September 3rd - Destination Zermatt

Well maybe god was fed up with punishing me, as this morning went by without a hitch!!! I got up early and had breakfast, which was included; another bonus over Paris. To be fair the majority of places I was staying did not have breakfast included. Anyway I was up early this morning as my train left Lausanne at 12pm, and I really wanted to have another look around before I left. I wish, in hindsight, I had booked two nights in Lausanne. I headed back down to the lake again, taking photos as I went. When I arrived at the lake the morning sun was shinning brightly on the lake and the setting was beautiful, as I sat on the rocks watching and listening to the world go by.

As I sat there I saw a very strange site, there was what looked like a nun fishing off the pier. I thought my eyes were deceiving me, but they were not. Standing on the end of the pier not more than 50 yards away from me was a middle aged woman with a full nun's outfit on, flicking her fishing rod up and down, the back of her head piece, billowing in the light breeze. Now I don't know about you guys, but I thought this was somewhat unfair. A nun fishing should not be allowed, as she has an advantage over us normal folk, she has divine intervention on her side. And so this seemed to be the case as in the 20 minutes I sat watching her she caught about three fish, whilst the gentleman next to her caught nothing!!!!! Now that seemed like cheating to me. lol

Anyway I eventually tore my eyes away from this site and moved on. With a someone sad feel, it was time to leave, I walked back to the hotel and checked out and made my way to the train station. It was time to move onto the beautiful Zermatt. It was approximately 4 hours to Zermatt, with one change at a place called Visp. My rail pass covered the journey to Visp, but the Visp to Zermatt track is privately owned so I had to pay for that part of the journey. The train journey to Visp was stunning, there was rolling hills, packed with trees and there was snow capped mountains and cascading waterfalls, very picturesque indeed. I arrived in Visp and decided to grab a sandwich before my train to Zermatt arrived. There was a small co-op type shop located at the train station, and surprisingly it was called co-op. I picked a couple of items and went to pay. The woman scanned the items, until she came to my last item, which was an apple. She mumbled something to me, which I did not understand; I just shrugged my shoulders. Big mistake, very big mistake, because she then shouted quite loudly at me, I had to stand back for fear of being sprayed by her saliva. At this point, you guested it, I went for my one and only tactic 'Je ne comprends pas'. The woman let out a huge sigh and walked off, arms pumping, with my apple to the fruit section and stuck a label on the apple with a bar code on it and then came back and scanned it in. I said sorry in French as if that would cure everything, and she would smile understandingly, she didn't so I paid quickly and made for a sharp exit.

The rest of the journey past by without incident, the train journey from Visp to Zermatt was equally as stunning as the first part and I arrived in Zermatt and stood in awe of the beauty that surrounded me. I checked into my hotel, which was very nice and had a balcony with a stunning view. I then decided to have a walk around and get my bearings. I walked around some of the shops and took some photo's of the surrounding beauty, I really was in awe. This place was absolutely stunning. Zermatt itself is not very big, there are two train stations, one at either end of the town. One gives you access in and out of Zermatt, the other is a tourist train station that goes into the mountains and back. The whole of Zermatt was located at the bottom of a huge valley, with the Matterhorn and other mountains located all around. I was slap bang in the middle of nowhere, a thriving packed community in the middle of nowhere. The main event this place is geared up for is skiing of course, and there was no shortage of skiers here. I would love to try and learn to ski, but did not want a broken leg whilst carrying my rucksack for the rest of my holiday, so I thought I would give it a miss this time!!!

Anyway I just chilled out for the rest of the evening, sipping a beer and having a bite to eat, whilst soaking up the beauty of this wonderful place. This was heaven I thought, and maybe, just maybe that is why god did not punish me today. lol