A Little Life in the Alps

We arrived back in Chernex, trading the rain and clouds for the sunny Riviera. Sort of.

For the past week, the air quality has been very poor throughout Switzerland. (Bern actually had the second-worst air quality in the world yesterday.) The cause? Wildfire smoke—coming from Canada! A scary reminder of how interconnected everything is, and an even scarier sign that wildfire season is just beginning.

Luckily for our friends back in BC, you’re enjoying the classic “June-uary” weather, with plenty of rain lately. Normally, we’re quick to proclaim our Canadian-ness to avoid being mistaken for Americans (who, for reasons unknown, are getting a bit of a cold shoulder from some European friends), but with the smoke drifting over from home… I’ve been feeling slightly less enthusiastic about advertising it.

Of course, we’ve been thinking about everyone back home dealing with the fires. But selfishly, we also felt a bit sad for Dave and Biba—not only missing the crystal-clear views of the mountains and lake we’ve grown accustomed to, but also missing out on that outdoor-loving Swiss lifestyle, with everyone now stuck indoors thanks to the haze.

Thankfully, the rain is supposed to help clear the air, and we’ve heard that some of the big fires in Manitoba are being brought under control. Good news.

Smoke or not, we were determined to make the most of Dave and Biba’s last few days here with us.

Cedar was especially excited to show Nana and Poppa around Château de Chillon. So after a little bit of trip planning and a lot of encouragement, the three of them set off for an adventure. I finally had the chance to catch up on some blog posts, read a little, and even walk down to water the garden and check on our cucumbers and lettuce. Very nice.

Their day trip went off without a hitch, with Cedar proudly playing tour guide—now a certified expert in all things Chillon. According to Dave, Cedar made sure they saw every single room in the castle. That’s our boy.

We also wanted to make a return trip to Les Planches, the old town of Montreux. Sabine and Yvan had just hiked down the day before via the Gorges du Chaudron. Yes, that hike again. This time, we were only doing the downhill section. The instructions were simple: find the path near the Green House in Sonzier. I mean, we could literally see it from our balcony. We couldn’t possibly mess it up again.

Now, I’ve been accused (occasionally) of embellishing stories for entertainment value—but I swear on my morning croissant, we hiked the wrong trail again.

In our defense, the route Sabine, Yvan, and the kids had taken was blocked by a fallen tree. So what should have been a leisurely 35-minute downhill stroll to the crêperie in old town turned into another two-and-a-half-hour detour—this time through Glion and down the same 1,055 stairs we’ve now practically memorized (Dave counted them all, step by step).

Needless to say, we earned our lunch and beers at the very cool Hotel Tralala.

After lunch, we brought Dave and Biba to the Freddie Mercury museum, followed by one last stop at our favourite terrace at La Rouvenaz.

On their final full day with us, we returned to one of our favourite spots in La Tour-de-Peilz—drinking cappuccinos, watching the sailboats, and soaking up the sunshine (now with much less smoke in the air). We grabbed a quick lunch in Vevey (Biba’s new favourite – Raw Beef Carpaccio), then hopped a boat to Villeneuve for an afternoon swim at the beach.

Sheila, of course, packed the itinerary to the brim—this being the first fully sunny day without the smoky haze, she wasn’t about to let it go to waste.

We got home in time for a lovely farewell dinner with the Chevalleys, and after a great evening, we walked home so Dave and Biba could finish packing for their early morning flight back to the airport—and then back home to Chilliwack.

It’s been so nice having a steady stream of visitors here in Switzerland, and for them to get a little window into the rhythm of our life here—the walks to refill water bottles at the fountains, the morning bakery and market runs, apéros and dinners with friends, and, our uncanny ability to get lost again hiking the gorge.

We hope they enjoyed it as much as we have been.