Zermatt

Zermatt Arrival

Bags packed, cameras stowed, we made our way to the to the Geneva train station. We had had a wonderful three nights at the Hotel Royal; I was going to miss those light, flaky croissants at breakfast... Despite the fairly early hour, it was already getting warm. Luckily our walk to the train station was very short.

But what would the weather be like in Zermatt, our next destination? Forecast was all over the place: sunshine and 25° on our travel day, clouds with thundershowers & only 14° the next, and back to sunshine on the day we were leaving.

We love the Swiss Travel System and their network of Swiss Rail trains, buses, and boats. Our Swiss Rail passes had already proven their worth with all the complimentary museum entries and local transportation, as well as rail travel.

Joining us on a portion of our train trip was Janine Zingg, Media Relations Assistant for Swiss Travel System.

Janine had joined us for the Gourmet Dinner Cruise on Lac Leman aboard the M.V. Savoie the night before.

Our Swiss Rail train left Geneva at 9:30 on the dot!

At Sion, we were joined by Franziska Amstutz of Valais Tourism,

who got this amazing Swiss adventure rolling for us when we sat with her during a media event in Vancouver last year. Franziska had mentioned that she would make a point of joining us on the train from Sion to Zermatt to have a visit with us. Franziska was next off to the town of Brig, where the Valais tourism board was helping to promote and prepare for the huge yodelling festival with an expected attendance of 150,000. She showed us their brilliant promotional film, which had already garnered some 65,000 views in less than 24 hours!

We were delighted that Franziska was taking time from her busy schedule to meet us. And I could only thank my lucky stars for being surrounded with such a bevy of beauties! ; )

We needed to transfer onto the train for Zurich in the town of Visp. OMG...we actually had 25 minutes between trains...no rush between platforms this trip. Janine would leave us to catch her connection to Zurich, while we and Franziska continued onto Zermatt.

Arriving in Zermatt right on schedule, we met our guide, Magalie Perren,

and surprise, surprise...my high school classmate, Christie Stewart!

It was a bit of pandemonium while we made our introductions and joyous greetings, and bade farewell to Franziska. We would be off on a tour of Zermatt immediately; our hotel's taxi shuttle magically whisked our bags away.

We hadn't seen Christie since our Magee High School 50th reunion in 2014. Had it already been three years?! We’d already planned to visit with her later this trip, in Lausanne (Christie lives near Lausanne). She had some Air Canada points to use up and, quite by chance, booked a couple of days in Zermatt that overlapped with our own! We would make good use of the fortuitous day and evening we’d have together here.

The Zermatt Tourism Centre is where to book tours and get information.

Magalie comes from a family with deep roots in Zermatt – since the 1300s! She was the perfect person to guide us around the town as she told us about how the region evolved from farming to the world-renowned resort it is today. It was a dazzling and clear sunny day…and warm.

We toured some of the remaining original farm buildings (used now as accommodations instead of for hay storage),

learned of the beginnings of mountaineering and tourism, looked in on the old Catholic church,

and of course marvelled over the spectacular views of the Matterhorn from seemingly every vantage point in Zermatt.

We also learned from Magalie that the much-visited Mountaineer's Cemetery was more a memorial to the climbers who lost their lives climbing the Matterhorn, but very few actual remains are buried there.

We ended our tour with Magalie at the Zermatlantis Museum in the centre of Zermatt. There we would learn much more about Edward Whymper's tragic first ascent of the Matterhorn, and subsequent controversy.

As well, we saw an exhibit of artifacts and relics displaying a subsistence farmer’s life during the 19th century in Zermatt.

Afterward, we took a stroll (Suzanne's translation: shopping) around the village with Christie. Checked out some parts of town that we had not seen during our previous visit…

Yes, by gum…every square centimetre of space in Zermatt is used for something…this small pasture is still farmed even though it’s squeezed between a number of resorts and residences.

We checked into the lovely Swiss Alpine Hotel Allalin (our bags were safely waiting for us in reception).

There were elaborately carved wood panels everywhere in the hotel, and even the elevator was decorated with traditional tole painting.

We enjoyed a welcoming glass of bubbly on the sunny patio.

Our lovely room on the top floor faced northeast, away from the Matterhorn, but that was out of the direct sun.

Have a look at the room’s amazing carved-wood ceiling:

Roomy bathroom with two sinks...

We had a small porch that overlooked the village cemetery. Suzanne, who loves church bells, recorded a short film clip of the view with the church bells tolling in the background.

After freshening up, we rejoined with Christie at the Schaferstube Restaurant that Magalie had warmly recommended for their Swiss comfort food – raclette!!!

Christie told us that this kind of room is called a "carnotzet,” a downstairs room in a chalet or restaurant that is used to serve fondue and raclette.