First Two Days in Grindelwald, Switzerland, WTRD 11-12, Switzerland 1-2

Sunday, Fathers Day, June 17, 2018

We left Frankfurt at 8:55 am on Sunday Morning by an express train to Interlaken Switzerland. 











After a week of driving in Normandy, taking the train and just staring out the window and relaxing was a nice change for Russ.

Our first class tickets were in a private 6 person sitting room which we had all to ourselves for at least half the trip and then we were joined by four delightful young women, all cousins originally from Pakistan, three now living in Canada, and one living in the Netherlands, one with and MBA in Netherlands, one just finished her law degree in Canada, and the two younger ones working on their bachelors degrees in pre-med and accounting.

The departed from the train in Interlaken with us, but were headed to Lauterbrunnen and we to Grindelwald. 

We arrived in Grindelwald Grun about 2:45, and walked to our chalet flat by 3:15.  Every time we come to Grindelwald we search unsuccessfully for the little chalet we stayed in on our first anniversary in 1970.  I think we need to just realize that it has probably been torn down as it was a house over a barn where the cattle stayed at night, and been replaced with dozens of other more modern chalets. 

The exquisite scenery is still the same, but the population and home construction has increased considerably over the years.

Gordy and Gabby are the chalet owners.  They showed us around our flat and then Gordy was kind enough to take us to the local market by car to buy some groceries. 

Our Flat is on the Bottom Floor of this Chalet

Closed Bedroom Window

Open Bedroom Window

It would have been a long walk  with a heavy load to carry without his help.  We came back to the chalet flat, enjoyed some wine, some afternoon sunshine, and a nice stir fried chicken and vegetable dinner.









Monday, June 18, 2018

After a good night's sleep, we ate our breakfast of yogurt, fruit, pumpernickel and rye toast with butter and jam, then made our way to the train station where we purchased a 5 day transportation pass that would give us access to the many trains and gondolas in the area.  Today is turning out to be a great day and tomorrow looks even better. 

We reserved a spot on the Jungfrau train on Tuesday morning.  Yippee!  I think this is our fourth trip to Grindelwald and this will be the first time it will be clear enough for us to take a train to the top of Europe!

Today with a combination of walking, training, tramming, and bussing, we made our way from Grindelwald Grun to Wengen,

Lauterbrunnen,

s

Trammelbach Chutes and Falls (Powerful ice melt carving through the rocks outside and inside cavernous aquifers to the valley floor)

and Murren (where parachutes soar on the uplift, motorize vehicles are limited, and the views are spectacular)

Avalanche walls on the hilside

 and back to Grindelwald.  Wow, what a day!

Blue sky, green hills, wild flowers, chalets with window boxes and lacey curtains, friendly cows, and rocky snow covered mountains playing peek-a-boo through the clouds all to the tune of waterfalls and bird song...what could be better.

All is Well with the Worrall Travel Rs in Grindelwald Switzerland.

On our way by train from Frankfurt to Grindelwald, Switzerland

WTRD 12 - posted new blog last night - Last days in Normandy.  https://worrallwind. blogspot. com

Ten Days - France, Camembert and Montormel, 8-10 of 10, WTRD's 9-11

And we fly out of France to Germany

Day 8, Goodby St Michel - On our way back to Paris Via Camembert, Montormel and Bouffemont.











We really loved our stay in St. Michel  with our hosts Patricia and Michel.  Their B and B was modern, comfortable, and Patricia served us a wonderful breakfast with eggs directly from the hens each morning.  They were super hosts!

Michel and Patricia

We left around 9:30 and headed to Camembert, home of Camembert cheese.  We stopped for a picnic lunch along the way and arrived Camembert via narrow country roads that wove through the hills and valleys of Normandy arriving around 2:00 pm.

We immediately visited the Camembert Museum and Visitor center where we learned the history of the cheese and of course had a chance to do a tasting
We liked the raw milk cheeses the best, and bought two rounds.  They have great flavor but smell awful.  I will be glad when we have eaten them.  Now we know where the saying, "who cut the cheese" comes from....exactly!


