Making Plans at Torrent-Neuf, Switzerland

Zagan the motorhome has returned to the motorhome parking at Torrent-Neuf near Saviese in Valais, Switzerland (N46.25682, E7.34492) for a bit of down time and some planning.

My half marathon in Zermatt left me feeling a bit deflated. Don’t get me wrong, I’m proud that I made it up there, but it just didn’t give me the sense of achievement that many of my other runs have done. I guess some runs leave you feeling good, others not so good, but they are all good for you. One thing it has taught me is what I like in a run, so it will help focus my plans and goals going forward – such as no more mountains!

Leaving Zermatt behind, we’d headed down into the Rhone valley, before sweeping up the other side of it to visit our friends Mike and Debbie. They were on holiday, along with Mike’s family from America, in a chalet near to the ski resort of Crans-Montana. Mike had sent us the GPS co-ordinates and a few photos of the roads to show that Zagan would fit up there (we first met Mike in Greece while he was on a long-term motorhome tour, so he knew what information we would need!). In the valley we crossed an invisible line and the language on shop and road signs turned from German to French. It amazes me how it works at country borders, but I have no idea how it works in the same country, and even the same canton – it would be a bit like changing to a totally different language (not just an accent or dialect) between our town and the one a mile up the road.

We climbed out of the valley and up the south-facing slopes, encountering a few satnav disagreements on the way (she loves a short cut and we love the main roads). After about half an hour we found ourselves at the co-ordinates and the end of the road, from here on it was dirt track. As I grabbed my phone to call and see where we had gone wrong, a huge garage door hummed open to our left and there stood Mike.

We popped Zagan on his levelling ramps and added extra chocks under his front wheels so we knew he wasn’t going to head off down the hill on his own, then followed Mike up to the chalet. These last few weeks we’ve had very little interaction with anyone else. There are very few British vans in Switzerland, and we’ve been stopping on mountain passes to avoid the heatwave, meaning even less chance of meeting someone for a conversation. So, not only was it was lovely to catch up with Mike and Debbie again, and to meet more of Mike’s family, but it was also great to have other people to talk to – apologies everyone in the chalet if we wouldn’t shut up!

We’ve seen loads of chalets perched on grassy hills as we’ve been driving around Switzerland and most of them are huge. Does just one family rattle around in them, or are they full of generations or several apartments? We’ve been using the letterboxes on the outside to find out the answer and concluded that many of them are several apartments. It was fantastic to get to have a nose around inside one of them, but as we walked through the door our jaws hit the floor – this wasn’t just a normal ski chalet, this was a full-on luxury chalet.

Mike explained that his sister from the US had done a house-swap. The owners of this place had stayed in her house last year, and now they were using their side of the swap. We’re pretty sure we wouldn’t get somewhere like this in swap for our place back home, but it is a great way of seeing the world. We have friends who have done van swaps, visiting Canada and New Zealand for a fraction of what it would cost if you had to rent a motorhome – it’s all sounds like a great idea to me.

After a spot of lunch, we spent the afternoon sitting on the balcony chatting and taking in the stunning views across the Rhone valley to the snow-capped Alpine peaks – it was well worth the drive up. In the evening we jumped into cars and headed to Crans-Montana for our very own Ryder Cup. America versus Europe on the ‘international standard’ mini golf course (who knew there were international standards for it!). It was great fun. I’ve never seen a mini-golf course where one hole is surrounded with netting like a discus cage, but we were all enjoying ourselves so much we were still on the course when it closed and the sprinklers came on – which added a whole new dimension to the game. In the end we have no idea which side won, it really didn’t matter.

The following day we said our goodbyes. We carried on along the valley to the free motorhome aire at Torrent-Neuf while they headed over to Zermatt for some hiking and Matterhorn spotting. It was so kind of them to let us join them for part of their holiday, as we still remember how precious each day is when you are away.

Arriving at Torrent-Neuf, Jay informed me that Switzerland has enough trails and paths to go around the earth one and half times. So why are we back at one we walked only last year? We both need a bit of down time, and we’ve found a great way to get that is to go somewhere you’ve already seen. Zermatt had been the culmination of almost a year of training, and now it’s time to think about what our next goals will be and plan sort out some plans for them, as well as our route to Calais over the next couple of weeks.

About half an hour into the walk, we stopped as I started to feel light-headed and a bit nauseous again. I’ve had this several times since we have been in Switzerland, including the last kilometre of the half marathon. As we’ve always been high up, I’d put it down to altitude. However, we walked this route last year and I was fine, and we aren’t that high here. A drink and a few biscuits soon got me feeling better so we carried on.

We weigh ourselves every Monday, and since being at altitude, in both France and Switzerland, we’ve both lost over a kilo. I looked it up and the all knowing Google said that altitude can cause weight loss, but that doesn’t account for the feeling dizzy. In the run up to Zermatt our diets did change, I joined Jay in not drinking and we certainly ate less biccies and chocolate, knowing we’d have to carry them up the hill with us as fat! We’ve also been doing a lot of walking and exercise (in addition to a bit of running) so maybe, the dizziness is down to low blood sugar as Jay only experienced it over 3000m, which I would say is normal. It’s not like we need an excuse, but we may have to nip to a shop and buy some Swiss chocolate to test my theory.

We’re heading back home for the Carfest festival as we really enjoyed it last year. Then we have a few runs booked in, scattered across the summer months, so we’ll be in the UK for those. I know it might sound crazy to you, but I really fancy a holiday too. Yes, our lives are one big holiday, we’re at home less than Judith Chalmers, but we’ve had long discussions about this and have managed to distil it down to a holiday = a break from what’s normal. We have two normals; touring in Zagan and being at home. We love them both, but I really feel like I need to be somewhere else or do something different for a bit. Of course, we won’t be going in school holidays, so we’ll have plenty of time to sort something once we get home. And you never know, one we are home, I might feel very different – both of us found it hard to leave home for this trip.

So it’s out with the calendar, map and note pad when Jay gets back from his run. Let the great plan-a-thon begin!

Ju x