MONTHEY IN THE VALAIS

Anna, Louisa and Jan left for London and on Monday we caught a train via Lusanne to Bex - a lovely journey where the train line dissects the vineyards on the hills above Lake Geneva and there is a lovely view across the lake framed by the Alps. Sadly it was yet another grey day. The purpose of the journey was to visit Jeany and her family. Coincidentally it was Jeany's father's birthday so we went directly to her apartment where the rest of the family gathered for the most delicious lunch - our first Mongolian fondue - prawns, strips of pork, beef and goose that were put into little tea strainer containers and cooked in a big pot of steaming bouillon set on the table. Delicious! We reminisced about the last birthday party we shared with the family - Raymond's 60th when he hired a boat and we had a gourmet meal while going past Evian, Montreaux and Lusanne. Happy mamories.

Raymond, Marie-Jean, Severine, Jeany, Conal

We saw most of the family - Severine is on holiday from Lusanne University, Nicole and her daughter Fabienne and later Yvan dropped in on his way home from the hospital in Martigny where he heads up the orthopedics department. It was marvelous to see them all. 

The next morning we set off via St Maurice where we went to see the school where Jeany teaches. We were impressed by the team of school children cleaning - painstakingly turning chairs over and wiping them, cleaning windows and scrubbing the entire place. We went into the church attached to the school where I lit a candle and said a prayer for Rob Irving and Rob Steyger who are both undergoing cancer treatment and for young Jacques Louis Pienaar who was born on Wednesday. After coffee at a local patisserie we resumed our journey to the Museum of Art at Martigny where they have a wonderful Monet exhibition. The gallery was built by the Gianna family in memory of of the founders' brother and the space doubles as a small theatre where concerts are held. The garden is delightful and is dotted with sculptures by well-known sculptors. Sadly I left my camera in Bern so no photos! 

Onwards up to Ovrannoz along switch-backs - the road eventually reduced to a gravel track until we were higher than some of the surrounding peaks. Jeany's family use the chalet that clings to the mountain side with stunning views across the Valais only during summer. Sadly the weather wasn't great and it was snowing higher up the mountains so we had to eat inside with a fire blazing in the hearth. Apparently this has been the coolest July in 50 years with temperatures about the same as those in Sydney and Cape Town!  All rather confusing. 


Raymond prepared a delicious racklette for us from cheese produced locally and specially chosen - yum. Jeany's dentist boyfriend George joined us with his young nephew and we had a fantastic party ending up with raspberry liqueurs to steel us for the return journey down the steep decline back to Bex to catch our train for Bern.