Our accommodations were across the small valley in a rustic farm cottage.   We stopped at a market to buy a few items for dinner to go with the cheese.  We stayed in the la petite The barn is used for families.   No one was in the converted barn so we had the property and the shared bathing toilet area all to ourselves. 

Cottage bottom left, Barn behind, main house middle, bakery and still house (Calvado) to the right.

Shared Bathroom Downstairs, Barn on Top

Cottage to the Left - Shared Bathroom to the Right

Peak into the cottage

After meeting our host, Eric, and taking a tour of his property, and the renovations he has undertaken to turn the classic Normandy property into a guest accommodations,

Large Still barrels made into hanging beds.

il

The barn sitting room and kitchen

we set out our dinner  and enjoyed a bowl of soup, bread, cheese, fresh, fruit, and a bottle of wine.  It was a perfect Normandy country dinner. 

We took hot showers and crawled under the blankets for a cozy night's sleep.

Day 9 - Back to Bouffemont

We awoke to bird song and a misty morning that evaporated into a clear blue sky. 

Our breakfast consisted of more cheese, more bread, yogurt, fruit and coffee.  AND we still have a block of cheese that is quite unpleasantly fragrant no matter how well we wrap it.  We may ditch it before we eat it as I've had enough cheese already! 

Eric encouraged us to visit the Montormel memorial about 10 kilometers from Camembert where the last battle of Normandy was fought.

Within two and half months of after the normandy invasion, British, Canadian, American, and Polish solders were able to to surround the Germans in the valley below Montormel, and  clear Normandy of 100,000 German soldiers in a bloody battle.  Fifty percent of the German Troops were able to escape and retreat, 10,000 were killed, and 40,000 were taken as prisoners of war.  It was a victory that liberated Normandy, but at a terrible cost to the Polish soldiers,  as they were the stop gap unit that the Germans tried to force their way through.

When looking over the verdant countryside where the only sounds are those of the birds and the wind snappy the flags of allied forces, it seems impossible that such  violence, destruction, and blood covered these peaceful hills and valleys in 1944.

 This is a grim reminder of why history must not repeat itself.

After our stop in Montormel, we headed back to Bouffemont

where we returned to our first AirBnB.  It almost felt like coming home.  Alan opened up for us, and again we found more food and wine than we could possibly eat and drink in one night.  We spent the balance of the afternoon rearranging our bags once again for our flight on Air France from Paris to Frankfurt  tomorrow morning.  Glad we are not staying another week as Air France is scheduled to go on strike.  We chose to fly out of France because the trains are currently on strike.

Day 10 - Au Revoir France, Guten Tag Deutschland

Our ten days in Normandy has been one of history, remembrance, and delightful French people and gorgeous countryside, but alas we must bid good bye.  We arrived in Frankfurt via Air France about 2:00 pm this afternoon, collected our bags, took the S-bahn to the Frankfurt bahnhoff

and checked into our hotel across the street by 4:00 pm.  After rearranging our bags once again and jailing the cheese in the refrigerator, we took a walk around the old city of Frankfurt and along the Main River,

Dancers from Cashmire

and the old part of town where we spent a great summer evening enjoying a Parade der Kulturen of dancers in the town square and later  at a sidewalk cafe called Liebe & Seele "heart and soul" eating wiener schnitzel and drinking beer.  Frankfurt, while still German, has become a melting pot of ethnic cultures, now rich with diversity.

We leave tomorrow morning on the train to Interlaken, Switzerland, and then to Grindelwald for some hiking and soaking in the alpine beauty.  Our original plan A was to volunteer at Diverbo the Immersion school just outside of Frankfurt.  We were on the waiting list and had made reservations thinking we might have a chance, but that hope grew thin within two weeks of leaving the states so we switched to Plan B....a week in Switzerland.  Our train leaves at 8:55 tomorrow morning.

All is Well with the Worrall Travel Rs in Frankfurt, Germany returning here after 48 years ago  when Russ was serving in the military.