Under cloudy skies and occasional rain sprinkles we left our Chateau for Marie's chalet in Crans-Montana. Our route took us south through Basel and Bern on various Autostrada to the tiny village of Kandersteg. There we drove onto specially fitted railroad cars for a 20-minute trip in a long tunnel through a portion of the Alps to the village of Goppenstein near the headwaters of the Rhone. The train transported trucks and busses as well and saved us about 100 kms travel distance for 23€.

Traveling down the valley a short distance we arrived in Sierre, Switzerland and proceeded up to the large ski village of Crans-Montana. We lunched at Au Greni Restaurant on beef fondue before reaching Marie's chalet.

We are in the midst of the Alps. Crans-Montana is at a great elevation over the valley through which runs the Rhone and views of the surrounding peaks are spectacular.

After an afternoon of being shown around, I was impressed by the quality of the shops and restaurants in this up-scale resort community. All the major boutiques such as Prada, Hermes, Louis Vuitton etc. we're represented. We dined in a very nice Italian bistro before turning in after a big adventurous day.