When we got back to Lausanne after the Reconciliation Walk and a week after our stay at Chalet-a-Gobet for debriefing, we decided to rent a car and travel to parts of Switzerland that weren’t on our itinerary….especially the mountain roads.  We started on Dec 7 for a trip with Nadia to bring here home in Vouvry.

Sat, Dec. 07

   

We drove to the Aigle area to Les Diablerets where there is a glacier (and lots of snow – we were not dressed for it and did not have the right shoes).  We drove a little further over Col du Pillon (height 1546 meters) to Gsteig – a winter wonderland. Patty saw large vertical icicles on the side of the road that come from water dripping and freezing again.  The sun was out so we walked to Feutersoey, had wonderful German food, then returned to Gsteig – about 8 km.  Walking was no effort now having been trained on the Reconciliation Walk.
We took a circle drive thru Gsteig, Rougemont, Chateau d’Oex to Col des Mosses (1445 meters), then down to Le Sepe and then Aigle.  We dropped off Nadia in Vouvry, her home. On the way back, we stopped in Montreux, where we saw Christmas decorations and many kiosks selling crafts on the main street.

Monday, Dec. 09

Our week long adventure started today.

We drove from Lausanne through Martigny, Sion and Sierre, then off-road (autoroute) to Goppenstein. We toured Lotschental Valley all the way to the top in Falleralp.  

 

 

Then came back to Goppenstein to take the car train to Kandersteg.  This car train goes through a long tunnel to save the climb over the mountain. It was dark – they sell a post card that is just black on one side!  

 

Down to Spiez on the Thunersee ( one of the lakes on the west side of Interlaken).  We enjoyed walking around town, and stopped for hot soup at a tea house.  We then drove through Leissinen where we stayed to secure accommodation at Friar Wolf’s B&B.  We enjoyed walking down to Interlaken in the evening.

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