Dodging the rain

I'm really excited that my mum is currently in Europe to visit me and Tanya! On her first weekend here, we also had the pleasure of being joined by Mark and Beth from Australia, and Tanya's dad Greg who was visiting from NZ. We all headed to Zinal to check out the alps. In Zinal it was rainy and there was low cloud playing about the peaks.

What looked like a mud-slide had made a big mess of the Zinal football field.

Rain stalking up the valley.

About halfway through our walk it became apparent that rain was coming quickly up the valley, and indeed we ended up properly rained on by the time we got back to the village. This meant it was time for a rösti in a warm buvette. On the way home we we went to the fantastic thermal baths at Lavey, then stopped for a picnic dinner next to the Château de Chillon as the sun set over Lac Léman under moody skies.

Château de Chillon.

The next day, we headed up to do more searching for narcisses, this time at Les Pléiades. It was forecast to be heavily flowered, and that was quite correct, with whole fields covered in white. The ground was very muddy, and we puddle-hopped around a walk and took in the views. The rain arrived right after we got back to the car and it poured more heavily than I've seen for ages, so it was good to be in the dry by then! Here are some more photos of the narcisses, the Swiss riviera spring spectacle.

A friendly local.