By early evening we had stopped at yet another grocery store (in Sion) and were on our way up the mountain to Haute Nendaz where we met with Senta et Jean Thibault. They were reading their papers while waiting for us in the very limited parking area (fortunately our car was not very big). Soon we were in Killko Caballero's chalet and getting settled in. The photo below of Brigitte and Vivianne in the kitchen turns out to be the only evidence we have of the place!

The next morning we headed out (not too early because we had yet more laundry to do) to explore the valley of Zermatt, below the Matterhorn. It was about 45 minutes drive away up another long valley. From there we spent most of the day walking in the mountains up to Zematt. Most of these pictures are taken on our way up to or down from Zematt where we had lunch in restaurant where there was a lot of confusion about the price of the dishes and there was an oriental woman serving, who spoke German.

Greg and Christine abandoned the girls and Jean and Senta in Zematt and continued the hike up a little further.

The following day we explored the valley of Herens and up to Arolla (le val d'Arolla). This is the access to the glacier field below Mt. Collon. Here we encountered the first parts of the Projet de la Grande Dixence. We also saw a herd of Chamois, well documented here. We learned a lot about the water works as we drew closer and closer to the main dam up the Val d'Heremence. We took a cable car up to the top of the dam.

The third day in the Canton de Valais, we explored closer to home the Val de Nendaz. We took a long walk on the trails along side the flumes. With the ages ranging from 12 to 80, our paces differed substantially. Eventually we were separated to the point that we thought Greg had gone missing and we reported his absence to the local authorities. Luckily he knew where he was.

From Haute Nendaz, we went down the valley of the Rhone, past Martigny, to which the older girls and Christine later returned, up to Monthey. Then we took the road over the Col de la Croix to the Diablerets, which is well for its ski resorts. We passed through the town of Gstaad, which looked a lot like Vermont, and stopped to admire the church at Rougemont (beautiful church). A little way further we took another walk in the picturesque town of Chateau d'Oex.

We took a serious tour of the castle at Grueyere before rejoining the highway towards Trelex.