WW

WW is an acronym that has most people thinking that there should be a roman numeral behind it, as in WWI or WWII, but I have a new meaning for WW: Wonderful Weekend!

It didn’t start out all that well: the kids were late meeting me, however, as it was due to the little kids (4-8) graduation ceremony – a huge parade along the main tram line through the center of town – they were more than forgiven, especially as I met them at my older son’s address so was able to call and see him briefly as well.

My younger son brought with him his girlfriend and goat’s cheeses that he had just purchased on the local famer’s market: two-days old, five-days old and eight-days old. Needless to say our evening’s meal of salad, fresh cheeses and bread, was sumptuous!

First though we had to get to the chalet: this involved a leisurely drive through France; a lunch stop once back in Switzerland; a couple of hours at Roche - they were visiting a church, I parked the car in the shade and proceeded to catch up on 7 different newspapers; then “needing” an ice cream led to stopping at one of my favorite places: The Grand St-Bernard relay.

Then it was on up the mountains arriving at 19:00 to a major downpour, which lasted the whole ten minutes of unloading (of course).

We never did catch up on our timing and it was 23:00 before we dragged ourselves away from the table and conversation – I going off to the guest bedroom next door (I have a landlady with a golden heart: when she saw us arriving – three – she rushed down to propose that I stay with them leaving the “young couple” on their own – I didn’t hestitate a nano-second before accepting).

Sunday stayed leisurely: the weather was perfect and we had reservations at the Auberge du Vallon de Van www.vallondevan.ch/‎ for a late lunch.   

Our table was the first one on the grass

Flowers given to me by two cute kids - not my own!

The kids hiked there: I took the car as had unfortunately sprained my ankle just two days earlier. Lunch out on the lawn, under an umbrella – light breeze, not a cloud in the sky – was yet again unbelievably good: mixed salad with a gathered-in-the-wild herb pesto, a plate of the Valaisan dried meats, followed by goat cheese fondue for one and our Swiss rösti (hash browns) with a beef/mushroom concoction more than filling.  We did however reserve the local dessert for later that afternoon: blueberry pie with a thin layer of chocolate in between the crust and the fruit.  Naps all around, followed by dessert and coffee. 

Then they hiked back and I again drove.   

We were not hungry that evening.

Much more water than usual due to the very wet and long winter.

So, although A took the train back to Geneva yesterday morning and S travelled on to Sierre to meet a friend and manufacture some more weapons for his job as camp counselor in July, the memory of our wonderful weekend lives on – a treasure to take out when the weather is bad or the conversation lacking.