Trains, trains and ... trains

3 days, 9 train rides,1 flight,  average of 4 hours of commute per day, 843 kilometers, 1 country, 4 official languages.


That's our recent answer to the perennial nondescript question, "So, what did you do on the weekend?"


Go on, say it, we're mad.

But at least the kids were super happy and smiling.  What's our secret?  Keep reading to find out!

First stop: Geneva, in the French-speaking part of Switzerland.  We only had one morning to explore it, and to be honest, that seemed pretty sufficient given we do not have a secret Swiss bank account to check on, and therefore no piles of cash to burn in one of the many discreetly-luxurious watch shops lining every street.  We went for a walk around the Old Town, and a cursory stroll in the Jardin d'Anglais where one can view their highly-touted jet d'eau fountain in one corner of the Lave Geneva shown in the photo above (our verdict: no big deal).  We stopped for lunch, and window-browsed at the mind-boggling range of knives on sale in every other shop.

For CHF 15, you can have one of these handy little Swiss army knives with 5 or so different functions.

Or, just top up another CHF 975 and you can have this really cool one measuring about 25cm with 50 functions...  

YL concluded very early in the trip that the Swiss really excel in making quality goods.  Even the pine cones are of good quality, according to him....

Not sure about pine cones, but I can vouch for their bottled water.  This brand which is easily found in many restaurants taste especially fresh and clean.  

Train #2: An ordinary regional train from Geneva to Zermatt.  This one took 3 hours but fortunately Ju fell asleep and Soph could fiddle with the iPad without fighting with Ju, which, in the end, translated to peace for YL & I.  

Switzerland is a confederation of 26 cantons, each retaining a high level of autonomy  including their own constitution and parliament.  As a result, there are 4 official languages in Switzerland - French, German, Italian and Romansh.  Add English to that mix, and you find that public signs take up quite some space.   

Next stop, Zermatt, in the German speaking part.  Zermatt is a popular ski & spa resort boasting a magnificent view of the Matterhorn.  It has a cosy village-feel to it, but maybe it's because we were there in low season.

Voila, the Matterhorn, with its typical banner cloud formation.  At 4,478m, it is one of the last Alpine peaks to be conquered.

It's everywhere in this town, actually.  It is an impressive sight to see it hovering above us with its signature curious little bent tip.

Train #3: The Glacier Express from Zermatt to Chur.  The Glacier Express is the original reason that led us to this little expedition.  It is a panoramic train that takes its passengers through gorgeous Alps scenery, through 91 tunnels and 291 bridges, in just over 6 hours. 

Here's what it looks like inside

Round pristine rivers, deep gorges, imposing peaks and glaciers...

We were served lunch on board the train in efficient Swiss manner.  Switzerland is the dream destination for Indians, and we did see many Indian tourists during our short stay.  Half of the tourists in our train coach were Indians.  We were traversing the Alps with - no kidding - Indian music in the background (one group brought their own portable music player and did not hesitate to use it).  So the Glacier Express offers a Swiss menu, and an Indian one featuring curries, rice and the usual Indian desserts.   

Chicken nuggets 2,000 metres above sea level surrounded by all shades of green.  Yummy!

The tracks were built to exist in perfect harmony with its surroundings.  With the large open windows of the trains, in some parts of the journey, we felt we were walking beside the turquoise rivers, running along rich green meadows, or gliding on glaciers.  As you can imagine, we have countless photos of every imaginable combination of views, but they started to look the same after a while, and there is just no way to capture those scenery to do them justice.  So we just sat back and enjoyed the view.  

Which is the whole point of taking a panoramic train in the first place, ain't it? 

Next stop is Chur, touted as Switzerland's oldest city.  We arrived on a Sunday, so it felt as if we had the whole city to ourselves.  We had an excellent meal at a local hotel, where they made a big fuss of the kids and plied them with activity books, colouring pencils, stickers, soft toys, and even Disney's Cars-themed cups.  We almost felt guilty for such attention, and left with the largest tip we've doled out in the past 18 months.  (It is not an exaggeration, given that we don't tip in France.  Not because service is shaky, but because it is not a custom in France) 

Nice, quiet, fresh-smelling Alpine town

Train #4 (or maybe it's #5, or #6... it's all one big blur now): One of the several trains we took to get from Chur to Tirano in the Italian border, which took more than 5 hours.  We started to hear announcements in Italian somewhere halfway through the route.  

In case you have been wondering, here's how we typically travel.  One large backpack, one smaller for essentials e.g. snacks, toys, books, emails & tickets, one crossbody sling bag for money and important documents, and voila, here we go.  On some trips, we take along a baby carrier but that boy is getting heavy...

