good country for hiking

As I've said before, everything goes quiet on Sunday's in Switzerland. The shops are shut, the streets are quiet and the only thing that's left to do is get outside and do something outdoorsy. With plenty of mountains to around, it's no wonder the Swiss are crazy for hiking. Just go to the nearest train station and there will be swarms of crazy hikers with their backpacks full of gear and their fancy hiking boots on. I suppose I can't tease their fancy hiking boots since we have a fancy pair ourselves. We haven't put them to too much use yet, but hopefully in the next two years we'll get a great taste of what Switzerland has to offer.

The great thing about Switzerland is that hiking trails are really well signed. If there's a mountain (and there are lots of them) then there is sure to be some kind of sign pointing up various walking tracks. They even have a rough estimate of how long it would take to walk it (designed for the avid trekker in mind of course).

Our little town of Saint-Maurice is wedged right between a bunch of mountains so one quiet Sunday Roy and I decided to don the boots, pack some water and snacks and walk out of town to a nearby hiking trail. We ascended rapidly to the top of the smallest mountain which just happened to have views looking over our town. We realised just how little it was when we were looking at it from above.

Once we finished oggling our town from above, we continued up through the nearby farmland. It was like walking into a post card. The grass was so green, the sky was brilliant blue and the nearby cows were happily grazing away. ahhh the serenity!

I think I'll start to enjoy having an excuse to get outside and experiencing the beauty of this little place. I'll just have to learn to get used to stocking up on milk and bread during the week.