We slept until 7:30am this morning – wow! We had breakfast
at the hotel which was very nice – cheeses, meats, breads, fresh fruit, yogurt,
cereals, eggs, jellies, pancakes, etc… all for 12 CHF (Swiss francs) per person. Now this was the first day we had a traditional
European breakfast and we thought it was great……yet a week or so later, we were
actually getting tired of the same breakfast day after day….and (you might want
to sit down for this) – after a week of the same, Suzanne was getting sick of
cheese (shocking!) and Brad was getting sick of ham (more shocking!)
We spent some time separating our hiking clothes that we would
need for the next segment of our journey from the “cute clothes” (Brad would prefer
they are referred to as “city clothes”) that we didn’t want to carry with us,
but would want in Zermatt and Paris at the end of our hiking. We decided to
mail the aforementioned “cute clothes” to our hotel in Zermatt, which was the least
expensive of our options of getting our clothes there (i.e. we could have hired
a transfer service). Now it was the least expensive option, but that doesn’t mean
it was inexpensive. We got to the Chamonix post office and after an hour (no exaggeration)
of figuring out the least expensive way to mail our clothes, we ended up
sending two pre-paid boxes to Zermatt, at a cost of $125 – ouch! (And once we
got to Zermatt, we had to pay a “customs tax” of another $40!) There really were
not a lot of clothes – things are just WAY more expensive in Chamonix and Switzerland.
After filling out a lot of paperwork (customs and all….), Brad started chatting
with the one English-speaking guy that worked at the post office and was
helping us – come to find out that the guy is a HUGE Seattle Seahawks fan (Brad’s
team). The guy (who we nicknamed Russell Wilson after the Seahawk’s QB) knew
everything about the Seahawks – recent draft picks, player injuries, etc…. and wakes-up
at odd hours to watch the games live (France is nine hours ahead of Seattle/Portland).
Brad was in heaven and Suzanne bored out of her mind. 
Eventually we got out of the post office and decided to walk
to along the river to Les Praz, which is actually the first 2.6km (1.5 miles) of
the Haute Route. (We took a bus the next day to start our hike in Le Tour as
the first 11.5km (7 miles) is along road and not all that interesting.)
Once back in Chamonix, we had lunch at Café Valentino – salads
and margherita pizza – good, not great. After our second margherita pizza a few
days later, we realized that margherita pizza in France and Switzerland is not
what we know it as in the US (basil, tomato, and fresh mozzarella), rather more
of what we think of as just cheese pizza.
We walked the other direction than
the one we went to Les Praz for a while and eventually ended up at a bakery
called Fournil Bakery where we shared two pastries. This is where Suzanne was
scolded by the woman behind the counter – she was asked if it was for “here” or
“take away.” Well, we were taking it outside, so Suzanne said, “take away.” We
went outside to the tables, but didn’t have a fork, so Suzanne went inside to
ask for one. (Note – Suzanne learned a little French for this trip, so was
pretty much the one interacting with everyone. Brad just stayed close to her
side.) The woman was not happy, reprimanded Suzanne, and our punishment was no
forks, but spoons. 😉 The pasties were quite yummy!
We continued walking back to Chamonix and purchased
some “provisions” for the next couple of days lunches. We stopped at a
meat/cheese shop and worked with a great guy (no scolding here) who spoke a
little English, Suzanne used her little French, there was a lot of pantomime,
and when needed, the Google Translate App! We ended up with a mild sausage
coated with Herbs de Provence and a couple big chunks of cheese. We learned
that as long as hard cheese is vacuum sealed, it does not need to be refrigerated
and it will not spoil, so we had one chunk of cheese vacuum sealed and one just
wrapped, and along with our Herbs De Provence sausage and a baguette, we were
ready to snack along our hike for the next couple of days! (We also brought
some Pro Bars and RX Bars knowing that we’d want some other snacky foods while
we hiked.)
We went back to the hotel, showered and relaxed, and
eventually had pasta at an Italian restaurant – Neapolis – good food and nice
service. (Oh, we were surprised at the number of Italian restaurants throughout
all of our travels. In fact, one of our favorite Italian meals was in Paris!)
No comments:
Post a Comment