Yesterday's mashed potatoes

 

Life is pretty dull in Seattle right now (compared to trekking in the Alps) and it doesn't help that we've been under a cold blanket of grey clouds all week. 

While rest of the country is sweltering, we're the contrarians as usual. Seattle might finally get back to a toasty 70 degrees in time for the 4th of July. Food has been on the heavy side to match the weather. 

Who eats corned beef in June? Well, there was one languishing in the freezer, along with a container of mashed potatoes, so I mixed up batch of potato pancakes to go with. They soak up the butter and olive oil like a sponge. 

Last night I made homemade fried chips to go with the tortilla soup. Good grief. You would think it was February.

The girls would hate this picture so good thing they don't read the blog. The trekkers have now crossed the Switzerland border. Amanda said it is still hot, like when we were there a few weeks ago. 

Temperatures in the Alps are rising at twice the global average, melting glaciers and changing the ecosystem before your eyes. It will be a different place if Nova and Maya ever bring their children here. 

The families are staying tonight at a Refugio near a tiny town without even a store, which is unusual. Amanda said the kids have an amazing yurt to themselves, but the adults have "mattresses on the floor in a massive communal situation." 

 

 

Now that's my idea of a restful night after a long day of hiking!

They've had excellent cellular (Europe is ahead of us in many ways) so we look forward to the pictures and messages she sends every morning. 

There is WiFi at the Refugios, although tonight is an exception, so the kids are bummed. They are roughing it because the parents didn't get them expensive international plans for their phones. 

Very cute, unless you're a teenager stuck in an isolated yurt on a mountain. Well, memories are made of this. 

 

Postcards from the French Alps

 

It looks incredibly beautiful (and civilized.)

Au revoir sizzling Paris

And hello, hot Alps. We are enjoying their trip second hand through Amanda’s photos. Family and friends above waiting to board the high speed train in Paris, headed to Chamonix (near Mt. Blanc) via Geneva. 

Arriving after a long day of travel, with the final hours standing room only on the smaller trains.  

A pretty French town, but still unseasonably hot-- the loaded kids making their way to the hostel. 
 

The week long "hut-to-hut" trek started today. Although hut is a misnomer, because these are like rustic hotels or hostels (called Refuges) with communal meals and sleeping areas. 
 

Enjoying the view at Refuge de La Flegre, where they stay tonight. I’d just take that gondola up haha. 

If you are interested in details, here's the itinerary: 

Monday: Le Tours

Tuesday: Trient

Wednesday: Champex-Lac

Thursday: La Fouly

Friday: Val Ferret

Saturday: Bonatti Hut

The distance and terrain between these stops varies, but I think most are about 10 miles a day.  

After that, an Italian adventure begins. They collect their luggage that was (hopefully) transported to Bonatti, and find a way down to Turin for a flight to Brindisi. Then several days relaxing in southern Italy (with a rental car?) and finally a stay in Rome before returning home. The fun is just getting started.

The heat goes on

The Paris heat wave is finally easing today, with rain and thunderstorms moving across France. Tonight the families are taking a Seine and Eiffel Tower tour (from the ground) then off to Mt. Blanc by train in the morning, where a different adventure begins.

 

Here on the other side of the world, we woke up to a drizzly, cool morning. After that little taste of summer, we won't get back to 70 degrees until next weekend. There is an old saying in Seattle that “summer doesn’t start until the 5th of July." 

Nothing exciting for us, just a quiet weekend at home.  Have a good one. 

Bragging rights

 

We have geraniums in pots every summer, but this year they are really exceptional. It's been so warm and dry, but now a big change with rain in the forecast (welcome) and in the 60's for the next week or so. 

This cool weather will make the locals happy again. When it gets a few degrees above 80 we have those "severe heat warnings" on the news. 

Speaking of severe heat, this a tough week to be in Paris. Some of the major tourist attractions abruptly closed today (Eiffel Tower, Louvre, etc.) which is disappointing because reservations were made months in advance. 

But the families are staying in a small hotel in the heart of Montmartre, which has great street ambience. For teenagers, enough just to be in Paris, isn't it? And the girls look like they fit right in.

 

 

Off to the (hopefully) cooler Alps on Saturday. 

 

The quality of air

 

 

It is such a pleasure to hold and read a beautifully bound book. Especially while breathing in the scent of lavender. John found me this classic illustrated copy of "The Magic Mountain" by Thomas Mann on Ebay. 

Published in 1924, the setting is a sanatorium in Davos, Switzerland, and the story of a young engineer who comes for 3 weeks and stays for 7 years on the "magic mountain." 

Switzerland was famous for tuberculosis sanatoriums in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Before antibiotics, fresh air and rest were the primary cure, if you could afford it. Alpine air was considered medicine.  

These historic sanatoriums have mostly been converted to luxury hotels, but you can still go to Switzerland and take expensive cures for modern aliments. 

When we were in Switzerland, I thought about "The Magic Mountain." It was unusually hot, and after a long day of train and bus travel, we finally arrived at Hotel Reine Victoria in St. Moritz. There was no air conditioning, but I opened the waist high, screen free windows letting in birdsong and the coolest, cleanest, sweetest, high altitude air. (Such are the small memories you retain from a jam-packed trip.)

OK. Speaking of trips and hot weather. Amanda, Tom and the girls flew out last night should be arriving about now in sizzling Paris. Over one hundred degrees in France today? Unbelievable. 

Here are the travelers yesterday morning in Carlton, just starting out on their epic long journey.