Oh, and yes, for those who are wondering about the secret to our happy kids who gladly trudged all the way with us on this trip, here it is: a brand new scooter.  Soph had never been such a willing participant in walks.  Ju, who recently "discovered" the joy of running, decided that he will simply run to keep up with his sister every time she goes on her scooter.  So this trip was a pleasantly easy trip as far as walking was concerned.

All that running comes with its risks, of course, as you can see here.  He cried for the first couple of minutes after he fell and bit his lips, but after that he was back to mischief. 

The second part of the trip after our stopover in Chur was to take the Bernina Express, which is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Albula/Bernina lines of the Rhaetian Railways.  This part of the journey crosses 55 tunnels, 196 bridges, up to a high point of 2,253 metres where we were surrounded by remnants of snow along the slopes of the mountains.  This railway is more than one century old, built to blend into its surroundings, and is a masterpiece of railway engineering.

One of the signature highlights of the journey was the Landwasser Viaduct, standing at 65 metres high.

From Tirano on the Swiss/Italian border, we stopped for a quick gelato, then took another train to Milan, where we boarded yet another train to the airport, and finally flew home.  


As a summary, it was a varied itinerary from the French-speaking part of Switzerland, to the German-speaking one, to the Italian one.  I am sure we passed the Romansh-speaking are as well, but we didn't recognise it.  We passed green verdant farmland, quaint villages  nestled amongst the valleys of the Alps, mighty glaciers, and swaying palm trees.  There was the stately European facade of buildings in Geneva, typical Swiss cottages in the mountains, the odd farm outposts in the Alps, and sunny lazy Mediterranean feel of Italian towns.  Not bad for a long weekend.  


One final observation: at the train station in the border town of Tirano, where the Bernina Express ends/starts, Switzerland's SBB & Italy's Trenitalia run their train services literally side by side.  Their tracks are next to each other, but what a difference one flimsy wire fence makes.    

Swiss side of the station

The Italian side.  Remember, these two train tracks are next to each other.

Versailles

I know time and again I said we've had enough of castles and palaces but this one is different!  (I'm probably going to use that excuse again when we visit Fontainebleu)  


Again, to make sure our troup of lethargic adults and fussy kids do not get stuck in queues, I hustled everyone into the car and in front of those golden gates before opening time at 9am.  I was not the only one with that idea.  When we arrived 10 minutes before opening time, there was already a queue of 200m, and it kept growing even as we hurried to the end of line.  People, if you want to be one of the first inside Versailles, go half-an-hour before opening time (have your coffee & breakfast while queuing, and tell me if it works!). 

Inside the Grand Courtyard (the main entrance).  Those golden gates are impressive.

 Hehehehe....guess who's the older sister?

Once inside, my brood knows my battle plan: ram through all those rooms on the ground floor and keep heading upstairs to the Hall of Mirrors.  We reached the room in about 20 minutes, and there was already a handful of people milling around there.  This is the pièce de résistance of Versailles.  


It is grand: 73 metres of gilded 357 ceiling-to-floor mirrors reflecting the light from the 17 equally large arched windows on its opposite side.  Imagine light flooding in from the windows, and reflected inside the room by the mirrors, resulting in a glowing sensation in the room.  


It is functional: in the 17th century, this served daily as a passageway and a meeting  and waiting place. 


It is historic: important weddings and receptions were held during the times of the monarchs.  The treaty of Versailles which sealed the end of World War I was also signed in this room in 1919.


It is tragic:  This is also the palace from which Louis XVI and his Austrian wife, Marie-Antoinette were seized at the height of the French Revolution.  They were moved to the Tuilleries, and spent some time in the Conciergerie before their meeting with the guillotine.  

The French court, prior to the 17th century, was a nomadic one, moving from one palace to another in different parts of the country, which is what gave rise to all those castles & palaces you find in the Loire Valley.  However, from the 17th century, they began to settle into a more sedentary way of living.  Hence when Louis XIV wanted a palace to suit his new lifestyle, in the most ostentatious display of power, he set out to build the mother-of-all-palaces by engaging in the services of the trio responsible for the Vaux-le-Vicomte (another intriguing story, that one). 

The king's bedchamber

Apparently, the king & queen were accompanied and observed every minute of their day, from the rising ceremony (about 100 people in attendance), to their dressing, to their meals.  Here you can see stools placed in front of their dining table for the "spectators", usually nobles, courtiers, and the usual palace hoi polloi.

The palace is said to have 700 rooms, but that pales in comparison to its gardens.  I was adamant that we rent an electric buggy to take us around its 100 hectares, to my delightful brother-in-law's amusement, who thinks we can cover it on foot.  I know it is not an impossible idea, but with 3 young children, it is probably a bad idea.  

