Travel day to Switzerland

After our one fun night in Paris it was already time for us to leave. Luckily, we'll be back again in two weeks at the end of our trip. We were booked on the 10:20 train to Basel, Switzerland where we would meet my parents and then travel on together to our final destination of Frutigen.

I had set my alarm for 7 so I could shower and we could get breakfast before heading to the train station. Well apparently I didn't need an alarm because I woke up at 3:30 am and never fell back to sleep. Between 3:30 and 7 I chatted online with Dan, I bought some plane tickets for a future trip and took care of a car rental for Spring Break.

The kids got up around 7:30, they both slept very well and I was grateful for that, at least we'd just have one exhausted family member. We headed down to breakfast at the hotel, breakfast was included in the price of our room. It was a good breakfast, they gave us a basket full of breads including Pain au Chocolat, which are crossaints with chocolate in them. Connor loved the chocolate filled crossaints! They also had a tiny buffet with cold items like yogurt and cereal. The breakfast was good and it was so nice to just be able to walk downstairs and eat.

We were done with breakfast by 8:30 or so and we headed back to the room to finish packing up. At 9:00 we checked out and headed over to the train station. I wasn't really sure how early to get there but I figured earlier was better. Gare de Lyon is a huge train station and I wasn't sure how easy it would be to navigate. As it turns out we could have stayed at the hotel longer, the train station was easy to manage. At the train station I stopped in the tourist office and bought two Paris Museum Passes. We'll use these when we return to Paris in a few weeks.

Gare de Lyon

Gare de Lyon

Ali and I waiting for the train

 

Connor waiting for the train

We ended up sitting at the station for nearly 45 minutes. The kids were pretty bored but they managed fine. At 10:00 we boarded our train, our seats were upstairs which ended up being kind of a pain. This was my first trip on a train so I didn't really know how everything worked. I wasn't quite sure where to put our luggage, at first it seemed all the luggage racks were full and I was getting stressed. In the end, I found an empty luggage rack upstairs near our seats, but carrying two heavy bags up the stairs was no fun! Connor really was a good helper with the bags, but he couldn't carry them up the stairs. We finally got situated though and life was good. 10 minutes of stress in a whole day really isn't too bad!

The ride to Basel took 3 hours on our high speed train. Ali fell asleep quickly and slept nearly the whole ride, I really wish I could sleep like she does! Connor watched a movie and I slept for 30 minutes or so. We arrived at the Basel train station and spotted my dad quickly. I wish I would have had my camera out because Ali made a beeline for him and gave him a big hug! My dad walked us to a nice waiting room where my mom was with their bags.

Sleeping Ali on the train

 

We had just over an hour in Basel before our next train, this was perfect because there were a few things I needed to do. First, I went to get my Swiss train pass activated. That was easy, you just go to the counter and they sign it and write the date on it. The kids are on a Swiss Family pass which is free! So basically if kids are traveling with a parent in Switzerland they are free on the trains. I also went to the mobile phone store which was in the train station. I'd gotten some great advice from my friend Josh about buying a prepaid SIM card to use during our time in Switzerland. It was very easy, I went to the store and they put the card in and activated it. For 30 swiss francs I have a phone with 2 weeks of free internet on it and 30 francs worth of credit for making calls. The only tricky part is your cell phone has to be unlocked, most phones in the US are locked to a carrier. Many providers will unlock them upon request but it usually takes several weeks. I'm not using my normal phone, I have a different phone that my sweet husband gave me to use. He had one of his techie friends unlock it.

After running my errands we took a train to Speitz where we changed trains to get to Frutigen. My kids were so excited to see Grandma and Grandpa! Our ride was great, the Swiss transportation system is amazing. I'll tell more about it later but it is just awesome and so easy to use! This train ride was our first view of the beauty of Switzerland. It was a gorgeous day, very bright and sunny. The scenery was just breathtaking!

Connor and Grandma

Lake Thun

 

We arrived in Frutigen and our hosts Peter and Esther were waiting for us. My parents recognized them right away. They had brought two cars to drive us to the house. The house is within walking distance of the train station but they picked us up since they knew we'd have luggage to deal with. We headed to the house and they gave us a tour and showed us how everything in the house worked. They also had a starter supply of groceries for us, bread, milk, eggs, cheese, yogurt, fruit, and a bottle of wine. The house is lovely and the views are breathtaking! Now I understood why my parent thought this place was so fabulous! Peter has built a model train display that goes all through the backyard, of course the kids thought it was great! He took the kids downstairs and showed them the trains and told them he'd run them for them one day during our trip. Peter and Esther live downstairs and the apartment we are in is upstairs. The kids loved the view from the house, we could even see a mountain with snow on top. At one point we saw people hang gliding.

My bedroom

The view from the bedroom window

Kid's room

Kid's view from main window

View from other window

Kitchen

Living room

View from the kitchen while washing dishes

Welcome fruit

Our street

 

After settling in, my dad and I walked down to the grocery store (5 min walk) and got some groceries for dinner. We had pasta for dinner and everyone seemed happy. I think Ali's favorite part was the ice cream for desert.

We did lights out pretty early because all three of us were pretty worn out from the last two days. The mountain air must agree with me because I had no problem falling asleep!

 

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