Lausanne is an interesting city, the old town is perched on the top of several hills, there are bridges and walkways connecting the different areas of the city. It is slightly confusing at first but once we had wandered around for a while be began to get our bearings.     Sadly, the 2nd January is a holiday in Switzerland it seems. We had checked online and were informed that only the 1st January is a holiday but when we arrived in Lausanne we found not just the shops were closed, there were also very few cafés or restaurants open. We wandered around then went for coffee in Starbucks, aside…

Today we headed over to France to Santa Claus’s house, Le hameau du Père Noel after a tip from a friend. It was well worth the trip, a truly magical house filled to the brim with interesting things for the children to discover. Outside in the Jardin de lutins (the Elves Garden) the sleigh awaits the big night.To assist Rudolf and his crew, there is a large ramp at the end of the runway. Inside the house, the children were fascinated by the kitchen – cookies were being made, the recipe book open on the table. In the elves dining room the table was set for dinner, and when we…

Sometimes I open the shutters in the morning and the first thing I do (after shouting OH MY GOD, LOOK AT THAT) is grab my camera. This was one of those mornings.

This was taken down in the village, early evening. I love the colours in this picture. We were down at the Salle Communale for the village celebrations of the Escalade. The football club had invited the children and their parents to a procession and disco. It was great fun for the children, and the adults were able to relax and have a glass of wine (or three). A chocolate cauldron called a marmite was lowered to the floor and smashed, the filling of marzipan and sweets spilling all over the floor to be snatched up by the waiting hordes. The disco afterwards was great fun, the DJ was great and…

On the 1st August 2009 Switzerland celebrated the country’s 718th anniversary, referring to the creation of the country in 1291, although independance came some time later in 1648. The population voted in 1993 to make the 1st August a day of celebration and a public holiday and since 1994 the Swiss have celebrated with bonfires, fireworks and lantern parades How fab is that, that the population can vote to have a day off?

Did you know that cut into the glacier at Chamonix Montblanc, there is an Ice Grotto? To get there we travelled on the Montenvers Train, which was built 100 years ago. The train takes around 20 minutes and travels just over 5km, taking passengers from Chamonix up to the edge of the Mer de Glace at 1913m altitude. The construction of the line required 118,000 m3 of earthwork, including 33,000m3 of rock and 32,220m3 of brickwork. 35 mules each day carried between 80 and 150 kg of materials. In 1960 a cable car was constructed to transport the tourist part of the way to the grotto, there is still a steep…

I know it is too late for Christmas songs, but this was one that we should have been singing today as we dashed through the snow on our 2 horse open sleigh. We were in Gstaad today and husband suggested a spin in a horse drawn sleigh. You can imagine that he did not have to ask twice. We were snuggled up together, including Daphne, under a couple of big warm blankets. The weather was cold but wonderful, and we enjoyed the sleigh ride very much. Afterwards we retired to a lovely cafe to warm ourselves with tea and hot chocolate. From our window seat we could watch the passersby. Sadly,…