience that you always hear about.

I walked back up the hill alone, at nearly midnight, with my heart blazing. It was not quite truly sublime, but right up there with the best moments of my life so far.

Since love is lord of heaven and earth
How can I keep from singing?

Tomorrow: Zermatt and the theoretical Matterhorn, and a polka party

Day Seven

Driving to Switzerland

I called home and found out today that my dog had had puppies, one of which is my current dog. :)

Most of today was spent on the bus, and for at least part of it I slept. We stopped for lunch at nearly one, and I got to exercise my French again, helping people order from a fast food place. It was kind of weird, because in class we learned much more about ordering from cafés than from fast food joints. I got fries and a Coke, because 1) I am selectively cheap and 2) I love fries and Coca-Cola.

Now would be a good time to tell you a little more about our bus group. When we first arrived at Gatwick, my friends and I just plopped down near the front. But somehow we eventually moved toward the back, joining a few other people from our school and seven kids from three or four different schools. We made friends with them and ended up having good times. The Back of the Blue Bus Crew is very important to my Europe experience.

A few hours after lunch we were in Switzerland, driving around Lac Léman. The lac is known as Lake Geneva in English. Switzerland actually has four official languages: French, German, Italian, and Romansch. The first three are the languages of countries that border Switzerland, and the last is an old language of the area that not many people speak anymore. Switzerland is also broken up into 26 provinces called cantons, and each canton has an official language. We were headed to Valais, whose languages are French and German. From the Lake Geneva area Alex drove us up to Champéry, where the fear part of our relationship with him really came into play. He took those mountain roads in a coach pulling a trailer at speeds that many people would not attempt in a regular car.

I almost don't want to describe Champéry because it's so amazing. I think most people on the trip would say that it was their favorite place we visited; some of us would say that Champéry is our favorite place in the world.
When we first arrived and got off the bus it was around five or six in the evening, and a church bell was ringing the hour. We looked out across the valley to the mountains with the bells ringing, and it seemed almost surreal. The mountains looked almost as if they were a painted backdrop. One of my friends said that it looked like if you pulled the string the whole vista would roll up into the sky and leave nothing behind. It was like I would imagine living in a snowglobe would be like.

We stayed in the brilliant Hôtel des Alpes. The hotel had a Swiss flag and an American flag hung on the front of the building. Our room was on the first floor, and we had a little balcony that faced the street.
This is the view from our room. The building on the left (well, below, as the formatting makes it) is a church; the one on the right is, I believe, a residence. The flag in the right picture is the flag of the canton of Valais. This is what we looked out our window to see. Furthermore, our room itself was great. Instead of three people per room, as there'd been in London and Paris, we now had two per room. The room had no closet, but a wardrobe; a table and two chairs between the windows; and a pair of beds with featherbeds. It was simple, uncluttered, and wicked comfortable.

After staying in two capital cities, Champéry is a huge change. The town was fairly quiet, and the view was mountains, trees, and streams instead of buildings. The whole ambiance is more peaceful. Champéry is a ski town, so in July there weren't a huge number of tourists. If I ever go back in the winter it might shatter my perception of the town. There was a little festival going on downtown when we arrived, and we walked down to see it before dinner.

We ate dinner at the hotel's dining room, and afterward we walked down to the Centre Sportif (Sporty Center--that's a pretty literal translation) for our orientation meeting. It was down a hill, so we had to walk back up to get to the hotel. But this being Champéry and therefore awesome, there are fountains in town where water flows down from springs through a spigot and into a trough. We were warned to get the water from the spout, not the trough (because the water in the trough has already touched people's hands and sometimes animals' mouths). It was high-quality water. Arrowhead, Poland Spring, Aquafina, Dasani: you got nothin'.

Tomorrow: Chillon, Montreux, and the Best Concert Ever