Orsières

Spending the Christmas holidays away from family was a sad thought, so we decided we would visit the closest that we have to family in Switzerland. My stepfather’s brother’s family is from a tiny village in the canton of Valais, which is very close to Zermatt. So we decided to make a stop on our way from Zermatt to visit. This put us back on the train.

The scenery was even more beautiful since it was a sunny day.

Traveling is always an adventure, but this trip brought a surprise. The trip from Zermatt to Orsières had 3 stops where we had to change trains. Trains is Switzerland are very punctual, which is wonderful, except when it isn’t. On our first stop, Visp, the doors to the train closed after the boys and I got on, but before Todd could get on. So we waved to a Todd as the train left the station (with a few panicked tears from the kids). Luckily our cell phones worked great and Todd and I agreed to meet up in the next town, Brig.

After reuniting with Todd, we resumed our journey, an hour late, and made it to Orsières. There isn’t a lot to see in Orsières, but there is an 11th century church that is beautiful.

And it was nice to stretch our legs and walk around the picturesque little town in the mountains, just on the edge of Italy.

The boys’ favorite way to discover the town was kicking a block of snow through the streets.

This area of Switzerland makes a lot of wonderful cheese.

We also noticed a lot of vineyards on the train ride. Turns out Switzerland makes some excellent wine, which we were treated to at dinner. Unfortunately, because their wine production is relatively small, most of the wine is consumed in Switzerland and is difficult and very expensive to get outside of Switzerland.

My stepfather’s brother’s ex-wife, Heidi, picked us up and took us to a nearby village called Chez-les-Reuses for a wonderful evening with “family” and traditional Raclette. Raclette is a name of a Swiss cheese and a typical Swiss dish made by roasting the cheese until it bubbles, then scraping off the melted layer, one serving at a time. It is then served with potatoes, pickles, onions and salame.