(Just a tip, though, the buggy doesn't take you everywhere where the bicycles do, but bicycles cannot go into where the buggies go.  It's OK if you don't understand - it took us quite to digest this, and to strategise our action plan, which involved illegal overloading of the buggy...ssshh!)

Anyways the electric buggy keeps the kids motivated

A view of the gardens and its famous water fountains, which were supposed to dance but were pretty much just spouting water when we were there...pfffh....  In the far horizon, you can just make out the Grand Canal where Louis XVI and his descendants held boating parties.  

We planned for a picnic, but it took our navigator quite a while to find the picnic spot.  You can tell how relieved and ecstatic we were to find it after a long and arduous trek outside the gates and into an isolated but lovely meadow with only cows and goats for company.  

Hurrah!! We can finally eat!

The kids mucking around with broken tree branches and grass 

New parents.....muahahahhahahaha!!

The Mouse and the Waterlilies

Yiyi and Yi Cheong (aunty & uncle) are heading back to Australia after their year-long adventure in Italy, so they've slot in Paris as one of the stops in their farewell Europe road trip, and subjected themselves to another dose of my notorious "holidays".  They were pretty pooped at the end of every day.  Although they could easily shift the blame onto the baby and everyone would buy it, *I* know better....it was me and my itinerary, hehehehe....


First stop after one free-and-easy day (which they took it really literally, and spent one hour near the Eiffel and the rest of the time at home rolling around on the floor with the baby) was Disneyland.  You would think that the theme park would be a nice relaxing place to mingle with The Mouse and other creatures, going on fun rides, and easy strolls while enjoying the details on the make-believe buildings.  


Sorry, not on a bank holiday in Europe.  


There were ten thousand people thinking of doing the same thing at the same time as you.  So it was GO-GO-GO.  In my own defense, it is not possible to be relaxed when you are queuing for each and every ride with hundreds of other people, a gangster-looking baby, a grumpy toddler, and a smarty-pants 6-year old with too much vocabulary for her own good.  I like to think that we saved quite a couple of hours of queues and frayed nerves.  


My advice for Disneyland?  Go on a weekday, outside of any European school holidays, and preferably in the dead of winter.   

The one in the center is a crazy woman...why did we trust her with planning our holidays again?

You can see all the adults on the ride except for one.  Guess who is the one cowering in the back row.

This is the only place where we queued for an hour.  We debated and deliberated and reflected during the whole time on whether we were duped into queuing for something worth our while.  

It was.  One hour of queuing was worth the smile on Ju's face when he saw The Mouse.  When our turn came, Ju had already used up the last of his reserve energy and dropped off to slumber.  He even snapped at us when we kept promising him that it will be our turn soon.  But when the time finally came, he forced open his eyes and flashed the sweetest smile you could imagine and hugged and waved and interacted like a flirt.   

Soph & YL on the Soldiers' Parachute Drop.  She was calm throughout the 10-metre drop.  

The next thing on the plan was Giverny to see Claude Monet's house (on the next day, not on the same day.  I'm crazy but I'm not stupid).  

The Impressionist painter lived for decades in the house surrounded by a lake, a small river and a large flower garden.  It was idyllic and a riot of colours.  It was easy to understand why he was inspired.  

 Wisteria draped over the bridge, an impossibly romantic setting

 Sophie was looking forward to seeing the waterlilies which he painted, but they were not yet in bloom.

Monet's house is the pink building on the left

Visitors!

May is a wonderfully disruptive month as far as work is concerned.  There was an average of one bank holiday per week, and one le pont*, too.  This is probably also why the French give the impression that they hardly work, what with their 35-hour workdays, minimum 5 weeks' paid vacation and bank holidays left, right and center.  Whilst it is true that the French are apt to take 4 weeks' vacation in summer, it is a misconception that they are lazy and hardly work.  The French I know work very long hours everyday, although weekends do tend to be sacrosanct.    


Anyways, back to the topic of visitors.  Last week was a hectic week for us with some very important visitors dropping by.  The chef decided on a steamboat to make things easier, and it was perfect.

Champagne and steamboat and great company

Happy Birthday, Ye Ye!

* le pont: literally, the bridge.  When a bank holiday falls on a Tuesday or a Thursday, some companies designate the preceding Monday or the following Friday to be "le pont" - a bridge to the weekend - so that employees have a long weekend.  

Only some employees are eligible for this pont, and I will need another post to explain who and why, so forget it.  Just take my word for it that some are eligible while others are not.  

T3 and Us

Just for Popo & Nai Nai, who misses them very much...

At Claude Monet's house in Giverny

We blocked tourist traffic for many minutes to get these shots

At a picnic spot in Versailles

Guess where?

We are having some visitors currently, and everyday has been a whirlwind of activities.  So here's just a small selection of photos to whet your appetite until I find time to sort through the gigabytes and gigabytes of data.